Sometimes, I get super senti about things. When this happens, I write. Usually, I keep this writing hidden away in the confines of google's cloud. But I figured I have nothing to lose by making it public (other than the loss of any hope that my writing could be more succinct). Be warned, over the top writing ahead.

There is a Japanese word for an indescribably poignant feeling that (rather unsurprisingly) doesn’t have a direct translation into english. “Mono no aware”- a gentle sadness about the transience of things.

“Mono no aware”- a gentle sadness about the transience of things.

Things change. People grow old. The times in our lives that seem like they’d last forever will all, eventually, become distant memories of a bittersweet past.

And I don’t think I’ve learned how to deal with these feelings yet. They still seem overwhelming. The unending march of change leaves me, at times, short for breath. Panicked. Sad. Nostalgic.

Life is, after all, a collection of moments. These moments, each a miniscule grain of sand, slowly build up into the mounds, mountains and sandcastles we call our lives. And within all of us lies an inexplicable need to grasp at these moments, to capture them, to hold close to us these precious events that we love so much. These moments have shaped who we are. These moments are the only thing we’ve known. These moments are all we’ve got.

But eventually, it will become obvious that grasping at the sand is a futile task. That any effort to do so only leads to the abysmal sight of it slipping through our fingers. Time does not wait for the whims of people. It will eventually steal every grain we’ve ever known, until they’re all but distant memories of a time long past, owned by a person who you no longer recognise, in a place you only think of in pale shades of gold and gray.

So maybe it’s time to stop grasping for the sand. Maybe it's time to stop attempting to keep what time so selfishly steals from us. Life shouldn’t be about capturing the sand in our fists. Life should be about enjoying the feeling of it passing through our fingers. Of appreciating moments, of living, and I mean truly living them. And then letting them go.

After all, in the end, all we can ever do is watch it all go by.