We are drowning every day in Tik Tok videos of dalgona coffee, banana bread recipes & people dancing in their underwear; we’re drowning every day in conspiracy theories & hopelessness. We’re drowning in Instagram throwback stories of people clubbing & traveling; we’re drowning every day in memories. Is that all we have? Will we ever get to make new ones? When will things get back to normal? What is normal? The new normal? That’s how it begins and you cling onto your phone, you hold it a little tighter, you hope for something positive, a miracle! It’s like living in a nightmare, an ever-ending nightmare. Could we have predicted this? Could we have prevented this? A deep sigh!
I have always loved hearing the waves; I can just close my eyes and feel the breeze caress my face like a gentle lover. I can be anywhere; waves don’t change their music. I love sunrise on the beach and sunset by the beach. I would wake up before the sun and go for a walk following the coastline, smell the sea, taste the salt on my tongue, and collect shells. I love watching how the sun sets into the horizon leaving a trail of colors – blue, yellow, purple, red; hues that smear the sky. I would collect shells. I feel them, smooth, coarse, their smell, do they sing the song of the sea?
With all the noise around me these days from press conferences to Netflix and IGTV videos; the loudest one has been the one in my head — the silence. When you spend a lot of time in isolation, it makes you question things, it makes you question yourself. I close my eyes and try to hear the waves. If everything had gone right in my life, where would I be right now? Every seashell I’ve collected so far is a memento, remembrance. They’re etched with memories. I want the sound of waves to overpower all the distractions around me.
Normal, the new normal, whatever it may be, I hope we will have enough love in our hearts to count on. I hope we will be more forgiving and may we have the strength to apologize. May we learn to be more kind! We’re all in this together but six feet apart, may our hearts be brought closer than ever. Use this time to mend broken relationships; mend the brokenness within you because the new normal might not spare the ones who haven’t healed yet. May Anna collect all the seashells knowing that they get her through in times like this, in sorrow and in bliss.
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In the Realm of the Unnamed Belle 