Viure
Life is short and hectic, but there are moments when we realize that most of the things we do are not as essential as we think. Moments when we feel that all the things that cloud our minds are just distractions from a busy life that prevent us from experiencing what lies behind the daily storms. In the end, living does not reside in completing all the tasks on our list. Living resides in the small daily victories that we learn to value and appreciate when faced with death, loss, or illness. Some things couldn't be bought with all the gold in the world. Friends, family, and loved ones are what make life meaningful, but true happiness, completeness, and peace lie in waking up to the morning sun, enjoying a quiet coffee with a friend in the afternoon after work, or the calm of sipping herbal tea before bed. The small things are often what give life meaning.
A few weeks ago, I got a tattoo. A tattoo in honor of someone who doesn't like tattoos. Quite a contradiction, but since it's on my body, it makes a lot of sense. I got the tattoo after a conversation with my father.
This week, I returned home. And at home, there is a particular place that reminds me of the will to live. It’s a pink, extravagant armchair where we used to sit with my father during his treatment. A place where he would sit with my mother to enjoy the view, and where he would sit alone when he wanted to listen to music peacefully. If you saw this spot, you wouldn't think it was livable. It’s a corner of a porch where the floor is cold and covered in bits of green when we mow the lawn. But in this corner, we lived many moments, and it was here that I had the most important conversations in the last days of my father's life. In one of those conversations, I asked him what he would do if he could live his life all over again. He looked at me, with the calm of someone who knows they don't have many days left, smiled, and said, “live.” When the last drops of energy slip through your fingers, life transforms into a value in itself, something worth fighting for. Breathing each moment is a treasure, and simply being there, a gift.
I got this tattoo partly to always remember my father, though I hardly need reminding because I think of him every day. But the main reason for permanently engraving a message on my skin was to ensure I never forget that the primary reason, the most important one, is to live. And living doesn’t just mean breathing, eating, sleeping, or taking care of myself… living means, above all, making decisions that lead me to happiness. Living can mean many things at different times in life, but forgetting the value of life, a dignified life, is not a luxury we can afford. Not when so many don’t have it, and not when the people I love have lost it. That's why the words in Times New Roman on my arm remind me every morning for the past few weeks that I must live, while I wake up to the morning sun, enjoy a quiet coffee with a friend in the afternoon after work, or savour the calm of herbal tea before bed.
