Forever Young

I came across this photo on Stock.Xchang earlier and fell in love with it. I love how the tree spreads to fill the image and is framed against the ocean's glare, how the ocean blends into the sky. The empty bench seems almost sad as well, like there's no one there to appreciate the beauty... I'm a bit of an amateur photographer and it makes me feel jealous!

What it reminds me of more than anything is summer. It just feels bright and summery. I like the summer months. Well, I don't enjoy the heat; sometimes it tops 40° C in Sydney and not many people enjoy that. But I like the feeling that comes with summer, the extra light and warmth wiping away the last cobwebs of winter. I love the fresh smell in the air; the lazy days running into one another; sitting under a tree, watching the people go by.

Whenever I think of summer it brings back my adolescence. Some of my fondest memories come from the summer months, on days just like the one in the photo. Playing cricket with my father in the school nets; watching the tennis on TV and playing on the weekends under the hot sun. Listening to Rob Thomas's and Santana's Smooth. Drinking a half-melted Calippo, biting into a juicy peach... walks along the beach, the sun gleaming off the ocean.

I cherish those memories but thinking about them also makes me feel sad in a way. I'm at the age where I'm accepting more responsibility and control in my life, but the trade-off is that those days are behind me. I'm happy with who I am but sometimes I miss that feeling. Not wanting to see the world through younger eyes, but to be more carefree and not let things get to me so much. In some ways I wish I could stay forever young.

I love Alphaville's Forever Young. It was released the year I was born and it's such a haunting song. There are a couple of lines I've always related to.

Some are like water, some are like the heatSome are a melody and some are the beatSooner or later they all will be goneWhy don't they stay young?

I've always thought the lyrics aren't just about staying young and growing older but also about beauty.... I've noticed recently that I don't look at the world in the same way as I did before. That's not necessarily bad, but what I used to stop and notice around me now I don't notice as often. My life has more priorities; I have less time to sit and watch the world go by. I find that sad... if I can't find time to appreciate beauty, what's the point of all the rest?

People say that you're only as old as you feel inside and I know what they mean... I think for as long as I live my heart will remember how I felt during those golden summers and I'll never lose it. But there is a danger in that as well. It's simple to value the past so much that we become lost in it; that we'd want to spend more time with our memories and watching old TV series than experiencing the present. That's something I never want to do; I value life and my journey too much for that. What I think staying forever young really means is holding onto the joys of our life as we move forward; if we can do that, then we are never old. And if our memory lives on, we never die.

The photo reminded me of that, the empty bench looking out at the ocean... and it reminded me again that I need to take more time to look at the world around me, its beauty. As a writer I've been looking at the world in terms of people, but that's only a small part of life.

Strange how something as simple as a photo could touch me so much. But then beauty comes in all forms; it's our job to recognise it. And I was lucky enough to this time.