Clockwork

"Clockwork - The World Never Stops"

We may have forgotten the real meaning of Time.

Simply because they have never stopped working.

"How old are you?" asked the old man.
"Fifteen."
"Oh my, time flies, doesn't it? I was having such a good time at your age. You know, having fun with friends, riding motorbike, watching sunset by the beach...you probably don't understand how am I feeling right now" He continued with a sobering tone. "There is no going back in life. We lived once. The Sunset today is beautiful isn't it?" He further sighed "You must treasure the time as it is"
Unfathomed, "Alright, but I'm gonna leave for work right now".

Reclining on the timber bench , his blood-shot eyes looking up the vermilion sky in a regretful manner, as if  the end was already near for him. With melancholic voice, he replied " It's ok. Just let me be alone with my 'TIME', I'll be fine I know".

Slowly, I threaded my way down the marble staircase. The still silhouette of the stranger gradually faded into the golden backdrop... 10 years ago.

Meaning

Life as a product of the Society, a train moving into its destination with haphazard rail networks.

Like it or not, we are being trained to become who we are following the will of the Society. 

"Why follow others?" You might ask.

Yet, you are constantly striving to prove the validity of a divergent path. 

It is our innate instincts to feel protected on this railway, more importantly is to see a clear path ahead of us so that we can be rid of worries. "You are safe as long as you are on the track" the Society might have claimed. Imagine the salesman had cajoled you into buying an expensive branded product even though you had realized the reluctance in your heart to make the payment. 

"We are all the same" the Society further reassures you.

 "Same-same but different?" You beg to differ. 

You knew it well because you are living in Space A, time A, place A and definitely Society A. 

Society B might be partially agreeable to Society A. Society C might totally disagrees on Society A. 

In every Society, thousands of people succumbed themselves to the power of the railways in seek of a better refuge. They run, they tread, they crawl - on tracks that have definite destinations. 

So here's when the logic of Travel comes in. You embarked on a soul-searching journey not so much to find out the truth of Society B, rather a breakaway from Society A and allows you to observe Society A & B at a far distance. As a spectator, you are thrilled to see both Spaces A&B in totality and internalize the dynamics of things. Understanding time difference, understanding the "railways" and "networks" in a faster-than-mercantile-ships manner thanks to the airline industry. 

To familiarize yourself with unfamiliar landscape,

To un-familiarize yourself with familiar landscape. 

You acted in a manner more passionate than the locals are probably due to your positive curiosity. 

Ironically, you don't react likewise in your hometown because you have no time on the railways. 

It is true that travels amount to emptiness in the end. 

But you are back to ascertain your belief, same-same but different. 

Ask the home coming soldiers, sailors, refugees, disaster volunteers...

they'll tell you the Meaning of Society. 

To seek a divergent path,

The Change is Me, albeit Monday Blues.  

To become a hermit, a follower or the otherwise. 

Limbo

When the taste of life starts kicking in, I should say, time waits for no man.

Time as all that I have blogged about, is certainly exists in the framework of relativity. I believe at some point in your life, you might be reminiscing about the past, thinking of how memories and experience have shaped you so far, or someone whom you have met made your life wonderful. Yet, it is human nature to be skeptical about ourselves in terms of the unknown future. There is no doubt that the future is daunting, which we often celebrate with optimistic anticipation in a melancholic tone. For others, it might be best to welcome it with ambivalence so as to avoid disappointment from over-promise.

From a physical point of view, time is not geographically determined. How could we have the same time as the whole continent of China but different with that of Thailand?
http://www.wisegeek.org/why-does-china-have-only-one-time-zone.htm
Reason being the Time is predetermined for political reasons. As you can see here the Time is a framework of relativity, not correlating to our socio-geographical difference and yet we believe and accept it as a matter of fact. So you tell me, what does your time based on?

It can be someone else's achievement, someone else's expectation, perceived social custom and norm... or simply - YOUR DREAM. When was the last time you tuned your clock? Was it to suit others or yourself?

Allow me to rephrase, if I may, the saying that time waits for no man is true only in our perceived relativity. Otherwise, we have fallen into a limbo: Keep chasing someone else's dream.

Hope this helps to enlighten your day. Keep up with soul searching.

墙上的时钟。嘀嗒嘀嗒。