Ages ago, I became so hooked to
the song “Moving On”. I cannot now
remember if that was really the title of the song and neither could I recall
who sang it. What I retained were the
lyrics that went – “ There’s a place in
the sun where there’s hope for everyone.
Where my poor restless heart is gonna run. There’s a place in the sun and before my life
is done, I’m gonna find me that place in the sun.”
Very simply, the words helped me realize
early that life will all be about moving on.
Through days when I suffered failures and setbacks with the attendant
embarrassment and shame, I knew that all I could do was pick myself up and move
on. Whatever little successes that
earned me praise, I treated as temporary highs that I could not rest upon and
moved on. Life has always been about
moving on – from place to place, project to project, client to client to
client; sometimes, reinventing myself and always just one hop nearer to that
reserved place for me under the sun.
2010 saw me welcoming my senior years such
that I kept thinking I should be blogging about my experiences, a few of which
I have already been journal-izing. Much
as I had always been a foodie, a food blog will not work for me unless I wanted
to make enemies of at least 85% of the restaurants in Metro Manila. I cannot be a travel blogger because some
places I may talk about may have already been demolished and replaced with
something else. Senior, remember? Besides, my daughter, Beam, would definitely
make a better job of it as she chronicles her travels through the vivid photos
she personally takes.
Several ideas ran through my consideration
until exasperated, I thought – why not just write about the characters of pets
and people or even those of foods, places and events!
After all, I am not just about the food I eat and the places I got to
visit. Life is a hodgepodge of characters thrown at me and mirrored in the way
I act and react towards them. It has
always been about the characters that make day to day hilarious and wonderful
and, at times, depressing or annoying. What
is important is that there has been such impact that started a whole trend of
thoughts and even imagined scenarios!
Basically, I should just record how I live
life and how I got from A to M and now am near my XYZ. Surely, it would often be like the way every
other person lives – with trust in God and human fairness, a modicum amount of
courage to face whatever comes and an eye for a laugh at every turn of the
corner. Life can be profound and shallow
at turns; but, funny or sad, light or dark, it will always be about what my
take on the situation will be. Who
knows? Maybe in sharing my journey, there
may be new insights gained. Before
everything else, I need to find that
song that got me started on this memory trip.
For my own satisfaction.
A Place in the Sun by Stevie Wonder
Like a long lonely stream
I keep running towards a dream
Moving on, moving on
Like a branch on a tree
I keep reaching to be free
Moving on, moving on
There’s a place in the sun
Where there’s hope for everyone
Where my poor restless heart’s gotta run
There’s a place in the sun
And before my life is done
Got to find me a place in the sun
Like an old dusty road
I get weary from the load
Moving on, moving on
Like this tired troubled earth
I’ve been rolling since my birth
Moving on, moving on
There’s a place in the sun
Where there’s hope for everyone
Where my poor restless heart’s gotta run
There’s a place in the sun
And before my life is done
Got to find me a place in the sun
So there! The title is not even
“Moving On” but “A Place in the Sun” and the only one I can find is the version
of Stevie Wonder. At my age, let me
assure you, he was not the one I sang along with in my younger days.
