A Leaf Alive

Fez – We allow worries to haunt us, drift us away and prevent our soul and eyes from noticing some seemingly trivial yet miraculous scenes. Sometimes or most of the time, we forget to look at the world around us instead of just seeing it.

The sun was shining, students were wandering aimlessly in the vast schoolyard and teachers were having their usual 10 a.m. nonsensical conversations. It was the break and I was standing alone as usual, experiencing the feeling of tininess, in front of a huge old tree. All of a sudden, I saw a leaf unwillingly falling from one of the tree branches, as if it were trying to remain up there with its fellow leaves. It landed silently on the dry ground, making no echo, no sound and no impact on the surroundings.

This scene was not extraordinary and, undoubtedly, all of us have already seen a leaf falling from a tree. Yet, the combination of looking at this apparently normal scene and bearing in my mind a New York Times article entitled “Painted Bunting, a Rare Visitor to Brooklyn, Gives Birders Cause to Stare,” urged me to look at the scene from a different perspective, a dramatic angle, I dare say.

The old tree materialized life with all its diversified branches and its erratic changes. Life, with its constant changeable nature, is like the seasons of the year when they change the features of the leaf from green to brownish-yellow or from happiness to sadness.

The leaf has successfully or unsuccessfully played its role and unceremoniously left the stage of life, leaving other leaves with which it shared the same roots. The leaf left everything, its belongings, friends, memories and life, and departed as if it had never lived or been there.

The image or the scene was not just about life and death; it was also about seizing the moment and living in the present, the now. We spend days and years trying to survive instead of trying to live. We don’t possess the future and the past has no power over us. All we have is the present and life is not an emergency; thus, we should enjoy living every single moment whether we are at home, at work, with our families or friends, and especially with ourselves.

The bell ended the break and summoned students to classes. It also ended my speculation and sent me to work. The schoolyard is empty and deserted now; it was full of life minutes ago. Time seems to be the framer of our moments, and this seems to be another unnoticed muse.