I witnessed something incredible today. It was something that refueled my hope for humanity, that made me see everything I have done this past week as nothing but wasteful. Honestly, I could not even compare to what I saw with my own two eyes, which instantly filled my heart with nothing but the feeling of joy.
It was a bright and early morning, and I decided that instead of just lounging about and watching YouTube videos all day, (which is what I have done for the past few days) that I wanted to start cleaning up my house and doing something productive with my time. There was really nothing else better to do, plus there were a lot of things that needed to be completed. I had to take out the trash, vacuum the rugs and floor, clean the bathroom, dust, and more. I thought this would give myself lots of ways to spend time. However, halfway into my cleaning spree, I noticed that the so-called time wasting plan did not work. These chores were rather quick to do, even if I dragged them out. So, I got everything done in a few hours. Then, it was back to sweet, sweet, boredom.
Yay...
As I lingered on the hope of wasting more time, I realized that I only had one task left to do and that was to take out the paper trash. As I was getting that ready, as well as getting my mind ready to sink back into the slope of procrastination, I heard something rather strange going on outside. The sound was muffled because I had both my screen door and my house door locked up tight. Now, everyone was in quarantine so I didn't expect people to be outside doing things. I thought that we would be all in our houses, watching TV. I mean, the Netflix bandwidth connection was so horrible, I couldn't even get on to watch my favorite shows. Just a single, red circle spinning endlessly. Anyways, I leaned in a little closer to my door without opening it and what became clear to em on that sound was that it was a series of laughs and giggles, coming from a little kid. I have neighbors that have their children go outside and play around frequently, so I figured it might have been them, but it wasn't. They must have stopped going out a few days ago because I could no longer hear them screaming or yelling at the top of their lungs, shooting their Nerf guns around. the silence was pure bliss. Curious as I was, I decided to go look while finishing up my chores at the same time. Now, what I saw when I opened my door was the most amazing thing I had ever seen all week. You could even say that it was one of the biggest turning points to ever happen in our generation. I saw a little girl and her father. These two actually turned out to be my neighbors who lived right across the street from me and the father was watching her run down the street holding a shaped piece of fabric tied to a string. I couldn't believe it, they were enacting one of the most famous traditions in all family bonding activities: flying a kite. Before I continue, let me say this with 100% certainty: who do you think does that nowadays?! Think about it! In this day and age, when is the last time you have seen a father and his daughter outside flying a kite? More importantly, he was TEACHING her how to fly a kite. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but let us compare and contrast ourselves to my neighbors. Simply put, we are a generation of individuals who are always glued to our phones or laptops or any other piece of technology. In addition to that. we are always too busy working. We never really have the time or even WANT to SPEND the time on a recreational activity like simple kite aviation, or simply going outside to play Frisbee. Basically, it all means the same. This is why I see the silver lining to the outbreak of CoVID-19. This moment that happened today was the perfect example to the goodness of being isolated. This pandemic, in reality, is helping us remember what truly matters in this world. Something we really never get to spend the time doing. Something that even if we try our hardest to keep, we always feel like we neglect it. This something is more important than our job, more important than our career. What matters most in the entire world, is our family.
Today's words of wisdom are to spend time with the ones you love. Even if you can't reach them, call them. Because having them know you're okay during this pandemic is more than enough for your family. Even your friends, reach out to them, let them know you are doing fine. It is also a great to to reconnect with the people you no longer talk to. I have done the same. I got into contact with some old connections I made at my part-time job, so fingers crossed! Hey, you know what? Even better! I want to give you some homework. I want you to go outside, buy a kite or even make one, and go fly it and call your family! Take loads of pictures too, because that way you can prove to them, and you can show them at the same time that you are doing fine. Sure you can call them or send them a quick text, but those words sometimes aren't enough to show how we really feel inside. Plus, I am sure they will be shocked to see you doing this. Like I said, in this day and age, it is an absolute rarity. If your family can't be in person during your event, then call them and video chat so they can see your smiling face shining brighter alongside the kite that is soaring to higher heights.
See the silver lining.
There is also one more thing I would like to add on before I leave for today. I am very sure that some of you reading this post picked up on the title almost immediately. This message goes out to all of the musical theater "junkies" out there, to ones that I know and don't know. I want to ask you this: did you maybe hum a certain tune akin to the title? Does this moment of a father and a daughter spending their precious time together remind you of a show and a certain scene that had two grown men, and a similar moment where one of them remembered their past, back to when he was just a little boy. Back to when the "PARK KEEPER" had such joy in his heart to run around and play with a single kite in the place he was watching over. Such a show personified this form of happiness. You know, let me sing a little bit for you. I'm sure you remember it.
Be sure to also speak the "dashes" in the message, it will help you get the tune down.
"Lets - go - fly a kite, up - to the highest height. Let's - go - fly a kite and send it soaring. Up - through the atmosphere, up - where the air is clear! Oh - lets - go, fly a kite!"