Down Memory Lane
When a photograph reminds you of a time gone by and a lesson well learnt…
There has been a lot of talk of AI and automation recently. Cheesecake even gave us his take on automation (Automation) a few weeks ago. I have lately been on the fence about automation though. From intrusion of privacy concerns to lack of spontaneity - I have many reasons for my reluctance. But, one piece of automation I am very fond of is my 'photos app' showing me highlights from the past. Just yesterday, it showed me a photograph from over a decade ago. A photo where my then toddler is riding his scooter with an empty waste paper basket over his head.
It is a picture that brought an instant smile and a million memories. This was from a time when I was still putting in the long hours at work. When I covered a lot of miles on my motorcycle, before the roar of my car's engine (Roar of Ambition) These were the days when I lived in a rented flat, not my own house. A time when time was short, life was busy, which probably made the memories more precious.
I was pretty wild in my younger years. Long hair and bandanas, speeding motorcycles and long drives, wind in my hair, and not a care in my heart. (Surprisingly, the tattoo came after the child.) My dad bought me a helmet before the motorcycle was delivered. I seldom used the helmet except on blistering summer afternoons to keep the hot air from burning my skin. That however, changed the day my son was born. The wild was tamed, the hair shortened, and the helmet became a compulsion. I never left home without my helmet tucked by my side and always came home with it dangling from my arm.
I saw my son for brief periods of time. I was too busy 'making a life' and 'securing his future' to be able to 'live a life' in the 'present.' I dreamt of the man I wanted my boy to be, the things I would teach him, the stories I would tell, the legacy I would pass down to him. The future, however, works in ways unknown to the present. And the present looks back at the past with the clarity of hindsight and a map of experience.
As I sat there looking at the picture of my little boy on his scooter, shaped like a giraffe - I remembered advice my parents had once given. Children learn more from what they see than what you tell them. What better proof than a 1-year-old riding his scooter with a waste paper basket helmet everytime?