Youth

             “What’s wrong?” This was what I heard more often than the greeting “Hello!” in the past few weeks. As it was being repeated, even though nothing was really wrong with me, I took some time to ponder and to find the reason. Having realized that my head was full of thoughts and therefore that my faced looked very serious, I tried again to organize my thoughts. And I suddenly came up with a counter-question: “Why do I have to spend time thinking, why I think so much?” I remember how carefree I was when I was in primary school. My head was full of imagination and enthusiasm. When I look at my mind now, I almost get shocked to see how barren, but yet so full of worries it is.

A Rainbow

-William Wordsworth

My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky;

So was it when my life began;

So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die!

The Child is father of the Man;

And I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety!

            

             There was a Korean poem written on one of the advertisements on the subway with a similar message to the poem above. It said that out of hundreds of people on the subway, children are the only one that smiles. Sadly, I could not disagree to the poet. Whenever I get on the bus or the subway, everyone stays so quiet and indifferent except for young people. I used to even laugh at a small bug, but now I can hardly find anything I can laugh at.

             Another month is about to finish. There was a phrase in one of the books I read that your life runs at the speed of your age; for example, if a person is 14 years old, then his or her life runs at the speed of 14km/h and if a person is 40 years old, then his or her life would run 40km/h. So the book mentions that is why the time seems to go quicker as one gets older. I am fully aware of the fact that I can not stop the time passing by and I have no intention of doing so. I am willing to take the responsibility and risks that comes with the time. However, just like the poems I have mentioned above, I wish I could keep the mind of a child, not for that I want to get younger, but for that I wish to keep the imagination, creativity and enthusiasm.