We are all very familiar with the Disney princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She is a very relatable character who was once a commoner that turned into a princess. An idol of every little girl for being a bookworm with wonderful dreams and aspirations. And of course, an ideal girl for every man for her beauty and wit. When I was a kid, I also dreamed of being like her-fed up with the provincial life and aspires to be in a bigger city to have a better chance in life.
And I did. I lived in a bigger city. I had what I want-- minus the prince charming unfortunately. But all these things are only for a short while. I realized it was not really that special. As I grew older, I came to this thinking that “provincial life” is better. The smoke from vehicles whenever you roam around the city cannot be compared to the fresh air you breathe whenever you want to take a rest in the province. The high-rising building is nothing compared to the tall green trees. The honking cars seem really irritating that you would rather choose to see sheeps and cows running on the fields. The city lights aren’t blinding enough. I would rather be blinded by the sun’s greeting every morning along with the rooster’s wake up call.
In the city, everyone seems to mind their own business that a simple “Hi!” would be a little overwhelming. Time seems to run so fast that it would not be surprising that if you take a nap for 5 minutes during noon, you would wake up at dinner time for sure. It wasn’t like that at the province. You could spend all day playing in the neighborhood and it would still feel like the moon would take a long time to show up.
Those things in the province are what I missed the most, now that I’m in the city. But then again, we wouldn’t realize things if it is just on our hands. I wouldn’t probably miss provincial life if I just live in the province all my life. If I am still there, I am most probably dreaming of being in the city. Sometimes in life, things could only be appreciated if it’s gone. So anywhere we go, we must make sure that we live every moment we have to the fullest and we must make a lot of memories as much as we can. Because sometimes, things can never be the same again. It’s only the memories that we have that can make it alive again.
