In the Philippines, we have this “cultural joke”, if there is such a thing. I think more of an inside joke or a slang, where we would say things we want to be, “sana hotdog na lang ako, para nasa freezer lang ako” (I wish I was a hotdog so I would stay in the freezer) during the summer because of the temperature here.
My sisters and I would often think about it and ask each other, what would we want to be in our next life. For most days I would answer a potato but that is for another time.
Lately, I want to be a rock.
If I were a rock…
I think it would be a slow but meaningful existence. I know rocks would be there for a long time but they are not “immortal”. Rocks vanish and slowly get small through time, so in a sense their time is limited as well, not as limited as us though.
Rocks stay, watching everything. It’s there everyday and can withstand every weather or season. I think rocks do most of the things in silence and because of this they have become strong foundations of almost everything that is built.
As an extrovert, I think being a rock would be a challenge and at the same time I’ll get lots of learning experience. I’ll experience being a watcher of things rather than the doer. I’d also get to watch people come and go, without interacting with them. Imagine you are a rock and your best friend passes by, you would just let her pass by without doing anything, a hard thing to do for me.
I think I could also see and know stories, I think rocks hold some of the greatest stories that have never been told. I can be a rock in someone's backyard and watch families grow, lose people, bring new people and grow again. I just realized how much rocks can hold secrets and stories without us even realizing it.
Even with the many usage of rocks in our world, well one is that it a basic foundation of earth itself, it can also have harmful effects. I like to think of it under the concept of yin and yang - the good in evil and the evil in good. But to really think of it, is there really such a thing as good and evil, that even a rock can be both? A rock can be used to intentionally or unintentionally hurt someone but I guess it boils down to the fact that good and evil are our own choices and perspective.
In the flip side, rocks when they hold themselves together and survive everything they have to survive, can turn into beautiful things. I like to think that rocks are more culturally diverse than us, humans. There are different types of rocks depending on the location and a lot of things.
I have read this facebook post, “The next time you travel, bring a rock with you. It would be the farthest adventure the rock has ever been to.” and it amuses me. I was planning to do this but I always forget to take a rock in my grandma’s garden plus due to the restriction and lockdowns, the rock and I won’t really go far.
I just like to think that being a rock is a slow and excruciating journey, but it is a noble and definitely worth it one.
Lead image: Photo by Henry Be on Unsplash
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This is interesting. Now I have thought of the rocks used in building churches or other infrastructures from decades ago. The rocks from the houses of our fellow Filipinos when it is still the time of Spaniards' colonization. The secrets done by some people to the poor underdogs were seen and forever imprinted in these rocks' lifetime. If rocks (especially old ones) could talk, I would ask them nay things about Philippine history.