Jack I'm flying

~As we shuffled amongst us trying to get the best view, I thought to myself, "Oh what penguins we make." ~

I am in the mood for a rock concert.

That exhilarating atmosphere where you forget everything that scares you, worries you and all that nags your mind.

For those few hours, you are exactly who you want to be.

And don't give me that crap about I'm always who I want to be. Everyone even at their best moments, when in company, are never fully who they are. And if you are, well I would like to meet you.

But at a concert, where everything is dark, and all that matters is the music, you scream, you shout, you dance and most of all you live.

It has the ability to make you alive. Really alive.

Now of course there are plenty of other things that can produce the same effect.

The weather for example. The one thing humans try to predict everyday hoping they can get the better of God, but oh what a futile effort.

The storm came two hours before the penguins were due to come out from the sea. We were at the Penguin Parade at Phillip Island (for those who don't know, the highlight of the island happens at sunset, when little penguins after a long day in the sea, come out to the beach and return to their burrows inland).

Of course the perfect sunset with purple skies and crashing waves did not happen that day.

It rained with a vengeance. We waited near the beach for an hour in the freezing rain and howling wind and still no penguin arrived. There were a quite a lot of us, it being a public holiday. Those who couldn't take the cold abandoned their posts and went home.

We were soaked to our skins. Umbrellas were useless against the angry wind and yet though it was cold, I began to feel a bubble of excitement.

Not for the penguins to arrive. But for that moment.

The pellets of rain were hitting full force. Two friends of mine hid behind me (amazingly) as they took shelter from the unrelenting weather. Everyone was getting restless and in between bouts of shivering and half-hearted attempts to leave the place, I could feel it. That feeling when it all happens.

I looked at my drenched friend and said, "This is great man. I love this!" Of course the look she gave me assured me she was in complete and utter disagreement.

I laughed and spread my arms wide. "Jack I'm flying Jack! Hahaha...."

The rain pellets brought with it sand that hit our faces painfully. The wind destroyed every hope of staying warm in our thick jackets. Yet all I could do was embrace the weather. Such joy.

In the distance hangs a cliff drop over the sea. And then I knew, if there was one thing I had to do in my life, it would be to do exactly as Elizabeth Bennet did in Pride and Prejudice. To stand over a cliff hanger overlooking the sea and all of God's creation, and embrace life. Of course, I didn't get to do that on that day, but rest assured, I will when the time is right.

Finally the first group of penguins arrived. Tiny they were, they stood at the beach staring at the sight greeting them. Groups of human beings shivering and huddling together eager to see nature's finest moments. As we shuffled amongst us trying to get the best view, I thought to myself, "Oh what penguins we make." How nature is laughing at us right now.

Yes. I knew what the moment was.

To appreciate a moment of nature, one needed to perservere and fight to get there. Mother Nature has always been resilient. Afterall, it withstood us humans for centuries. We too must be so.

Never fear the rain, the cold or the wind. Embrace life and you embrace all its intricacies and wonder.

We left our spots after a third group of penguins arrived. My friends wanted to go in. I was content to stay there.

How did rock concerts become a post about my fascination with nature? It must be an unconscious thing I guess. My constant obsession with all things natural.

I watched a show called Insight the other day. It was a debate about "What makes you happy?". I think before that can be answered, one must ask the all dreaded question,

"Are you happy?"

I was born glum. My mom would tell you that people called me Manga (mango as in the fruit) when I was a kid because I had such a long face and I rarely smiled. Oh yes, I've always been this way.

There are plenty of things I want to change, things I regret and things I yearn for. But amazingly as I thought about the question, I realised I am happy. And I never knew. One couldn't tell if they looked at me.

I hope the feeling stays.