A small time travel in Kyiv
In the apartment where I am staying in Kyiv, there is a small playground. Often I see many kids playing there in the evening, probably because it is not too hot and it’s still bright outside (the Sun sets later than 9 pm these days). One day I came home after having reviewed my car and drone in the city, and I saw these kids having an exciting time constantly jumping off a mere bench.
In general, I don’t find kids particularly adorable, but this time I was happily overwhelmed by the cuteness and innocence of the scene. Besides, it also seemed to present an obvious contrast to how I had spent my afternoon – I reviewed some legal clauses at the drone service center, made a payment with a credit card, and later reviewed the car’s fuse box myself. It might have been productive but my afternoon was devoted to the typical ‘adult’ things, according to my childhood world view. But I remember being just like one of these kids only some 25 years ago. Who have I become? What have happened in my life and for what? The sweet scene was mixed with these heavy questions, so I felt slightly confused.
It was certainly not a feeling of regret about growing up or some past choices in life. Rather, it was about the realization of the unperceived disconnect among different periods of life, where no single part is less important than others – all of them have shaped me the way I am today.
Traveling usually offers physical travels, but occasionally it provides time travels as well. And I am grateful to encounter all these small ‘hints’ that help me remember what I was like, and understand how the past is still part of my present. This idea might actually be in line with the typical phrase about the purpose of travel, to find oneself, although it usually seems to give an overly romantic portrayal of traveling.
@ Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, July 17, 2019
