The Merit of Being Imperceptible
When the school year starts to end, I’m usually filled with dread, awaiting final exams and their results that make or break all the effort I’ve put in throughout the past five months. But then I remember that at the end of it all, summer will be waiting. I did what any stressed person would do in the summer– I went on vacation. Not only was this a vacation, but it was a complete change of scenery from the 100-degree days in California to a high of 60 degrees Fahrenheit in rainy Alaska.
But this isn’t a story about Alaska’s weather and its merits as a popular tourist destination, it’s about the journey home. My sister and I agreed that on the flight there, she would have the window seat, and on the way back, I would. I got the longer end of the stick, but she didn’t mind— engrossed in movies the entire ride home. The whole plane stared at the small TVs fixed onto the seats in front of them as if in a trance, the world outside the windows going completely unnoticed. Not being much of a TV or movie person myself, my attention was drawn to the sunset turning into night and the twinkling lights of whatever cities were under us. Cars were smaller than clover mites and Olympic-sized pools turned into mere raindrops. Yet, no matter how close I looked, I could never spot a person.
I’m sure many have thought this thought before, but I loved the idea that we were so small, that you can’t see us midway through a domestic flight. This took my mind off any stress or sadness I was holding on to, more than Alaska itself could. There was something amazing about how everything we built around us— cars, bridges, buildings, and lights— were all visible from that high up, but not people. I couldn’t help but think of all those quotes about leaving a legacy that lasts longer than you and how life is bigger than us. William James said, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” The reason why I like this quote is because of the variety of ways you can interpret it– family, buildings, paintings, ideas and feelings are all things that could outlast us. We tend to get in our head sometimes, thinking everything is going to impact the course of our lives– but that should be the beauty of it. I never cared too much about philosophical quotes, but after that flight, I knew it’d be living in my head for some time.
I went to Alaska to relax and found it on the plane ride home instead. I truly love going on flights and seeing the world from that view, along with white noise from the airplane and some good music, it comforts me in a way nothing else can. It took my mind off all the stress about final exams at school, thinking about how it didn’t matter that much– I gained the confidence in myself to think that I’d figure it out in time.