On Dead Stars

I'm sure you've heard of dead stars. Well, in case you haven't, they're, well, stars, which are dead. No I'm not being funny here, they are really dead stars, but since they are light years away, we still see their light and believe that they are shining down upon us.

This concept was used in a Filipino short story by Paz Marquez Benitez. The story was about a man who lived his life believing that he has let the love of his life slip away. He had a good life, which he never really appreciated, believing that he had let his happpiness slip away in the past. But in the end, when faced with the reality of the woman he thought he loved, he realized that what he really loved was the illusion, not the person. Or more precisely, the memory of that illusion.

Many of us live through this illusion. We would always have the man/woman who got away somewhere within us. Some live the rest of their lives pining for this love, so much so that they forget to really live and enjoy life.

The same thing is true with anger. We let it build inside of us, based on a real or imagined slight in the past. We react in a way that would have been more appropriate in the past, but not at this moment. We react as we would have in the past, not understaning that the here and now is a completely different thing altogether.

The reality is we are here and now. Athough we learn from the past, we are are living in the NOW. So forget about dead stars. They will always be beautiful, but they can only belong to the past.

Anyway, all I wanted to say was, I've seen a lot of dead stars. They are beautiful, but they're not real. I don't think I should ever let them hurt me.