Thursday, July 27, 2006

Ichi Rittoru no Namida

Translated into English, it means "One Litre of Tears". If you are worried, rest assured it's not me who shed one litre of tears (I admit a few drops but definitely NOT 1 litre). It's the name of a Japanese series that is very very very very very moving.


A shot from "One Litre of Tears."

Admittedly, life is short. We never know when we will die. But to suffer an illness that slowly cripple you, slowly making you a person being trapped in your own body, that did not kill you but slowly maim you... and what's worse than that you know about it and was powerless to do anything about it... and then you need to watch how your parents suffer, how your siblings suffer, how your friends suffer because of your illness.. (If you wanna know more go find the drama and watch it. I'm not gonna spoil it for you.).. simply heart-wrenching.

The drama itself was touching enough, but the story behind it was touching still. The series is based on a true story on a Japanese girl named Aya who suffered a similar disease. She chronicled her feelings in a diary which was then produced in a book that eventually sold 1.1 million copies. Tragically, Aya died at a young age of 25, after battling the sickness for 10 years. In the drama, photos of Aya is shown towards the end of every episodes.. photos of healthy, smiling Aya to photos of blank-looking, bedridden Aya.. never had a series of photo had such profound effect on me.

What's more, the very cute actress who played Aya in the drama, Sawajiri Erika herself is also no stranger to sad episodes in life. She lost her father when she is 15 and her younger brother 2 years later. I couldn't believe that someone who had lost two person so close to her life can still give such a sterling and scintillating performance in a drama. She gained my respect for being able to rise from such depth of sorrow to the pinnacle of life. In retropect, perhaps it is this personal experience that make the events in the drama so true, so believable, so moving...

I think the message the drama is sending through is that the present does not last forever. One day you may wake up singing, prancing happily along your way to school, chatting, jabbering away with your friends, squabbling with your siblings, and wham! the next day, you may be left a vegetable. I know it sounds pessimistic but sometimes we need thoughts like this one to remind us how precious the moment is, how lucky that we are healthy and how trivial our worries are compared to others. Then we will cherish life even more and live it to the fullest.

Life is full of uncertainty and what happened in life if beyond our control. But we can definitely control our approach towards life. It's a choice whether we want to stroll pass a day or make a mad dash pass it. It's a choice whether we choose to see the silver lining beyond the dark clouds or the grey shadows behind a bright sky. How we choose to live life is a choice. Remember. Be aware. It's a choice.. which means, it's in your hand, within your grasp...

P/s: At last the number of visits on my blog will reach the magical 1000. Whoever you are, if you are so lucky to be the 1000th visitor, leave a message for me yeah... ^_^

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