“The Departure Lounge”

There are times in life when it feels like we are “on borrowed time” somewhere. It could be in a relationship, or at a workplace, or even at a house. The moment we realise that time is running out, and soon, we will have to move on.

I have often been fascinated at the thought of leaving a city; what makes us get up and move on from the urban habitat that we call home for so long? Often, I feel it’s the things going on around me that indicate when it might be time to move. Friends move on, cities change, and we are left standing in a place that was once familiar, but is now just a colourless shell of its former self. It’s a strange, empty feeling of loss, a sense of an era ending.

After all, what is a city but for the people who make it? And what are our public lives but for those who populate them? And when people move on, out of our cities (both physical and metaphorical), we are faced with a decision; to remain, or to move with the times. And until we decide, we wait. Too late to start something new, too early to bank on the next path. I call this place “The Departure Lounge”. The time when you know; it’s nearly time to go.

Kate Bush alluded to this when she sang;

“Somewhere in between
Breathing out and breathing in
Like twilight is neither night nor morning”

The place where you can either retreat, or move forward. But instead we stand, and wait, at the end of one chapter, waiting for the next to begin.

(Image: Ivan Bandura, Wikimedia Commons)

I’m also reminded of an episode of a television series I have watched, in which the main character wonders about fate, and the people who come into and out of our lives.

“Maybe our mistakes are what make our fate. Without them, what would shape our lives? Perhaps if we never veered off course we wouldn’t fall in love, or have babies, or be who we are. After all, seasons change. So do cites. People come into your life and people go. But it’s comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart. And if you’re very lucky, a plane ride away.”