Décollage

Image courtesy of Suet Wei. Taken at Secret Recipe this afternoon.

« Retomber pour un décollage, sans altitude.
Je m’échappe dans mon coquillage, par certitude. »
___________ Alizée, "Décollage", Psychédélices (2007)

I always think about how dad services aircrafts so that they would be ready to fly. It comes with its pains. Servicing engines, changing oil and machine parts, sometimes in extreme conditions, can make your fingers and body parts bleed. And being subject to the elements makes you tired and weary after an honest day's work. But at the end of the day, the plane which is being serviced has to be in top shape, without the slightest minor defect, because you're dealing with lives - and not just one or two lives, but tens, possibly hundreds, of lives, and just leaving a piece of masking tape on the air vent can spell disaster.

Life, in itself, seems to be a flight, or a "décollage" - takeoff - in itself. You are the plane. Your parents, teachers, friends and loved ones are the engineers that determine whether you are flight-worthy. And thus, "servicing" you comes with its pains and joys. As much as love heals, love hurts. But the whole point of getting you fine-tuned is so that one day, when you get on the runway, you're ready for takeoff.

And when you take off, you explore new places and new things, you get to know new people, you broaden your horizons... and ultimately, you spread your wings and live your dreams.

Then, it will be your turn to care for the people around you and keep them safe, just as an aircraft is designed to keep all passengers and flight crew safe. What you make of your life depends on how many "technical errors" you have committed - of course, you wouldn't want your plane to crash in mid-air or in the water. You'd want your plane to land safely at your final destination.

I got this analogy after taking a look at this picture taken by my fellow morte-vivante plastique at Secret Recipe. Even the plate was glowing. ^_^ When I first looked at it, I had the impression that I was in an airport lounge, sipping my drink and getting ready for my flight, whilst the sun shone down on me (I love this shot so much, Suet Wei, merci beaucoup !).