A Perfect World

In everyone’s mind, there is a perfect world. Some name it Utopia, some prefer Shangri-La, and many more call it Haven. Now, movie goers find their dreamland, it is called Pandora.

A perfect world is supposed to be a place where sadness and agony find no room to exist, and people inhale not only oxygen but also happiness. It is a land where evil eludes and ugliness evades. Unfortunately, such a place does not exist on our planet Earth. Although there are times when we feel like we are standing on top of the world, before long the reality will find us and knock us right back down to the ground. Being a man with excessive passion, I find it torturing when I see misery or injustice while I could do nothing about it. And the game of chasing money seems to be a tiring marathon that never ends. In our ugly world, happiness is believed to be bound only with material comforts. In many sleepless nights, I wished when the world woke up from darkness, all the unpleasant things would be gone forever. Every time I was deeply disappointed. So, yes, I too have a Shangri-La in my mind.

Days ago I found my Promised Land!

Like many viewers did, when I walked out of the theater after having just watched the movie Avatar on the big screen, I realized only my physical body had left, my soul did not come alone, it stayed on Pandora—a moon created by James Cameron. For many days after then, I had lived like a heartless mummy as my soul refused to come back from a place it felt right at home. On Pandora, everything is so pretty, the land, the animals, the plants, on the ground or under the water, and the people’s hearts. The Na’vi live in harmony with Mother Nature, there is no material stuff, hence no greed among them. Their blue skin makes them look so pure, like their crystal-clear minds. This, I thought, was my Heaven, and I wanted to be a Na’vi.

Last Saturday, as it was chilly and wet outside, my family and I decided to stay at home. After enjoying the movies we rented, we had plenty of time to kill. We did nothing particular but we had a good time, like we always do. While I was watching my family playing with Kiwi and listening to their laughter, suddenly I felt like I had just been hammered on the head. Isn’t this my perfect world ahead of me? I have a beautiful wife, an adorable daughter and a lovely kitten, and there is nothing else between us but love. We are so closely knitted, this is my Happyland! But, wait a minute, is it only because I am fairly wealthy? I closed my eyes imagining I were a poor man, the picture loomed in my head was a shabby house with worn furniture, the clothes my family wore were ragged but the smiles on their faces were equally bright. We were still a happy family! I opened my eyes again and I saw the glowing trees and grasses like the ones on Pandora, with those cute midget jellyfish flying everywhere. I realized I have been living in my own perfect world all along.

Yes, this is my Pandora and I AM a Na’vi inside my house, outside, it is my Avatar engaging with human beings in the city jungle. I thank God for giving me my perfect world, and I will do everything in my power to protect it.