Life and a Slice of Bread: Imprints

I was walking home last evening, happily dreaming in my own world, when I noticed very deep animal prints. There are a lot of animals where I live so it is not strange to see hoof, paw and other foot-like prints. But these ones were different. They were deep, almost like it was deliberate to leave them there. Like they wanted to leave behind something more permanent than just a print. Like they wanted to leave a mark. I was here and even if I will not be back, I was still here. It got me wondering, Do I leave footprints where I walk?

We seem to forget how deep a print we leave behind when we eventually walk away. Some times its like a print in the sand; a gentle breeze and it is gone. Some times its like those prints in the mud; deep and ingrained. We live in a generation where we are forever moving. Moving jobs, moving relationships, moving countries, moving homes, moving careers, just generally moving on. You end up leaving behind so much of yourself everywhere. So many memories, so many imprints, especially with the people who care most about you.

We leave things behind. Our clothes, our homes, our friends, our things. Everything we are, gets left behind every time we move. But its not the things that leave the imprints, its not about the cars and shoes and posters, but the memories that those things bring. The way we smile, the way we walk, the way we tilt our heads, the way we kiss, the total sum of our personalities. It is encompassed in the places we've been, the things we have and the words we say.

The computer I work on in the office is the slowest thing in this office. Partly because it is old but partly because it carries so much from so many people long gone. Most of these people mean nothing to me but sometimes a colleague will come to look for something on the machine and randomly drop an anecdote about the previous owner. That is because that is the footstep they were left with. The guy who used to never talk at the corner, the girl who used to argue with the boss, the head of department who always went home with the company car when it was needed,the intern who always had a witty comeback.

Imagine that is just the office. Now imagine what kind of impact you have had out there in the real world. Some times you are like a car crush. You walk away after leaving such chaos, you are absolutely impossible to forget. A black spot. (like my former boss *shivers*)Sometimes you are like a gentle hug. A place everyone wants to retreat back to. (like a beach) But regardless of how you decide to live your life, you move around living your footprints all over the place.

I had an ex-ish, a long, long time ago, who had just relocated from the UK, and he couldn't drive to save his own life. But that man loved the Prado. He constantly used to talk about, when he eventually learns how to drive, he would get himself a Prado. Nowadays, whenever I see a green Prado, my mind automatically remembers him. The Prado was what he imprinted in my mind. And this is someone I haven't seen in almost a decade. There are much bigger and more important people that have featured in my life since then and just entering into a club, or seeing a mutual friend, sends me down memory lane. Just someone who looks remotely like them, or a certain smell will put a smile on my face.

We need to be careful where we put our feet and what kind of print we want to leave in our wake. We may not know it, but people are talking about you long after you have left. The guy who used to abuse the watchman, the girl who wore shoes way too high, the pal who is forever taking photos, the friend of a friend who drove a tad too fast from the club and climbed on the planters. Always when a story is being told, you shall reappear in people's minds. In people's thoughts. But you have to think about the kind of depth you have left behind, what kind of print you make, is entirely up to you. You never know how much you have lived until you have actually left.