A man whose wife died in a car crash is seemingly numb at first. He even tries to cry but found it hard. As it turned out, he was too unmindfully spaced out in the final days of their relationship. So much so, that he was uncertain of what he lost, whether he even loves her at all. With his life so suddenly and drastically changed, he had to vent his thoughts and emotions, however confused they were. He does so by corresponding ‘randomly’, via a complaint letter on a malfunctioning vending machine to an unseen public relations personnel. So detailed was his honest provision of background information that it piqued her interest as an empathetic friend to offer a listening ear.
Reminded of his last chat with his wife, who asked him to fix their leaking fridge, he attempts so. But as he went on and on, he simply took it all apart. It became his obsession, another venting outlet perhaps, to dismantle what he came across – from his office’s hanged computer to its squeaking toilet cubicle door, to a brand new coffee maker and even his house. It was as if the acting out of his mental breaking down, yet also to take apart to see what is wrong, to appreciate how things really worked. It was haphazard yet systematic physical and mental catharsis mixed with analysis – of his life and his relationships. It was meaningless destruction but also meaningful deconstruction.
Calling his possessions ‘just shiny stuff’ while smashing them with gleeful vehemence, he realised the spiritually empty nature of his material goods, that he craved but took for granted anyway. The extreme behaviour however, was part of his healing process, that made him more aware of relationships than of things, to rebuild his life from scratch. He encounters a carousel ride in disrepair, that he once rode with his wife, and remembers their genuine feelings towards each other, the essence of their love. With gratitude, he picks up the pieces of his shattered heart and life, reconstructs and names it after her, to commemorate her, restarting to share it with the world. May we too notice and treasure the details of the immaterial in our lives now… before we run out of time.
