Visiting my old school and meeting my teachers is a fulfilling and heart-warming experience. But visiting the same school building after my teachers have retired or moved on feels different. It is no longer about connection; it is about revisiting memories and reliving fragments of the past.
The same is true when visiting my grandparents’ home in their absence. The house still stands, but what remains are only signs—rooms, objects, and silence—that help us recall what once was.
We often collect things for the people we love. Yet these things are merely signs. They point toward the relationship, but they are not the relationship itself.
Our real connection is always with people, not with places or possessions. The risk is that, without noticing, we begin to prioritise collecting signs over living the relationship. We trade presence for preservation. We substitute accumulation for connection.
When the people we love are no longer in our lives, we have no choice but to rely on signs to keep memories alive. Until then, signs should never replace presence.
Ultimately, this is a question of priority. Wisdom lies in noticing what we gain—and what we quietly lose—with every choice we make.
