I have this habit—good or bad, that I haven’t decided yet. I don’t say “goodbye” when saying goodbye. I’m not alone in this, I’m sure. Chances are, you do the same thing. Instead, we say, “When do I see you again?” or “Let’s do this again soon” or “See you next time.” In Chinese, the word for “goodbye” is “再见” (zài jiàn), which, when literally translated character by character, means “see you again.” I think of it as a soft goodbye. I doubt this was intentional, but the idealistic and romantic parts of me like to believe it was. It’s soothing, knowing that there’s a next time. However, I’ve also learned of the harm it brings—next time is never promised. Everyone knows this but we’re hardly ever aware of it, or maybe we’d just rather not admit it. Not even to ourselves. Meanwhile, this current moment is simply “next time” from some time in the past.
Next time
