Reimagine Life

May we all celebrate every beginning of the day with such a gorgeous pink-orangey sunrise.

It doest appear at the first glance that the sun rotates with the changing of the seasons. We might remember in that that we rotate with the earth and perceive everything in a new light. And even going further, I love the idea of internal rotation, when we notice the cycles of life, we become less resistant to them and we can even embrace them with all they bring.

A similar approach with harvest times of a well loved garden. We could go every day and find something to pick, we could wait for some fruits to ripe and fall, we could be sad that the hail stormed heavily and perhaps some harvests would not make it fully, or we could notice the draught and make plans to change the way we do things next year. There might be ways and solutions. Or there might be what it is and we just sit with it.

I would love to start with celebrating this moment together. The harvest time. The metaphorical time of harvest as I love to go through my dreams and see what has been brought to life. And this time, we celebrate one year since we said hello on Substack. We might celebrate as you can see with sunrises and sunsets and beautiful filters or orange and pinks. Such a staple for Hong Kong. A time to enjoy the magnificence of nature. To catch a glimpse of our city at dusk it require precision, managing time efficiently to catch this limited edition of light transforming everything that it touches. So cheers to that, cheers to me catching a ferry ride at the most glorious time for our city.

You might remember I have set up on this path of writing publicly as a part of my promise to someone dear to try something different every year in September as a way of remembering, as a a way of saying “Yes to life”, as a way to mark a moment of sadness perhaps thought the lenses of reinventing myself and hopefully inspire others to do so.

It might not be as an easy task as I would like to see it. And the reasons are simply because I prefer authenticity and full engagement when I show up here. As opposite to “having to be here 1000 percent”, religiously every weekend. For me it is a matter or internal resources reflected though light, joy and feeling it when I transmute these words in this space. You know by now I hope and your understanding for my few absences is very well received.

On the other hand, what I could notice while looking back to all my post-its on my walls and desk, is that I do write religiously, constantly, everywhere. Only putting few things in order today, I came to marvel at my natural extension of always having a pen, paper, post-its, notebooks at hand and really going for it.

It is recommended by all means to marvel at our own way of being.

And this is this is perhaps the most meaningful thing I wanted to share with you today and what I mean by reimagining life.

There are so many affirmations around us reminding us to “start anew everyday” and I do believe in the power of this concept. Start mindfully anew. As a celebration. Start gratefully anew. And never stop marvelling at your own way of being. Never stop marvelling at your resilience.At how far you have come. At how many others have been on a similar path before you. It does help not to feel alone and embracing these very moments also with people who hold you in so many ways, everyday.

September marks a time of reconnection, a very personal dynamic, a time of re-thinking and re-feeling what it matters most.

It has made its mark through a loss, and the dent that is there, the dent where the light comes pouring out is quite fascinating. There are moments of pure darkness and upheaval, as it all that moment of deep loss is coming back with all its details. There are moment of emotional upheaval by simply turning, rotating this moment around towards a sunrise and finding the courage to speak about it.

I have chosen in the past to perhaps share marking milestones in my life in smaller groups, in very very small groups. Share what happened is one thing. Share how you feel about it is another thing. Share how this has transformed you and the revelations it has brought along the years is another thing.

The power of being heard and seen by another one is magnificent. Truly so. And all these moments are this rare collections on gems. In all its colours, and variations, sizes and shapes. No moment is the same. No interaction is the same. I always say though - “I hope from the bottom of my heart, that I can return this ten thousand folds and I can be there for my friends and family when the time comes” .

This time in September it would be marked by another milestone. As a part of a mindfulness sangha I come together with like-minded people and we sit, meditate, listen to each other every Monday. This is a space where safety, trust and kindness prevail. We know nothing about our lives. We come from everywhere around the world. Not only that we show up, but we witness how much the same we are, we witness we go through similar transformations, we share what we feel we can share and we are there for one hour every Monday.

As a part of the same promise I hold,I wanted to do something different on 23rd of September that happen to fall on such a Monday.

I could never envisaged the strength to find to be able to speak properly without breaking down and with a lot of patience, my small pod has listened to me and heard my tears and everything. Their love came pouring in. That first step on bringing my emotions out-loud has helped me even more in pulling myself together and share to the larger group and mentor a moment of remembering.

I still have goosebumps when I think about the response, the voices of all my peers coming through, the encouragements and messages pouring down on the chat.

I am not so sure if I could manage to relay such an emotion here. I am not sure If I am ready to relay all that intensity and make my heart expand and grow in unspeakable ways. This is a moment where the time stops. I thought that the time stops before only when one soul leaves this earth. But I could say more convinced than ever, that time stops when love pours in in very unexpected ways. It might require to open a little gate, to open a little gate in your fragile, protected self. And that is why we have courage though.

It is a start though. I feel it as a start.

I would say however, that these forums exist. These forums are around us or far from us, yet available with the technology we have today. Such forums can bring a lot of loving-kindness, a lot of soothing healing to whatever upheaval you might be going through.

It is an encouragement simply to say, if you would like to find a similar platform, never stop searching for it. No matter what your interests are, no matter how you would like to connect, there are communities now available some next door to you and some just online. Keep looking and you shall find.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for staying with me on this journey for one year now.

I would like to close with this quote from Thomas Moore.

Thomas Moore,The Eloquence of Silence

“Instead of awareness and consciousness you mau need an approach that is midway between waking and sleeping of that consists of both. This is where imagination and images come to play.If you can find someone with whom you can tell your story and feel heard, that may be more effective that turning to someone who will give you an explanation for what is going on. Sleep is largely dreaming ,and it is the dream that gives real insight into the dramas playing out in life.You may have to be dreamier rather than more analytical.Life might be more pleasurable if you were to live in a dream state than if you try hard to be awake and aware.”

Very very grateful for you, dear friends!

Keep dreaming of the magnificence of every day and start anew ….