2024 First Quarter Reflections
Blessed with a seat against the windowpanes overlooking Repulse Bay, I enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in Southern Hong Kong Island. Hopping onto Bus #6 has become a happy ritual for me after exams. It transports passengers from the hectic Wanchai to the tranquil beaches of Southern Hong Kong Island within 15 minutes, blessing us with a panorama of sea view that refreshens the mind and spirit. Sea gazing into the far horizons helps me fathom future moments in time and plan ahead, as I place a notebook on my lap, lean against the wooden benches, and gaze into the shores. The first quarter of 2024 has been a transitional phase as I wrap up current stage responsibilities and prepare for the chapter ahead. It is exhilarating to fathom future changes but can also be overwhelming to leave the familiar rituals in Hong Kong.
Standard Chartered marathon 2024
It felt great to be back on the tracks again. Running the Standard Chartered marathon for the second time in 2024 January felt familiar and different — the scale of the competition was increased this year, there were foreign participants, and the passage of time reminded me that this may be the last race in Hong Kong (for a while?) — until the next time! Running brings back memories of growth and transition for me, one that was not always smooth and linear. Phases of youthful endeavor, obstinate perseverance, painful revelations, and resilient maturity did not come easy, but I am grateful for my learning journey with running.
Chinese ink painting classes
書畫同源; I signed up for Chinese ink painting classes in the end of 2023, and enjoyed appreciating and learning this beautiful art. The course was separated into 3 parts each with 8 sessions), with the first part focused on 花鳥 (Birds and flowers), which presented paintings with wider ranges of colors on the palette. The second and third parts were focused on 山水 (mountains, trees, and sea/rivers), and we painted trees and rocks with different shades of ink. I enjoyed the latter sessions of capturing the different types of trees — pines, cypresses, bamboos, willows, maples, chestnuts, oaks — with the magic of ink and water.
The course was taught by a tranquil artist in her sixties with around 8 other local classmates, so the classroom ambiance was something I’ve never experienced before. The local classmates (mostly ladies) enjoyed chatting “a lot”, the energy and chatting was to an extent that you would never experience in Taiwanese societies. They could chat about any topic, nonstop, with the passion of conversation and debate itself. I enjoyed chatting and listening to the teacher as she was a tranquil and steadying presence, and shared her thoughts on learning about painting. 「可以眼高手低」- you can learn how to appreciate artworks by looking at many tableaus and becoming an expert first, and gradually learn how to paint yourself. Practice makes perfect, and she encouraged us to visit the numerous exhibitions in Hong Kong, read art periodicals, and practice more at home.
Mindfulness course with ******* (MBCT-L)
“Meditation is the only intentional, systematic human activity which at bottom is about not trying to improve yourself or get anywhere else, but simply to realize where you already are.” — Jon Kabat -Zinn. Book Review: Wherever you go, there you are (Jon Kabat Zinn)
“Why am I here?” “What would I want to achieve?” “How am I feeling?” These were questions that the teacher asked us in the beginning of the course. Our mindfulness journeys starts from our own self-initiatives — personal aspirations of interest in integrating mindfulness into our daily lives. I was grateful to have met the course instructor ******* and 6 fellow classmates, who were all enthusiastic learners about mindfulness and respectful in sharing our experiences in sentiments and emotions felt through the practice.
I am still a learner of the virtues of slowing down with quiet focus. At times, we enjoy the accomplishment of finishing our tasks efficiently — we bring the mentality from work, and it spreads to other aspects of our lives including our personal relationships, our curious endeavors, and long-term aspirations. We are sometimes in “autopilot” mode — hitting enter in a hurry just to regret what we have delivered or not focusing on conversations with others as our mind wanders. I would like to bring more mindfulness — focus and calm at the present moment — to daily life. Especially interpersonal relationships, long-term planning, and challenging endeavors.
When practicing some of the mindful practices, I found that the mind wanders — sometimes ruminating over past moments and oftentimes planning ahead. It rarely stays at the present moment, and it is sensitive to all types of emotions. With certain steadying anchors, gratefulness practices, and pauses in daily life, we learn to slow down, bring more perspective and empathy to ourselves, anchor ourselves with awareness — and bring that awareness to different aspects of our daily life. Thankful for the learning journey.
Trip to 司馬庫斯
I enjoyed the Chinese New Year trip to 司馬庫斯 with family in February — right before the cherry blossom peak season. It has been a while since our last family trip, although I’ve visited home more frequently in 2024. I was grateful for the warm togetherness of family, being present, and enjoying the simple abundance of nature. 司馬庫斯 is situated in the mountainous areas of rural Hsinchu county, and the 3.5 drive from Taichung was quite a drive. The 1 hour of twists and turns in the mountain roads with bad road conditions can easily send passengers in the backseat carsick, but visiting the beautiful tribe was well worth the bumpy ride.
We were blessed with good weather and a small crowd — we stayed in the tribe for 3 days and 2 nights, which blessed us with a slow pace to savor the beauties of the tribe, and we hiked most of the mountain routes of the tribe (most visitors only stay overnight). With the familiarity and ease of the mountain tracks, we were able to unwind and relax happily, without the apprehension before a challenging hike or unfamiliar terrain.
As time passes, our life stages transcend — I was very grateful to see the growth and transformation of bro — confidence, aligning values with his endeavors, and curiosity to explore different domains…from sharing his extracurriculars, initial career thoughts, and our lame and teasing jokes. We remember the little things — how he slipped a small souvenir from me into his backpack before he departed for school, the small wave goodbye at the door, the look in the eye, and the warm togetherness of each family chat despite the family being in 3 different locations today.
Books read: Great expectations, The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin: An American life
Great Expectations is another classic coming-of-age literature that I enjoyed reading this quarter. I enjoy stories such as Main Street, the Cather in the Rye, and Educated, which gives us perspective from reading the growth and struggles of the young protagonist. These great stories all link readers through ageless themes of human nature — we find ourselves in the story, we remember the “child” inside us, and we reflect how we’ve changed from there. Book review link
I read “The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” a second time, and felt more connected with the character and events compared with my first read 3 years ago. Back then, I knew nothing about Pennsylvania, the significance of Benjamin Franklin to US history, and did not know that he was founder of the University of Pennsylvania. His autobiography narrative was not extremely captivating to me in my first read, as he recounts his story linearly from a youthful printer to the higher ranks of business and politics. Reading the autobiography together a few years later with the famous biography written by Walter Isaacson (Benjamin Franklin: An American life) was much more interesting, as readers observe the same events narrated in different perspectives. I enjoyed Walter Isaacson’s writing style — staying with factual events and providing a critical eye that flows naturally with the biography.
