Happy Birthday #27
The Other Side of 27
Dearest Friends, Countrymen, Fly Vixen and Sharp Refrains,
Brothers, Sisters, Sly Smilers of All Nation and Creed… Lend me your ears!
I am sitting in one of my favorite places to sit, a quaint tea house on the deck of a magnificent stone boat that is anchored on the edge of a still green pond surrounded by willow trees and pagodas. There is a rare blue Beijing sky spread empty and aloft above me, and the tranquil sound of a Chinese zither floating generously through the air.
It is one of those pleasure-days of autumn, relaxing and crisp, rich with color and lit by an afternoon sunshine that is strikingly (suspiciously!) golden.
I am 27 years-old as of yesterday, and I am happy to report that life on this side of the birthday is no less magnificent than a stone boat on a peaceful pond, that my days are as crisp and as colorful as autumn.
Last birthday and the birthday before, I wrote letters that reflected a degree of uncertainty and unease with the process of growing up… the creeping fear that maturation meant the end of exciting adventures and the slow dilution of passionate living. But on this birthday, I have to admit: growing up feels pretty good, and maturity has its advantages. The plucky confidence of a happy hobo without a care in the world has, after a somewhat un-confident transition, evolved into the plucky confidence of a happy professional with a bag full of dreams and some fairly feasible tools for making them come true.
A lot of this has to do with recent progress in my career as a Chinese-English interpreter; after a slow first-year on the freelance market, I’m starting to build a reputation and a client-base and get some pretty exciting opportunities; today I got the call to interpret for the Presidents of the European Union when they meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the EU-China Summit next week. Bilateral policy speeches by heads of state might not have held much appeal for me a couple of years ago when I was a raggedy backpacker focused only on the next campsite in the mountains, but indeed, my tastes have matured. The good news is that in maturing they have grown only broader, not narrower, and I am now able to draw pleasure from both the interpreter’s booth in the conference hall and the pup tent in the desert. If life is a cup full of passion, I’m drinking now with two straws.
Another perk I’ve been enjoying recently is an abundance of mobility: I have generous chunks of free time and am getting near the point at which regular intercontinental flight will be sustainable economically. Which of course clicks perfectly with my other great asset that I’ve enjoyed for so many years now: a corps of unbelievably dear, awesome loved ones (you!) that are spread around the world engaged in wild, passionate lives of your own that I am just dyin’ to share in.
So what I’m thinking is, let’s unpack some of those dreams are start making them happen! Let’s make some plans, take some trips, let’s adventure on as exciting grown-ups! Who wants to bicycle across Scandinavia with me next summer? Or take a road trip from West China into Pakistan? Who’s up for something wild and adventurous (and warm) in January? Mexico anyone? New Mexico? Taco-Bell at least?
This is an age of excitement on all fronts: globally, regionally, socially, personally, practically, existentially, technologically, spiritually and beyond. It’s an age of tranquil ponds and the highest of summits, willows that droop calmly by the pond or rage furiously in the wind. Let us seize it all with ever stronger arms, and gloat to the autumn sky that we share in the crispest of its blues and most ravishing of its sun-lit golds.
Stretch, smile, be happy, and grow.
Repeat.
Super mad love to all of you, and you know you gotta write me back!
Yours truly,
Jonathan
