Boarding the Plane; On Reactions (T-1)
A short deluge of thoughts before it begins
I’m at the SFO airport sitting at my gate, listening to endless announcements paging passengers. From where i’m sitting, I have a great view of the moon. Today, only its underbelly is lit. It looks like a gold ingot, or a bowl of something worth savouring. Noodles, maybe.
Although I’ve been preparing for this trip for a few months, the real work begins now. Like all journeys, you can’t exactly plan to encounter the unexpected. You can’t plan to make right or wrong decisions. You can’t plan to get food poisoning, or plan to miss a train. You also can’t plan encounter birds in the middle of their migration journey, especially when they’re heavily endangered. You can, however, control the ways in which you react to situations. My dad likes to tell me that I should remain rational and calm under any and every circumstance: he often tells me to have a “宁静的心态” (tranquility of the heart and mind). This is crucial at all junctures of life, but particularly in high stress situations. On this trip, I will live by this principle and approach every issue with patience, by and through my entire body.
I’ve already spoken a little bit about some of the challenges that I’ll be facing on this trip (particularly to do with language and the remoteness of my final destination). There is one other challenge that I’ll be confronting during this trip: the absence of distraction. In our day-to-day lives, dstractions are common and all-encompassing. It’s easy to drown in the endless stream of content on our phones. Over these 2 weeks, I’ll be challenging myself to sit in my thoughts, amuse myself with papers about the Red Crowned Crane which are downloaded on my computer, read the book I’ve brought, Norwegian Wood, or finish knitting the neck warmers that I’m making for my great Aunt and great Uncle. Above all, i’m excited to steep myself in Nature and appreciate the fullness of its beauty.
Regardless of what lies ahead, I’m comforted knowing that I will see the same moon as the rest of the world each night. The same sky remains. We aren’t all that far away.
Boarding begins in 1 minutes. I have to go now, but if all goes well, I’ll be writing and posting an update once I’ve landed and settled in Yancheng in about 22-ish hours. I can’t wait to tell you guys all about the trip there!
End of Log.