Just Learn
Ten months ago, I said goodbye to my friends, dropped everything, and moved to the other side of the globe to begin a new life. David Brooks calls this Third Chapter, Adulthood II, or what he prefers, Encore Years.
A rough plan in my head congealed in the last two years or so. I was going to write. Well, I haven’t been writing. The story that I wanted to tell in Boston seemed so flimsy and lacking in Taipei. Keeping busy, I took philosophy, Taiwanes, and Japanese classes. LinkedIn also distracted me with other life possibilities. I even considered that maybe I wasn’t meant to be a writer and didn’t have what it takes.
Then I read a couple of books that stopped time, watched movies that made me cry, and read my old blogs about the dream of creating something heartfelt.
“The only constant is change,” said Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Planning is invaluable; the only plan is to change, focusing on the future, and not the past.
If I can’t write yet, I can still learn. So I signed up for graduate writing classes again. Let me get help in reading and writing better.
Perhaps there will be more detours from writing, but I stepped back and reflected on the current state of my life: I’m a full-time student AGAIN. Let that sink in. How blessed is that? When all I needed to do as a kid/young person in life was to study, I didn’t appreciate how amazing and priceless that was. Now I do.
I’ll hold on to this thought for as long as it lasts.