Paris, I Am Back
Every time the earth of Paris awakens and cherry blossoms bloom in profusion, I return. Spring scenery at the Paris Botanical Garden.
In recent years, I have become a migratory bird. When the autumn air is crisp and clear in Paris in the Northern Hemisphere, I fly far away like a migratory bird, returning to my dream homeland near the Tropic of Cancer. Thanks to the convenience of modern aviation, it takes only ten-plus hours to travel freely between Paris—my home—and my hometown. I feel deeply blessed by this. Every time the earth of Paris awakens and all things are renewed, around Easter, migratory birds return to their nests. My beloved Paris remains charming. Paris, I am back.
Wandering between East and West, there is no direction for home or hometown; here and there have no temporality or sense of distance. They both reside in my heart, locatable at any time. A home can be established, but a hometown is eternal. Within the hometown, a new home is created. With two places as homes, does the concept of a migratory bird still exist? When here is there, how is the calculation of time and space possible? In such existence, the place where one is becomes one’s hometown and even one’s home. Under globalization, mobility is inevitable, but a sense of belonging becomes an existential consciousness. To find peace in one’s place, “being” is everything. Although the scenery differs, life remains in its field as it is.
I left Taiwan; Paris, I am back. There is leaving, and there is returning. Parting is for deeper love; parting is for going home. It is only when one cannot find the road home or cannot locate the hometown that the pain of separation arises. When coming and going is trivial, everything is sweet and free. I leave with a grateful heart in an embrace, and I return with an equal heart to embrace. The kinship and love of human parting and returning exist in consciousness and experience growth. I embrace my home and embrace my hometown; both hold my affection and deep love.
Under the praise of Paris spring, I return again. Although the weather is still a bit cold, the warm enthusiasm is enough to warm my heart. Paris still holds my dreams. Continuing to sing passionately within love and dreams, I unfold my life in Paris.