The joy as it flies

As I look back on my time in Taiwan I feel as if  I have learned so much, but I need to reflect on it, consolidate it so that such rich nutrition can be properly digested.  The images of places, the food and the kaleidoscope of sense impressions all tend to overwhelm my memory.  Yet it is not the external impressions which hold the greater significance.  What really endures is the relationships with so many different people.  Some encounters were short, some longer.  Some encounters were shallow, but some ran deep and strong.
    I feel a reluctance to use names at this point.  Maybe its better to create fictional characters who can embody various aspects of humanity without having to worry about misrepresenting or offending actual people.  I have seen tremendous kindness expressed not only in small expressions of consideration and also in extravagant generosity that can only be explained as genuine compassion.  I have also seen stunning demonstrations of pettiness and blatant dishonesty.  Who are the Taiwanese people?  Well, of course, like all other people they contain within them elements of light and darkness.  In all of this I have been aware of the mirror factor.  I perceive other people in terms of my own experience.  I interpret their words and behaviour in the context of the way my own mind works.  So it has been transcendently joyful and at times deeply painful.
    Possibly I have learned a lot about Taiwan, but certainly I have learned a lot about myself.  A central theme has been to honour the power and importance of the present moment.  At times when I have been able to set aside the biases of memory I have been able to experience life anew, like the brightness of the sunlit streets in the late afternoon following a heavy fall of rain. Still, talking about the power of the present moment - its all about the people.
   Tonight was the TTC inauguration party.  Taichung Toastmasters.  I took my Mongolian friends Beima and Arje.  Beima is an attractive young lady who speaks very good English.  She also has lots of Toastmasters experience in Mongolia and loved the whole thing.  The night was vintage TTC.  It had excellent speeches, musical entertainment, special guests and lots of laughter and fun.  We ended up in a kind of Taiwanese folk dance - a TTC family of 40 or so people.  It made me feel very much at home in my new home.  Ironic that my departure from Taiwan is now drawing near.  Ironic, but typical of my path.  Kiss the joy as it flies.