Metaphysics
The most profound moments in my life have been those where I experienced a shift in the metaphysical shape of something.
I experienced one of those profound shifts on Wednesday night when my closest expatriate friends headed to Shenzhen on an overnight bus to leave China. I realized the day after that everything was different, which would seem to be a fairly normal response to losing the company of your best friends. But this was different. Everything was different. So much so, in fact, that I realized Yangshuo for me, thus far, hasn’t been a place at all. It’s been a group of friends. Everything I’ve experienced has happened through the lens of experiencing it with my friends. And thus, for me, Yangshuo, so far, has been a group of people!
One person in particular, Simon, was really a great friend. We were kind of bonded at the hip for the last month, and I really couldn’t have asked for a better partner through all this craziness. I really, really will miss him, perhaps more than anyone else in my entire life. I remember when I first met him I heard the story of how he just started following Myriam and Kike (two other good friends I met in Yangshuo) around the world, and I wondered how anyone could give up the extreme freedom of global travel for the compromise of traveling in a group. Phew, now I understand how it’s possible! It’s not the places you go; it’s the people you’re with. If you’re fortunate enough to find some awesome people, don’t let them go!
Anyway, it’s a bit of a double edged sword, or (is there a proper analogy for this?) perhaps it’s a sword and a shield together. My friends leaving was painful, but now I get to experience Yangshuo all over again. And that sense of discovery is always exciting!
Location:069 Country Rd,Guilin,China
