Sunsets
One dinner in September over half a glass of wine, I decided to join my life partner on a 3 month stay in Thailand. The longest I had been away from home was 1 month in S.Korea on a summer exchange programme. We were both skeptical that I would actually commit.
It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve been in Phuket and we will be setting off to Chiang Mai tomorrow morning. Needless to say, I am incredibly proud of myself just for being here. The nightmare of long-stay visa application and COVID travel requirements aside, this is my first time living away from home, my first time living with someone who isn’t family (yet? hehe), and the first time having to manage a household. I cannot be more thankful to my mom, granny, and helper (who’s a second mom really) for everything they do at home, and I miss them dearly.
But I’ve also had another important ‘first’: scuba diving.
We had a free day and decided to visit Phi Phi Island (pronounced Pi Pi) for the beautiful beach and maybe do a water activity. It’s a small island an hour away from mainland Phuket if you take the speedboat. While my partner has been diving since young, I am a weak swimmer. But I really really wanted to look at that marine life and I’m so glad we did it.
There is nothing that replaces the peace and quiet from being underwater, watching the fishes going about their morning. Watching life thrive on the seabed was humbling- who am I and what are my problems in the face of nature? We often forget how powerful nature is- the currents, the waves, the sharks (yes, we saw 2!!). We often forget how beautiful nature is- the corals, the neon fishes, the seashells. We often forget our place in the world.
Today, as we stopped to admire the last beach sunset for awhile, I was taken aback by the sheer glory in an overlooked everyday phenomenon. No matter how many sunsets I witness, I will never be able to replicate the way the colours blend. I was reminded of the neon fish I saw, the way the colours shifted as I swam by, the way they balanced and complemented each other even though each colour was so intense on its own. I remembered how this one coral has lines all over it like a ball of yarn that’s been unravelled into a maze but so neatly messy.
I wish I had the clips of the dive of us swimming through the schools of fishes (I was chasing them really because I wanted to be part of the gang) and just saying hi to the bustling life that morning. Till then, I hope I can continue to draw inspiration from the daily simple around me and bring that to my designs and work.
