[deleted]
All that, and then I realized, what is the point, then, of trying to make anything here in Vietnam? After all, it’s not my place, it’s not my land, it’s not my culture, and I don’t think the same way. Good to know this, so that I can remember what I do feel, think, and engage with well, and deeply. Mostly: good conversations. Sometimes over food.
‘You’re in Vietnam! I love the food’: what people say to me when they find out I am here
Food that is new, that’s always fun.
[deleted]
‘Eat.’
Right, then.
If I’m gonna be here another year, then, I might as well just slow it down, stop trying so hard to foist ‘innovative thinking’ around wherever I go here and simply stop. Take. My time. And enjoy it.
Here’s the journey, then.
So now, 2021, I’m ready for you. I can wait. I can take my time. I can be patient. I can extend my visa and lease month-to-month, indefinitely.
I’m okay with uncertainty, sure, that’s always been the case, especially when you grow up the way I did in the places where I did, because, [deleted].
Change is the only constant
But now I’m also okay with the loss of the framework of trying to ‘work’ my way out of my quiet time. I don’t care to build anything here. No network that I’ve tried to create is of high-value. You’re lucky if they show up for a first meeting; that’s been my experience. Maybe it’s too hard, speaking in English with me. There are exceptions, I am damn lucky to have met people like A and D who are helping me remember the parts of myself that people at home used to like: a new way of showing up, showing things, sharing ideas, and pushing the boundaries of what isn’t yet. Sometimes I think it’s philosophy. I used to pack it up here at DK as something called design, but no. It’s not that. I just want people to think.
To ask themselves questions.
So here I am.
‘You’re a real artist.’ People say this to me more often than I realize. Now I ought to pay attention to it. I can accept the compliment now.
I can say, ‘Thank you.’
Not once, not twice, but dozens of times over the trips I’ve taken in Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, and here in Vietnam, have said these words to me: You are a real artist. (I’m skipping some countries because I don’t want to write about all the things I’ve done and all the places I’ve been. Some insecure people might get angry and upset and toss weird notes towards me, to try to get me to stop shining so much. [deleted].) Which is why I don’t do that. It’s my party. I can do it the way I want. But behind closed doors, that’s more my thing.
Design. Discovery. Repeat..
Right, then 2021.
Bring it on.
Happy one-year anniversary in Vietnam, to me.
And soon, happy [deleted].
HT V. Cảm ơn. See you soon;), and MT in S., thank you, too.