Introduction

I was recently remembering a story within the story of The Alchemist about the boy who is sent throughout a magnificent castle with a spoonful of oil.  He was told not to spill a drop, but to enjoy the wonder and beauty of the castle.  He was so worried about spilling that he didn't see a thing.  The second time around he became lost in the beauty and spilled all but a few drops.  That's our challenge in life and that is the story behind the title of this blog.  In fact, I hope that it will help me to remain cognizant of the wonder that surrounds us while staying focused on my task.

   

"How can I tell if love of life is not a delusion?  How can I tell whether a person who fears death is not like one who has left home and dreads returning?  Lady  Li was the daughter of a border guard of Ai.  When the Duke of Chin first took her captive, she wept until her dress was soaked with tears.  But once she was living in the Duke's palace, sharing his bed and eating delicious food, she wondered why she had ever cried.  How can I tell whether the dead are not amazed that they ever clung to life?"

from Chuang Tsu: Inner Chapters by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English

On April 10th, Good Friday, Cece and I return to the US.  Our departure from Thailand after 10 years marks a certain culmination of one part of our story where we have learned, suffered, celebrated and been transformed.  Anyone who has ever asked why we came to Thailand knows that it was not our first choice.  It wasn't even our fifth choice.  In fact, it was nowhere on our list of choices.  Other than a vague interest in Asia and World Religions we had no idea what to expect.  Again we find ourselves strangely, but clearly called.  It is time to return home.  Of course, home is no longer the same as the one we left, just as we are no longer the same people as when we left.  We need not look any further than Cece's beautiful belly and the life growing inside.  But there has been new life and transformation in less obvious ways as well.  In these articles,  I hope to chronicle a bit of our lives in Asia while focusing on the beautiful and intense, but often traumatic experience of transition.