Departures and Everlasting Connections

As I delve into my limited vocabulary, I struggle to articulate the profound impact of life's constant flux and the transience that surrounds us. Like many, I always  find myself absorbed in my small world, seldom pausing to ponder the shifts and lessons of impermanence unfolding in my midst.

The impact of this realization jolted me out of my carefree, happy-go-lucky state of mind on that icy night in Thimphu as I walked home from town. It felt like an eternity since I had last traversed this familiar path. “Chilly" would be a major understatement; the cutting wind sliced through my face, and my ears felt on the verge of freezing off.

So, reflecting on recent conversations with a friend during our stroll along the familiar Thimphu highway, I could still feel the unchanging cold, the well-trodden path, and the passing vehicles—only the friend, the season, and our dialogue had shifted. 

I began to comprehend the weight of people departing, seeking better opportunities in foreign lands. Many of the people I knew and some of my closest friends are in a country, far from home, doing the best of what they can for their family and in the larger picture, the country. Well, as much as they may be missing home, I sense that the chilly winds of our country are also longing to hug them. 

Recalling the lesson from my science class, where I learned that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but only transferred, I realized that, in various ways, we undergo transitions from one state to another. So this to everyone, and all of you out there in Australia, Canada and UK, here's to change, embracing both its good and bad, and the determination that propels us forward.