Live up to life and live well

A Meaningful Life (《一生有意義》)

Performer: TAM Po-sherk (Chinese vertical bamboo flute, 譚寶碩—洞簫) / Barry Chung (Guitar, 結他-鍾慶鴻) / Damon Lau (Piano, 鋼琴-劉俊廷) Selected from New Century Workshop's Album "Heroes Across the Land (《俠行天下》)"

An elderly woman selling flowers sets up her stall on the pedestrian overpass every day, with small plastic bags of white magnolia flowers arranged in her bamboo basket.

On this rainy day, as I passed by the overpass, I saw the old woman still selling her flowers.

"In this rainy weather, you still come out to sell flowers?" I asked.

The old woman replied: "These flowers were picked this morning, and flowers wait for no one. If I don't sell them today, they'll wilt by tomorrow." She picked up a packet of flowers and gently wiped away the water droplets on the bag.

I bought two bunches and returned home to put the white magnolias in a glass vase.

The rain had stopped at some point, and the slanting sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the petals.

A lifetime of moments and romance, all following nature's course, without forcing anything.

Content in poverty, content in prosperity.

The sun rises high to three bamboo poles, yet I still sleep soundly alone.

If you ask who is an immortal, who else but me?

(一生風月且隨緣，窮也悠然，達也悠然。

日高三丈我獨眠，不是神仙，誰是神仙？)

——QIAN Decang (錢德蒼)

Calligraphy: TAM Po-shek

 

I suddenly thought, what does it mean to not let life down? Perhaps it's just like this—like these white magnolia flowers, blooming when they should bloom, regardless of whether tomorrow brings sunshine or rain. Like this old woman, selling flowers when she should sell flowers, even in the rain, bringing freshness to every flower lover.

Flowers don't wait for people, and people don't wait for people either.

The way to not let life down turns out to be this simple—do well what you should do, and live your days well.

Outside the window, the last rays of sunlight faded away, and the white magnolia blossoms gave off a faint fragrance.

Sitting alone in the deep bamboo grove, a gentle breeze passes through, bamboo leaves sway softly.

Concentrating with a calm mind, forgetting all worries, my heart is filled with peace, free from sorrow.

Living each day in such tranquility, slowly savoring tea, I brew the years into something tender and unhurried.

(閒來無事對閒花，幽篁獨坐萬竹拂。

凝神忘慮心無憂，輕煮歲月慢煮茶。)

——Anonymous Poem

Calligraphy: TAM Po-shek

Live, and live well.

Life has never been a race, but a journey that needs to be experienced with heart.

We are always accustomed to placing our hopes of not letting life down in grand goals—to achieve fame and success, to do earth-shattering things—yet we forget that life's truest essence is hidden in each day's simple meals, in the evening's touch of sunset glow, in the faint fragrance of flowers, in every moment of being alive.

The world is ever-changing; cherish the present moment.

Such is the nature of things, and so too are the connections in life.

(世事常變，珍惜當下。

事物如此，人生的緣分亦然。)

Calligraphy: TAM Po-she

It turns out that not letting life down has never been about living like a legend, but about learning to cherish—cherishing every ordinary day, cherishing the people and things around us, letting every moment be infused with warmth.

Living well is not about compromise or settling; when we learn to settle our body and mind in the earthly atmosphere, and find joy in the trivial aspects of life, that is paying the deepest respect to life itself.