The lost & found, translated…
There is, a very delicate wood carving in my home, it was, the house’s former owner (the art teacher of a certain high school) left before she immigrated to another country. I’d loved handcrafts, back then, I’d not treated it as garbage and gotten rid of it, it’s still right there, by my lamp, accompanied me, for about twenty whole years as I sat in front of the desk, reading and writing.
how the process began, not my photograph…
Other than the handicrafts, I’d also, loved doodling, but, for the sake of making ends meet and survival, during that era when money wasn’t easy to come by, I can only, choose a major, that would give me a better chance at finding a good job after graduation. But, after I’d started working awhile, I’d started taking up courses at the Arts University to live out my own dreams.
I’d recalled one morning, as I was rushing to my elective course for Arts Management, as I was preparing my notebook, I’d, accidentally, tipped over the wood carving on my desk, and, I was surprised, to find, that the maker’s name, carved at the back, was the same as my professor’s.
And so, I’d, picked up the carving, took it with me, to class. Before class started, I’d discussed the matter with my fellow classmates, they’d all shook their heads in disbelief, could it, really, belong to our instructor? A classmate came up with the idea, of putting on a skit, with the copied prints of the carving for the professor to view, asking the professor, to tell us about it. And, my instructor told us, that back in his high school years, he’d made a project, with similar patterns.
it may look like a piece of art, but, to the carver, it represents something MORE, not my photo…
He still remembered the creations he’d made from forty years ago, and, it must’ve been one great work of sculpture to him; without a second word, I’d, gone up to my instructor, and returned the sculpture back to him. You can imagine, how surprised and happy he must’ve looked, like he’d, met up with a long lost loved one.
And now, there’s, NOTHING there, by my lamp anymore, and, I’d felt that scent of loss. And still, due to chance, I was able to, give that sculpture, back, to its original owner, I’m truly, happy for their reunion.
things started taking shape now, not my photograph…
This, is all, due to chance, because, there’s, NO pattern of any sort to see from this, and, the only conclusion I can come up with for this story, is that the instructor was supposed to lose his piece in time, then, finding it again, and, imagine how ecstatic the instructor must’ve been, when he saw his sculpture from his own younger years, it certainly, would have, returned him, for a quick moment, to his younger days I’m sure…
Life, the Obstacle Course 