Humble: a Lesson I’d Learned, Moving from the City

Finding what she’d lost, in this, small, mining town, realizing what she’d lost, what she was, searching for, finding it slowly, again, on the growth of a woman, slowly, becoming, who she is, supposed, to become in her life, translated…

Life is like mining for the precious metals, life by the Yin-Yang Seas, accumulated into the nutrients of what I’d gained living in Ruifang, but, it’s not the sort of learning that you may all imagine, but about rooting down at a certain place, what we found as our own ways, of living, our lives.  “there’s an attitude of life that you must learn in Ruifang”, not related to others, but how for me, someone with a higher degree, and socioeconomic status, moving to a distant region, because of the differences of level of education, socioeconomic status of the locals and I, it’d, inflated my own ego more, to the point that I became, too, pompous, until finally, I’d learned, to be humble.  It’s strange how life worked, everybody we’d bumped into in this life all became, tools that we’d, sharpened our selves against, to the point, that we don’t, even, recognize, our selves anymore.  This sort or a realness, it’s not, what we want from our own lives, because, the life here, the impacts, the adjustments I had to make, slowly, shaped me, into, a brand new, totally, different, version of, my self.

what she’d, learned to be…

artwork found online

Because of the mining industry that was flourishing from ages ago, Ruifang was once, the it place to be, the best of everything had been, delivered, here, and there were those who’d, cut off small slices of gold, to use it as currency, to shop for, their, daily necessities too.  This is a place, of richness, of, living well off.  But, as the mining industry deteriorated, this place was forced, to reduce, to nothing, and, all of that pride, was forcibly, removed, because the gold was, gone.  And, everybody in the community started, facing the fears of the changes that they can’t dodge from, the uncertainties of their lives, the fears of what comes, next, they’d, emigrated out by the large numbers.  Those who can’t afford to leave, stayed behind, continued, carrying the unsettlement, that sense of loss, from the no longer going well mining industry, and used assortments of measures, to just, survive.  The switching from being rich enough to live well off, to now, only suffice in just, barely, making it, what Ruifang stood for in the history of Taiwan, became, something that, we can, never, get back.

What sort of an attitude can we learn, from living in Ruifang?  See the determination of a community, to get back UP on its, feet, like how the locals of Jiufeng back then had put in all the money they had, despite how they weren’t rich or well-to-do anymore, to offer blessings to the local community, for the hopes of better days to come.  The elders all told, that from then on, Jiufeng found it’s past glories back, in another, form.

Whether it be coincidence, the power of the collective consciousness, it’s not understandable by logic, nor understood, by someone like me, who’d become, totally, detached, from the places I live in.  And so, I’d, started, getting, curious, and put myself into pushing forth for the activities at the local museums, using the drumming teams to connect the resident of this community, using an assortments of tools, thoughts, to structure, to, construct, but in the end, all of it, bust, because of my own pride, and getting caught up in the myths of things.  And, I’d, forgotten that, keeping myself well, was the only thing that mattered, and that, by becoming humble, was the only way I have, of, getting into the community, to be, with others.

As my husband and I selected to move to Ruifang, becoming, a part, of her, how do we, find our own roots, how do we help this “hometown” of ours, to find its past days of glory back, there’s, this attitude of humbleness, that we’d, needed to learn, in Ruifang, on how to become, less self-oriented, and more, community-oriented.

And so, this, is a small place, that’s, located, far off the maps, so to speak, and the writer moved there, to reduce the needs and wants that she’d acquired through the years in her coming of age, and, she’d, lost sight of what she was seeking for when she’d first decided, to move to this location, and now, she’d found her self, drifted off too far from the right tracks, and, she’s, working hard, to get, back on track.