By my own choice, I often come and go, staying in many places across our country. Traveling widely, living in many places, working, collaborating, forming relationships, building communities wherever I set foot, and leaving a mark, value, and hope when I leave. I leave and return because, after a while, people need me again, and that land remains connected to me. This is what “a man's life has 12 river landings” means.
Occasionally, fate carries me off to Hanoi. Responsibility keeps bringing me back to Sai Gmore. Every so often I want to shout, ‘Đà Nẵng, I miss you.’ Quảng Ngãi and Central Vietnam are always in my heart. Periodically, I go to the Central Highlands for a few days of reflection—certainly not a full 49 days yet. And I miss the feeling of the Mekong Delta’s orchard country, with its honest, lovable people. Arrive, leave, then return; it can grow as large as I want it to. It truly depends only on how far I allow its influence to reach in the country’s current political and social context. But how could I forget the happiness and the truly peaceful smiles I experience when I am beside my community? If I could choose again from the beginning, I would still do the same, without changing a thing. Some immortal part of me will continue to live.
Being alive is precious.
