There’s nothing like feeling at home. Maybe it’s the smell of your Mums perfume, the taste of your favourite home cooked meal, catching up with the people who knew you when you were 14, or maybe it’s hearing your family’s song playing randomly 6000 miles away.
Driving in the back of a black convertible, in the middle of Hong Kong with my best friend I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Within half an hour we were out of the city’s towering skyscrapers and polluted air into the countryside, something I once believed unimaginable in Hong Kong. I mean who would have thought Hong Kong had beaches?! But it does, and it has grass, and trees and lakes.
As we made our way back into the city after exploring the outer suburban areas, we were caught in the expected rat race of traffic. As the car slowed down to a halt the sun was setting, projecting and creating the most magical sunset over the peaks of Tai Tam. The surreal-ness and contrast of being surrounded by nature whilst in the jam filled with stress and impatience was overwhelming. As I looked behind and above I had gained a great perspective of what it truly feels like to live in the moment. I could be in both lanes of the world, impatient to get going and carve my way but needing the balance of calm and faith. Nature doesn’t wait for someone to tell it what to do and when to do it, it just lives and breathes.
There’s nothing like feeling at home, and in that moment of gazing beyond the peaks into the sea a familiar tune started playing. Everyone from the west coast of Scotland will be familiar with Deacon Blue’s song Dignity. It has become a staple of ambition, hopes and dreams, and more often than not a staple Wedding/New Year song to be sang at full volume surrounded by your near and dear ones;
“& I’m telling this story, in a faraway scene.. And I’m thinking about home, and all that that means.”
In that moment I was thinking about home. I was thinking about how lucky I am that I could come to Hong Kong and see the contrast that most tourists do not. I was thinking about how much I wished my family could be here to share this experience with me. I was thinking about how I was going to explain to them how Dignity had come on… in the middle of Hong Kong of all places.
Most of all, I was thinking how strange it is that you recognise signs/feelings/confirmations that tell you that you are in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time. Home is where you make it, and maybe it’s scattered all over the world ready for you to find, one unexpected night.
Jetlag Jen 