Lost in Shanghai

From the day I left Edmonton, early in the morning on September 4th, until the 20th of the same month, I kept a semi-detailed account of my experiences and thoughts, with the purpose of eventually starting this new blog in a similar fashion to the last two. That didn’t happen for a few reasons:

For one, I didn’t actually end up feeling so much like I was starting a new chapter in my life, as I was trying to catch up on lost time.

Two, settling in this time around in Shanghai proved to be a little less than easy, and the array of things I wanted to accomplish too overwhelming for me to focus my mind on trying to summarize them all into blog postings.

And three, I was living each day with such uncertainty and solitude, that I didn’t really know how to manage my time all that well (although I did eventually develop a bit of a routine).

But, if I had to summarize my time in Shanghai this time around into one word, it would be this: lost. Lost in time, purpose and relationships. There were some very important things I had left up in the air when I had left Shanghai the first time, that all sort of came together this time to make me accept something I now in hindsight realize I had treated too lightly in the past: life goes on. For those I care for, as well as myself.

Now I have learned, hopefully for the last time, what things are worth giving priority and taking responsibility for, and what things I just have to let be. I cannot even begin to describe the struggle here, but for the purpose of visual communication, I’ve posted the following images tell some parts of the story…

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In my next post, I will start the next chapter of my life that started on October 21st. The day I left Shanghai to return to Milan.

On the advice of one of my brothers and the need for some big changes in my life, I will attempt to write my postings in a different style: half diary, half poetry.