That’s Life!
Conrad Ho(Hongkong, China)
January 26, 2011
The sun had barely showed its face when Amy Choi my wife and myself left home for the Hongkong International Airport on 07 January 2011. Our final destination was Captain Cook on the western side of Big Island, Hawaii where we would facilitate a qigong movement workshop of our own design, the Five-Animal-Play Balances, with Carla Hannaford, Ph.D. as the sponsor. Due to exceptionally long waiting time at the two transit stations of Tokyo and Honolulu, the sun was smiling at us when we finally received a warm Hawaiian reception complete with a beautiful flower ring on each of our necks at the Kona International Airport by Carla. On our way back to her house, she gave us a little tour around town, passing some fine beaches as well as picked up a freshly-caught tuna fish, and some equipment for the workshop the day after. Therefore, it was lunch time after we had settled down in her carriage house on a gentle volcanic slope looking west into the vast Pacific Ocean.
By then, we had endured over 30 hours in the trip without a proper sleep. We just ate a little bit and went straight to bed, planning to get up by 15:00 to do some teaching preparations. Carla did come to wake us, but in vain. Eventually, we rose at about 18:00. It was on my way across Carla’s garden to the main house when my most memorable moment in this trip jumped up at me. I saw a glass of red wine standing on a balcony railing on the top floor with the sky full of red and orange and the awesome setting sun on the sea horizon as the backdrop. Then, a hand slowly reached out for the wine, slowly pulled to the lips, and slowly drank some. It was Carla. Everything felt so peaceful. The scent of calm joy was in the air. “That’s life!” I said to myself.
Carla has been my beloved teacher and mentor all along. She teaches and inspires not only in class, but also in person. She is best at enjoying life. Despite all the hustles and bustles from organizing the workshop, receiving incoming students from the U.S. mainland, taking care of us in her house and other household chores (including attending to her crops), she could always relax at this time of the day enjoying sunset with a child heart. Yeah! What a life!
