Paths

I’ll fly to Hong Kong in ten minutes. The past week has been mainly focused on the music for Auntie, rehearsals at the studio with the musicians. Now the songs are taking their full shape and everyone starts to see what I had in mind. I had my first session with the string quartet two days ago. That was actually the first time I worked directly with a string quartet. It’s a magical moment when what is scribbled down on the music sheet is played at last by real musicians, especially nowadays when it‘s so easy to find virtual replacement in the guise of emulators and samplers. That may be convenient when one is running short of time or money, but in the end, nothing can replace a live musician. Maybe that’s what people mean by ‘no pain no gain’. The thrill and excitement that fills me when I finally hear the music can erase any hard time I may have beforehand. This was our first session, more are to come. I can’t even imagine how I feel when all the songs are completed and recorded.

I organised a surprise birthday party for Nicolas. I don’t know when I will see him again - soon, perhaps. So that was a fine opportunity to gather the group of people he has befriended the past month. Not all of them could come, but at least the one who were there are dear to him. I was concerned about him before meeting him in person again.
We had a few internet exchanges that left me somewhat alarmed about his state of mind. Was he stubbornly following his plan at all cost? I promised myself to convince him to come back to France. This was madness to me, though. How could I interfere with his life? But he was mirroring my own state of mind after returning from this long trip in Asia. My life was in Asia not in France. But I didn’t have the guts to take such a drastic decision, cut my bond with a country where I spent half of my life in order to start anew.
Now that I see him so happy and blooming to his new life and new surrounding, all doubt or worry vanish. I know he’s walking the right path - who’s walking the wrong path if it’s the path of one’s life anyway? Right and wrong finally are so inept at describing changes. The true power of decision isn’t necessarily in the hands of the one who’s at his most stable. Nicolas may be a wanderer who does not have much now, but what he’s going to build is priceless. I admire the faith he’s got for life. It inspires me and gives me strength to go on with mine. Taipei for me? Oh yes!

[…]

Travelling from one city to another is like going from one room to another in one single big house. Each room offers something for a particular mood, a particular need. When my friends ask me what city I prefer, I don’t know what to answer. There’s no comparison possible. And why do I have to prefer one city to another? This kind of questions extend to food, music, people, film… Be the best, be the most powerful, the most beautiful, have the best, be at the top… Life becomes an illusory charting game for so many. The metaphysical desire to be God, to be like God, or the closest to God. I’m quite happy to be in Hong Kong again. The air is stuffy, it’s not hot, but the humidity turns everyone into sticky walking candy bars.