No touch, use hand sanitiser, social distancing, wearing a mask… We may be physically safe from harm, but let’s not forget, mentally, we need to stay engaged even when we are by ourselves.
Here is my favourite part of the beach – quiet and peaceful. This hidden gem has been my weekend escape for several years. But in recent months, I have seen an influx of people coming here to do some “touristy” things. How annoying!
Two weekends ago I was here again. As soon as I arrived, I was turned off by the crowd and their noises. After staying for around ten minutes, I lost interest. Before I was about to leave for somewhere else, I don’t know what it was, maybe some unknown force, I turned and took one last look.
There he was, a lone figure, sitting on the top of the cliff, I couldn’t take my eyes off this guy. He had what I call a cool rugged look – the man bun hairstyle, the stubble, sunglasses.
He was playing a guitar. With nature providing the beautiful backdrop – the sun, the blue sky, the ocean, the sea breeze and the bush, minus people – a sharp contrast of the irritating crowded scene earlier. I found myself gravitating towards his sole presence and the zen like serenity around him, I decided to climb up there and get a bit closer to him.
To ensure that I would not distract him and his music, I waited for a short while before plucking up the courage to approach him and say hi.
His name is Francesco from Argentina. I remember I asked him these ice breaker questions “Are you an artist? Were you playing a song that you wrote yourself?”. He smiled back and said: No, I was just practising some tunes from internet.
As he called it: Nature brought us together. We hit it off very quickly and found ourselves enjoying various topics such as life, nature, Tibetan Buddhism, meditation, my dog, a book entitled Four Agreements which he recommended, and the tattoos on his wrists – One was Surf, the other was Freedom.
He called himself a loner and he said it with full conviction. It struck me. I responded, I guess I am a loner, too but I don’t like the word loner and I don’t call myself a loner, there are too many negative connotations attached to it, I would rather call myself individual. I then added that my dog was a loner, too, that’s why we got along.
As the sun started to set and the temperature began to drop, it was nature’s way of hinting that it was time for us to go separate ways.
That night when I got home, I could not stop thinking about those words he said. Very inspiring!
The next day when I woke up in the morning, I decided outright, to be true to myself and call myself a loner…
Ted Tsai 