It happened, as I knew it would. I hit the wall, slammed into head on. I've been living in Taipei, Taiwan for only ten days now, but apparently that is enough time to push me to my outermost edges and collapse into a state of despair. You see, I came here with some very basic Chinese language skills, and the resolve to learn more. Much like when I moved to Mexico quite some time ago, everything that was once easy and mindless becomes laborious, nerve-wracking and puzzling. Simple things like speaking, reading, taking the garbage out, shopping for groceries, ordering food in a restaurant, using appliances, every little thing you can think of gets converted into a monumental task overnight. I know this from experience, and there is just no way around it. It is the price I am willing to pay for a cultural and language immersion experience. But it doesn't cushion the impact when I hit that wall.
So I took the day off today. Slept in, lounged around, and didn't venture out into the world even once. Didn't try speaking Chinese, didn't try to procure food (yes I'm starving!), didn't even try to study. Feeling like my situation was dismal and wondering if it was even remediable, I turned to art. Art has always been there for me to pick me up and dust me off. I started working with the watercolor pencils I had purchased last week. I jumped in and without thinking and started making marks and movements. Next thing I knew I was in the zone! Hours later, when I stopped and reviewed my work, I realized I had created the beginning of a series of abstract urban landscapes.
So I took the day off today. Slept in, lounged around, and didn't venture out into the world even once. Didn't try speaking Chinese, didn't try to procure food (yes I'm starving!), didn't even try to study. Feeling like my situation was dismal and wondering if it was even remediable, I turned to art. Art has always been there for me to pick me up and dust me off. I started working with the watercolor pencils I had purchased last week. I jumped in and without thinking and started making marks and movements. Next thing I knew I was in the zone! Hours later, when I stopped and reviewed my work, I realized I had created the beginning of a series of abstract urban landscapes.
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