Throughout September, I’ve had a mix of conversations with many different friends and acquaintances: A “congratulations” is often followed up with an “I’m sorry.” For those who don’t know, my grandmother passed away on the morning of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the same day that my first gallery solo exhibition opened to the public and that was the general theme of what happened in the last four weeks; having a vague comprehension that career-wise, things are going well, while at the same time, feeling numb and empty, that everything is wrong.

How has your July been? I hope you haven't melted in the heat wave!

On my end, summers have continued to be blazing where it's almost unbearable to even step out of an air-conditioned room -- I start sweating after just five minutes out on the street! A friend of mine recently said that heat waves in Europe are still better weather than summer in Hong Kong: our sweaty, humid, hard-to-breathe (even without masks!) summers last from late April and sometimes into mid-November! Fall is almost non-existent here. 

(and I need to stop using newsletters as a way to complain about the weather...)

I hope that those of you who are living in other parts of the world are having a good warm summer, though — what with those European blue skies and cool breezes that keep you company while you nap under a tree. Or something along those lines.

I've recently come to terms with the hard truth that I'm exhausted, burning out, and that I'm getting older much quicker than I would like to -- I'm pretty sure I accidentally freaked out some of my colleagues when I broke down during a few especially stressful mornings. But I'm okay now, am re-learning to take each day on its own, and to reprioritise my work and obligations in my personal and professional life.

I've had a rather pleasant, though hectic (and stressful at many moments) two months experiencing a lot of new things, and wrapping up the projects I've mentioned in the last newsletter, handling small day to day stresses while I was gearing up for the trip, as well as physically packing up the library I currently work in for renovations. I've also been taking my time regaining momentum for work and just getting my bearings again after a very lovely trip to Ireland, and saying goodbyes.

 Hello friends, hope you've been keeping well in March. I've personally had a rather rough one, having caught the fifth wave covid in late February (am planning to do a little log of the experience at some point), but I did still manage to have a wonderful birthday spent with family and friends –– that became a little highlight in March for me <3