Mid-year brief check-in
Someone asks what NewJeans know about nostalgia
Dear friends,
A sister friend took a quick break along her night running route to send me a picture.
“The moon looks so big and bright today. Seen from West Lake,” she wrote.
“Wow, I’m looking at it now, also from West Lake,” I replied to her, three hours later, on a dance club rooftop.
As the motorbike was racing into the night, I traced Hà Nội sky by following the silver dot.
She might have been sleeping by then when techno beats were still pounding my head.
Six months into 2024 and the biggest achievement so far is to not lay there crying on some days when I felt the faint urge to do so. “Save it for later.”
I also take pride in tapping the Grab drivers’ shoulder to tell them “take it slow”.
There are some moments like that which remind me I’m still holding on to this life.
Responding to a dating app’s prompt of “a fictional character I relate to is”, I once put down: “Jane Fairfax”.
She told Emma: “We all know at times what it is to be wearied in spirits. Mine, I confess, are exhausted.”
Tonight is a moonless night. I hope you always keep a moon in your heart.
For knowing someone looking at it and thinking of you, I hope you always find the way back home.
Till next time,
T.
A life away from home
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https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2024/06/27/writer-ocean-vuong-debut-photography