11: A New Page — Reconfiguration. ‘Five ways to understand the world’…
By: Boris King
Tags: Habits, Change, Goal Setting, Perspective, Hong Kong

‘Five ways to understand the world’; this is what I have found on my digital feed today. Do I not understand the world, or does the almighty algorithm have deemed me so? To understand the world, however, I propose one to understand themselves first, as most of the time it is this unfamiliarity of yourself that brings you and your life to disarray.

You can understand the world perfectly and yet be unhappy. You can wrap your fortune around people’s neck and squander their puny unremarkable lives and yet still be unhappy. (You can wrap your fortune around people’s neck to give them warmth and comfort, but that is not what I am proposing here.) Though only through understanding yourself can happiness be in your lives. Yes, lives. As you are sharing a part of your life to and with another, there will be to a point where these parts of yourselves are so intertwined that you have to also understand what is happening to your friends and partner. Then, you may find bliss.

For my first step of chasing bliss with myself and my partner, admitting that I have a disorders is to enable me to consciously change and refine myself. This ‘@wordbrewer’ writing project is not only a front of sharing my thoughts on Hong Kong and her vibrant but problematic specialty coffee scene, but also an intimate introspection of approaching quarter-life and the fragmented first quarter of the 21st century. While it is surely my privilege to write and comment on the Hong Kong specialty coffee scene for you my readers, I do appreciate you lend me your support and accompany me during my process of recovery. Many people have told me that writing English prose in Hong Kong is a lost cause, as people do not really read more than 100 words or they wince at the sight of English alphabets, instead ‘why not focus on taking better Instagram photos that could reach potentially readers of your constructed criticisms on coffee’? This jump-start on @wordbrewer now, at the end of 2020, serves as an ode to care: caring about the world on its manifold aspects, caring about people and students, caring about physicality and spirituality, caring about myself, the careless, wide-eyed surfaced shell, and most importantly, caring about you. It is true that words cannot fully show the meaning of love — however many ‘I love you’s cannot win against a simple gesture. That is why humans need more than materials to live; we need contact, and by contact, I mean not just a handshake, a pat on the back, or a brief hug, but a genuine connection. It is difficult without question, but I believe if I am able to make the change, you, my readers, can too. Overall, I believe what I have lost sight of is the future. I am saying this because I am too focused on the present, but it is always the future we are fighting for in all aspects — societies, lives, families, and the two intertwined individuals who were, are, and will have been in love.

I am not good at this, well, at least I was not given the gift of photography nor writing eloquently in any of the languages that I speak, but this project serves as an organic reminder of the state of flux of my language. I do wish to contribute the experiences and lessons that I have learnt from @wordbrewer and fully support my closest friend(s), since they are my cornerstone in these tumultuous times. To sum up this poorly written yet well-thought manifesto, the numerous adventures we had and have, and those that are waiting for us, are the most important since they are irreplaceable, and as are you.