Be it ever so humble

I like to stay in a comfortable hotel, resort or friend’s guest room. I can enjoy the cleanness and tidiness without cleaning it. When I am out, I know my room will be cleaned when I am back. It is also very nice to enjoy a hearty breakfast without preparing it. After wake up, I just need to tidy up myself and appear for breakfast and do not need to wash dishes afterward. It is a good feeling.

On the day I was back in my humble home. I descaled my kettle, changed my bed sheet, turned on my washing machine, chased away spiders, vacuumed the floor, watered my plants, checked my letter box, some postcards and bills to pay, a friend helped me changed a light bulb. Later, I was drying my laundry under the sun while enjoying the pleasant breeze of Autumn. The butterflies, the roses, the gingko tree were smiling at me. Home, sweet home.

How strange, a sense of happiness occurred despite all the house work (responsibility) that need to be done. It is quite normal that we talk about responsibility in work place. However, human tend to become so sensitive when talking about responsibility for family, relationship, and home. It is like human hope for a nice garden but reluctant to care for it; human expect a great harvest but do not want to cultivate and nurture the crop; a musician want to perform but skip the practice and rehearsal. Performance without practice will be a disaster, I do not even dare to try it.

Therefore, how comfy my home will be is depend on how much do I care about it. Like gardening, it blooms and grows only when I care for it. Like music, the more I practice, the more I pay attention to every detail, the more I feel comfortable when I perform it. It is definitely my responsibility because my name is on the programme.

No matter how good other musicians are, no matter how beautiful is my neighbour’s garden, no matter how comfortable the hotel rooms are, have little to do with me, because others care for them. But my performance, my garden, my home are my responsibilities. If I take my responsibility seriously, it would be rewarding too, because I am the one living in my home. The reward is I will be in a comfortable home.

After making my home a little bit more comfortable, I took a walk through the vineyard. As I saw those big fat juicy ripe grapes, I thought of the vineyard I saw in May, new leaves and sprouts were only emerging. The vineyard is like a miracle secretly developing, the bare vineyard in May suddenly turned into grapes in September.

It is certainly a miracle, but it does not mean that it did not require work. A good vintner works every day in every season. Of course, work alone cannot secure a great harvest. There is always risk that will do harm like bad weather, pests and etc. However, too afraid of poor harvest is never the reason to stop the vintner to take care of his/ her vineyard.

The fox told the little prince, “it is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince. It is the time I have wasted for what I am entrusted (be it my humble home, my unrealistic passion, my family, my friends) that makes them meaningful.

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.

Home, Sweet Home- Song

You think they may just as well have stayed at home all this time.
You think they need not have taken a trip to Panama at all.
You are wrong, because then they would never have met the fox and the craw.
They would never have met the hare and the hedgehog.
And they would never have found out how comfortable a lovely soft plush sofa can be.
Oh, wie schön ist Panama/ The trip to Panama – Janosch

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