Lei Cheng

Five minutes of joy that we talked about for months.

Then, recently, in my hometown of Melbourne, there was a storm blackout.

And instead of smiling in the lotus position, guess what I was worried about?

Food in the freezer, charging the electronics.

Some of the first world problems we complain about.

Oh, the weather, the Vancouver rain.

Well, in there, I have been in tears because I could finally smell the rain.

The traffic.

Well, in there, the only traffic was bumping into my cellmate along the one-meter-wide corridor along which to walk five meters.

Too many emails.

I went for months without a letter.

I had one phone call in all those years.

Annoying kids.

I used to have to imagine my kids' faces because I couldn't keep a photo of them in a cell.

So you see, when our canvas is so full, we look at that little smudge and we magnify it.

But when our canvas was bare, we could celebrate even one drop of colour.

And that's what I hope I will continue to do, and I hope you will join me.

Remind ourselves of the blindness so we can see life fully.

Like a newborn.

Thank you.