「 Echo

Here, There 」

「 The Harbor.
Dwell on Raoming」

There is a constant yearning
For all that is unconfined.
But much needs to be retained.
And loyalty is required.
Yet we mustn’t look forwards or backwards.
We should let ourselves be cradled
As if on a boat rocking on a lake.

——Friedrich Hölderlin Mnemosyne

Humans, standing upright, rely on the land, yet the continents have
drifted, and the sea level continues to rise. Consequently, humans
exploit resources and settle down as a last resort. The more anxious
they become, the greedier their actions. To satisfy their ongoing and
dangerous desire for new worlds, humans build arks and spaceships,
fleeing far from the consequences they have created. But who can
steer the ship? Who stays behind on the shore?
The footprints on the deck will eventually vanish, but all waters will
meet again at the port. Upon returning, there is no need to stand up;
we are also a small boat. Dwelling in wandering is not a passive stance
while at sea but an active choice to return to equilibrium. As Virginia
Woolf said, “I am rooted, but I flow.”