Seduce You…But Will You Let Me?

If you accused me of trying to kill you, I could live with that for the rest of my life. But unfortunately, when you accused me of trying to seduce–or in its mild equivalent, woo–you, I’m sorry to tell you that it was very unforgivable indeed!

Oh but I thought I did exactly just that to that poor guy I accidentally met in my last post, didn’t I?

I guess, that would be…an eye for an eye.

Great….

But still, the accusation remains unforgivable especially when the accused didn’t do anything that might spring any dirty suspicion from people around her. Of course, she was running, but you didn’t think she was trying to escape after molesting someone, did you?

Tell that to a bunch of little boys in my neighbourhood.

I was catching my breath after a few laps at the curbside when they cycled past me and said loudly, “Ni mesti nak mengacau la ni.” (This one must be trying to disturb us. Author’s note: ‘Disturb’ can mean woo or seduce under different circumstances). Indeed! I was speechless. Dear parents, just what kind of bedtime stories you could probably tell your children, I venture to know?

But I just ignored them because I didn’t care. Let them listen to their parents’ safer version of this world. Let them experience later. And finally understand.

It’s about learning to run gently. Master that, and you can wear–or not wear–anything you please.

Christopher McDougall (Born to Run)

Teach me how to run gently because running tires me so vehemently. But perhaps that just bounds to happen when we always push ourselves to run away from everything. To be honest, I can’t run. Usually, I just walk. That’s why I can be contented by just looking like Kyōko Ikumi from the anime 青い花 (Aoi Hana) when asked by her senpai, Yasuki Sugimoto, if she could feed her unrequited love for her (Sugimoto) just by looking from afar.

But can you be contented by just looking?

Yes, I can.

Fumi: If you have someone you love, then you should just focus your whole attention to that someone (without hurting other people).

Sugimoto: What if they aren’t interested?

Fumi: Then perhaps you can learn to give up gracefully.

That’s learning to run gently. Master that, and you can wear–or not wear–anything you please–without losing your dignity too.

Oh speaking of which, the anime makes me miss travel by train so much! *Ultimate sadness and feeling down*

一路顺风

The expression above carries literal meaning of ‘going in the direction of the wind’. In Mandarin class part II, my 廖 老师 went on to further explain the use of 风 (fēng: wind) in 风水 (feng shui). She jokingly said that the class had good 风 but no 水. Then, one of my classmates made a remark that she was the class’ 水 since she always carried a big bottle of water with her. And she smiled.

Hu… now I miss Mandarin class too… *Double the sadness and feeling down*

But anyway, one of my friends once asked me if I believe in 风水. When I said ‘yes’, she looked at me like I had just renounced my gender or something. 风水 in my translation carries the meaning ‘when wind meets water’. Do you remember how gentle and refreshing the wind feels when it touches your sweaty face and body after outdoor exercise? I always love that feeling. So I guess, those respectable individuals who thought up the 风水 just wanted to experience that feeling again. It’s because they know the harmony that will rise in one’s mind and soul when wind meets water.

The feeling that tells you everything will be alright.

So… how to run actually? Or is it run to 好? (*Author’s note: In Chinese, 好 (hǎo) means ‘good’ and I thought it rhymes with ‘how’ as I ask myself the same question over and over again.) However, as Su Mei Toh, a practitioner of barefoot running, claimed, “I see barefoot running as a lifelong learning!”, I see running under the same light too. It’s all about learning to run (and understand oneself better) but at the same time trying not to leave what matters most behind.

For now, regardless of how I run like a soldier marching (indeed!), I can be contented to know that I run to 好 (goodness)–with hope that nobody will think of running as a form of seduction.