Upon returning to Taiwan from Vancouver, Love carried an unwavering desire: "I want to speak English every day!" This internal mantra accompanied her throughout the 12-hour journey home, though she deliberately postponed sharing news of her return with her family until she could determine her next steps. Only Ruby, her best friend and former tea shop customer, knew of her arrival.
"It's amazing how someone can walk into our life and connect with us so easily," Love reflects on her friendship with Ruby. "Isn't it ironic that despite sharing a roof and nearly two decades with my family, I couldn't find anything that connected us? Even after so many years, we remained no closer than mere strangers."
Ruby and her husband welcomed Love at the airport, whisking her away to a Chinese restaurant. Despite her commitment to English, Love discovered unexpected joy in speaking her native tongue: "This experience granted me a profound sense of liberation and the pleasure of embracing my true self through my mother tongue. It felt incredible when my words flowed through my mouth into the air without struggling or stuttering."
Early the next morning, still adjusting to jet lag, Love noticed a serendipitous opportunity in a newspaper while buying breakfast: "Giorgio Hotel Hiring," with English-speaking requirements. Just like her previous job discovery, "it felt like uncovering a precious nugget of gold." A swift phone call led to an afternoon interview with Lucia, the hotel manager.
The Giorgio Hotel's modern decor and sophistication captivated Love immediately. "This is where I want to be," she thought. The interview with Lucia proved promising, but a significant challenge emerged: the 12-hour shifts ending at 11 PM meant missing the last train home. However, Lucia offered an unexpected solution—a shared apartment near the hotel with the main chef.
"A valuable lesson I had gathered throughout my life up to this point was the importance of following the call of my heart to find internal peace," Love shares. Though initially apprehensive about sharing space with a middle-aged married man, meeting the reserved chef dispelled her fears: "His eyes expressed his gentle demeanor. I could almost sense that he was more worried about me having bad intentions than I worried about him."
Within six weeks, an unexpected turn of events occurred—the chef secured alternate housing, likely due to the unconventional living arrangement. This development granted Love access to the main bedroom with its stunning balcony view from the 19th floor. "This sequence of events felt like pure magic, granting me my dream job a mere second day after returning to Taiwan and a dream residence barely two months later."
Each evening after work, Love would embrace the therapeutic cityscape from her balcony. "I would indulge in the most beautiful skyline view I had ever witnessed adorned with glistening stars that danced across the sky and the ever-changing phases of the moon." This vista became more than just a view—it represented her journey from helplessness to empowerment.
"In a moment where I had relinquished what didn't bring me happiness and embraced the uncertainties of the unknown, a significant shift took place in my life," Love reflects. Her experience proved that every wall could indeed become a door to new possibilities, guided by "an intangible presence—an unseen, untouched element, or perhaps even a guiding entity, ready to always materialize whatever I needed precisely when I needed it."
Experience more inspiring stories of transformation in "Grow in the Dark" by Amy Love. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google, iTunes & Kobo.
