For the first time

By Hyon O’Brien

The other day one of our Peace Corps friends invited us to his sailing club in the Keys, and we spent nearly four hours on the bay aboard his beautiful sail boat. Later on, he graciously let me steer the boat and patiently gave me some pointers on how to sail. Wow, it was beyond great to take the tiller for the first time. I am glad to report that I didn’t crash his boat.

This experience brought to mind the many ``first time” experiences I’ve had in my life time so far.

First time experiences as a parent, holding a new born baby, marveling at our two daughters’ first words, the awesome moment when they began to read for the first time, watching them being in love and witnessing our own daughter’s coming of age as a new mother. The time we heard that our attorney daughter helped to prove the innocence of a wrongfully imprisoned inmate.

First time memories with our grandchildren, watching them grow and watching them acquire all the skills that I don’t have myself ― riding horses, skating, swimming, biking, skiing.

Hosts of unforgettable first times with family members and friends all over the globe: the first time soaking in an open air hot spring in Iceland, the first time watching weavers’ delicate hands creating beautiful shawls in Laos, the first time traveling on the Silk Road’s Karakoram Highway and thinking about Marco Polo. A day spent cruising down the Yangtze River looking at the stone carvings along the riverbank before they were flooded, and feeling a connection to the river.

And culinary experiences ― I still remember the first time I tasted Indian curry, papaya salad, a slice of turkey, hot dog and hamburger, Hungarian goulash and Viennese schnitzel, Chinese chicken feet, and many new things I encountered as I sampled different national cuisine.

In the architectural department, there have been plenty of enchanting firsts: breathlessly gazing at the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids, Gaudi’s Holy Family Cathedral in Barcelona, Sydney’s Opera House, I.M. Pei’s Bank of China building in Hong Kong, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Potala Palace of Tibet, and my favorite in New York, the Chrysler Building. We will continue to seek out architectural wonders in our travels in years to come.

Fauna and flora also have offered me abundant first time delights. Being introduced to romantic palm trees, brilliant bougainvillea, fragrant frangipanis and birds of paradise in Hawaii, to bromeliads in Costa Rica, to countless cacti in New Mexico and Arizona.

How can I possibly put into words what I was feeling when speechlessly looking at flamingos from a hot air balloon at dawn and gazing at hundreds of impalas, gazelles and wildebeests roaming around underneath us in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania? And mountains ― the snow-capped Tetons in Wyoming, the Alps, an amazing glimpse of Mt. Everest peeking out of the clouds as we flew by on a Buddha Air flight?

Literary experiences? Where can I begin? I still savor the deeply moving poems of Emily Dickenson that forced me to view poetry in a new way? What about the scene in which the fiery Elizabeth Bennet puts the supercilious Mr. Darcy in his place with her lawyer-like point by point rebuke of his haughtiness? It opened my eyes to the power and persuasiveness of words.

The emotional story of ``Please Look After Mom” by Shin Kyung-sook made me reflect for the first time on my own relationship with my late mother. The thought-provoking editorial and op-ed words of Russell Baker, Paul Krugman, Thomas Friedman, which made me realize for the first time the important role of a newspaper columnist.

On a deeper level, I still recall with awe the very first time I felt the presence of God on Jan. 31, 1980 in Wimbledon, London at 6 a.m. That supernatural feeling of ``standing on the holy ground” is still very strong and has the power to affect every aspect of my life.

We are entering the year 2013 for the first time. As the New Year begins we should stop to examine our life journey in a ``big” picture, within the long scheme of things. Almost all human beings alive this very moment will be all gone from this earth on 2113.

We are mere mortals and that’s a fact. However, we can decide to lead a wondrous life full of delightful discoveries and happy exciting moments, if we develop, cultivate and train our minds to look at everything as if we were seeing and experiencing it for the first time.

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) once said, ``All my life I’ve looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time.” Can we apply that attitude to other areas of our life? Can you listen to a symphony orchestra presenting Mozart’s horn concerto as if you are hearing it for the first time? Can you look at the sun rising and setting, pelicans flying by, dolphins jumping, kites flying, wild flowers peeping out from a rock on that hiking trail, as if you were having those experiences for the first time?

Throughout 2013, let us experience each moment as if it were the first time. Stop feeling bored. Never say ``been there, done that.” Never act as if there is nothing new under the sun.

Have a wonderful 2013!

Hyon O'Brien is a former reference librarian now living in the United States. She can be reached at hyonobrien@gmail.com.