It’s been two years, one month, and a couple of weeks since I have been able to return to my heaven on Earth. The summer before this last visit, I began to film the places I return to during my solo adventures and record the people that have become close friends and family.
You’ll be able to meet some people that mean the world to me and whom I miss dearly. You’ll meet Gayla, my Tibetan Ama, Gama the monk, and Jamyang Tsomo. Jamyang Tsomo is about 6 months pregnant in this film and her childbirth is why I returned later that winter, to only get stuck in Garze because of the Covid outbreak.
I think about these people on a daily basis and my heart longs to return. Perhaps this experience has allowed me to come closer to understanding and sympathizing with the Tibetan diaspora and refugees that have left their motherland and may never return. Will this make me a better photographer, and human, when I finally can return to Tibet? Who knows. But I do know that’s cemented the fact that there may never be a “next time” or chances to give a proper goodbye.
The time away, and the longing to communicate through WeChat, is one of the catalysts to start studying Tibetan. It’s a way to stay connected to them, but also occupy my mind on a daily basis with something that means so much to me.
That summer, I remember wondering who would I be without Tibet. It felt like my entire career, identity, and socializing revolved around Tibet. I worked like a madwoman to be able to afford trips to Tibet. My entire life consisted of that one single goal. It was the reason I put my pants on every morning for nearly a decade.
And then…poof. It happened. I lost a place, friends, and my identity. And for the last two years, I’ve been building upon what started a little over a decade. Maybe you can start to connect the pieces of why I’m wanting to race and continue studying the languages of the places I love.
The song was sung by my friend, Jacob’s sister. I was staying with them when Covid broke out two years ago and obviously something happened because I was removed from his WeChat and wouldn’t accept my friend request. Again, many stories that hopefully will find their way to these pages someday.
This film was edited by a friend that I had met in Kham when I bought a horse a few years back, Mikey Matthews. I guess that’s another story for another time.
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