Dear Mina,
I’ve been home for three days, but I only opened up my luggage today.
I clicked open the lock and it was like being dragged back to that place. That pungent stench was clung to every dress and object, like a dense tar that wouldn’t come off.

And it invaded my small apartment. I felt that burning sensation in my eyes again, that acidic taste in my mouth like when I would open my apartment’s front door in Beijing. But now, that sensation lasted less than a moment: the heavy air is reborn in the pure oxygen that my Jonix Cube releases. And I stopped for a moment to enjoy a long breath of fresh air.

When you asked what breathing meant to me, at that moment I didn’t know what to answer, but now I understand. Breathing is to find that feeling of well-being every time I enter the house and feel the light and breathe the crisp, clean and fresh air, like that of my mountains. Breathing is the starting point of each walk, when your body is still fresh and your legs are still light. Breathing is controlling fatigue and knowing that after one step there will be another and another, until you reach your goal. Breathing is knowing that you can achieve anything.

And to remind me of all this, even in my most hectic moments, is my discreet and indispensable Jonix, which is white and brilliant, like a mountain glacier.