In Search of Shangri-La:  Journey of No Return
by Lily Pietryka

We were born in this place of warmth and beauty. We only vaguely remember it, but instinctively we know it was there. We belonged there some time ago but we couldn’t stay.

Therefore we wander. We start our exile. We split; we go through alienation and destitution; we get enlightened at times; we suffer; we strengthen… all this to find a bigger world; a better world; a perfect world…

To get to this place, we are busy all the time; we struggle; we hope and despair. But we never seem to get there -- the destiny is always some distance away…

We struggle to understand along the way. If we are lucky, we learn to adapt and adjust. Or we are bruised, wounded and broken. Each experience marks us and changes us; we are us but never us again.

Once we started the journey, we can never go back… It is a journey of no return. We become wanderers. We are forever in exile.  We are forever searching.

Forever searching for Shangri-La.