I choose to pursue a simple life, enjoying time with family and friends, savoring the taste of good food, and focusing on what truly matters to me.
The End of a Cycle#
In October 2023, I left Shanghai, where I had lived for over seven years, finally gaining the opportunity to re-examine the city from a distance. Stepping out of the bustling social showcase, I returned to the path of becoming myself.
Life here came to an abrupt halt, as if destined. The coincidences of life aligned with the thoughts in my heart, both pointing toward that unknown direction.
There is a force of life within the soul; go and explore that life!
The quest for freedom never ceases. As an economic cycle ends, more people are forced to leave their previously fixed lives. Change is the eternal theme.
After years of studying economics, I finally experienced the end of a cycle. The turbulence and absurdity of life led me to write more to document it. I revisited Dayo Wong’s talk show from the Hong Kong financial crisis era, and comparing it with current news makes for even more interesting reflection!
Trends and personal feelings sometimes misalign—trust your intuition!
Experiencing Life#
The end of one lifestyle isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Breaking inertia forces you to sort through the fragments of your life and rediscover the details that were already there.
The classic philosophical questions—Who am I?, Where do I come from?, Where am I going?—become important.
The life narrative I once constructed no longer applies in the present. I record the vague narratives in my heart with words. Reading more books and seeking solutions gradually dispels uncertainty, and answers naturally emerge.
This year, I had time to visit more places and observed lives different from the mainstream “first-tier city” narrative promoted in previous years. Through contact with different people, I rediscovered “life nearby” and the connections of interpersonal emotions, which healed the emptiness within me.
Experiencing life from one’s own perspective has become particularly important.
Crossing the River of Failure#
Over the past few years, I’ve experienced multiple setbacks and blows, at times wondering if my life was over.
Looking back after enduring difficult periods, it was merely my narrow-minded self at the time, trapping myself in the cage of a single narrative. Society’s mainstream narrative no longer tolerates failure or weakness. Detaching from this value system made me feel as if I had withdrawn from society, no longer existing.
Reaching middle age, I’ve gradually come to accept over the past two years that society’s spotlight has shifted away from me. The mainstream narrative no longer revolves around our generation. It was then that fate brought Su Shi before me. Watching the documentary Calming the Waves on Bilibili reminded me of the TVB series starring Bobby Au-Yeung as Su Shi from my childhood: a lover of food and poetry, accompanied by beauty, steadfast in his political beliefs, and rising and falling repeatedly due to political attacks.
It seems I’ve gained another coordinate for life’s reference. Life is like a journey against the current; I, too, am but a traveler.
A Polymorphic Society#
Shifting my gaze from society inward, more questions about life, circumstances, the present, and myself gradually surfaced. Is there only one correct path in life?
I really like a Japanese advertisement called Life Is Not a Marathon. The film presents Japanese society’s reflection on this question, viewing life through the lens of a race where the only path is to keep running. If we remove these standards of judgment, “living life in the way you like” seems like a good choice too.
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