Follow your heart and walk the path you have taken.
Recently, I have become obsessed with the videos of "Xu Yun's Wandering in China". The uploader updates about every two days, documenting his life of cycling through China and living outdoors.
Xu Yun comes from a rural background and has not worked for two years. He only carries a bicycle, a tent, a sleeping bag, a dust cloth, a moisture-proof mat, a foldable stove, a lighter, a pressure cooker, as well as a power bank, a phone, and a sports camera. He has cycled to the 5000-meter-high plateau in western Sichuan and the -30 degree Celsius northeastern border.
He rides in the wilderness every day, trying to avoid crowds and enjoying the natural scenery. At night, he sets up his tent alone under bridges, along roadsides, in mountain valleys, or in abandoned houses (which are like five-star accommodations to him). He almost always cooks his own meals by picking up firewood, and rarely stays in hotels in the city except for necessary supplies.
Almost half of each video is spent chatting in front of the camera while cooking. For him, this asynchronous communication recording is a wonderful experience. For us, he has become our eyes to see the world.
When I recommended the videos to my friends, they found it hard to understand why someone would choose to live this way. After reading online reviews, besides encouragement, there were also doubts, sympathy, and warnings.
In one of the videos, Xu Yun gave an answer: "But the road is right there, and you have to move forward."
This reminded me of Liu Cixin's novel "The Mountain", in which the protagonist is obsessed with mountaineering and says, "We climb mountains because they are there."
The underground civilization in the novel is similar to the history of human exploration, with generation after generation exploring the outside world. Whether it is curiosity or the desire to conquer, they go because it is there. Based on the continuous efforts of generation after generation of explorers, the underground civilization of Jiagalin finally escaped from the dark underground and saw the brilliant starry sky.
Follow your heart, why not dream?
When I was in high school, I read "The History of the Ming Dynasty". Besides the famous figures such as Wang Yangming, Hai Rui, Zhang Juzheng, and Yu Qian, there was one person who deeply moved me - Xu Xiake. At the end of the seven-volume history of the Ming Dynasty, the author used Xu Xiake's story as the conclusion, which was written exceptionally well. I recommend readers to revisit it when they have time.
Before this, I have talked about many things, the rise and fall of dynasties, the changes of kings and ministers, the helplessness of succession, and the ever-changing world. But this thing, personally, I think it is the most important.
Because I want to tell you, so-called eternal achievements, everlasting fame, and everything else, are just dung. They turn into dung first, then into soil.
You may not understand now, but you will understand in the future. If you still don't understand in the future, just wait for the future. If you never understand in your lifetime, it's okay.
And this thing I am about to tell you, it surpasses everything I mentioned earlier, at least in my opinion.
But I have thought about this thing for a long time, and I can't express it accurately in words or phrases. To put it bluntly, it can only be understood but not explained.
However, I am not a person who deserves a beating. After searching through many books and being unable to speak, I finally found the right words from an inconspicuous and worthless book.
It was a desk calendar, a calendar that had been placed in front of me for I don't know how long, but I had never flipped through it. An expired calendar.
I know that it was placed on my desk by fate, watching my efforts and persistence over the years, waiting patiently for the end.
It waited for the day when it was about to end, and I would open this calendar that had been with me all along but never opened, and find the final answer on it.
I opened it, and on this calendar, there was a famous saying that didn't even explain who the author was.
Yes, this is what I want to say, what I want to express through Xu Xiake, enough to despise all kings and ministers, the perfect ending:
There is only one success - to live life according to your own will.
In "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes", there is a line that says, "On the fourth day, I sat and listened to the sound of snow melting all day."
Reflecting on what I was doing on the fourth day of this month, was I busy chasing wealth and fame, or busy with family and career? But Xu Xiake sat on the top of Huangshan Mountain, listening to the sound of snow melting all day.
Xu Xiake did not travel to write "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes", and Xin Qiji did not write "Jiaxuan Poetry Collection" to save the country.
What we need is to love life, not the meaning of life. As Wang Xiaobo said, "I came into this world not to reproduce offspring, but to see how flowers bloom, water flows, the sun rises, and the sunset falls. I live in this world, just wanting to understand some truths and encounter interesting things. Life is a coincidence, and I am searching for cause and effect within it."
There is a song I really like called "Traveler Passing Through the World". The lyrics describe the traveler's observations and state of mind, ending with the line, "That is the imprint of your existence as a human being." Life has no meaning, there is only a series of moments, and that is the trace of our existence.
The most important thing in this life is to experience and feel, to embrace the beauty and live the life we want.
Finally, I would like to end with a quote from a Pixar designer I admire from an interview - "Achievement is not defined by external factors, but by whether you live life according to your own will."
Floating in the world, with a shining soul.
Follow your heart and walk the path you have taken.
Monthly Record#
- Finished watching: Korean drama | "The Youngest Son of Chaebol" | ★★★☆☆
- Currently watching: Japanese drama | "Nagi's New Life" | ★★★★☆
- Currently watching: Anime | "The Three-Body Problem" | ★★☆☆☆
- Currently playing: Switch | "Persona 5 Royal" | ★★★★★
"The Chaebol" is a standard enjoyable time-travel drama, starting strong but losing momentum later on (not sure if it counts as starting strong), overall rating of 3 stars. The acting in the drama is mostly carried by the grandfather. Looking forward to the big finale tonight.
I haven't finished "Nagi's New Life" yet. I don't really like the forced redemption storyline, where the writer tries to attribute the harm caused to others to the protagonist's own character flaws. But I do enjoy the refreshing atmosphere of Japanese dramas.
"The Three-Body Problem" anime is hard to describe in one word. After finishing the fourth episode, I decided to give up on it. There are many flaws, but I won't go into that. One positive point to mention is that the advertising and marketing were done well.