#014: time/光陰(guāngyīn)

Oct 30

Life is as the morning dew (Life is short) /人生如朝露

Light and shadow

Light and shadow (光陰), means “time” in Chinese. The expression, time flies like an arrow (光陰似箭), seems to take on its literal meaning to the fullest especially during the lockdown period at home. That was a period of repetitively being trapped in a fixed space while doing the same things over and over again each day. This particular feeling of “time flies” also becomes even more remarkable when entering middle-age stage or retirement life, in which there is not much new things going on, and you tend to repeat what you have done in the previous day.

“Time really flies. Ten years and eight years all seem to be a blink of an eye, especially for people who are after midlife. However, for young people, three years and five years can be a whole lifetime.”
— Half a Lifelong Romance. Eeileen Chang

光陰

「光陰」在中文指時間。「光陰似箭」的意思在疫情封城期間似乎發揮到淋漓盡致的境界。，尤其是當我們每天被困在同一空間裡重複地做著相同的事。「光陰似箭」的感受在人步入中年和退休時期越發明顯，生活中沒什麼變化，過著一成不變的日子。

「日子過得真快，尤其對於中年以後的人，十年八年都好像是指顧間的事。可是對於年輕人，三年五載就可以是一生一世。」
—張愛玲《半生緣》

Wanderlust & revenge travel

Under such circumstances, together with the influence of social media, our yearning for traveling is enlarged to the extent of an irrational impulse, such as wanderlust and revenge travel. Apart from being stuck inside too long, travel serves as a way to rest, to unwind, and to set us free from daily mundane activities. Through traveling, we create everlasting memory.

對旅遊的強烈渴望與報復性旅遊

在這樣的情況下，再加上社交媒體的助攻，我們對於想要出走旅行的渴望被放大到不理性的衝動的地步，如對旅遊的強烈渴望(wanderlust)與報復性旅遊(revenge travel)。除了因為憋太久，還有旅行作為一種休息、放鬆以及從塵囂瑣事中解放。通過旅行，我們創造出日後回味無窮的回憶。

The art of living is ……

What if we cannot afford to travel? Perhaps we do not have the time, money, or the physical condition to do so. In this case, Dutch philosopher, Godfried Bomans, had a good idea: “De kunst van te leven is thuis te zijn alsof men op reis is (The art of living is to be at home as if one is on a journey).” Though everything is so familiar, there is something worth being discovered. For example, to go to a different bakery and buy a piece of pastry that you have never tired before today.

過日子的藝術是……

要是我們沒有出門旅行的本錢呢？也許是沒有時間、金錢或是體力這麼做的關係。那麼這個時候，荷蘭哲學家Godfried Bomans的提供這麼一個過日子的藝術：「過日子的藝術是在家裡如同在旅程中一般。」縱使一起都是如此熟悉，當中仍有值得待人發掘的地方。舉例來說，今天去一個沒去過的麵包店買一塊你從未嚐過的點心也能如同在旅途中一般。

The days in which there have been dancing

Returning to the topic of time passing quickly, how can we feel more alive, and fulfilled to the extent that we have not failed to live up to our own lives?

“Every day I count wasted in which there has been no dancing. ”
—Friedrich Nietzsche

What does “the days in which there have been dancing” mean? One of the ways to figure this out is to start with the end. According to Stephen Covey, one of the habits in his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is to start with the end by imagining attending our own funeral. What influence we wish to leave the people around us is the key to exploring the answers to this question about “dancing”.

起舞的日子

回到光陰似箭的話題，我們怎麼感受更有活力、更充實，達到不辜負自己的生命的境地呢？

「每個不曾起舞的日子，都是對生命的辜負。」
—德國哲學家尼采

起舞的日子到底是什麼樣的日子？據史帝夫科維在《與成功有約》一書中的其中一個習慣，探索如何回答上述「起舞」問題的答案便是想像參加自己的葬禮，想像我們希望離開後給身邊的人留下何種影響。

This life

The late British neurologist and writer, Oliver Sacks, wrote a beautiful piece of last words at his final stage of life on New York Times. This op-ed article sums up his reflection on his life in profoundly meaningful words. One of the parts are particularly touching:

“I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers.
Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.” —Oliver Sacks

His dancing days sound graceful. May the melody for dancing plays in this bitter-sweet first lives of ours from time to time. May the days in which we dance are more than those in which there have been no dancing.