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Facing Our Cliffs: Lessons on Survival from the Wilds of Xinjiang
Deep in the Karakoram Mountains, I saw a herd of blue sheep. On the steep cliff, they stood almost clinging to the cliff, and above the cliff, a group of wild wolves watched eagerly. The tour guide urged: “Don’t look anymore. If the wolf doesn’t leave, the blue sheep won’t move. Let’s see who can survive longer. Even if they fall to death, they will not leave the cliff.” I was deeply shocked and roared loudly at the cliff several times, hoping to scare the wolf away, but the sound seemed to be blocked by the wind. The wolf had no intention of leaving, and the blue sheep seemed to…
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Reading: A Paradoxical Journey of Escaping and Facing the World
It is still somewhat daunting to proclaim myself as an exceedingly ordinary educator, replete with biases, folly, hubris, self-delusion, and conceit that may befall anyone. Typically, I do not possess any pastimes. Reading serves as my means to while away the hours and combat the void. However, my reading experiences merely reflect my personal journey. Certain individuals deem reading as lacking in usefulness, a squandering of both time and finances, thus embracing a contemporary form of anti-intellectualism. Conversely, some individuals excessively venerate wisdom and propel knowledge to unprecedented heights, succumbing to intellectualism. In my estimation, both perspectives may be flawed. Anti-intellectualism constitutes a foolish prejudice, while intellectualism is an equally…
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The Freedom of Travel: An Escape from the Mundane
I’m not a person who likes to travel, I find it troublesome. Traveling is an opposition to everyday life without all the hassle to consider. First, the work is stripped away, and then the familiarity is stripped away. In the end, you do know that you are wandering in a strange place, and everything before is extremely far away from you. That is the feeling of freedom. On weekdays, a person can’t help but think that I can do it when I have money, I can do it when I change my job, I can do it when I buy a big house, and I can do it when I…
