My friend Aju loves to travel, but in recent years he seems to be less interested. The more prepared the strategy, the smoother the game. However, when I arrived at the place of travel, I suddenly found that I had lost the most important experience-freshness.
Not only travel, but in the information age, imitation has become a new state of life. Whether people or things, there is a bright red flag in front of them, teasing and eagerly following. There are endless short videos, various note-taking experiences on Xiaohongshu, a little bit creative, everyone immediately follow suit. The time we spend is the second-hand time of others.
When the pastoral aesthetics are popular, on a sunny weekend, the circle of friends is full of gingham cloth, bamboo baskets, and Meranti-colored balloons, rendering the same style of picnic in the countryside. The newly built ancient towns are equipped with unified brown candies, handmade yogurt, northeast slabs, pancakes, fruit, candied haws, silverware, background music, and the trendy tide of thousands of miles from the north to the south.
Zhang Ailing once sighed: People living in urban culture always see the picture of the sea first, and then the sea; when we read love novels first, we know love later, our experience of life is often the second round.
In the information age, it is easier for us to think of following as a maverick, and everyone agrees in imitating. Before watching a movie, check Douban scores; when going out to eat, check public comments; not to mention traveling, either follow the Jiugongge in the circle of friends, or download a detailed guide and follow the picture to find out. Middle-aged men collectively soak medlar in a thermos. Old women are not willing to rack their brains to keep the girlishness. Young parents are obsessed with the scientific concept of parenting experts, and the elderly follow various remedies to maintain their health. The 8,848-meter Mt. Everest was crowded with people, and everyone gained the vanity and sense of accomplishment in the congestion. The “square dance” of the middle class is a marathon that runs through different cities. You don’t need to bite a medal with your teeth, and you feel that it is not a positive and motivated life.
Weibo and Moments have become the stage for people to vigorously wave the flag. Famous brands, trends, and hot spots are eye-catching signs on this road. Alekseyevich said: All thoughts and all languages today come from others, as if they were clothes worn by someone yesterday. With the help of the power of technology, the tide is coming in. It sweeps through the lives of ordinary people and turns them into empty beaches. What we think of as fresh and peculiar is just the scenery that others have walked through. What is lost in fluent and unobstructed is our own exploration and discovery. This is the filling life on the assembly line in the information age, and every smile has a standard standard. The popularity of short videos spreads people’s behavior virally, whether it’s words, food, behavior, or posture.
One year on the first day of the first lunar month, I passed by Chuxiong, Yunnan. When I went to a restaurant to eat, the floor was covered with pine branches, emitting a strong aroma of trees, like walking into a forest. The New Year customs of the locals are different from many places: During the New Year, fresh pine branches should be laid in the house. The scent of pine branches in a house is the emerald green and fragrant New Year that belongs to Chuxiong. It is not a fiery red New Year.
Thoreau, who lives on the shore of Walden Lake, finds the joy of tranquility in the natural mountains and lakes, but he does not think that life is worthy of emulation. He just hopes that there will be as many unique people as possible in this world, sober to pursue his own way of life, rather than imitating his parents or neighbors.
Do what you want to do, go what you want to go. For a thousand people, how is the soul boring and tired?
