Fan Haiying

    “There are no poetry and life afar anymore!” Jun said desperately.

    Jun and I are always looked forward to the life that we had yet to experience. After a journey to Tibet and Nepal, we had great confidence that whatever we dreamed would be. However, the reality bitterly reminds us that life is not always what you want.

    At the beginning of this year, Jun paid a reservation fee for a flat on impulse. However, when she realized how much it would cost, she found that she could not afford it. Being a mortgage slave, she no longer dares to take a risk for her ideal life.

    A house, in Chinese culture, is far more than a place to live, but also means steadiness and security. As the idiom goes: “Live in peace and enjoy one’s work.” However, people’s peaceful minds have been disturbed since house prices soared. People talk about houses with anxiety and panic. Poetry and life afar become a good will, chanted by writers and singers.

    “Though our life is much easier than the older generation, we are not as happy as them,” Jennifer said. Why does this happen? Is it because we don’t have our own house? No, I don’t think so. I read an interesting story. Yan Hong, a writer, used to be proud that she made a living by writing. However, she got anxious when she realized that speculating on real estate made profit in a very short time. She currently spends more time house-inspecting than engaging in the work she likes.

    Here goes another story. Daisy works in Zhongshan, but she decided to buy a secondhand flat in Guangzhou, which cost her more than 1 million yuan (US$154,500). She said she could live a comfortable life if she bought a flat in Zhongshan. However, considering her daughter’s education, she eventually chose a flat in a school district in Guangzhou.

    Anxiety roots itself in people’s expectation for stability. Besides, what do poetry and life afar really mean? As far as I am concerned, both of them symbolize the ideal life that people are longing for, where there is joy and happiness.

    Can such a state of mind be fulfilled? In this society, it sounds too good to be true. We can actually do something to taste a bit of it. There was a time that I planted some sunflowers and recorded how they sprouted and grew. I was so excited when I saw them bloom. I thought they were the most beautiful flowers I had seen. I came to realize that joy is not from how much money we make or how famous we are, but the time we spend on something.

    My dear friends, the poetic life is not far from reach, but it takes time to cultivate it.