The Chained Bird Will Eventually Fly to the Wilderness

In this stage full of uncertainty, we often resemble birds chained down, mistakenly thinking our original state is “freedom.” But true freedom often begins with the moment of inward exploration. When the smoke of exams clears, life’s true face gradually reveals itself, and the dialogue about the future, body, and soul is just beginning.

I. Learning Is an Awakening from Within

Lu Xun once asked: “Just because something has always been this way, does that make it right?” This question still rings thunderously today.

True learning should never be passive acceptance and agreement, but an exploration from the inside out. Just like after the college entrance exam, looking back at those days and nights sacrificed to physics and English, ultimately finding that the unexpectedly high score on the Chinese essay wasn’t just imagination. This “unintentional success” reminds us to examine the evaluation system itself: there’s no need to obsess over every “constant deduction” item—life has its own unique algorithm.

Our backgrounds may differ—some families make their living amid the clanging of metal sheets, parents busy with work practicing “free-range” parenting; others grow up under strict control. But regardless of the starting point, learning to be self-driven and to question “that’s how it’s always been” in a world without standard answers is the first lesson of adulthood.

Sensitive people are often more perceptive of the world—for instance, being drained by family members’ emotional fluctuations. But this is precisely why we need to practice a kind of “art of forgetting”: empathy is a gift, but setting boundaries and not being swept up by others’ emotions is survival wisdom.

II. The Body Is the Temple of the Soul: Health as the First Principle

When facing choices about college majors or life paths, many people first consider prospects, salary, or social status. But upon serious self-examination, you’ll find that “health” should be placed first.

Recalling those anxious, helpless, sick, and fragile moments, I deeply understood that “days without illness are the best days of life.” Whether negotiating with school for better sleep during exam prep, or the anxiety during the COVID period, the body was sending real signals.

Even if courses are optional, even if the only external expectation is to “gain ten pounds,” incorporating body training into daily life—whether Ba Duan Jin, Vajra practice, or morning runs—is the most responsible investment in life. All knowledge exploration and deep expertise must be built upon a vibrant body. After all, only with a healthy physique can you have the right to discuss the stars and sea.

III. The Pain and Joy of Creation: Finding Connection Through Expression

The creative process is often an interweaving of pain and joy.

Sometimes the brain falls into an abnormally active “insomnia state,” neural circuits seemingly forcibly activated, bringing irritability and lethargy. To produce a video, you go through a series of “darkest moments”—denying yourself, reaffirming yourself, drawing mind maps, being tortured by editing software. Even if what you make looks like “garbage” in your own eyes, completion matters more than perfection.

Compared to facing cold editing software, words might be a purer haven. Though we can’t predict who our audience is, and don’t know if every word we write will resonate with someone, expression itself is a form of giving back.

If a message you send gets no response, that’s their loss. We enjoy connecting with the world, but we don’t seek to possess all attention. Whether on Xiaohongshu or WeChat Official Accounts, the core of creation isn’t about catering to others, but organizing that chaotic self through output.

Of course, when output runs dry, you must return to input for nourishment. Whether it’s the depth of “The Godfather,” the tension of “Breaking Bad,” the pursuit of ideals in “The Moon and Sixpence,” or the long wait in “Love in the Time of Cholera,” books and films are forever spiritual refueling stations.

IV. Embracing the Real World: Fireworks and Pitfalls

Step out of the study, travel to Quanzhou or farther places, and life will unfold its canvas in the most direct way.

The world is complex. Here you’ll find kind ride-share drivers sharing food maps, and surprisingly delicious mung bean cakes and taro cakes despite their cheap prices; but there are also beggars exploiting kindness, questionnaire traps at temples, and fortune-telling that claims to be “free” but ends up costing money.

We should learn to taste life like tasting food: a 55-yuan ginger duck might be underwhelming, while a 12-yuan fried rice from a street stall might bring a surprise. Looking out from the terrace of a milk tea shop at the bustling crowds, observing this world—good and bad, it’s all scenery.

Life’s dream perhaps doesn’t need a grand narrative. Finding a group of like-minded people, chattering away about everything, having a healthy body, modest wealth, and the ability to perceive happiness—that’s enough.

The bird breaks free from its chains, not to fly higher, but to fly toward its own wilderness.

(2024/1/13-2024/7/16) (Supplemented 2025-11-26)