Spring Returns to the Earth, My Heart Takes Flight
Happiness is not only physical health; sometimes a poor memory is, in itself, a kind of happiness.
— Albert Schweitzer
On Saturday I cycled out to my vegetable plot, dug and turned the soil to prepare for spring sowing, and stopped by Zhongwu Park to take in its pastoral scenery. In Zhongwu Park, the rice paddies are full of stubble. The ice on the lake has thawed, though withered leaves from last year still linger in the lotus pond. It is not yet the season of blooming flowers, but some blossoms are already swelling in bud, and tender green grass is sprouting.
Spring has come; the lives dormant through winter are about to burst forth. I love moments like this, when heaven and earth and all things are connected. When other living things are awakened, our own human vitality grows stronger. On my days off I have again taken up my instruments: the seven-string qin, the crystal singing bowl, and the Buddhist singing bowl. This year I even want to add a harmonica, an electronic wind instrument, and a saxophone. My demands on instruments are low—I do not seek to play them well, only to make them sound, not to please others but for my own amusement. I have also sowed flower seeds in pots, waiting for them to sprout and bloom. I want my life to be joyful and full, rich and varied, untouched by any long-lasting negative emotion.
Life inevitably brings painful experiences, but after suffering we must be able to rise again. Yesterday is gone and need not be regretted; tomorrow has not come, so why worry? Enjoy today well. There is no need to wait until you have no cares before doing what you want—start now. Speak the love you want to speak boldly, and life will leave no regrets. Having many hobbies is an extraordinary happiness, because they can at any moment ignite our passion, immerse us, and let us experience life with joy that makes us forget our sorrows.
I have an ability that deeply satisfies me: I can selectively forget all unpleasantness while remembering delightful things vividly. I now know this is a fine gene inherited from my maternal line. My mother, my uncle, and my aunt all share this trait: no matter what misfortunes befall them, they quickly recover their cheer and forget the past's unpleasantness completely. What a blessing! Winning the lottery jackpot every day could not be luckier. After all, compared with happiness, money is worthless.
Conditional happiness is a flower in a mirror or the moon in water; only unconditional happiness lasts. Do not pin your hopes on the future, nor wait until you have no cares to enjoy life. The ancients said: if you wait for the moment of completion, that moment never comes; stop right here, and you are stopped. To wait until there is no care before doing something may mean never doing it—what if we do not live to that point? A person prone to entanglement will probably never have a carefree day; a person not prone to entanglement is carefree right now.
Li Yu, who wrote "cut it and it still tangles, comb it and it still tangles," had marvelous talent but a terrible mindset. Behind those six words lies classic ruminative thinking—seeming profound but actually nonsense. If an affair or relationship is tangled like hemp and cannot be sorted however you try, the best method is neither to cut it nor to untangle it, but simply to put it out of mind, stop thinking, and let nature take its course.
Forget all negative memories, focus on the good things in life, and the heart fills with joy. Walking into life with joy, we not only brighten ourselves but others as well. Positive psychology holds that a positive, optimistic person infects those around them, lifting them into a positive state. Imagine: if someone around you is happy most of the time, won't your own happy moments increase?
Enough writing—I am off to play music. I have a faithful listener: the cat I keep, my kindred spirit. Because it knows that companionship is so precious, that in companionship nothing is worth nitpicking. What does it matter if I just strum randomly? It still delights both me and the cat.