Psychology Chat ⁽⁸⁵⁾

Beijing had an autumn rain that lasted all night. When I got up in the morning, the air had turned cool. Another gardenia had opened on the windowsill. I opened the window, and the delicate fragrance of the gardenia drifted into the room, filling it…

Günter Grass wrote a novel called The Tin Drum, whose protagonist Oskar keeps refusing to grow up. Strictly speaking, every one of us is a bit like Oskar deep down; many people live in childhood all their lives. This can be explained by biology: certain…

Society is complex, but a person can choose simplicity; the world is fickle and ever-changing, yet for most of one's life one can live a very regular life without much variation; the outside world is rich and colorful, yet it need not prevent us from…

In the afternoon I went to get a nucleic acid test, and after that went to a nearby wet market to buy groceries. I bought a chicken and a piece of beef, paid 184 yuan, and left to buy vegetables at other stalls. Just as…

This outbreak of the epidemic in Beijing has lasted for more than 40 days. Tomorrow we can finally basically return to normal life, although it is still hard to say whether the epidemic will rebound. It is just that from now on, Beijing residents, like…

Howling winds and raging rain make birds huddle; clear sunlight and gentle breezes make grass and trees thrive. Thus heaven and earth cannot be without harmonious warmth for a single day, and the human heart cannot be without a joyful spirit for a single day.

Among ancient Chinese men of letters, my favorite is Su Dongpo. He was genuine, broad-minded, adaptable, and flexible; no matter what befell him, he remained as open and at ease as ever. Confucius said that at forty one is free from perplexities, and Su Dongpo's…

Confucius said that at seventy he could "follow whatever the heart desired without transgressing what was right." I believe only six or seven parts of this saying. At seventy, it is actually hard to follow whatever one desires—the body does not permit it, and often…

In the season when warmth returns but cold still lingers, a sudden blizzard descended on Beijing, and the temperature plummeted to around freezing. Still, I kept riding my bike in the snow and, over the weekend, renewed the lease on the small vegetable plot I…

Marc Schoen, clinical assistant professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, has devoted his life to research, clinical practice, and teaching in mind-body medicine, behavioral decision-making and performance under stress. He wrote a book specifically on modern restlessness: Your…