硅谷已不复当年之勇，现在的问题是：

- 「新硅谷」会在世界哪个角落崛起？
- 最有才华和野心的人将涌向何方？
- 正在建设未来的人都混迹在哪些社群？

正如Balaji反复提到的「云端先行，土地次之」的「创业城市 Startup City」雏形，大量的企业家和远程工作者们已经开始在线上集合成小团体，并以数字游民的方式在线下体验目的地然后分享彼此的经验。

数字游民们一般会选择有较高生活标准且可负担的城市作为目的地，过去清迈和巴厘岛是数字游民的首选目的地。新加坡、迪拜和整个爱沙尼亚也打响了作为初创城市的品牌名声，现在里斯本、墨西哥城和第比利斯则成为后起之秀。这一切都可以在Pieter Levels创办的Nomad List网站上找到答案。

虽然旅游业开始复苏，人们对于旅游的概念却因为远程工作的普及而发生了变化。以往去著名景点罗马、伦敦、巴黎、拉斯维加斯、纽约打卡式的短期旅行，已经逐渐被不如直接搬到当地住上几个月边玩边工作所代替。

Pieter Levels认为，基于休闲兴趣和社区活动的目的地才是旅游业的未来：「如果一个人喜欢动漫，可以选择居住在东京；如果一个热衷于乡村音乐，可能会喜欢住在纳什维尔；如果喜欢瑜伽和冥想，住在巴厘岛可能最适合你」。

正如以往是大企业大公司一统天下，现在则是小众的创作者的天下；现在中小型城市也可以依靠自己的品牌影响力来和大城市争夺人才。诺维奇打造「文学之城」的名声，波特兰致力于消灭塑料成为「环保之城」，这些以前名不见经传的地方，正靠着互联网的宣传和吸引来的人才，帮他们在地图上占有一席之地。城市可以开始打造利基市场的名声，通过搭建特定学科的基础设施和福利，吸引志同道合的人才。

Pieter Levels预测到2035年数字游民的人数将达到10亿人，而疫情则大大加速了这一进程。各大公司的远程办公政策，美国盛行的「Zoom Town」和欧洲崛起的「数字游民村」，未来最耀眼的城市将是围绕远程经济建设的城市，同时也不会忽略平衡当地原住民和数字游民的关系，毕竟「以人为本」是一切发展的核心。

上20世纪80年代开始，超级富豪们可以通过「投资入籍」获得在全球流动性。现在，中产阶级知识工作者们正在通过数字游民签证获得相同的权利。数字游民们引领的是一种分享全球化成果的新生活方式：一个自由、分散的和无边界的未来。是不是想想就令人激动呢!

再推荐下最近的「精神食粮」Pieter Levels！他是：

- 远程工作/数字游民前辈
- 经历超级旺盛同时创办/搭建数十个项目

上周他发布了「2021年数字游民数据统计」「2021年远程工作数据统计」报告，揭示了数字游民的普遍特征和喜好：

- 男女数字游民都视咖啡为救命良药
- 男数游一般是夜猫子＋健身狂人；女数游则是早鸟＋关注灵性成长
- 平均年龄集中在30岁左右（大脑前额叶刚发展好了终于意识到「若为自由故一切皆可抛」了）
- 男数游最常见的工作是软件工程师、创业者和网站开发；女数游最常见的工作是创意、市场和创业者
- 数字游民美国人最多，其次是英国、俄罗斯、加拿大和德国

猜猜看薪水最高还有最吃香的远程工作有哪些呢？​

我超爱的小说家埃莱娜·费兰特（《那不勒斯四部曲》作者）和行为艺术家玛丽娜·阿布拉莫维奇公开互换书信了！

埃莱娜对玛丽娜说，30多年来，她只以书面作品的形式出现；但是玛丽娜却在50多年的艺术生涯中，勇敢的用自己身体表达艺术。埃琳娜开始反思「创作者本身和作品」的一致性与割裂性。

玛丽娜回复说，她很享受可以找到一种使人与人联系起来的元素，写作和长时间持续性的表演之间有很多相似之处。在她很有名的「The Artist is Present」表演中，她撤掉了与观众之间的桌子，因为桌子阻碍了和他人的能量交换，尤其是在不用言语进行交流的情况下。

通过这场行为艺术，玛丽娜意识到公众其实在艺术作品中扮演着更重要的角色，而不仅仅是单纯的观众。玛丽娜认为她的作品必须需要从「自我」开始，因为只有自己最了解自己，自己的身体是一切的开始。

埃莱娜在答复玛丽娜关于她为什么选择不以真实身份写作时回答道，她还是一个小女孩时，就对一切感到羞耻，尤其对想要写作的这个想法感到羞耻。对她来说，写作仿佛是在宣称自己身上包含了整个世界，是一种傲娇的体现，于是她训练自己作为一个胆小的人去生活，这样可以将自我与作家身份剥离开来，这两者的间隙越大，她就感到越自由。

埃莱娜认为如果在写作的过程中暴露了自己，那自己本身也会作为一个公众眼中的角色，一个大家赋予你的虚构角色，而这种暴露将会制约自己的虚构写作。埃琳娜又问玛丽娜是否理解自己所述的这种剥离感，是否隐藏起来的真实自我往往会比暴露在公众下的自我更有活力？因为历史原因，男女之间往往有一种不可避免的暴力和冲突，女性的创造力是否需要在没有孩子的制约下才可以爆发？女性如果把自己完全投入到一个人的艺术中，把自己的整个生命倾注到工作中，会不会产生一种荒废生命和无常的痛苦？

玛丽娜在回信中讲了一个故事，有一次她被要求选择一本儿童读物绘制插图，她毫不犹豫的选择了《丑小鸭》，因为她认为自己从小就是一个不合群的人，在青少年时期极度的不快乐，而且穿着打扮也十分丑陋。但是当她第一次在万众瞩目的舞台上表现自我之时，她感到了自己的转变，那种破茧而出的感觉让整个世界都变得光亮起来。

玛丽娜需要来自公众的关注和能量，而实现这一目标的方法就是把自己的恐惧、脆弱和痛苦搬上舞台，让观众能够与之产生共鸣。玛丽娜在私下其实也很搞笑，还喜欢和朋友一起讲政治不正确的笑话，这与她在表演时的严肃状态截然不同。她确实为了艺术做出了牺牲，比如说为了全神贯注的表演而牺牲了母性和亲密关系。总得来说，玛丽娜在生活中常常感到孤独，而她也好奇埃琳娜是否也是如此。

埃莱娜答道，自己曾经非常孤独，后来则用忙碌充实着生活，现在则把时间全部投入到写作当中，而写作是一项在绝对的孤独中进行的工作，尤其是她选择不用真实身份出版，更是把自己隔离在公众之外，体验这种分外强烈的孤独之感。

埃莱娜一直很欣赏玛丽娜的作品，她对于玛丽娜可以自豪地享用艺术家这个头衔而感到震惊，而她自己则对作家之名毫无感觉，甚至觉得有些过头，毕竟这一身份限制了真实的自己。她很好奇玛丽娜为什么可以为了艺术而暴露自己，甚至将生命都交给艺术。

埃莱娜认为我们现在仍然处于一个男性主导的世界里，由男性来定义审美标准，无论是女性艺术家还是普通人，我们离自主地表达自我还有很长的道路要走，如何才能逃离这男性定义的传统和强大的牢笼？

玛丽娜对于她和埃琳娜之间的差异非常着迷，她认为艺术家是社会的仆人，如果你有创造的天赋，就有责任去分享它，因为这个天赋不仅仅属于你，而是属于整个世界。而在分享的过程中，并没有男性和女性的特殊性，只有好艺术和坏艺术之分。

毋庸置疑的一个事实是男性诞生于女性身体当中。如果女性最终把太多的权利交付给男人，那我们本身也应该反思自己的行为。玛丽娜举了路易斯·布尔乔亚的例子，这个当代最杰出的女性艺术家是在丈夫去世后才开始完全专注于自己的艺术和事业，我们总能用自己独特的方式成为真正的勇士并且改变世界。

埃莱娜则认为女性不应该停止奋斗和抗争，这样就不会再有其他的女性同胞要等到丈夫死去才可以全身心的投入到艺术创作当中。她并不认为女性应该取代男性，或者用他们制定的游戏规则来玩这场游戏。相反，我们应该找到一种方式改变现状，不再浪费女性的创造力和智慧。

玛丽娜说自己只是一个不完美的普通人，她依靠公众的能量在特定的空间和时间内去表演，但是平常生活中，她并不能持续的拥有在艺术表演中的耐力和勇气。她在艺术创作中接受不确定性，行为表演艺术中没有什么是事先规划好的，这完全取决于当天的观众参与。她接受一切可能性，甚至是毁灭性的时刻。

埃莱娜在书信的最后讲述了自己的创作历程，她从不相信一个作家可以详细的描述创作思路，根据她的经验来看，创作是一个故事碎片在大脑闪烁碰撞的过程，有一些只留下了苍白的痕迹，而有一些则互相交织在一起，推进了故事的发展。她曾经放弃了很多创作作品，因为无法驾驭这些琐碎的灵感，她在等待合适的时机，或者等待他人来完成她的作品。

1. 你之所以成为现在的你，是周围一切人和事物集合的作用。当你试图去改变周遭的人和环境的时候，其实也是在否定自我。我可以通过改变僵化的物理环境找到适合自己的生活方式，但最好连丝毫想改变别人的念头都不要有。

2. 很多人的社交驱动力就是为了能发一个微博or IG Story。 

3. 现在让你得到及时满足感但之后会让你感到无聊的东西，都是分心的事情，别掉入这个陷阱。

4. 古希腊哲学家伊壁鸠鲁曾经说过，人与人打交道难免会受到他人的影响。把一块熄灭的煤放在另一块燃烧的煤旁边，要么它俩一起熄灭，要么一起燃烧。如果你常和一个满身污垢的人在一起，你也很难出淤泥而不染。

我们往往在不自知的情况下变得像周围人一样，如果你的朋友恶迹斑斑，你早晚也会变成一个混蛋。我们天真的以为自己足够强大可以不受环境的影响，可以不被潜规则或者坏文化所影响，但是变化都是渐进的，如温水煮蛙一般缓慢，等你突然意识到变化时，为时已晚。

你需要时刻反思自己周遭的环境，仔细看看你和谁一起度过漫长的时间，他们是否诚实可靠？他们是在帮助你还是拖你后腿？他们是否是你想要成为的人？如果不是，就要尽快切断联系。与那些你不想成为的人保持距离，主动去接触你想成为的人

5. 最后附上这一周在小岛的数字游民生活掠影，请在落日的余晖下尽情把爱唤醒吧！

感谢@王逅逅 牵线，让我和煽风点火的主播@艾莉森王Allison 在葡萄牙的马德拉岛相遇了！并面朝大西洋，晒着暖阳，录下了这期播客！我们一起聊了聊：

- 我们的数字游民生活。
- 为什么在20岁末期都会经历脱胎换骨的痛苦觉醒？
- 实现了世俗所谓的成功，为什么反而更加痛苦？
- 自我觉醒的四个层面。
- 谈谈佛学、道家、庄子和苏轼
- 如何找到灵魂伴侣？如何治愈当代人普遍的孤独感？

收听方式：
小宇宙、苹果、Spotify等各大播客平台/app搜索「Chiwi Journal」进行收听。

“Where are you from?”

“I’m from New Zealand,” I answered.

“Where are you ORIGINALLY from?”

People always ask me this question because they don’t believe a girl with an Asian face is from an English-speaking country.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Camellia.”

“What’s your REAL name?”

Again, people don’t think a girl with an Asian face has an English legal name.

Where am I from? I questioned myself. 

Shall I say where I was born, or the country of my passport, or where I have lived, or the last place I’ve been, or possibly wherever feels like home?
​
US sociologist Dr Ruth Hill Useem coined the term Third Culture Kids (TCK) in the 1950s to describe a group of people facing the same situation as me when it comes to answering the above questions. 

TCKs spent a significant part of their developmental years outside their parents’ culture. Most of them are the children of expats or multinational marriages. Barack Obama is a famous example: born in Hawaii and spent a formative part of his childhood in Indonesia as a son of an American mother and a Kenyan father. 

As a person born in China, spent my adult years in New Zealand, and now living a digital nomad life in Europe, I struggled with my identity and always questioned where I belonged. I shared this feeling with people around me in the physical world, but most locals couldn’t understand that. 

American novelist James Baldwin once said, “you think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.” 

I echoed this quote at a young age and started reading and writing with my mother tongue Mandarin Chinese to deal with my intellectual isolation and loneliness. After moving to New Zealand in 2010, I had to start everything from scratch by writing in English at my new home with a new language. 

Back then, I was too embarrassed to speak with my broken English, not to mention writing fluent essays or articles, which led to my extremely low self-esteem in applying English into my daily life. 

It took me almost a decade to overcome my inner demon, who constantly sabotaged me by saying: You suck! Your English is rubbish! 

And again, I went back to books to seek answers. 

Fernando Pessoa, Elif Safak and Ayn Rand are all non-native English speaking writers. They set up a role model for people like me. By reading their stories and their works, I understand writing in English is a mission achievable. What I need to do is simple - according to Ernest Hemingway, “there is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed” - In my case, I just need to sit in front of my iMac and let the blood flow washing over the wireless magic keyboard. 

In addition to that, I found online writing mentors like David Perrell, who created writing courses to guide me through the journey.

Although I could stay in my comfort zone to speak and write in Chinese since I’m a prolific Chinese writer with confidence, I would miss the opportunity to use English, the language of universal communication, to meet new friends and readers while living abroad. 

I recently moved to a small island, Madeira. To my surprise, I have a reader there, and she welcomed me and showed me around the moment I arrived. I also met 90% of my friends from writing online, either proactively reaching them or vice versa - they found me through my works. The power of writing in public! 

According to the statistics, the estimated number of TCK is approximately 220 million and will continue to grow with global mobility. In addition to TCK, many international adult migrants (281 million people living outside their country of origin in 2020) share similar multicultural identities. My stories have resonated with many of them.

Although the supply is way ahead of demand in terms of quantity in the online writing world. 7.5 million blog posts are published every day, and everyone only has 24 hours. However, most people won’t publish every day, and those who never give it up will build their audience base.

As a Chinese saying goes, a thousand miles begins with a single step. It might sound cliche to say just keep writing and publishing, and you’ll find your tribe, but that’s the truth. Nothing could beat the compound growing unless you, the only enemy of yourself, decide to quit. 

I used to be an international student and a new migrant in New Zealand. So I shared my overseas studying and job hunting experiences with those on the same boat to gain my follower base. I spent loads of time on WeChat and Weibo to serve Chinese international students in the past decade by writing in public. 

This year, I start to produce more English content on different channels (newsletter and podcast) to record my sovereign individual living as a bilingual writer. I’m only at the starting point, and if you are reading this, thanks for being part of the journey! Serve the person you once were is my mantra in terms of writing. 

Since multicultural identity and modern loneliness are constantly haunting me, I wrote a book to share my moment of truth as a TCK; Or Third Culture Adult (TCA) is a more accurate term. When I shared my stories with the world, I gained more than I was expecting—a sense of belonging. 

As mentioned before, I either reach out to people who share the same intellectual waves or my readers with similar experiences send me a message to connect. I used to feel rootlessness  because I could belong to any culture, but none of the cultures would accept me as their own; I could behave and talk with people from different countries in their way, but they might still feel like I’m an alien trying to integrate into their territory. 

But now, with hundreds and thousands of readers and listeners worldwide, I feel the intellectual connection with them and am also glad they could benefit from my writings and have the courage to write their own stories, especially in their own language. 

You’ve already had the story materials, and your task is to work it wisely to decide when to throw away more information to your readers and listeners. The key is to keep writing no matter the language or cultural barriers.

You get so alone at times so you write, and then everything is different. 
​

搬来「数字游民Digital Nomads）」小岛马德拉有一周了！这里也是C罗的出生地，到处布满了他的痕迹。最近全面开启社交属性，在岛上了结识了大批有趣的新朋友！除了那些纯粹是来吃喝玩乐享受生活的游民们，还有很多创业者发挥主观能动性，基本从零开始打造小岛理想生活：婚庆旅游、健身艺术、更不用说组织即将到来的数字货币大会了！悄悄透漏一下，某知名流媒体公司将要在岛上拍一部数字游民的纪录片，你说我会不会出镜呢哈哈哈！

​搭建狂人Pieter Levels在2015年时就做出了预测：到2035年，全球数字游民的数目会达到10亿人。2020年突如其来的全球疫情加快了这一进程。这也是诸如马德拉等欧洲小岛可以兴起的原因。

远程办公历史：
- 第一次浪潮：互联网发展时期(2007-2013)
- 第二次浪潮：数字游民成为趋势(2014-2020)
- 第三次浪潮：全球疫情冲击下的远程办公模式(2021+)

远程办公优点：
- 节省通勤时间
- 灵活性和自由度
- 避免开放式办公室带来的干扰
- 能数字交流解决的问题无需面对面交流
- 无需依照工作地点选择安家地点
- 跨境跨地区合作
- 公司节省成本

数字游民的困扰：
- 朋友圈不固定➕恋情不稳定，容易导致孤单和焦虑
- 签证和护照问题
- 全球化导致每个地方大差不差，新地点带来的新鲜劲儿很容易过去

未来趋势：
- 根据兴趣爱好选择居住地（比如喜欢足球住在足球发源地，喜欢动漫去日本，喜欢瑜伽冥想去印尼...）
- 目的地需要有良好的基建，城市和国家会搭建社区供数字游民交友
- 相关政策和法律的设定（银行、签证等）
- 城市不再靠旅游创收而是靠吸引数字游民

我近两年一直采取数字游民的办公模式，或者也可以称为跨时区异步工作。其中最宝贵的经验便是建立一套适合自己的工作体系，支持自己按时完成工作，同时不会过劳或者过闲。当工作环境发生变化时，你需要能够快速识别工作系统的「故障」，哪些因素影响了你的工作流程？「日常惯例」中哪些领域可以妥协，哪些又完全不能妥协？对我来说，我在旅行工作的过程中「间歇性断食」和「运动」是完全不可以妥协的，毕竟健康是我最看重的元素，那就在保持这两项时间的情况下，适当将其他杂项的时间分配给探索新城市或者结交当地新朋友。不断根据环境的改变优化自己的工作系统，也要适当放宽心，允许旅行工作期间突发的偶然和混乱。

即将在Chiwi Journal播客采访一票岛上的数字游民，敬请期待！

不记得哪位名人曾经说过，数学和音乐是人类最真实的语言。当卡尔·萨根将一张旅行者金唱片（Voyager Golden Records）送上太空时，我们就知道了音乐对于人类的重要性。总结下伟大的作家们对于音乐的看法：

1. 苏珊·桑塔格在成年后的大部分时间里平均每天阅读8至10小时，而她对于音乐的热爱也是有过之而无不及。她曾在15岁的日记中写道：「音乐是所有艺术中最美妙且最有活力的。它抽象、完美、纯粹，同时又很感性。我用身体聆听，而我的身体也用疼痛去回应音乐中所体现出的激情和悲怆时感到疼痛」。

2. 库尔特·冯内古特在他最后一本散文集《没有国家的人》一书中写道，音乐之于他高于一切，并使生活变得值得。「如果有一天我死了，请让这段话成为我的墓志铭：他需要证明上帝存在的唯一证据就是音乐」。

3. 诗人埃德娜·圣文森特·米莱在信中写道：「我几乎可以弹奏《第五交响曲》的全部内容，并用它解决了许多难以入睡的问题。音乐这个高贵又强大的东西，回答了我所有的问题。没有音乐，我宁可去死。亲爱的缪斯女神请原谅我所述的话语，即使是诗歌也不可与音乐同日而语。我发现最近手指越来越想弹钢琴了，我不会再在没有钢琴的情况下过冬。十年来，我一直在忘记我对于音乐的热爱，这都因为我实在是太蠢了。现在我身边剩下的只有巴赫，我不知道为什么我一直这么爱他，他是如此的纯粹，如此的无情和不可侵犯，就像几何学中的一个定理」。

3. 尼采曾经说过，没有音乐的生活将是一个错误。「上帝赐予我们音乐，首先是为了引导我们不断发展。音乐可以让我们兴奋，让我们转移注意力，让我们振作起来，或者用它最柔和的忧郁音调击碎最坚硬的心。但音乐的主要任务是把我们的思想引向更高层面的东西，甚至使我们颤抖......音乐常常用比诗歌更具穿透力的声音说话，直击心灵最隐蔽的缝隙，引导我们走向美好和真实。然而，如果只将音乐作为一种消遣手段或拿来炫耀，那就是有罪有害的」。

4. 叔本华在其1818年出版的代表作《作为意志和表象的世界》中，对音乐的力量进行了广泛的探究，他写道：「音乐是如此伟大又精细的艺术，它对人内在性质的影响是如此强大，完全又深刻地被人们公认为一种完整的宇宙语言，其鲜明性甚至超过了感知世界本身。我们当然要在音乐中寻找更多的东西，而不是莱布尼茨认为的音乐只是一种无意识的算术练习。我们必须赋予音乐一个更为严肃和深刻的意义，音乐代表着最根本的存在」。

5. 弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫在21岁的时候描述了舞曲带给她的震撼：「舞曲激起了我们人类的某种野蛮的本能，让你在一瞬间忘记了几个世纪的文明，让你屈服于那种奇怪的激情，使你疯狂地在房间里打转。你随着音乐摇摆，在小提琴的漩涡中对一切都视而不见，仿佛有一股湍急的水流将你卷入其中，这就是神奇的音乐」。

6. 赫胥黎在一篇名为《剩下的就是沉默》文章中写道：「当无法表达的东西必须要被表达之时，莎士比亚就放下笔头，开始放音乐」。

7. 奥利弗·萨克斯在《嗜乐者》中捕捉到了音乐作为最高精神寄托的特点，他在911后的几天后写道：「我骑车去炮台公园的路上听到了一段音乐，然后加入了一群坐在那里凝视大海的人群，我们默默地听着一位年轻人用小提琴演奏巴赫的D调恰空舞曲。当音乐结束之时，人们安静地散去。显然音乐给他们带来了深刻的安慰，这是任何语言都无法做到的。

音乐是独一无二的艺术，它完全抽象，又具有深刻的情感。它没有能力代表任何外部的东西，但却有一种独特的力量来表达内心的状态或感受。音乐可以直接穿透人心。人们不必了解歌剧《狄多和埃涅阿斯》的具体故事，就会被她对他的哀叹所感动；任何曾经失去过挚爱的人都知道狄多所表达的内容。音乐存在着一个深刻而神秘的悖论：虽然它让人更强烈地体验到痛苦和悲伤，但它同时也带来了慰藉和安慰」。

再推荐下Netflix的纪录片《Song Exploder》，揭秘歌手代表作品幕后的创作过程和心路历程。

枪姐的《3 HOUR DRIVE》诞生于她刚生下宝宝，而另一位编曲人的母亲刚刚过世，彼此感慨生命轮回之间从而迸发出创作灵感；林聚聚写《WAIT FOR IT》时走在大街上突然来了灵感，赶紧边走边用手机录音软件收音，后来成了《汉密尔顿》音乐剧最受好评的单曲之一；R.E.M.本想创作一张暂时终结乐队的专辑，没想到偶然为之的单曲《LOSING MY RELIGION》却一炮而红，看到主唱Michael Stipe听自己30年前的DEMO时的羞涩表情也是爱了；Ty Dolla $ign创作《LA》是为了解救自己无辜入狱的兄弟...

我最喜欢的一集是介绍摇滚乐队Nine Inch Nails的经典曲目《HURT》。

《Hurt》创作于1995年并获得格莱美提名，2002年Johnny Cash的翻唱版本更是收获各大奖项，获得乐届高度评价，连原作者Trent Reznor都说，这首歌再也不属于我了。《Hurt》也多次被影视作品征用，比如说《金刚狼》《瑞克和莫蒂》《犯罪心理》《疑犯追踪》等。个人还是最爱卡什版本，尤其是配套的MV，每每重温都会潸然泪下。

Trent Reznor介绍说，他从小就被孤独感所侵蚀，小时候听到Pink Floyd《迷墙》时，第一次感觉到音乐的魅力，他在音乐中找到了共鸣和理解。Trent刚开始创作时充满了恐惧，觉得自己的作品不会被人们接受，但是强烈的情感在他体内作祟，让他不得不去创作，去释放困在内心的情绪。没想到他野生的音乐创作专辑备受好评，于是接着有了第二张专辑《The Downward Spiral》，而乐队也凭借这张专辑由地下成功上升到主流视野，《Hurt》便是这张专辑的主打单曲。

Trent在创作《Hurt》时，把自己与生俱来的哀伤感和被抛弃的感觉都融会在歌词中，他总觉得自己是个局外人，于是用酒精和毒品麻醉自己，试图在迷幻中让痛苦消失。Trent一直视David Bowie为偶像，没想到这首他在卧室写的歌，有生之年能和Bowie同台共唱。但他得到的越多，越觉得自己不配，越觉得痛苦，后来的几年人生也像第二张专辑描述的那样，成为了酒精和毒品的奴隶。直到2001年进了戒毒所才逐渐康复，2002年Cash翻唱他的曲目更是让他看清人生真谛，活在当下，珍惜眼前人。  

特别推荐下Song Exploder这个同名播客节目，主播Hrishikesh Hirway自2014年起就开始做这档播客O网页链接 至今已有194期节目且大咖云集（METALLICA、DUA LIPA、SELENA GOMEZ、LORDE、IGGY POP...）。身为内容创作者，特别喜欢听其他创作人幕后的故事，看似不起眼的生活细节，都成为大家创作的源泉，生活真的不缺少美，只是缺少发现美的眼睛。 

1. 期待许久的《舒马赫》纪录片终于上线了！
第28分钟/1小时23分钟/1小时31分钟哭点满满...
话说这两年的F1最喜欢：
- Daniel Ricciardo的笑容和性格
- Charles Leclerc的颜值和冷静
- Max Verstappen的求胜心态

不再惧怕美人迟暮，但是壮士暮年总让人唏嘘感叹… 运动员们的黄金时间最多也不过数十载，与其苟延残喘不如燃烧殆尽，是否才是他们最好的归宿？

2. 尽管生活向你扔来一系列随机的人和事，但要不要让它们留下，还是看你自己。做好选择和决定，让什么样的人进入你不完美的世界，了解你的瑕疵和黑暗面。

3. 先人们在几千年前已经解答了我们现在纠结的绝大多数哲学问题，我们再讲再总结都是絮絮叨叨的表现，那为什么还要去写去说呢？大概就是因为「本人」吧，毕竟人们无法再看到古人如何「知行合一」，而你现在的存在就是通过把道理活成实例，用所谓的人格魅力去发挥涟漪效应，毕竟这个世界上多一个开悟的人，就多一份希望。

4. 「中国传统水墨画十分崇尚“默示”的思想，它对色彩的疏离，表达的正是一种从视觉感官回归到“道说”本位的追求。虽然只用了氤氲单色的水墨，但墨色的单纯正如“道”的朴素，形成所谓“运墨而五色具”的情思在内心之中的灿烂绽放。水墨对“道”的“默示”，显现的正是所谓“天地有大美而不言，四时有明法而不议，万物有成理而不说”——来自“道”本体的精神力量。」- 《绘画空间：被折叠的意义“深度”》
​

上个月和Chiwi Journal的嘉宾Richard Reis录了一期关于禅宗冥想的播客，这会儿他完整的写下了四个月的修行体会，简单翻译总结一下：

1. Richard一直着迷于史蒂夫·乔布斯的早年经历，他发现乔布斯尝试过多种冥想体验，追随大师去印度修行，甚至还采取极端的饮食并加入了嬉皮公社。后来乔布斯在禅宗中找到他苦苦追寻的灵性体验。无论是他的极简主义美学，还是后来在禅宗老师见证下的婚姻，禅宗贯穿于乔布斯的生活中。为了弄清楚禅宗的基本概念，Richard前往Mountain Cloud Zen Centre进行了为期四个月的闭关修炼，每天打坐两小时，由禅宗老师Henry Shukman直接教导，以下是他对于禅宗的洞见。

2. 禅宗和所有类型的冥想修行一样，体验因人而异，也收获了毁誉参半的评价。尤其对于初学者来说，禅宗模棱两可的说教，以及充满悖论的理念常常让人摸不着头脑。但是禅宗也因为其简单性（日式禅宗过滤掉很多中印佛教中常常出现的图腾和过于玄学的东西，所以你看不到因果报应和脉轮重生等概念），而拥有广泛的群众基础。日式禅宗只关注一件事，那就是训练你的思想。

3. 如果把禅宗比作是一个游戏，它会有三个级别：

第一级：Jōriki 定力：培养意志力（不因外界因素而分心）和专注力（完全集中精力）。
完成任何任务都必须将思想完全集中在目标上面。乔布斯每天工作十到十六个小时，每周工作六到七天，每周至少有一晚上修行禅宗进行强化精力集中的训练。

第二级：Kenshō 见性：超越自我，看清本质的能力。
你不是你的身体，也不是你的思想，你需要「看透」自己真实的佛性，体悟到万事万物的法空本相。「我」只是众多想法中的一个，本就没有「我」的存在。

第三级：Mujōdō no taigen：不再有任何关于开悟的想法，也没有任何企图和欲望，生活达到一个完全自发的玩乐状态。一个很好的书法比喻：「无我状态」好似能够区分书法作品的好坏，但并不意味着你能够写好。这是一个需要长久修炼达到的状态。

完成每一个关卡可以帮助你解锁新的「超能力」。

如何修炼禅宗呢？

方法一：Zazen 坐禅。
Richard每天坐禅两次（早上7点和下午5点半），在椅子或垫子上直做25分钟。就像一般的冥想一样，这样的打坐专注于自己的呼吸。一旦禅师认为你已经达到了注意力足够集中的地步，此时他会给你一个Kōan公案。简单来讲，公案就是一个毫无意义的小谜语，最常见的公案是「你知道两只手击掌的声音，那么一只手击掌的声音是什么？」公案的意义不在于得到合理的答案，事实上禅宗1700多个公案中没有一个会有理性的答案，而这也是公案的目的：关闭你的理性思维，追随自己的直觉去体验万事万物。

方法二：Everyday Zen 日常修禅
禅宗不是宗教，它甚至没有任何崇拜的对象。这是因为禅宗相信，我们存在的当下，本身就是奇迹。我们大多数人在做一项活动时，总是不能集中精力，干着这件事，想着那件事。但当你开始接受禅宗训练时，就会被教导充分关注当下的日常活动：

走路时，只走路。
吃饭时，只管吃。
打扫卫生时，只管打扫。

做每一件事情，都要有一种初学者的心态（Shoshin）。而且禅宗训练是缓慢的贯穿于一生的过程，请一定要有耐心。起初你会认为什么都没有发生。但相信我，最终你会达到一种奇妙的状态。就像禅宗导师所说的那样，把你的真性情看作是一个水晶球，但是它的表面覆盖着一层坚硬厚实的泥土外壳，你每天的坐禅练习就是一点一点地擦掉这层肮脏的外壳。

p.s. Tim Ferriss最近播客采访了Richard的禅宗老师Henry Shukman，强烈推荐给对禅宗感兴趣的朋友们！以及Richard总结的禅宗书单，100%好评！
​
此时想起姥爷临终前给家人留下的诗歌：「流光荏苒去无踪，富贵如云过眼空。淡泊生涯游物外，超然世俗学禅宗。阴阳和化情缘净，动静参修性意通。精气相乘神内守，天人合一九霄中​​」。虽然没有机会再和他老人家切磋学识，但他留下的精神财富将继续指导着我的灵修道路！

I often got asked by my readers and friends: how come you have extra hours to do so many things: write two newsletters (Chinese and English), run a podcast show Chiwi Journal, publish novels (Chinese and English), bootstrap a business, work for a big corporate, read 50+ books a year, play Fantasy Premier League games, translate foreign texts into Chinese and still have ‘me’ time and social life?  

My secret draws down to one name: Winston Churchill.

I read many history books that featured Winston Churchill and have admired his leadership style and literature attainments since I was young. 

In his lifetime, Winston Churchill published more than 40 books with over 10 million words, won the Nobel Prize for Literature, painted 500+ pictures, delivered 2,300+ speeches... And, of course, he was a busy politician who led Britain to victory in World War II.

So,  what made him super productive?

Answer: having a daily routine and hobbies.

Looking at Churchill’s day: he woke up, took a hot bath, and spent two hours writing and working. Around noon he greeted his wife (Churchill believed the secret to maintaining a good marriage was not to see your lover before noon) and enjoyed lunch. 

After the meal, he took a walk around the house, fed swans and fish, then sat in silence and meditated or read poetry. Around 3 pm,  he took a nap and woke up at 5 pm to spend time with his family. 

Later, he would take a bath, dress for dinner around 8 pm, and continue writing or working before bed.
 
Day after day, year after year.

Apart from writing, Churchill developed two hobbies during the war to relieve stress: bricklaying and oil painting.

Although his skills would not reach the professional level, his hobbies provide him with a solitary mind to think clearly and to cope with political disappointments when he was voted out of the parliament after WWII.

Back to me, I built up my daily routine since I was in high school and reviewed and optimised my system on different life stages. Just like Churchill, I also developed many hobbies such as football, painting, singing, stage performance, calligraphy and dancing to help me with emotional stability and live a full life. 

As Dan Heath said in his bestseller Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen, we have to tackle the problem at its roots. In this case, we need to look at how we spend our time first and then decide how to use time more effectively.

First, let me share how I spend my day:

24 hours a day

• 7 hours of sleep = 17 hours remaining
• 1 hour to wash, dress, and coffee = 16 hours left
• 2 hours maintaining website/social media channel + emails = 14 hours left
• 2 hours of outdoor and gym exercise = 12 hours remaining
• 1 hour grocery shopping or other chores = 11 hours remaining
• 2 hours chatting with friends and family = 9 hours remaining
• 1 hour of mealtime = 8 hours remaining
• 3 hours deep work = 5 hours remaining
• 1 hour meditation and daydreaming = 4 hours remaining
• 2 hours of reading = 2 hours remaining
• 2 hours of entertainment (usually watch sports and movies) = 0 hours left

Once you know your time allowance, you can prioritise or arrange the time based on different projects and situations and follow your daily routine accordingly. 

And then, here comes my daily routine:

• Wake up in the morning and meditate
• Gym session or walk in the park
• Deep work in the morning
• Lunch and chat with friends
• Afternoon writing or reading books
• Watch football games or movies in the evening or at the weekend
• Dinner with family (not now since I’m away from home)
• Keep a journal before bed

When it comes to the deep work, the bestselling author and peak performance expert Steven Kotler has summarised well in The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer. 

You have to master the 4-stage sequence to enter the Flow State:  

• Motivation. Follow your intrinsic curiosity and passion, as well as developing the skills such as persistence, grit and the ability to delay gratification to sustain motivation over the long haul.
• Learning. Acquire new skills and knowledge, and nurture the ability to understand the process of learning itself via mental models and first-principle thinking. 
• Creativity. Mastering skills like idea generation, pattern recognition, and risk-taking to produce novel and useful ideas
• Flow. Enter the Flow State and live a high-flow lifestyle to achieve impossible tasks. 

We all heard about Flow State, but not many scholars could explain it as clearly as Kotler does. He decodes Flow State at its fundamental level with support evidence from neuroscience and psychology subjects. I highly recommend you to understand the foundation of Flow State from his book and follow the sequence to enter the deep work. 

I also wrote a book review of ​​Indistractable by Nir Eyal to share how our emotions get in the way, preventing us from doing deep work. The tactics include journaling and meditation that might help as well.

​If you are a high-agency person like me, here are my two cents on living a productive, ambitious and creative life. 

1. Record your 24 hours to see where you spend your time. 
2. Write down in detail what your ideal day looks like and live towards it. 
3. Read Steven and Nir’s books on achieving a flow state without distraction. 

Only one enemy is standing in the way to prevent you from becoming who you are. 

You know the answer, right? Just set yourself free by doing it, my friends!

​

来里斯本的第一站就是去膜拜我最爱的葡萄牙作家费尔南多·佩索阿（Fernando Pessoa）的故居。
 
之前在伦敦的读书会分享过他的《不安之书》，如今亲临他生活过的地方，走过他当年漫步的街道，停驻于他常去的餐厅和酒馆，看着他珍贵的纸质和影像资料，激动的心情不可言喻！

曾经多次说过，如果余生只能读一本书，我会选择佩索阿的《不安之书》，因为每每读来都有全新的感受和无尽的共鸣。

这会儿看了看他的私人图书馆（1300本书！），发现他拥有不少莎士比亚、爱伦坡、惠特曼、H·G·威尔斯以及古希腊诗歌的藏书。除了文学书籍之外，还有大量的宗教、哲学、自然科学和医药科技图书，可谓是涉猎广泛！他还在那一千多本书里写满了注释和评论。之前研究人员已经日夜不停地整理他留下的近三万份文稿了，如今又多了这些碎片化的资料，佩索阿实在是多产到可怕。

由于现在欧洲没什么游客，让我得以享受VIP待遇，在馆内泡了大半天，听工作人员讲解佩索阿的生平事迹和相关研究。甚至还得以抚摸他当年的稿件和出版刊物，仿佛穿越了时空，小迷妹的愿望终于得到了满足。

佩索阿在其短暂的一生中凭空创造了80多位有生活背景且个性迥异的虚拟人物，然后以他们的名义发表作品，这一切都在他死后才被人得知。他在世时默默无闻，也并没怎么游历过世界，却在自己的想象中创造出了整个宇宙。

很想成为像佩索阿这样的创作者，大隐隐于市，通过观察和思考，默默地审视人类的存在，而不需要受困于名声和社交生活，从而把有限的时间和精力全部用在探索自我和观察周围客观环境上，甚至在「虚无」中进行创作，用作品去解释自己短暂的一生。

探索一个新城市最好的方式就是… 迷路。

路痴如我也因祸得福，邂逅了葡萄牙国家图书馆，在馆内和英语基本为零的工作人员鸡同鸭讲，然后莫名其妙的交钱办了张图书卡，又迷迷糊糊的被带到古籍图书室，可以随便翻阅只在电影里见过的百年历史古籍。

因为对纸质书的无限眷恋，来一个城市总想先去书店转转，这里推荐几家里斯本的特色书店：

① Livraria Bertrand - Chiado
吉尼斯纪录认证的世界上最古老的尚在运营的书店，始建于1732年。
② Ferin
始创于1840年的小书店，专注历史和哲学书籍。地表是普通书店的格局，地下室则别有洞天，淘书的好地方。
③ Ler Devagar
这家书店的名字翻译成中文是「品读」，整体是废弃工厂的感觉，还有很多奇特的装置艺术。

里斯本境内充斥着各式各样的博物馆，从现代艺术到汽车航海，从历代帝王到富商歌手，而我最偏爱的两个博物馆则是当地人都没怎么听说过的地方。

一个是类似于伦敦Wallace Collection的Medeiros e Almeida私人博物馆，其中三分之一的藏品都是明清时代的瓷器；另一个是类似于葡萄牙Culture revolution的Museum Aljube Resistência e Liberdade展览，再次印证历史总在重复，而人类本性基本不会改变。

​在里斯本的这一周，白天几乎都是听从当地人和朋友的建议，探索各家的葡挞和猪扒包，晚餐则是海鲜盛宴。消化这些高油高热量的食物，就靠每天两万步的走街串巷，或者游览那些需要爬坡的景点，像是Castelo de São Jorge城堡、Padrão dos Descobrimentos发现者纪念碑和Elevador de Santa Justa圣朱斯塔升降机，在山顶和高地远眺里斯本市景，视野开阔，心情洋溢。

游览里斯本老城区最好的交通工具便是搭乘始于1930年的有轨电车28号。在里斯本高低起伏、羊肠鸟道的小巷中穿梭，细嗅历史的气息。

平常可以买一张一日游票，地铁和公交车随便搭，特别适合初来乍到频繁探索市景的游客。

说到葡萄牙的美食，怎么能少得了葡挞、猪扒包和海鲜。

推荐几家不错的店：
① Pastéis de Belém
名不虚传的贝伦区葡挞老大。
② Manteigaria
我最爱的里斯本市区葡挞店。
③ Beira Gare
物美价廉的章鱼饭和猪扒包。
④ Ramiro
海鲜大全！
⑤ Martinho da Arcada
佩索阿常去光顾的始于18世纪的餐厅。
⑥ O Corrido – Casa de Fado
高分好评法朵餐厅，边听音乐边品尝葡萄牙地道食物。
⑦ Santa Clara dos Cogumelos
很有特色的蘑菇主题餐厅。

我在里斯本的Airbnb小哥知道我是球迷后，开车带我来里斯本竞技（aka 葡萄牙体育）和本菲卡的主场外围兜了一圈，他的家中还有超多的藏书和电影海报。和我一样，他对于未来也没什么打算，永远怀着开放的心态，享受当下并接受命运的安排。话说里斯本现在是数字游民群体的前三位首选城市，连带着共享办公室和租房行业蒸蒸日上，不知道当地人对大量涌入的外国人作何感想。

来到葡萄牙，一定不能错过法朵（Fado）表演。

法朵的葡萄牙语本意表示「命运」或「宿命」，这种音乐形式也常常被称为葡萄牙怨曲。法朵和之前介绍过的另一个词语「Saudade」一样，是一个无法被其他语言完美翻译的词语。表演者虽然在哀叹命运无常，但其中也包含着对生命的热爱和反抗。

初次欣赏法朵表演，就让我想起苏轼的《前赤壁赋》：「其声呜呜然，如怨如慕，如泣如诉；余音袅袅，不绝如缕」。以至于接下来的几天，为了欣赏晚八点以后才开始表演的法朵，打乱了自己的「间歇性饮食」常态，从晚上一直听到深更半夜，伴着葡萄牙的美酒佳肴，在音乐中迷失自我。

音乐所表达的感情可以超越国界和语言，突然有了捡起我那吉他和声乐技艺的冲动，也写下了如下小文：

​我喜欢在清晨五点漫步在空荡荡的街道上，
我喜欢和流浪者讨论这个荒谬的世界，
我喜欢看着太阳从沉睡的世界中缓缓升起，
我喜欢和陌生人有一番哲思对话。

我经常犯错，
也喜欢把事情搞砸，
但我正在努力学习接受我的弱点。
大多数的时候我根本不在乎别人对我创作的评价，
这是我的生活记录，是我对艺术的看法。
但有些时候，我又渴望有一个人可以透过文字看清本质，
我只想对Ta一个人有意义。

我底层悲观，但对未来又充满了希望，
因为我还活着，
活着，就拥有一切。

我爱笑，我爱闹，珍视微小的美好。
像是阴雨天一杯咖啡上的热气，
在街道转角看到情侣在拥抱。

我喜欢又讨厌人类，
因为难以理解他们的动机和行为，
他们也没法懂得我，
或者说，
我宁愿拒人千里之外。

我20岁的时候从中国搬到新西兰，
30岁又从奥克兰搬到伦敦再到里斯本，
去过我想要的生活，
成为我想成为的人。

我走遍了四大洲，
没有一处可以称之为家。
但却在创作中建立了自己的根基，
在旅途上邂逅了善意，
遇到的每个人对我来说都是世界。

我还在路上，
也不知道究竟要去何方。
我只想把生命活成艺术，
把我的存在变成一首诗歌。
尽管这条道路注定艰难险阻，
却因为真实而美丽。

-2021.09.08 
于里斯本听着Fado速写下此时此刻的感受
​

离开伦敦前，在左臂搞了一个纹身留作纪念。自己设计的这个纹身由三个部分组成：

1. Camellia flower flows on the wave （山茶花随波逐流）

自从看了《天龙八部》，读了可可·香奈儿的传记，就对「山茶花Camellia」情有独钟，英文名字也直接改成Camellia；而我融合各大流派总结出的Flowism生活哲学，就可以用「海浪」来概括，人生沉浮是常态，记住像水一样柔软又刚强。

2. Amor fati (Love of Fate，热爱命运)

作家博尔赫斯曾经说过，发生在人身上的每一件事情都是一种资源。你所经历的一切都有目的。尤其作为作家和艺术家，必须更强烈地认识到这一点。发生在我们身上的一切，包括我们的屈辱、不幸、尴尬，都可以作为艺术创作的原材料。

我们要学会从发生在我们身上的每一件事情中找到意义。我们必须明白很多事情的发生虽不受控制，但我们却可以利用这一切。不幸生病久卧病榻，可以成为我们停下来反思人生的一个机会；在工作中遇到棘手问题，可以激励我们发明新产品和新的解决方式。

罗马皇帝马可·奥勒留说过，熊熊烈火吞噬一切事物，并由此迸发出更强烈的光明。这就是我们想要成为的样子。我们要成为能将痛苦、挫折甚至屈辱转化为美的艺术家。我们要成为将自己的苦难经历转换为人生哲理，并供他人参考借鉴的人。

爱你命运中发生的一切事情，因为你可以享用它提供的一切。

3. Memento Mori (Remember Death，人固有一死)

古罗马的斯多葛派哲学家塞内卡认为，一个人如果把每一天都当作生命的终点，在晚上冥想自己的死亡，那当他们早上醒来时，就会产生一种超能力。

这就是一个人应该有的生活方式。感激生命又让你过了一整天的生活，也许你可能不会见到明天的太阳，但如果你真的在第二天醒来，你应该把接下来二十四小时的每一秒都看作是一种奖赏。

"你现在就可能死去，”马可·奥勒留写道。"就让它决定你的所作所为和所说所想吧。"

Lex Fridman最近又做客Joe Rogan播客啦！两人五花八门的聊了三个多小时，Lex还在结尾朗读了我非常喜欢的一首诗Bluebird by Charles Bukowski（附赠我朗读的版本），简单总结下这期播客：

- 波士顿动力公司（BD）希望制造可以取代人类工作的机器，而不是与人类一起工作的机器。大多数的人工智能和科技公司将重点放在市场营销之上，而忽视了产品和工程的重要性。特斯拉在这方面是个特例，基本不做任何广告，凭借产品本身就大有销量。

- 特斯拉公司的目标是采用「视觉」进行自动驾驶，而不使用雷达。Elon Musk希望可以在他的特斯拉超级工厂（Gigafactory）实现每年为46万辆Model S电动车提供锂离子电池的目标，并大幅降低锂电池的生产成本，同时实现环保新能源的畅想。

- 阿富汗的绝大多数国民并不知道9/11事件。Lex表示美国从派兵阿富汗到现在仓皇撤兵，这些年来并没有得到什么值得学习的经验教训。世界上有一半的人生活在DC政权之下，我们究竟怎么才能帮到他们？自由主义者的论点是，在没有得到本国人民的支持并公开透明派兵计划前，不要轻易插手别的国家的事情。

- Lex认为世界上有将近百分之百的人感到孤独并在寻求生命的意义。大多数孤独的人并没有轻易地加入激进的宗教和极端组织，而是希望有一个可以让他们团结起来的故事。人是靠着故事传递文明，形成集体和社群的。

- Joe表示很多人本性就是暴力残忍的，并不能将他们的行动归结于酒精或者毒品的影响。

- Lex认为媒体将Covid-19疫苗与政治挂钩，让大众对科学产生了怀疑，人们有权利选择到底接不接种疫苗，但是也有责任承担选择不接种疫苗的风险和后果。Joe认为大众抵触疫苗的原因是公共医疗机构和生产疫苗的企业没有完全公开透明生产的流程和数据，因此很容易诞生阴谋论。包括辉瑞和Moderna在内的私企，以前也曾出现过信任危机，但没有一个人站出来向民众做出解释。

- Lex很想用俄语对UFC「小鹰」进行一番采访，以便后者能放松地表达情绪，因为俄语是一门有着自然的幽默感和浪漫化的语言，翻译成英语后会失去其原有的特色。

- Lex认为梅西是有史以来最伟大的足球运动员，而C罗在他心中连前五都排不上。

- Lex发起了一项阅读挑战：从2021年8月19日开始，他将每天投入12-14小时来读一本书，并向大众征集书单（我和好基友Ellen都参与给他推荐书籍的活动啦哈哈！）。

- 「如果你放弃一次，哪怕是在一件很小的事情上放弃了一次，那你就打开了放弃的大门，让自己知道放弃是可以的」，Lex表示不要习惯于给自己留有退路。

- Lex表示审查和监管甚至帮助了伟大作品的诞生，因为当一个作家敢于为自己的文字去死时，他的文字带来的力量将是无穷无尽的。

- Joe喜欢的播客形式是基于嘉宾生活和兴趣展开的对话，而不是聚焦嘉宾的专业背景和成就。

- Joe最爱的导演是昆汀·塔伦蒂诺，而Lex则最喜欢马丁·斯科塞斯。

- Joe认为「龙虾教授」乔丹·彼得森是被媒体歪曲的最严重的人。

1. 一直很鼓励身边的朋友和同事多多创作，无所谓有没有人看、喜欢或者转发，关键是给自己留一份记录（记忆真的很不靠谱），以及对你关心的人和你的下一代有一个交代。

我爸妈家都是有族谱的，就算我从来没见过老祖宗们，但通过族谱的叙事和他们留下的影像，大概能知道我究竟「从何而来」，更重要的是家族的智慧和祖训能让我在迷茫的时候有一个参考方向，给了我打从心底发出的自信和鼓励，让我知道祖祖辈辈都是靠这些走下来的，那我也可以！

虽然和家人有三年没见面了，但每周还会视频讨论家事国事天下事。20来岁的时候觉得家人是负担，是跟不上时代潮流的老顽固，几个月不联系父母都是常事，觉得自己牛B哄哄的什么都懂。这两年才体会到，人忘了「本」，割掉与生俱来的情感羁绊是多么的荒唐和愚蠢。

太多的可以学习，太多的可以记录，时光匆匆，趁着家人还健在多了解了解他们吧！

2. 跟着我近期的播客嘉宾Richard学了一个葡萄牙语新词「Saudade」。

「Saudade」是一个无法用其他语言准确翻译出来的葡萄牙语词汇，指的是带着忧郁的渴望或向往，作为葡萄牙和巴西文学中一个反复出现的主题，该词表现的是一种求而不得的孤独，但是又有苦中带甜的感觉。

「Saudade」也可以用来表示想念某人或某事，即使你会在不久的将来见到那个人或实现某件事。它与英文单词「Nostalgia怀旧」所表达的意思略有不同。人们可以为从未发生过的事情感到「Saudade」，而「Nostalgia怀旧」则是对过往的某人或某地充满着眷恋和感性的向往之情。

3. 之前参与了David Perell的50天写作课程，并做了总结。这个月伊始就收到好消息，可以加入他价值不菲的付费写作课程Write of Passage！五周的强化训练，正适合我一边探索葡萄牙，一边继续学习提升技能！可以和David面对面聊天想想就开心！到时候会把学习成果分享给我的付费社群用户们。

4. 这周刚到里斯本就赶上葡萄牙国家队的比赛，见证C罗破纪录！我的Airbnb host说我简直是Lucky charm！已经不止一次听到朋友这么形容我了，还记得从小就被长辈说有「旺夫相」各个争着要认我当干女儿或结娃娃亲，那么就当一个和齐祖一样的玄学大师好了。

Welcome to the September Issue of Chiwi Journal! Your monthly newsletter with the content I filtered, curated and wrote based on 140+ hours of reading and listening time.

Quick update from my side:
I'm sending this newsletter from Lisbon, Portugal!

Yep, I officially farewelled my beloved London last month and moved to Portugal to start a new chapter of my life.

Why Portugal?

• My birthday is the same date as the anniversary of Macao's Return from Portugal to the Motherland (December 20th), so I always have a special obsession with Macao and Portuguese culture since I was a kid.
• One of my favourite writers, Fernando Pessoa, was from Lisbon.
• My favourite childhood dessert is KFC Pastel de Nata.
• Two of my online friends I'd love to meet are in Portugal already!
• Portugal has launched the Digital Nomad program and offered a flexible working visa.

See, I've collected so many dots on the way, and it's time to take action.
​
Now, let's get straight into the content.
​

If you are a fancy British accent and are interested in culture, history, philosophy and science, BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time Podcast would be your great company!

The host, Melvyn Bragg, is a renowned British radio and television broadcaster who has aired more than 800+ episodes throughout his career. He vigorously guides three academics through a particular subject of their expertise and deep dives into relevant topics on each episode.

From Hokusai’s Great Wave woodblock print to the history of machines imitating living beings; from Godel’s incompleteness theorems to Shakespeare’s great tragedies. What impressed me most is the show also covered a wide range of Chinese literature, philosophy and history. For example, Journey to the West (a great novel from the Ming Era, with its heroic Monkey), The Cultural Revolution, Li Shizhen (a Chinese doctor who investigated natural remedies and compiled the most incredible medicine treatments) and so many more!

​More podcasts and newsletter recommendations ​

I read many history books that featured Winston Churchill and admire his leadership style and literature attainments since I was young. He's my hero and role model. So, the first week of moving to London, I went to Parliament Square to see his statue.

While wandering around his statue, a lady approached me and asked me if I’d like to have her ticket to visit Churchill War Rooms nearby because she had some other arrangements and couldn’t make it. Hell-yeah! What a surprise! Later that year, I also visited Churchill’s family residence (Blenheim Palace) and graveyard (The Parish Church of Saint Martin Bladon) to show respect.

In his lifetime, Winston Churchill published more than 40 books with over 10 million words, won the Nobel Prize for Literature, painted 500+ pictures, delivered 2,300+ speeches... And, of course, he was a busy politician who led Britain to victory in World War II.

Q: What made him super productive?
A: Self-discipline and a love of life.

Looking at Churchill’s daily routine, he woke up, took a hot bath, and spent two hours writing and working on his letters. Around noon he greeted his wife (Churchill believed the secret to maintaining a good marriage was not to see your lover before noon) and enjoyed lunch. After the meal, he took a walk around the house, feed the swans and fish, then sat in silence and meditated or read poetry. He then took a nap around 3 pm and woke up around 5 pm to spend time with his family. Later, he would take a bath and dress for dinner around 8 pm. Before going to bed, he continued to write or deal with work issues.

Day after day, year after year.
​
Apart from writing, Churchill developed two hobbies during the war to help relieve his stress: bricklaying and oil painting. Although his skills would not reach the professional level, his hobbies provide him with solitude to have a clear mind and cope with political disappointments.

If you’d like to learn more about Churchill’s life, here are a couple of recommendations:

• ​Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life​
• ​The Last Lion Box Set: Winston Spencer Churchill​
• ​Think Like Churchill app​
• ​The Darkest Hour​

​
​My all-time favourite books recommendation.

One of my favourite podcast host Jim OShaughnessy interviewed Tom Morgan, a stellar knowledge curator, on the Infinite Loops podcast. Tom offered a valuable tip at the end of this episode:

I always encourage people around me to write/record as much as content they can, either online or offline. The key is to keep a record for yourself (memories are unreliable) and for people who care about you and for your next generation.

My family has the tradition to record history. Even though I've never met my great grandparents, I have a general idea about who they are from family genealogy and the images they left behind. The most important thing that impacts me is to have a solid foundation of knowing where I come from by reading family mottos and stories - if my ancestors have come through all advisories, I can too!

Time is running out very fast, so get to know your family while they are still alive!
​

More than 20 years ago, a best-selling book, The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age, introducing the concept of 'The Sovereign Individual'. In a simple term, the Sovereign Individual is a group of people free from the constraints of geography and can generate revenue anywhere, anytime in the digital age.

Throughout history, you will see that society is constantly changing, gradually and then suddenly. These changes might be hard to notice, partly because the mainstream media still leads public opinion, resulting in a single and manipulated narrative. But the birth of the Internet has accelerated the spread of information. Some people have benefited from the flow of information and take personal responsibility to achieve sovereignty.

We were once in a society where if you wanted to be X, you had to do A, B, C... We obeyed rules at school, followed the crowd to university/graduate school, then entered the workforce, found someone who had a similar path, got married and had children, who would repeat the same course.

As the technology and digital economy continue to evolve, standardised paths are becoming less appealing. Instead, those who take the unusual approach or find a niche are more likely to succeed. Sovereign individuals represent the latter, actively seeking and filtering information, stepping outside the usual circle of life, creating their own rules of the game and building leverage.

With the pandemic accelerated the process of remote working, the world is a playground for sovereign individuals who can choose any country or region to earn multiple sources of income, anywhere at any time. The typical 9 to 5 or 996 way of working will sooner or later become history.
​
The concept of the Sovereign Individual particularly resonates with the younger generation born in an era of mass digitalisation. If you'd like to learn more, please feel free to subscribe to The Sovereign Individual Weekly Newsletter. I'll interview the writer behind this newsletter Doug Antin this month and deep-dive this subject.
​

Question from CY Circle reader:

How to keep self-discipline and have a productive day?

My answer:

Let me start with a story from the book Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath.

See, we have to tackle the problem at its roots. In this case, we need to look at how we spend our time first and then decide how to use time more effectively.

Here is the example of how do I spend my 24 hours:
24 hours a day

• 7 hours of sleep = 17 hours remaining
• 1 hour to wash, dress, and coffee = 16 hours left
• 2 hours maintaining website/social media channel + emails = 14 hours left
• 2 hours of outdoor and gym exercise = 12 hours remaining
• 1 hour grocery shopping or other chores = 11 hours remaining
• 2 hours chatting with friends and family = 9 hours remaining
• 1 hour of mealtime = 8 hours remaining
• 3 hours deep work = 5 hours remaining
• 1 hour meditation and daydreaming = 4 hours remaining
• 2 hours of reading = 2 hours remaining
• 2 hours of entertainment (usually watch sports and movies) = 0 hours left

Once you know your time allowance, you can prioritise or arrange the time based on different projects and situations.

Another exercise is to design your ideal day. People always think that if they put up with the present, they will live the perfect life in the future. But why not start to write down your ideal day in details NOW and live toward it?

Here is the example of my ideal day:

• Wake up in the morning and meditate
• Gym session or walk in the park
• Deep work in the morning
• Lunch and chat with friends
• Afternoon writing or reading a book
• Watch football games or a movie in the evening
• Dinner with family
• Handwritten diary before bed

(80% completed...)
​

2019年，我买了一张单程机票，告别生活了近十年的新西兰，只身一人来到英国看足球，并接受文学的熏陶。谁料到还没站稳脚跟，就撞上了席卷全球的疫情，原定的「欧洲杯」六大城市观赛的美梦泡汤，连带着游览欧洲的计划也付之东流。但乌云背后总有一丝光芒，在英国的这两年又让我体验了全新的文化和生活，封城独处的时候也对自己有了更清晰地认知。那么就在这告别之日，总结下我和英国的故事吧！
​

​作为现代足球的发源地，英国处处充斥着浓郁的足球氛围。绕着公园晨跑时可以看到3、4岁的小朋友们结队训练；英超周末的酒吧里摩肩擦踵，热闹非凡；更不用提亲临赛场看球时震撼的气势和激情洋溢的场面了。

初抵英国，我就直奔曼彻斯特，在阿提哈德球场打卡英超现场比赛，并参观了国家足球博物馆，顺带去老特拉福德球场溜达了一圈。除此之外，还在斯坦福桥球场迎来了我的首场欧冠现场比赛；亲临温布利球场看了卡拉宝杯和社区盾杯决赛；拜访了疫情期间空荡荡的安菲尔德和古德逊公园球场；结识了一众曼城球友在周末组团看球...

最开心的莫过于早早地发掘了格拉利什作为我的新任足球男神，没想到最后竟然转会到主队，这算是慧眼识珠吗哈哈哈哈！同时还和新西兰以及国内的球友哥们们一起玩Fantasy Premier League，尽管大家身居异地，但凭着对足球的热情，也毫无距离感，玩家群内聊得热火朝天，战绩也是焦灼不下。还有幸认识了「从球说起」的两位资深球迷主播，一起聊球感动又开心！


足球不仅仅是单纯的竞技运动，赛场之外还有超多的文化和社会观察点；足球同时引领着我看世界闯天下，体验狂嗨到低谷的情绪过山车；足球世界也是社会达尔文主义的缩影，每个球员陪伴你我的日子只有寥寥数载；足球赛场上更是变幻莫测，让我了解到世事无常，也习惯了2020年带给我们的任何「惊喜」...


虽然没能在英国见证「三喵军团」本土夺冠，但完整看完了欧洲杯也算是圆满完成了来英国的看球任务，期待接下来的几个月可以去欧洲其他球场体验体验，诺坎普，请等我！！！


「通过写作，我将用我的双手来完成我的双脚不可能完成的任务：作为球场上无可救药的傻瓜和耻辱，我只能求助于用语言来描述这个我如此渴望却无情拒绝了我的足球。」

- 爱德华多·加莱亚诺
​

​因为小学对面就是少儿图书馆，再加上全家老少都是爱书之人，导致我从小就泡在书堆里，看着世界名著长大。莎士比亚、狄更斯、勃朗特姐妹、柯南·道尔和托尔金的作品早就深深地印刻在脑海中，长大后又看了诸如阿加莎·克里斯蒂、弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫、约翰·济慈和乔治·奥威尔的佳作，此次来英国遍一一拜访了他们的故居和博物馆，用行动向这些影响了我的作家们致敬。

在伦敦生活的这两年，养成了留心观察诸多建筑外墙上蓝色牌匾（BLUE PLAQUE）的习惯。自1866年开始，英国遗产委员会（English Heritage）开始在名人居住或工作过的地方安装蓝色牌匾，以纪念这些人物和他们曾经生活过的地方之间的联系。我来伦敦之后也打卡了包括奥斯卡·王尔德、莫扎特、梵高、萨缪尔·约翰逊、希区柯克、弗洛伊德和阿兰·图灵等诸多名人的旧宅和故居。

除此之外，也少不了去剑桥、牛津、利物浦等城镇看看平克·弗洛伊德和披头士乐队生活过的地方，以及皇室成员和科学家学习过的场所。


「想象一下抛开索求，来吧就那么简单。
驱走所有贪婪和欲望，就让人们不分你我。
想象一下所有的人们，分享着同一个地球。
你可以讥笑我的梦想，做梦的我并不孤独。
有一天你会跟我一起，让世界拥有同一个梦想。」

- 约翰·列侬
​

如果你是一个爱热闹又喜欢街边小吃的人，那伦敦真是对你的口味！这里遍布着大大小小的市集，我最喜欢的则是有着一千年历史的Borough Market。Borough Market如今已经拥有超过100多家独立的货摊，瓜果蔬菜，肉类海鲜都应有尽有。另外还有位于市中心的都市集市Covent Garden、世界最大露天古董集市Portobello Market、Camden Town复古集市、东伦敦嬉皮集市Spitalfields Market、哥伦比亚花市和格林威治市集等等，吃着世界各地的小吃，欣赏着现场音乐，观看人来人往，实在不能要求更多。

临近圣诞之时，更不要错过温情暖意的圣诞市集 （Christmas market）。位于德国德累斯顿的圣诞果脯蛋糕集市 （Dresden's Striezelmarkt）被公认为欧洲最古老也是规模最大的圣诞市集，距今已经有585年的历史。虽然暂时还没能去最原始的德国圣诞市集凑凑热闹，但英国的圣诞氛围也丝毫不输邻国，尤其是伯明翰的法兰克福圣诞市集，更是被称为「德国以外最德式的圣诞市集」。

我从来都是喜欢市集大于超市，因为有更多的机会和小商贩们聊聊他们的产品，听听那背后的故事。

「一个人如果厌倦了伦敦，那他也就厌倦了生活，因为伦敦有人生能赋予的一切。」
- 塞缪尔·约翰逊

如果你像我一样喜欢触摸纸张的质感，细嗅书本的气味，希望眼界所到之处全被书架覆盖，耳边还有经典不失情调的音乐陪伴，那么你一定会爱上伦敦这个书店遍地的城市。

在这里的大街小巷随处可见书店连锁、小众书店和二手书屋，每每沉浸在纸质书的气息和触感中，总能让我忘记时间的存在。无论是电影《诺丁山》中的原型书店，还是在船上搭建的特色书店，亦或是珍藏着孤本的二手书店，总有一家适合你的口味。

我在英国也经常以书会友，比如说读了《书店日记》后，给位于苏格兰小镇威格敦那家“书店”（The Book Shop）邮寄了明信片，结果直接被毒舌老板/作者发到了网上炫耀，勾起大家对新西兰的迷之好奇；在英伦旅游入住Airbnb时，和Host们从他们的藏书聊起，结交了一票志同道合的爱书人...很多经典的影片和剧集也聚焦于「因书结缘」，让人不得不感叹书本的魔力。


「我长久以来就渴望能踏上那片土地……我曾经只为了瞧伦敦的街景而看了许多英国电影。记得好多年前有个朋友曾经说：人们到了英国，总能瞧见他们想看的。我说，我要去追寻英国文学，他告诉我“就在那儿” 。或许是吧，就算那儿没有，环顾我的四周……我很笃定：它们已在此驻足。卖这些好书给我的好心人已在几个月前去世了，书店老板马克先生也已经不在人间。但是，书店还在那儿，你们若恰巧路经查令十字路84号，代我献上一吻，我亏欠它良多。」

- 海伦·汉芙
​

来了英国怎么能不去参观皇室宫殿和《唐顿庄园》中展现的英式庄园？而我选择的住址就离凯特王妃和威廉王子的肯辛顿宫殿仅10分钟的走路距离。这两年拜访了白金汉宫、温莎城堡、伦敦塔、汉普顿宫殿、爱丁堡的城堡等等，其中给我留下印象最深的则是牛津郡的布莱尼姆宫（Blenheim Palace），也被称之为丘吉尔庄园。温斯顿•丘吉尔的祖先便一直生活在此，而他也在这里度过了童年时光，并在这里向妻子求婚和共度蜜月。

没有哪一个庄园像布莱尼姆宫一样美的令人窒息，难怪大家都说这里有着英格兰最绝美的风光（England finest view）。除了富丽堂皇的宫殿和占地2000英亩的景观花园外，这里每年都会邀请享誉世界的艺术家来此布展，疫情前有幸看到了意大利著名概念装置艺术家毛里齐奥·卡泰兰的作品，着实令我激动不已。他擅长利用动物标本和人物玩偶制造一些充满戏剧性的场面，无论是被陨石袭击的教皇，下跪不起的希特勒，被吊在半空的赛马和鳄鱼，还有他制作的「自己」藏在庄园的角落偷窥游客，都带有对现实的戏谑和讽刺。

「人类艺术的最高形式就是悲剧，因为我们大概是唯一能意识到自己终将灭绝的生物了，我对笑中带泪的东西感兴趣，有戏虐的地方就有谦卑。我也进行自我羞辱，在一天结束的时候，唯一荒唐可笑的人实际上就是我自己。」
- 毛里齐奥·卡泰兰

来了伦敦这个国际化的大都市，一定要体验一把这里的约会文化，结识来自五湖四海且性格迥异的朋友们。

我是一个很会把约会软件用成学习工具的人。每次和约会对象见面，都感觉像是一场事关饮食、训练、心理健康和睡眠质量的心得交流大会，最后再交换下播客列表和书单推荐，然后欢天喜地的约着下一次直接健身房见，这样的约会体验比查户口然后约电影院和酒吧好玩多了！

约会(dating)≠恋爱，约会的过程可能很长，也可能无疾而终。约会对象不合适就及时止损，约会对象有意思就慢慢花费时间去了解。就像结交新朋友一样，同时约会几个人也很正常，只要大家都有共同的理解就好，不用着急确定关系。

之前听过一个很好的面试建议：想方设法给对方营造一个舒适的交谈氛围。面试不再是被动的回答问题，而是为对方做点什么让面试官感觉和你聊得很开心。同理也适用于约会，为你的约会对象打造一个放松的环境，让彼此可以舒服地交谈，然后增进理解。

疫情前的约会场所不是酒吧就是饭店，前者容易受主队输/赢球影响心情，后者也容易因为食物和服务质量左右情绪。疫情期间则把约会场所设置在公园，沉浸在大自然的鸟语花香中心情愉悦，还顺便完成了每日一万步的目标，一石二鸟。

有时候发现约会很像写作，整个就是一个doing &redoing的过程。你的第一稿永远是不完美的，但却汇聚着你想要表达的主题，第二稿、第三稿... 甚至第N稿都是建立在一稿的基础上进行完善。而约会也是一个虽然有着预期，但却需要不断调整和改变的过程。世上没有完美的初稿，也没有完美的约会对象和恋人，但你需要十分清楚的了解自己，以及自己想要的是一个什么样的人陪伴你走过这一段的人生旅程，在这个前提下，再去尽情享受约会这个冗长但又充满惊喜的过程吧。

另附我的「约会页面」， 感兴趣的可以做一下自我介绍，或者当个模板写写自己的要求。

虽然疫情打乱了我的旅行计划，但是在英国的这两年还是见缝插针游览了四个国家。

首先来到法国巴黎追随当年毕加索、梵高、海明威、萨特和波伏娃的足迹，探索了几个他们常去的咖啡馆和聚集地；同时作为电影迷，自然少不了拜访《午夜巴黎》《爱在日落黄昏时》《天使爱美丽》《无耻混蛋》《巴黎，我爱你》等电影的拍摄地。

然后在巴厘岛的瑜伽冥想度假村跨入2020年。抛弃了往日热闹的跨年趴体，改在深山老林静待新年的钟声，说来也有趣，放佛在新年伊始就为自己的2020年定下了基调：超然独处。


伦敦封城期间，还有幸「逃到」拉脱维亚和哈萨克斯坦，度过了一段闲情逸致的生活。每天早晨在波罗的海的海边漫步，总会想起古往今来名人墨客的杰作。风平浪静时想起《兰亭集序》中的「是日也，天朗气清，惠风和畅，仰观宇宙之大，俯察品类之盛，所以游目骋怀，足以极视听之娱，信可乐也」；波涛汹涌时想起Matthew Arnold写下的《Dover Beach》。日升日落前感受大自然鬼斧神工的调色技能，月落星沉时体验出「海上升明月，天涯共此时」的情境。好似提前实现了梭罗《瓦尔登湖》中描写的生活，


「我愿意深深地扎入生活，吮尽生活的骨髓，过得扎实，简单，把一切不属于生活的内容剔除得干净利落，把生活逼到绝处，简单最基本的形式，简单，简单，再简单。」
- 梭罗
​

这两年的成长应该可以用我生日时写下的一篇文章进行总结：32岁的32条生活感悟。

我继续着平均每周更新一篇公众号文章和一则播客，每月发布英文版的Chiwi Journal Newsletter，还推出了自己的付费社群CY Circles，和我的铁杆粉丝们有着一对一的互动。

发了1000+微博，收获了3500万的阅读量；录制了5000+分钟时长的播客，得到了来自62个国家听众的2万多字的互动评论；出版了一本中文回忆录《你不知道的新西兰》，一本英文小说《The Invisible Third Culture Adult》；更开心的是通过网络，认识了来自五湖四海的读者和听众朋友！希望我的产出可以在某个时刻给你启迪，在某个人生阶段与你相伴！

结语：​英国就像一本小说，每个地方都是独特的篇章，而不同篇章中包含着不同的情节和人物等你去探索，而我也在此被激发出生机勃勃的创作欲望！感谢命运能让我体验英伦的多元文化生活，至此，两年的伦敦生活就此告一段落！下一站：葡萄牙！
​

邪教（Cult）一词源自拉丁语（Cultus），原意为：耕作、栽培、培训或教育。但在过去的几个世纪里，它的口语化定义已经发生了变化。1981年，精神病学家罗伯特·利夫顿在《哈佛心理健康报》上定义了邪教的三个特征。

• 颇具魅力并被他人崇拜的领袖
• 带有洗脑性质的演说
• 对成员进行经济、性或其他方面的剥削
  
  
  

纵观历史，我们身边充斥着符合上述特征的团体：曼森家族、科学教、摩门教、人民圣殿教、天堂之门等等。这些邪教一开始就像其他集体活动一样，利用人们对于亲密关系和融入社区的渴望，用无条件的爱和承诺来吸引成员，然后慢慢地将荒谬或者阴暗的价值观植入到人们的脑海中，当人们意识到有什么不对劲儿的地方时，为时已晚。


今天就来总结下一些涉及邪教或者未开化小镇民众行为的电影和剧集（略微涉及剧透，不喜勿看），大多数的影片都是根据真实事件或者基于现实中存在的宗教团体改编而来，我的观影感受不是内心压抑就是有一种直击心灵的恐惧，意识到世界上会有这一类群体的存在，在某种程度上也可以帮助我们识别并远离这些洗脑组织。

痛失亲人的女主和一心想分手的男主一起来到瑞典的小镇参加传统民俗节日活动，却见识了匪夷所思的庆典，和一连串儿令现代人作呕的习俗，他们的命运也随之发生改变。

日光下的小镇草长莺飞，热情好客的村民朴实无华，还有甜美的北欧少女载歌载舞，但这一系列美好的景象都在随之而来的血腥传统下变得让人作呕。这世上还有多少像这个小镇一样的地方，还在延续着史前文明时期的陋习，将人类看作是传宗接代的机器，以及延续着「社会达尔文主义」的生存理念。

顺便夸一夸女主英国演员弗洛伦丝·皮尤的哭戏，嚎啕大哭的几个片段真是令人揪心，她的《黑寡妇》和《小妇人》也不要错过！

黑人摄影师陪同白人女友回家探亲，却发现自己陷入了一个诡异的氛围中：举止怪异的黑人同胞，摸不着头脑的神秘聚会，以及摸不着头脑的催眠术。这个500万的小成本电影，一经推出便斩获上亿的票房，导演兼编剧乔丹·皮尔历时八年磨出的精品之作，处处隐藏着留给观众自掘真相的线索，当然也有「刻意误导」观众的情节。

片中时刻用种族问题引导观众的推断，本以为是白人至上社区用催眠术奴役黑人的种族主义故事，没想到却是偏好黑人身体素质从而进行交换的惊悚故事。片中大量的细节前后照应（鹿、祖父母的故事、黑人的童年阴影等），让人不禁大呼原来如此，结尾捣毁这个诡异家庭的复仇行动更是让人意犹未尽。

导演的第二部片子《我们Us》也继承了「身体互换」的主题，十分推荐！
​

热恋中的情侣想远离城市的喧嚣，来到伊甸湖畔打算度过一个浪漫而温馨的周末，不料与当地的青少年发生口角，从而引发了一连串的血腥暴力事件。

看完这部片子并不觉得恐怖，反而十分虐心，让你有一种恨不得钻到屏幕中干掉那帮熊孩子的冲动。这个偏僻且封闭的社区，有着自己的一套生存规则，影片中多次出现「他们还只是孩子」的论述，让人不免觉得反胃恶心。正是一代又一代人的怂恿和包庇，让这个小镇成为了「坏恶丑」的温床，带来的也是世世代代的贫穷和隔绝。

男主「法鲨」迈克尔·法斯宾德被虐的镜头着实让人心疼，建议看看他的《异形：契约》和《羞耻》养养眼睛。
​

十六岁的女主和妹妹被寄养在邻居家中，原定几个星期来接她们回家的父母却失言了，而且也断了抚养费，邻居大妈和她的六个孩子至此开始对这两个女孩施以暴行，美其名曰教育她们好好做人，实际却将自己对生命的怨恨都施加在女孩的身体上。

又是一部「穷乡僻壤出刁民」的压抑之作，让人不禁想起《斯坦福桥实验》和《浪潮》这两部电影，人们在特定环境下被赋予了「权力」之后，总会做出丧失理智的事情，将身边的同胞作为自己人生不得意的宣泄物品。

这部电影基于1965年美国的一件真实犯罪事件改编，本片的女主是曾经的艾伦·佩吉（如今已宣布变为男性艾利奥特·佩吉）。
​

一名女性受害者以跪拜的姿势惨死在一片被烧光的甘蔗田中，尸体上布满了宗教痕迹。两名奉命来调查此案的探员，发现类似的失踪和杀害事件在这片区域源源不断地发生，两人人虽然联手击毙了嫌疑人，但事情远远不像展现在眼前的这样简单。十余年后，两人再次联手，终于揪出了背后的邪教团体，为案情画上句点。

这部佳作由我的两大男神马修·麦康纳和伍迪·哈里森联袂出演，宗教罪案故事作为主线，还有《黄衣王Yellow King》（克苏鲁神话起源小说）这条暗线贯穿始终。

整部剧集的画面充满了空寂又悲凉的质感，片中主角拉斯特的台词沉郁又有哲理，不禁引发人们思考「人生的意义」这样的终极问题。就像拉斯特在剧中说的，某些语言学家认为，宗教是语言的病毒，能改写大脑路径，让批判性思维变得愚钝。而人类正需要这种理性的批判能力，带领我们一步步地建设文明，推动社会的发展。

强推剧集的片头曲《Far from Any Road》和片尾曲《The Angry River》。
​

美国警长带领小镇村民勇闯神秘穴居人老巢救人的故事。这部影片最后半小时有诸如剥皮、劈人等残忍血腥的暴力镜头，淋漓尽致地展现了未开化的穴居人的举动，观影前请三思而后行。也许看完后可以稍稍理解下前往新大陆面对原住民的殖民者的心态和行为动机。
​

影片根据1973年的经典英国同名电影《异教徒》翻拍而来，讲述了警察来到一座偏僻的小岛调查女孩失踪案，在经历了多起神秘事件之后，终于揭开了岛上居民隐藏的惊人秘密。

当外来者不请自来踏入闭塞的小团体中，他得到的消息和看到的「事实」往往都充斥着误导的嫌疑，真相往往是残酷的，而人心更是可怕。

电影传递的最令人毛骨悚然的一点信息就是：你自以为拥有的良好道德品质，在另一些人眼里，可能就是成为祭品的理由。一千个读者心目中有一千个哈姆雷特；七十亿人的眼中就有七十亿个不同的世界。
​

《双面玛莎》根据真实事件改编，讲述了年轻女孩误入邪教，被教主洗脑强J，好不容易逃脱邪教控制得以脱身，逃往姐姐家开始正常生活时，却总是与现世格格不入，同时还遭受着过去经历的折磨。

影片采用双线叙述模式，一面是邪教组织单纯自由的田园牧歌般的生活，一面是现代中产阶级物欲横流的忙碌生活。随着主人公断断续续的回忆，邪教组织JY少女、残害人格、暴力犯罪的丑恶面目也逐渐浮出水面，而女主也在现实生活中走向崩溃。

主演是「绯红女巫」伊丽莎白·奥尔森，演技和颜值双双在线，开放式的结尾给人以无限遐想，她究竟可以走出邪教的影响吗？
​

本片一开头就致敬「克苏鲁之父」--美国伟大的恐怖小说家H.P. 洛夫克拉夫特：人类最古老而又最强烈的情感是恐惧，而最古老又最强烈的恐惧是未知。

一对兄弟年幼时发生车祸，母亲当场死亡，兄弟俩被一公社团体拯救，数年后，哥哥带着弟弟逃离公社，并向媒体控诉公社是邪教团体。某天，兄弟俩收到一卷寄自公社的录影带，证明公社成员并未自杀，弟弟于是央求各个带着他回去看看，兄弟俩旧地重游之时，经历一连串离奇之事。

这部打着邪教旗号的片子，其实是一部烧脑的科幻片，当你不断重复回看或者回想时，才会恍然大悟兄弟俩究竟经历了什么，以及我们自己可能也是生活在一个逃不出去的圈子中。
​

最后一部推荐一定要交给昆汀大爷。

在架空的宇宙中，我们熟悉的那个曼森家族和波兰斯基的故事向着另一个方向发展而去，温馨当中包含着昆汀招牌式的幽默和血腥，当然还有他的恋足和虐杀。

前半部分是怀旧，那复古的色彩和黄金时期西部片的重现，以及独特的叙述方式都让人沉醉在60年代的好莱坞时光中；后半部分则开始制造紧张情绪，观众都知道要发生什么，但就是不知道昆汀会怎么样让事件发生，之前还想着导演要怎么给这部电影收尾，完全没让人失望！很昆汀！很过瘾！

小李子和皮特第一次搭戏真的就像两个好兄弟一样默契十足，玛格特的演绎纯真又美丽，让人对她的角色充满了怜惜。【理想屯播客】之前录制过一期关于昆汀的播客，欢迎在小宇宙搜索【理想屯】收听！

​额外再推荐一下Netflix上的两部关于宗教和邪教的影片:
《离经叛道 Unorthodox》
《异狂国度 Wild, Wild Country》

2020年书单总结和推荐
电影 | 推荐十部氛围电影
十大因书结缘的电影和书籍
观影《普通人》｜青春是一种「活着」的真实感
写给伦敦爱书人的一封情书
观影 | 《寻找小糖人》生活远比电影精彩
一部片子，两段演讲，三思逍遥
安利一部科幻喜剧动画《瑞克和莫蒂》
影评 | 观《银翼杀手1 & 2》感受生命的意义

The pandemic has had a significant impact on many people’s lives, physically and mentally. What I got from it was becoming a ‘super productive multi-tasker'. Sounds good, right? 

Wait for it. 

During the lockdown, I started to:

• watch football games while playing podcasts in the background if I didn’t like the commenters and chatting with friends online;
• open more than 30 tabs and switch different tasks in between when I got bored with one another;
• check social media comments and likes every time I post something online, which leads to insanely long screentime. 

I used to be proud of doing deep work and achieving a flow state. However, since 2020, I have suffered from dementia-like symptoms: hardly remember anything I watched and learnt; I  can’t even sit down quietly for 10 minutes and focus on one task. I became very irritated and impatient and realised I was in trouble if I didn't do something to make a change. 

When I watched The Social Dilemma last year, I blamed social media as many people did. I deleted all social media apps on my phone and permanently deactivated Facebook, Instagram and Zhihu (Chinese Quora). However, I found other ways to distract myself from doing tasks, such as pick up a random book on the shelf to read or wander around with a strange, anxious feeling trying to do something else. I even went to see a doctor check if I have ADHD for not being able to focus. 

It turns out I’m perfectly healthy and quitting social media isn’t the fundamental solution to solve my distraction problems. Based on the First Principle Thinking, I have to trace back to the root cause and change my behaviour accordingly. 

Luckily enough, I listened to The Knowledge Project podcast and found Nir Eyal appeared as a guest to promote his book Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. After reading this bestseller, I finally understand my problem is more profound than technology, and distraction has internal and external triggers to urge me to escape the pain.  

Here are three takeaways I found helpful to deal with the distraction from this book:

No matter how rich or how famous you are, we all have the same 24 hours in a day. Elon Musk doesn’t have more time in his day. Balaji Srinivasan doesn’t have more than 24 hours. The only difference is how we use our time wisely. As the saying goes, no measurement, no management. Therefore, I wrote down how I spend my 24 hours and a daily routine at this stage of life to track my time spending.

+ 24 hours in a day
— 7 hours of sleeping = 17 hours left
— 1 hour of showering, cleaning up, dressing up = 16 hours left
— 2 hours of doing emails and maintaining website/newsletter/podcast = 14 hours left
— 1 hour of groceries or errands = 13 hours left
— 2 hours of gym or going for a walk = 11 hours left
— 2 hours of staying in touch with friends/family = 9 hours left
— 1.5 hours of eating = 7.5 hours left
— 4 hours of deep work and writing = 3.5 hours left
— 1 hour meditation or daydreaming = 2.5 hours left
— 2 hours reading/watching movies = 0.5 hours left
— 0.5 hours reserved for emergency = 0 hours left

Daily routine (UK version):
- Wake up in the morning with 10-20 minutes of meditation
- Go to the gym or go for a walk
- Either do my deep work in the morning or the afternoon depends on my energy level 
- Lunchtime 
- At least one hour of reading per day
- Dinnertime 
- Handwrite a diary before bed to reflect on me or simply just record the day
- Eat the same thing when eating by myself to reduce brain energy drain
- Watch football games or shows/movies, or meet friends for a walk during the weekend


Once I know how I spend my time, I can schedule a time to play games, scroll social media, or watch movies. The time I plan to waste is not wasted time. Only in this way can I reduce the inner-conflict level that leads to my self-sabotage and anxiety. It’s much better than talking to therapy in my case (yep, I went for treatment but didn’t get a good one). 

My mother kept a diary for me when I was a child, and I have written over twenty journals since I was old enough to write. Journaling is a process of being honest with oneself by writing down my deep feelings and observing my surroundings. 

Nir Eyal mentioned that neurologically speaking, all human behaviour is spurred by the desire to escape discomfort. It’s necessary to know your true feelings about specific scenarios to understand what you are running from. 

In this case, I re-read my journals and found out I was scared by this unknown virus during the lockdown. What’s worse, since I just moved to a new country right before the pandemic and haven’t formed a supporting community, I felt isolated and lonely. That’s why I kept chatting with old friends online to seek comfort instead of facing my real feelings.   

I treat the journal as my trustworthy and loyal friend where I could express everything. I don’t usually speak out in public or to friends.  By consciously pouring out the thoughts and feelings in my head, I bring back to light what is buried deep in my heart. In addition to that, keeping a diary before bed has made me more disciplined and forged the habit of writing on paper instead of scrolling social media feeds that would disrupt my sleep. 

A diary is a form of freezing my memories in time. Although I thought I was fine during the lockdown, apparently, I wasn’t as tough as I thought I would be. We might not trust our memories about certain things. But by re-reading diaries, you’ll be able to know what exactly happened and what’s your actual reaction.  

​

Nir Eyal didn’t put many words on meditation in his book, but he stated the benefit of meditation to think through our emotions. 

In 2017, I got a chance to learn Transcendental Meditation and started to practise it every day. The most noticeable change from meditating is that I have become more aware of my ‘thoughts’ and many things I thought I had forgotten. Besides, the previously hidden and suppressed emotions have come out. It can be horrifying at the beginning of a few months of meditation because you have to confront those ugly things you avoided before. 

Sigmund Freud once said, “unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.” Just as Nir Eyal noted in his book: look for the emotion preceding distraction. We need to know the diversities of our feelings and what kind of pains we are trying to escape. 

I have to admit that I stopped practising meditation during the pandemic because I lost the courage to face these deeply buried thoughts and feelings. I was again escaping my emotion to avoid pain. Nir’s book reminds me that I have to resolve them one by one to beat them at the fundamental level. Meditation is a great tool to think through your emotions. 

Like most things, meditation is a long-term process, and just as the body needs to keep exercising to build muscle, the brain needs to keep meditating to develop awareness. Once you can be aware of yourself, you’ll better understand who you really are and what you really want. And once this fundamental problem has been solved, other secondary issues that arise from a lack of clarity about ‘who you are’ will cease to exist.

​

In summary, I thank Nir Eyal’s book for help me understand what I escape from, which results in my distraction. There are other practical tactics that Nir Eyal mentioned in his books:

• Four-R strategies to reduce the usage of mobile phones
• Link our identity with behaviours
• Ten minutes rule to surf the urge
• Three fundamental elements of self-realisation
• ... and many more!  

I hope you’ll have the courage to face emotions and know root causes of your distraction and make changes right now :) 

​

​20多年前，一本名为《The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age》的畅销书，为我们目前的数字生活时代定下了基调。书中首次提出了「主权个体（The Sovereign Individual）」这个概念，强调了随着信息技术的发展，我们所处的社会阶层也将发生变化，而主权个体就是一个新的社会阶层。


简单来讲，主权个体就是摆脱了地理位置的限制，在数字时代随时随地创造营收的一个群体。我们中的大多数的人每天都过着一成不变的生活，在常规和习惯的作用下周而复始，日复一日，年复一年。但纵观历史你会发现，生活永远都是处于变动当中的，在不经意间缓慢地变化着，然后突然有一天产生了让我们大吃一惊的后果。


这些变化之所以很难被注意到，部分原因是因为主流媒体仍然引领着大众舆论，导致了单一且有导向性的叙事模式。但是互联网的诞生加速了信息的传播，部分人已经意识到大众传媒的弊端，而主动打破信息和技术的壁垒，并因此从中受益，成为拥有自主权的个体。


主权个体认为，勇于承担个人责任是通往自由和财富的道路。我们曾经处于一个标准化的社会，如果你想成为X，你要先做A，然后再做B。从小我们接受统一的标准化学校教育，然后随大流高考/考研，然后进入大家公认的好单位，找到和你人生路基本相似的人，结婚生子，然后孩子继续重复这条道路。这种标准化的生活方式已经让我们产生了依赖感，仿佛这就是我们人生的唯一道路。


但随着互联网和数字经济的不断发展，标准化的路途越来越不受用，反而是那些不走寻常路的人，或者找到利基市场的人更容易功成名就。主权个体便是后者的代表，通过主动寻求和筛选信息，跳出标准化的生活圈子，打造自己的游戏规则并建立杠杆，来实现财福双全的生活。


他们不受民族和国家主义等意识形态的影响，而是名副其实的全球主义者。现在越来越多的工作可以在世界任何一个角落通过电脑来完成，对于主权个体来说，世界就是他们的游乐场，可以选择任何一个有利于他们发展的国家和地区，并打造多种收入来源。


互联网本身已经形成了一个强大的经济体，并提供越来越多的沉浸式体验。主权个体可以利用互联网找到志同道合的人，不受地理位置限制联手合作开展项目，他们还将在数字环境中依靠智能合约达成协议，而不需要依靠当地政府的政策，从而实现多时区、多地区的收入来源，合理规避地缘政治的风险。


最关键的一点是，主权个体了解到不必再通过出卖时间来获得收入，也不必受困于地点而错过机会。这一心态的转变实现了我们对远程和异步工作的重视，朝九晚五每天需要待在办公室的工作迟早会成为历史。


主权个体的概念尤其能引起年轻一代的共鸣，毕竟Gen Z是出生于数字化大规模普及的时代，如果你还想对这个概念进行深入了解的话，可以订阅The Sovereign Individual Weekly 邮件推送 ，我将在这个月采访作者Doug，敬请期待，也欢迎文末评论，留下你对这个话题的问题！ 
​

为了迎接我的葡萄牙之旅，最近打鸡血一般的训练，听/读/看的东西也偏向健身相关，除了推荐Lex Fridman采访硬拉/深蹲1000磅的举铁狂人Chris Duffin的播客以外，这周还听了Founders Podcast两期关于阿诺德·施瓦辛格人生故事的播客，让我颇为震撼，简单总结一下：


- 施瓦辛格出生在奥地利一个典型的罗马天主教家庭，他的爸爸酗酒成性，还偏爱长子，对小阿诺德非打即骂。当阿诺德在10岁看到电视里关于美国纪录片时，就打定了要逃离家乡，去追寻自己的美国梦。


- 施瓦辛格在15岁那年励志成为一名健美运动员，他也说不清楚自己为什么会选择健美，但只知道当他的手指接触到杠铃的那一刻，就感受到一种前所未有的快乐。他如上瘾一般的训练，每当肌肉因为锻炼而酸痛时，他反而特别兴奋，因为他知道肌肉们正在成长。


- 周围的人都觉得施瓦辛格不是Gay就是个疯子，但他并没有理会他人的意见和消极的评论，他知道自己找到了此生挚爱的事物，没有谁可以阻挡他的脚步，「我比我认识的任何人都更渴望成功」。


- 施瓦辛格从小的偶像是英国健美运动员、商人和演员雷格·帕克，他是帕克为自己的奋斗目标。为了像帕克一样，当大多数人满足于每周训练两到三次时，施瓦辛格迅速将训练计划升级到每周六次。除了帕克之外，凯撒大帝和拿破仑也是施瓦辛格心目中的英雄，他明确地知道自己健美并不是为了有一个漂亮的身体，而是可以靠这个进入电影界，然后在世界各地建造体育馆，并开创自己的商业帝国。


- 施瓦辛格凭借刻苦的训练获得了诸多「健美先生」的称号，他由此也知道了如果自己能够如此改变身体，那么通过同样的自律精神和坚毅的决心，他也可以做任何其他的事情。施瓦辛格在总结自己的夺冠心路历程之时表示，世界上没有其他人比他更想要这个冠军，而他的秘方就是集中精力训练最基本的动作。


- 「你是个赢家，阿诺德」，这是施瓦辛格在家中贴满的话语，并时刻提醒自己要赢。他总是写下自己的目标，而且写得非常的具体，这样就可以对未来有一个可视化的愿景，督促着他去实现自己的梦想。


剩下的事情你们就都知道了，无论是拍摄了《终结者》系列成为知名演员，还是后来从政成为州长，施瓦辛格的态度和毅力都让他在追求目标的道路上勇往直前，如今70岁高龄，还整日泡在健身房中训练，给了我大大的动力!
​

1. 今年三月份听了Tim Ferriss采访Balaji的播客，对他做的事情超级感兴趣！没想到五个月后，竟然和他签了工作合同！好奇心驱使➕ 想要什么就大胆主动地争取➕ 了解自己做事的驱动力= 梦想成真！以前好事儿频发总怀疑自己的模拟器坏了，现在终于有了舍我其谁的态度！最近跟着George Mack小哥学到了一点：不再把生命看成是模拟器，而是当做数字游戏，这两种说法看似都是一回事，但游戏论却给了你主观能动性，可以把每天的任务当作打怪升级，循序渐进，不慌不忙，把这个游戏从长远的角度一直玩下去就好。


2. 剪辑播客次数多了，现在和别人当面聊天，对方如果有「嗯」「啊」「就是」，我第一反应都是「这段要剪掉」...就像以前上学的时候狂看电影/剧恶补外语一样，见到外国人第一反应都是看他们腰部的「字幕」。


3. 影响思考的四个障碍：
- 直观的想法
- 偷懒想找现成答案
- 情绪化
- 对之前观点的执着和自尊心作祟

改变他人行为的最好方式不是说教，而是清除那些让他们做出改变的障碍。行为并不总反应人格，有时候只是对特定环境做出的应激反应。


4. Ted Chiang在《你一生的故事》中提到一个概念：掌握一门语言后你的思维也会变得不一样。就像故事中的女主角一样，掌握外星语言后可以看到自己整个人生。维特根斯坦也曾提到过，我语言的界限就是我世界的界限。这样来看，掌握多门语言的人是否会看到一个更加不一样的世界呢？研究思维和语言的关系实在是超级有趣。德国之所以出了这么多思想家和哲学家，是否和德语有一定的关系呢？还是人类自以为是地总结规律，其实任何事件都是随机出现，并不存在因果关系？


5. 海德格尔曾对艺术下过一个定义，认为艺术就是让事物及其存在得以呈现。艺术不是去创造一个东西，而是让本来就存在的明明白白、如其所是地显现出来。
​

BREAKING NEWS：即将结束我的英伦生活，下一站...葡萄牙！

为什么选择葡萄牙呢？这个事儿还要从小说起。

小时候我特别羡慕周围人的生日和节日一天，那时候还问妈妈怎么没晚生我5天，这样就可以和圣诞节一天了！结果，某天小学放学回家看电视，看到了澳门回归的新闻，12月20日！那时候还傻乎乎地觉得，自己是不是有超能力啊，竟然梦想成真了！生日终于可以和节日挂钩了！

后来去了趟澳门旅游，体验了当地的葡式文化，又受肯德基葡挞的影响，还有菲戈、德科、C罗等葡萄牙球星的熏陶，总之对这个小国家并不感到陌生。今年在伦敦的读书会分享了我最喜欢的葡萄牙作家佩索阿的《不安之书》，已经种下了解封后就要去他生活的街区常住一段时间的念头。前两天听《煽风点火》播客，听到一直想面基的主播Allison已经在葡萄牙安营扎寨了！昨天和我很欣赏的一位朋友录Chiwi Journal播客的时候，他竟然告诉我下个月就要去葡萄牙！

宇宙接二连三抛来这么多信号，我怎么可能不赶紧行动！

话说这几年冥想带来的收获不仅仅是可以减少焦虑，改善心情，同时也增强了自己可以勇敢地「从心出发」的信心。乔布斯生前是日本禅道冥想的倡导者，并多次提到了跟随直觉的必要性；爱因斯坦也曾坦言，「所有伟大的科学成就都必须从直觉开始，有时我觉得自己肯定是对的，但却不知道原因」。

有时候你不需要为自己找这么多理性的理由，也不知道为什么就做出一些看似不合常理的举动。就像当时搬来英国一样，我也没什么规划，就有几张球票，索性就在这儿待上两年吧。而现在不也一样？感觉时机到了，那就说走就走吧！

The only real valuable thing is intuition.
― Albert Einstein

三十而立之后，我的最大改变应该就是将「无为」运用的日常生活中，不再试图去掌控人生，而是一切顺其自然。就像学霸猫经常讲到的「道」一样，时机到了，你准备好了，一切自然而然水到渠成。

之前看了猫老师的两篇「真实自我的魔法」，更加专注地聆听身体和大脑的声音，以及关注宇宙发给我的信号。前一阵儿尝试了Zumba课，还腾出时间去参加表演，才几天的时间宇宙就给我送来了大礼物！结识了超级聊得来的朋友，跳舞让身心得到释放，群演还被加了镜头！

以往总是受困于自我设限，觉得我又没接触过跳舞，又没接触过专业的表演训练，现在从零开始肯定不行；但另一方面内心又有在舞台上表现的冲动；所以一直处于内耗的状态，缺少动力和勇气去做出改变。这时候猫老师就恰到好处的出现了（就像在17年陷入情绪崩溃以及人生低谷，在自救的过程中遇到了学霸猫的文章；而后来又一切都如行云流水般丝毫不费劲儿的在四川拜见了猫老师），让我走出了最困难的第一步，结果就好运连连！一个接一个的惊喜！

就像凯文·凯利说的那样，如果你接受宇宙在背后默默帮助你的事实，那一切就都好办了！

- 最近还有不少读者朋友们询问「理想屯播客」的问题，那再统一回答一下：
「理想屯播客」已于今年6月暂时停更啦！不知不觉录制了四个年头，主播们也各自经历着人生的变化，播客已经主动在喜马和荔枝下架（看不惯审核多多的中心化媒体平台，估计告别微博和微信公众号也是指日可待，保持联系的方式就是加入我的邮件订阅，或者CY学习笔记，仅剩33个名额），目前中文播客平台只在小宇宙app可以收听，或者其他泛播客平台（诸如苹果/ Spotify/Google Play等）也有收录。

- 世上的大多数事情都可以用两句话来回答：

•  I don’t care （不关我事）
• None of your business （关你屁事）

- 这个月终于在伦敦享受了一次Kiwi BBQ！感谢老大的邀约，去他家做客，发现他教育的两个青少年小朋友能言善谈，有礼有节。我问他秘方，答曰：搬离新西兰，各大城市生活上一段时间。

结合自身情况以及周围特别有趣朋友们的生活背景，闷在一个地方确实很容易作茧自缚，或变为井底之蛙，这也没什么不好，每个人性格和条件不同，选择当然不同，最重要的是明确知道自己究竟想要什么样的生活。

老大的孩子们从小周游世界各地，接触了三大洲的文化教育，完完全全是Third Culture Kids的典例，也许他们再长大一些会产生没有固定朋友的孤独感，以及总是被当做「外来人」的困惑，但世界上会有一部分人与他们拥有共鸣。

每当想起先驱们在恶劣的条件下跨过千山万水，用脚步丈量整个世界都有一种莫名的感动。也许命中注定无法「停下来」，那何不接受这个设定？前进的道路上，「自我怀疑」总是最大的障碍。


- 听了/读了/见证了太多成功人士的故事，到头来才意识到当你真正达到某种程度后，才会把之前经历过的一些细节，连结或者编织成一张美丽的故事网，供后人瞻仰膜拜；而你在当时的情境做判断时，根本就不知道哪个决定可以带你走向所谓的人生巅峰。每个人的生活背景和所拥有的资源都不相同，套用模板只会让人迷失方向，而活出自己的道路，这个看似最简单的道理，却是很多人穷尽一生所达不到的程度。

Welcome to the August Issue of Chiwi Journal! Your monthly newsletter with the content I filtered, curated and wrote based on 140+ hours of reading and listening time.

Quick update from my side:
This month marks my second anniversary of living in London! Time flies! Before I moved here, I set up three goals:

• Visiting my favourite writers’ hometown and residences and experiencing the actual scenes that described in English literature
• Watching Euro 2020 and Premier League in traditional English pubs or at the stadiums
• Travel around Europe and making friends from the UK and Europe.

​So far, I have completed 2/3 missions apart from travelling Europe. That’s actually not bad since I’m not in a holiday mood anymore (work fulfilled me more!). Now, time to move on!

‘Thanks’ to the COVID, the digital nomad lifestyle and remote working are gradually becoming the mainstream trend, which means there are so many options for the next destination in front of me.

I’m currently planning for my annual meditation retreat to clear up my mind and follow my instinct to decide where to go next. Wish me luck!
​
Now, let’s get straight into the content.
​

If there is one podcast I want to download and listen to EVERY episode, it is the Founders Podcast. Thanks Richard for the recommendation!

The host David reads a biography of an entrepreneur every week and distils the essential anecdotes and themes from those remarkable people’s life, so you can find a formula or summarise the pattern and apply to your own path.

“Founders is the only podcast I pay for, and it’s worth 100x the cost.”

Past episodes including Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, John D. Rockefeller, Coco Chanel, Andrew Carnegie, Enzo Ferrari, Estee Lauder, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Phil Knight, Joseph Pulitzer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Henry Ford, Walter Chrysler, Thomas Edison, David Ogilvy and so many more!

Those high-performance people went through a trial and error journey throughout history, inventing and building businesses and technologies that could advance human civilisation. Some of them have gathered their experiences in books so that we can spend a few hours learning their lifelong lessons. That’s why I enjoy reading biographies to learn stories on an individual level.

Founders Podcast is a great tool to help me revisit my knowledge base after reading those biographies and introduce me to many founders I would have never known existed.
​
​More podcasts and newsletter recommendations 
​​

Many people are sceptical about autobiographies written by Hollywood stars because the majorities are either from ghostwriters or boring and cliche as hell. Matthew McConaughey is exceptional. His memoir Greenlights is filled with interesting stories, timeless wisdom, and lifelong lessons.

I have become a big fan of Matthew McConaughey after watching his iconic performance as Rust Cohle at True Detective. Matthew interpreted this dark, chaotic, philosophic and complicated character superbly and vividly that made me curious about what kind of life he has been living through to equip him with a complete understanding of Rust's character.

Greenlights gave me the answer. What impressed me most is Matthew has been journaling for 35 years. He went out into the desert for 52 days to revisit and reorganise his decade-long notes to compile this autobiography. David Perell made the video to explain Matthew's note-taking system and how he turned those notes into the best-selling memoir.

Greenlights is also in audio format, read by Matthew with his charming voice and accent. And, don't miss out Tim Ferriss's interview with Matthew McConaughey!
​
​My all-time favourite books recommendation.
​

After visiting Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace this month, I dug the rabbit hole to study the British Royal Family’s history and found this interesting story:

Queen Elizabeth I wrote a letter to Chinese Emperor Wanli of Ming back in 1602, attempting to establish direct trade with China. The letter was supposed to be delivered by George Weymouth, an English explorer, on his trip to Asia. For some reason, George Waymouth never made it to China, but the letter was eventually delivered in the 1980s when Queen Elizabeth II visited China.

“The letter that could not be delivered 390 years ago, I myself delivered it safely.”

I also found another letter between China and the UK that Chinese Emperor Qianlong of Qing wrote to King George III in 1793 to decline the trading requests from Great Britain.
​
P.S. I’m always fascinated with cross-cultural communications, especially in the early days of human history. Do you know Leibniz had studied the I Ching and Beethoven had been influenced by the Bhagavad Gita? How excited to see ideas exchange beyond language and cultural barriers!
​

Most of my readers knew that I’ve been busy translating Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order into Chinese with Steve and Marcel since April. This project is closing to the end, and I can’t wait for the inaugural launch in China market this year!

Among twelve rules from this new book, I benefit from Chapter Nine, “If old memories still upset you, write them down carefully and completely” the most. When I translated Chapter Nine, I felt that Dr Peterson engaged in a direct dialogue and provided detailed answers to my strugglings. I’d like to recommend the ‘Self Authoring’ course he mentioned in this chapter.

Unless taking time out of your busy schedule to reflect, you will never know what is most important to you. Writing about the past helps you understand who you really are; writing about the present enables you to assess strengths and weaknesses; writing about the future makes you think about what you do want to become.

After you’ve done the course, you should have four documents ready to help you understand yourself better:

• ​Life philosophy and values ​
• Life goals and motivations
• Daily routine and an ideal day
• Important people in your life

​
I have them in Chinese and will gradually publish the English version later. Watch this space!
​

Question from a Weibo reader:
How to tell a story that resonate with others?

My answer:​
​
When we socialise with people, it would be great to share some stories either entertain or resonate with others. One way to do so is to share the significant moments that have changed your life, such as moments of pain or moments of triumph and failure.

Just think about which memories are constantly popping up in your head and turning them into stories. For example, the most haunting memory from my childhood was witnessing my mum had a severe car crash. She stayed in the hospital for a whole year and had more than 15 surgeries, and survived. And the first thing she did after discharging from the hospital was driving a car again! Every time I shared this story with my friends, they could see where I got my hardcore spirit. Salute to my mum!
​
There is also a formula you could follow to write or tell your own story: Hero's Journey model, and don't forget to describe the emotions from your protagonists and share what lessons have they learnt along the way.
​
You've already had the story materials, and your task is to work it wisely to decide when to throw away more information to your readers and listeners. The key is to ask a triggering question or come up with a bold narrative at the beginning that will capture the interest of your audience. It's also important to have variety in voice and tone when telling the story and practice and test your storytelling skills with friends or family (but never repeat the same story to the same group of people!).
​

Airpods in my ears,
Playing podcasts and music,
Hiding from the crowd.
Maybe I’ll go deaf,
But Beethoven composed music when he was deaf.
There is no excuse,
Sprint, rest, sprint, rest, and repeat.

Glasses on my eyes,
Ten hours a week on average,
Reading books.
Maybe I’ll go blind,
But Borges wrote books when he was blind.
There is no excuse,
Sprint, rest, sprint, rest, and repeat

Weights on my shoulders,
Running shoes ready,
Training every day.
Maybe I’ll suffer from injuries,
But Hawkins spread science to the masses in his wheelchair.
There is no excuse,
Sprint, rest, sprint, rest, and repeat.

Thoughts and ideas are everywhere,
Dreams and consciousness are interweaving.
Maybe I’ll lose my sanity,
But Nash created the game theory with schizophrenia.
There is no excuse,
Sprint, rest, sprint, rest, and repeat.


Ernest Hemingway risked his life at war,
It’s ok to be bold and adventurous;
Fernando Pessoa invented heteronyms to live and write,
It’s ok to be alone and unknown;
Nikki Lauda burnt his face and came back from the dead,
It’s ok to let your soul and work speak on your behalf. 
Nothing has the power to stop what you do,
Just keep sprint, rest and repeat.

I take off everything I have,
And accept who I truly am.
It might be far beyond reach of my ability to obtain such achievements,
But I promise myself never to give up,
And to remember,
Sprint, rest, sprint, rest and repeat.




​

好莱坞影星马修·麦康纳（Matthew McConaughey）去年出了一本自传《Green Light》。一般好莱坞明星的自传不是出自影子写手，就是没什么营养，但麦康纳的自传却是基于他35年的人生笔记之上，既实用又耐读。

麦康纳马在采访中说过，自己经常会在脖子上挂一支笔，想到什么就要赶紧写下来，没有纸就往胳膊上写。之所以坚持写作这么久，是因为他从小就是好奇宝宝，笔记上充斥着他百思不得其解的问题，如今，他可以回答大部分小时候写下的问题。而且，当你写下杂思和问题后，你就可以let them go，从而给自己继续前行的许可。

为了写这本自传，麦康纳专门跑到沙漠中呆了52天，重新阅读和整理过往的笔记。他表示没有之前那三十多年的积累，也就没有今天这本畅销的自传。Tim Ferriss Show也在播客中采访过马修，可以看出麦康纳的家庭背景和记笔记给他带来的好处：

- 麦康纳的爸妈都是推销员，小时候的家规很有意思，你可以在家说骂人的话，但绝不可以说「讨厌Hate」「我不行I can’t」。麦康纳在家学到的重要一课就是，尽管你自己无法做成某件事也不要放弃，你总可以想办法寻求帮助来完成想做的事情。

- 麦康纳一直认为自己的人生成长轨迹就是好好学习成为一名辩护律师，尽管有涉足写作和表演的欲望，直到读了《最伟大的推销员》这本励志书籍后，他才正式鼓足勇气从法律学校转到电影学校追寻梦想。

- 麦康纳写了35年日记，翻看以前的日记总让他对自己有更深刻地认识。1992年的时候麦康纳写下了自己人生的10大目标，包括：成为爸爸；找到一个好女人；保持和上帝的关系；成为最好的自己；成为以自我为中心的功利主义者（Be an egotistical utilitarian）；多冒险；多和妈妈和家人在一起；赢得奥斯卡最佳男演员；回顾过去的时候不会后悔；好好活着。麦康纳写日记的时候喜欢记录生活琐事，和遇到的好事和坏事。通过记录他的日常惯例，生活中微小的美丽，以及身边的人带给他的感觉，他可以更好地去生活。

- 麦康纳解释说成为以自我为中心的功利主义者意味着，很多时候你做的自私决定其实也在造福他人，比如说如果当初他没有自私的做出了成为演员的决定，那现在百万千万的影迷就不会欣赏到他的作品。

- 人这一辈子与「自己」的相处时间最久，所以一定要学会如何独处。麦康纳也曾经历过不自信的时期，觉得配不上所获得的成就，总是过于严格的对待自己。后来他意识到其实生活中的高光时刻并不多见，所以在人生高点时就尽情享受吧，不要对自己太过苛刻。而在低落的时候也不要放弃，好好工作向着目标前行。

- 麦康纳很信奉的一句话就是台上一分钟台下十年功，要想让自己的演绎看着毫不费力，那就需要充足的准备和做十足的功课。

“The things we do today, the choices we make, are compounding assets to where we go in the future” 

– Matthew McConaughey

朋友Richard给我推荐了一档付费的播客节目：Founders Podcast，主播每周分享阅读传记的读后感。纵观历史，很多聪明人都在不断试错的道路上奋发图强，发明创造可以推进人类文明进步的业务和技术。他们中的一些人将经验集结出书，让我们这些后辈花费几个小时的时间，就可以学到他们毕生的经验。

这周听了两期甲骨文公司创始人拉里·埃里森（Larry Ellison）的内容，简单总结一下：


- 埃里森的养父从小就看不起他，觉得他一定会一事无成。拉里在这种环境下培养出了一种竞争意识，凡事一定要赢。拉里认为「顺从」并不是什么好的品质，不尽信权威，常常挑战传统才能促进人类文明的进步。他也是老师眼中头疼的学生，因为他经常会指出老师的错误，并质疑传统的教育系统。


- 埃里森发现自己无法长久集中精力，但却能在短暂的时间里冲刺完成编程和做项目。他发现自己的高效可以节省很多时间，而他的工作方式就是冲刺-休息-冲刺-休息。埃里森还特别容易感到无聊，喜欢在高刺激度和高竞争的环境中工作。


- 埃里森入职第一份正式工作后，发现即使是位居高位的人，其实也不知道自己究竟在干什么，没有人知道自己究竟在干什么，大家都是摸着石头过河的人。而且埃里森看到诸如老板这样的人都可以开公司，那自己的为什么不尝试创业呢？


- 甲骨文公司的雏形是拉里和同事在业余时间创立的「软件开发实验室（Software Development Labs）」。当时IBM发表了「关系数据库」的论文，埃里森以此造出了复杂又困难的数据库，后来更名为甲骨文。


- 埃里森经常在公开场合承认自己的错误，也坦然接受自己什么也不懂，也不完美的事实。但他觉得自己对于甲骨文公司最大的贡献是规划一个未来的蓝图，并以此为目标不断地完善产品，除此之外，其他一切与运营公司相关的法务会计都让拉里觉得无聊至极。


- 埃里森热衷阅读历史，甚至到了一个疯狂的地步，他认为读史使人明智，他在历史中学到的人性、管理和领导力比在商科书籍中学到的都要多。就像伽利略支持哥白尼的日心说，达尔文坚持进化论一样，当某人提出了违背整个社会的新观点时，他们往往会被人们嘲笑或者批判，但是时间会给这些人正名。就像起初的甲骨文一样，面临着重重质疑和困难，终于成长为现在全球收入第二多的软件公司。


- 拉里·埃里森和史蒂夫·乔布斯是挚友，两人都认为只有科技创新才有可能在竞争中脱颖而出。当乔布斯被苹果开除时，拉里对此事发表了观点，他认为伟大的人物都很偏执，常人往往无法理解。就像迈克尔·乔丹因为队友失误没能赢下比赛而发飙一样，「赢」是烙印在骨子里的特点。而埃里森则觉得比尔盖茨是个不懂幽默又无情无义的人，早年他还很享受和比尔在智慧上面的交往，但在情绪层面却深感累心。


- 埃里森和乔布斯的友谊始于乔布斯搬到了埃里森居住的街区。有一天，埃里森被一阵孔雀的嚎叫吵醒，发现声音来自乔布斯的后院，原来那是乔布斯的朋友送给他的生日礼物，但是乔布斯却讨厌孔雀并想将其处理掉。作为动物爱好者的埃里森正好帮助他解决了这个问题，从此两人相识相知，并发现彼此有众多的相似之处：同样都有养父母和生父母；强迫症；看不惯权威；辍学经历... 但两人的不同点在于埃里森更崇尚霍华德·休斯的生活，体验人生的千奇百味；而乔布斯则选择一切从简，从而可以专注于设计自己的产品。


- 埃里森的一大爱好是帆船赛，他认为人生就是一场冒险，他想看看自己在竞技体育中能否突破极限，继续体验赢的快感。虽然在竞技的过程中面临巨大的压力，还曾在飓风中死里逃生，埃里森认为一切都是值得的，因为「赢」是他人生的乐趣。


- 乔布斯去世后，埃里森经常站在两人经常去的湖边回想挚友。他认为乔布斯是格格不入的反叛人物，不局限于现状，用不同的方式去思考。他和乔布斯经常一起散步讨论观点，他记着和乔布斯一起吃木瓜、吃日餐和印度餐，然后一起开怀大笑。


推荐阅读：
- Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle
- The difference between God and Larry Ellison

- 所有过去的经历并不决定你的未来，而取决于你对这个经历的解读。

- 很多情况下，人们虽然厌恶现状，但是想到更改现有生活方式花费的时间和精力，就放弃了改变的想法。人们总是认为「如果我想改变我肯定随时都可以改变，但不是现在」，最终却迟迟一辈子没有行动，然后活在一个「可能性」的梦境中直到死去。

- 当你想成为自己时，没有人是你的竞争对手。

- 限制彼此自由的感情都不能长久，如果一方总是在妥协牺牲，尽管这段关系中有激情存在，也持续不了多久。当一个人在感情中觉得「我可以完全做自己」，这才是真爱。人际关系中最重要的就是「距离感」，就像看书一样，把书贴到脸上看什么也看不到。

- 生活中的每个人都应该为自己的决策负责，别人怎么看你是他们的决定，不关你事儿，做好自己管好自己比较重要。


- 欲望可以把你带到很远的地方，但如果你一直跟着它走，你就成为了它的奴隶。


- 所有需要刻意努力去进行的对话，说明双方还不在一个交流水平上。与人交往不要强求，时机到了，你准备好了，一切自然而然水到渠成。


- 垃圾食品会损害你的健康，垃圾信息也会毒害你的思想。现在「文盲」大量减少，但是不会辨别媒体的「信息盲」却无处不再。
Media literacy is underrated...

继续接着上周的「人生审计」专题，谈谈如何讲好自己的人生故事？其中一种方法就是找到改变了你生活的重要时刻。

- 自我意识到的改变时刻
- 痛苦的时刻
- 胜利/失败的时刻

看看哪些记忆是一直在脑海中游荡的：是否总让你感到不安？是否会引起情绪上的波动？你从中得到了哪些启示？将这样的记忆转化为故事，也会引起他人的共鸣。

确定印象深刻的记忆后，接下来是书写或者讲述自己的故事，以下五条定律可以帮你创造一个吸引人的故事。

1. 符合英雄之旅模式。
2. 为故事设置悬念，为主人公设置目标和障碍。
3. 描绘一个让人意想不到或者意义深刻的胜利时刻。
4. 主人公从中学到了哪些经验教训，得到了哪些启迪。
5. 期间穿插着主人公的情感波折。

故事素材就是你的生活经历和留存下来的记忆，你的任务是合理加工，看看保留哪些信息，在什么时机抛出下一个信息。关键是在开头时提出问题或者来一段大胆的叙述，从而吸引听众的兴趣。讲故事的时候也要注意语音和语调的多样化。下次和亲朋好友聚餐时，可以练习并测试自己讲故事的技巧，但千万不要给同一个人多次讲同一个故事。

最后，每当讲故事时都在脑海中想象自己是兴奋快乐的，听众和读者也可以感受到这份能量！

重新推荐一下来自a16z的一期关于未来工作模式的播客。

Andressen Horowitz对其投资的公司进行了未来工作模式的调研，是重返办公室？还是远程办公？调查结果显示：

- 25% 的公司采取完全远程办公的模式
- 67% 的公司采取混合制（如一周1-2天来办公室工作）
- 89%的公司计划继续雇用远程员工
- 86%的高管倾向于采用混合或远程模式召开董事会会议
- 63%的员工相信混合/远程办公可以有同样的创造力

受疫情影响，大多数的公司都将适应混合或者远程办公模式。应运而生的远程通信工具加速了这场数字化转型。但是，也有一些问题需要解答：
- 如何确定适合企业的混合或者远程办公模式？
- 你怎么知道员工没有身兼数职？没有摸鱼？（我身边已经有很多身兼数职的例子了，我自己不也是嘛）
- 如何在新的工作模式下兼顾员工的职业发展？
- 管理层如何更好地适应这场数字化运动？

远程办公的普及将促使人才更多地考虑所处地的生活成本问题，而公司则需要推出有效的激励制度，以及解决远程办公薪资问题，从而吸引或者挽留人才。

远程办公也会淡化同事间原本在办公室会产生的共生关系，对于有社交需求的雇员来说并不是一个好的兆头。远程办公之后的「团建」意义更为重大，能确保雇员之间产生紧密的联系，为日后的工作协调和合作打下坚实的基础。

远程办公将重新定义生产力，公司不应该再用固定的办公时间来衡量员工的表现力。

物理世界中的「硅谷」将继续没落，但是网络世界的「硅谷」将重新崛起。

======

我近两年一直采取远程办公的模式，或者也可以称为跨时区异步工作。其中最宝贵的经验便是建立一套适合自己的工作体系，支持自己按时完成工作，同时不会过劳或者过闲。


在一个固定的地方生活可以有固定的日常惯例，但很多远程办公的人们都是「数字游民」，或者是需要经常跨国跨时区旅行。这时候很容易因为时间和精力问题，而影响了工作质量和进度。


当工作环境发生变化时，你需要能够快速识别工作系统的「故障」，哪些因素影响了你的工作流程？「日常惯例」中哪些领域可以妥协，哪些又完全不能妥协？对我来说，我在旅行工作的过程中「间歇性断食」和「运动」是完全不可以妥协的，毕竟健康是我最看重的元素，那就在保持这两项时间的情况下，适当将其他杂项的时间分配给探索新城市或者结交当地新朋友。不断根据环境的改变优化自己的工作系统，也要适当放宽心，允许旅行工作期间突发的偶然和混乱。

1. 上世纪有「大萧条」，我们现在有「辞职潮」。
NPR的报告显示，四月份美国有四百万人辞职，而我身边今年辞职的案例也是数不胜数。
Balaji预测了未来招聘不看学历看推特，我的第一份工作也是猎头看到我的社交媒体内容后主动找上门来。
未来我招聘时肯定也会走这个路子，学历完全无法量化你的能力，给我看看你到底真正做了什么项目？以及你公开发表的想法和价值观！（有读者朋友们毛遂自荐吗？欢迎给我发邮件ymedianz@gmail.com做下自我介绍，并附上你的作品或者社交网络页面）

2.Tim Ferriss最近采访了我很喜欢的作家Anne Lamott。Anne的《Bird by Bird》也是我经常会推荐给想写作朋友的书。Anne在播客里坦率又不失幽默的分享了克服酒/毒上瘾和焦虑症、如何处理亲密关系和找到人生信仰等故事，当她勇敢地揭开过往的伤疤，并将痛苦的经历转化为故事与世人分享时，一切豁然开朗。
此时想起《Drive to Survive》中汉密尔顿说得一段话，正是童年的贫苦和遭受的种族歧视，激励着他成为赛车场上一头凶猛的野兽。
化悲愤为力量，化痛苦为能量，相信生命中所经历和承受的一切都是最好的礼物！

3. 总结过去的行为模式，发现自己是个「冲刺型孤注一掷选手」，比如说连续几个月疯狂工作，然后几个月尽情享受，重复；三天三夜不睡觉在死线前突击论文和项目；在酒场上杀敌一千自损八百；事情有恶化的苗头那就火上浇油；设定屏幕时间每天低于四小时，如果不幸超了一分钟那不如一下子搞到六小时；参加竞技比赛为了赢把自己搞伤都在所不辞；经常性的my way or the highway…

想起Lady Gaga在纪录片《五尺二寸》提到过的，既然当时不能直接拒绝演艺圈对女性外表的刻板要求，索性走个极端，通过奇装异服来对抗体制。而我也经常喜欢用极端方式处事，比如说对抗山东奇葩的酒场规矩，就是吹瓶或者直接三杯白酒全干，用行动吓倒「对手」。

好像从来就不是一个可以玩好可持续发展游戏的人，我的复利系统就是冲刺期间孤注一掷，然后休息期间倒退几步，下次再冲刺的时候期待可以比之前能进步一点点（下图）。

虽然有一套温吞如水的日常惯例可以支撑着我面对平淡如水的生活，但性格使然，没过多久就感觉整个无聊透顶，无法忍受一直「没什么事儿」的日常。

也许注定无法达到禅师们的平稳状态，与其内耗抗争，不如接受自己的本性，就像Kurt Cobain曾说过的，「I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not」！

上周发了一篇关于「人生意义」的文章，收到不少私信询问能否详细解释一下「书写人生」的方法和步骤。照例拿我自己作为例子，分享下如何抽出一个下午的时间，为人生做一场「自我审计Self-auditing」。


1. 首先准备100张便利贴（习惯电子版的也可以建个文档），在每张便利贴上写下一个愿望，可以是任何你想要实现的目标或者梦想，可大可小，只要是你的欲望就都如实的写下来，在书写愿望的过程中也要反思一下，这些愿望和目标是真正源自内心的？还是父母、社会和周遭环境强加给你的？这真的是你想实现的梦想吗？整个过程大约花费一小时的时间。


2. 然后将零散的目标和梦想按照主题进行分类，较为常见的类别可概括为职业、健康、爱情、亲情和友情，不过也因人而异。我的目标和愿望中占据比例最高的便是个人技能，比如说掌握一门语言或者乐器等等。通过分类便可以看出生命中的哪些主题是对自己最重要的，而你需要把时间和精力花费在这些主题上面。该过程大约花费一小时的时间。


3. 此时，你需要根据时间维度再将这些目标和梦想归类。一般常见的分类是
a. 当下或者不久的将来
b. 有朝一日
c. 每天必做
拿我举例，a类别的愿望和目标是「开启一档新的英文播客」，b类别「出演一部舞台剧」，c类别「每天学习分享一则新知识」。然后将abc标记在各个主题后面（或者用图形来代替字母，更加一目了然），你便可以清楚地看到所有目标和愿望的时效性，尤其是那些每天必做和当下或者不久的将来应该做的事情所占各个主题的比例，现在就知道应该把时间都花在这些事情上面。由此可以得出一套属于自己的「日常惯例」。该过程大约花费两小时的时间。


4. 现在需要思考的问题是，生活中的哪些人可以帮助你实现这些愿望和目标。俗话说，你是你周围最亲密五个人的平均值，所以一定要时常审视周围的关系网络，但需要注意的是，人是一个变量极大的物种，而且人与人的关系也不能全靠交易来定性，这些都需要考虑在内。至少在你的人生中，你需要拥有一位挑战你的想法并推动你朝着更好的自己努力的人；一位在你陷入困境时可以无私来帮助你的人；一位答疑解惑的导师；一位榜样人物；以及可以坦露一切彼此交心的密友。该过程大约花费一小时的时间。


以上就是「人生审计」的具体步骤啦！再结合上周的文章加以思考和练习，此时你应该有四份文档：

1. 生活哲学和价值观
2. 人生梦想和愿望
3. 一天24小时时间花费和日常惯例
4. 生命中的重要人物

欢迎尝试！

备注：以上方法结合Tim Urban、凯文·凯利和乔丹·彼得森的文章总结得来。

我和好基友Ellen都十分喜欢安德鲁·休伯曼（Dr. Andrew Huberman）的内容，这个硬核的科学家最近做客Tim Ferriss的播客分享了关于提升优化身体健康的建议，简单总结一下：

1. 安德鲁·休伯曼是斯坦福大学医学院的神经生物和眼科教授，主要研究神经再生和大脑可塑性课题，同时也主持一档播客节目 Huberman Lab，对于生物医学和科技感兴趣的朋友们不要错过。

2. 视觉是中枢神经系统的一部分，有着改变身心状态的能力。人们往往忽视了通过改变「看」世界的方式（字面意思上的用眼睛去看），改变自己的精神状态。人类的眼睛负责检测外界的状况，来告知大脑是否需要放松或者提高警惕：比如说我们处于紧张或兴奋状态时，瞳孔就会放大；而处于放松安逸的状态时，瞳孔的形态也会随之改变。下次当你感到紧张或者不安时，可以借助向前向周围看，来扩大自己的视野范围，关闭大脑中产生压力的注意力机制。

3. 人类的视觉和呼吸对身心健康有着快速且深远的影响，我们可以利用调节视觉和呼吸来控制精神状态，比如说通过自主调节光源摄入眼球的时间来调整生物钟。安德鲁·休伯曼建议我们在起床后30分钟内，到户外接受2-10分钟的阳光照射，从而触发皮质醇的释放，让我们迅速进入清醒状态。如果你住在云层覆盖严重的地区（或者诸如伦敦这种雨城），那可以在早上尽可能多地开灯来仿照阳光照射。

4. 接近傍晚时，人们需要避免强光照射。而在晚上11点到凌晨4点之间更是需要隔绝一切强光，否则会导致多巴胺系统混乱，影响睡眠和在睡眠中过程中的身体修复功能。早上接触光，晚上避免光的方法对于改善抑郁症有良好的功效（同时科学家也在研究迷走神经对于抑郁症的影响）。

5. 人类睡眠期间体温最低点大约在自然醒前2小时。通过将闹钟设置在旅行目的地时区的自然醒前两小时，然后观看明亮的光线，可有效解决时差问题。

6. 褪黑素最熟知的功能是可以改善睡眠质量，同时也是一种强大的青春期荷尔蒙抑制剂，对性激素有着强烈的影响。如果你超过2-3天没有完整的睡眠，此时身体会处于压力极大的状态，需要通过物理行为和补剂，或者两者结合来调节。但是补充褪黑素来改善睡眠时需要格外注意其副作用。

7. 每天20分钟的冥想和瑜伽可以有效改善睡眠。双倍吸气然后呼气是最快减缓压力水平的方式，1-3次深呼吸也可有效改善焦虑和紧张状态。

8. 通过催眠治疗戒烟的成功率约为50-60%。90%以上的人在体验催眠疗法后反馈焦虑感得到减少，而且疼痛感也大幅降低。致幻药将是未来的一大重要研究方向，MDMA和LSD类似于当前的睡眠和催眠疗法，通过改变大脑对于空间和时间的感知来治疗病患。

9. 运动可以改善睾丸素的含量，睡眠不足和压力过大是男性精子活力的最大杀手。

10. 安德鲁·休伯曼从小打架混社会，很勉强地才完成了高中学业。后来他在一次疯狂的聚会打斗中意识到自己的人生有多么的混乱，开始接受心理治疗，每周3次精神分析，30多年来一直在看同一个咨询师。他给大家的建议就是从优化睡眠、饮食和运动开始，来开启全新的健康生活。  

1. 这周参观了拥有「英国凡尔赛宫」之称的汉普顿宫(Hampton Court Palace)，然后开始恶补亨利八世时期的历史：九日皇后简·格雷、血腥玛丽、博林家的两个女儿安妮和玛丽、还有童贞皇后伊丽莎白一世... 其中最有趣的发现应该就是伊丽莎白一世写给万历皇帝的这封信了！

1596年，时任英国女王伊丽莎白一世写了一封亲笔信，并派使者约翰·纽伯莱带给明朝万历皇帝，表达了中英两国展开贸易往来的愿望。可惜约翰·纽伯莱在途中遭遇不幸没能抵达中国，还好信件没有丢失。但却成了伊丽莎白一世的终身遗憾。此后，信件被英国国家博物馆收藏。

1986年，时任中华人民共和国国家主席的李先念邀请英国女王伊丽莎白二世访华，英女皇伊丽莎白二世决定将这封时隔390年的信作为赠礼。

此时又想起莱布尼茨当年还学过《易经》、贝多芬也受到了《薄伽梵歌》的影响，东西方文化交流总有不少趣事儿，又可以给自己的「业余小项目」文件夹增添一个写作计划了

2. Tim Ferriss在播客中采访了作家Michael Pollan，其中有一段关于咖啡和工业革命的小故事很有意思。

早期英国和欧洲其他各地一样也是咖啡文化＞茶文化，咖啡馆则是人们相约讨论新闻和聚会的场所。后来英国本土和殖民地都是以种植茶叶为主，饮茶文化由此盛行开来。

美国人在1770年3月发动了「波士顿倾倒茶叶」活动，此后更是掀起了大规模的反英斗争。通过拒绝饮茶抵制英国人的暴政。

咖啡的盛行是推进工业革命的一大重要组成部分，以往的英国工人都是从早喝酒喝到晚，而用咖啡替代酒以后，能培养效率更高也不会因醉酒犯错的工人。而且咖啡还能让上夜班的工人精力充沛，大大提高了资本家的效率。

按照评测标准来看，咖啡也应该归类于毒品，只不过得到了市场的批准，又是时代和文化的产物。谁知道过几代以后大麻会不会成为下一个咖啡呢？

3. 最后，疯狂的欧洲杯终于结束了，我来英国的任务也算是完成了，恭喜意大利夺冠！曼奇尼姜还是老的辣，历经多场重要比赛的失败之后，终于涅槃重生迎来一个重量级别的冠军，索斯盖特还是太嫩太保守了，心疼英格兰这帮优秀的小伙子们，尤其是最后才被换上场来的拉师傅、桑乔，还有承担着重大压力最后出场罚点球的萨卡。年少成名注定要经历重大挫折和心理上的磨难，能挺过这一关，2022年世界杯还是大有希望的！虽然没能在本土见证「足球回家」，这两年无论是现场还是酒吧感受到的足球氛围已经让我永生难忘了！感谢英格兰带来的快乐！祝福三喵！

• Preface
• Flowism
• Life Principles
• Origins
• Tibet Trip
• Meditation Journey
• Ultimate Goal

​When I was little, I was obsessed with my Dad’s study room. How come he could pick up some colourful and heavy things on the shelf and lock himself in the room for the whole day? I imitated his behaviour but hardly understood a word from his accounting, economy and management books.

One day, I browsed my Dad’s treasures and found one book rather fascinating. The Life of Friedrich Nietzsche by Daniel Halévy (The Chinese translation version of that book called Friedrich Nietzsche: I’m the Sun《尼采传：我是太阳》) triggered me because that’s the only few words I could recognise at the young age. I felt highly excited like Archimedes leapt out of the bath and rushed home naked crying, “Eureka! Eureka!” I thought I found the universal truth that the Sun is this beard and weird-looking guy!

My family made fun of me about how I secretly told everyone, “do you know the Sun has a name called Ni Cai (Nietzsche’s pronunciation in Chinese)?” and how I regarded myself as a detective scientist who decodes the identity of the Sun. Silly, right? That childhood mystery followed me for ages until I learnt at school what metaphor is and who the real Nietzsche is, and apparently, there is a conventional rule to name things in our society, including the Sun. 

My old friend’ Nietzsche didn’t fade away with my stupidity but lingered around my life and led me to dig more about him and his fellow philosophers. As his saying goes, he who has a why to live can bear almost any how. Like many rebellious, moody and self-centred teenagers in my adolescent years, I blamed my parents for everything because “I didn’t choose to be born”. My early 20s also filled enormous pains from internal self-doubt and disturbing external facts. I didn't know why I am here and what's it for.​

I wrote numerous suicide notes in my diaries but never made it into action. I suffered from a constant existential crisis but never fell into mental illness. I don’t know if I am a coward or a survivor in this life game.

Now I want to share my journey of discovering my WHY (aka, my philosophy). They are my guiding principle for my short life on earth. I hope you will find yours and live life on your own terms. 
​

My life philosophy is Flowism, a term I made up when my best friend asked why I constantly change my mind and never settle down on one idea, a place, a job or a person. I said, “I go with a flow. I’m practising Flowism.”

Going with a flow doesn’t mean you are a fence-sitter or flip-flopper. It’s a state of following your fate and evolving your thoughts and ideas constantly.

If the universe was an ocean, what we understand is only a drop of water. Nothing is certain. Nothing is for sure. Everything is impermanent.

I am aware that I know nothing. I could explore everything with my intellectual curiosity where fate brings me. It's OK to change your mind regularly with the foundation of independent and rational thinking.

The reality is merely real. The concepts of time and space and cause and effect are an illusion. Who has the ability to define the objective truth based on our current understanding? Ask real questions and obtain a good explanation. 
 
All things are neutral. Everything depends on our perspectives toward this world. We choose to fall into nihilism or decide to make everything meaningful to ourselves. If nothing matters, just have a fun journey and be like a cheerful nihilist. 

All things, including people, come and go. Not forcing, not interfering, just accepting everything. 

Life is a single-player game with sufferings from desire, departure and detestation. Once you accept this setting, everything you encounter in your life will be more acceptable and enjoyable. 

The meta meaning of living is existing. Existing is a pain. Once we go into a flow state of an egoless mind, everything will become nothing. I am nothing. Nothing is painful any more. 

Our thoughts and ideas, or so-called free wills, are inextricably tied to language, and language is socially constructed. We are all socially conditioned.

What I try to say here may sound different from what I mean, but it doesn’t matter. Just go with your flow; go with your understanding of flowism because others, including myself, are an illusion.

Life is only making sense when you look back. So, go with flow forward and collect and connect dots on the way.

Remember, all things come to those who flow the way, as all wild streams and all unruly torrents drive eventually to great rivers and the sea. 
​

Besides my life philosophy, I also summarise and update my life principles on my birthday every year (29, 30, 31) as my guide for living a truthful life.

2020 is a memorable year for most of the people due to Covid 19. I had my first anniversary of moving to London and enjoyed most of the solitude time thanks to lockdown.

​People have to spend a certain amount of time staying only with themselves to hear their inner voice. Only in this way can we have a clear understanding of who we are and what we can offer to this world. 

Here are my 32 principles on my 32 years old birthday: 

1. Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius once said: “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think”. During the pandemic, we feel like illness and death only one inch away from us. I rethink my life priority and let death serve as my warning alarm rather than a fearful monster. Once you dare to face death, you begin to live a truthful life. 

2. Logic is a human being’s creation. The universe doesn’t give a damn about that. We all try to figure out the correlation and causation and brag about the pattern we discovered. However, there are so many black swan events happening around us. Maybe possibility and randomness are the key message we should bear in mind.

3. Everyone has a default setting. Don’t follow what society and others expect you to do but listen to your inner voice. We all have unique DNA and life experiences. Rather than anything, pursue your truth. 

4. Nations, money and companies are all fiction concepts. When you choose to sacrifice your time and life for those ‘unreal’ subjects, think twice. Are they worthy of it? 

5. As a Chinese saying goes, one has to put knowledge into action. What you know is not that important until you unify the mind and hand together. Any knowledge that you gain but not put into action was considered delusion or false.

6. Direction ＞ speed. There is no point you drive so fast but in the wrong way. In order to get to your destination, in the end, you have to pause and double-check you are on the right track. 

7. I don’t know what I don’t know. Therefore, I have to be rationally open-minded all the time. Stay foolish and stay hungry. If three of us are walking together, at least one of the other two is good enough to be my teacher.

8. Building a system is better than setting up a goal. A goal is temporary, but a system is a compound machine that can help you play a long-term game. I am what I repeat. Let your actions speak for your traits and identity. 

9. Amor Fati. Memento Mori. 

10. You always have a choice. Don’t let linear thinking and simple causation lead you to the end of the road. Open your eyes and seek possibilities around you. 

11. On one hand, loss implies gain; on the other hand, gain means loss. All things are neutral and based on our perspectives to decide it’s good or bad. Be positive and find the good side of things and people. 

12. Any relationship is a good relationship as long as we are a whole person rather than a person who has a hole to seek others to fill the gap. Life is a single-player game. Let’s appreciate everyone we met on the journey. 

13. When I take photos, I look around and find a perfect angle. Finding different angles can also apply to interpersonal communications. Don’t let misunderstandings or pre-set judgement affect the potential relationship you are about to build up with others. 

14. It’s human being, not human doing. Live in the moment. 

15. Always have a deadline. During the lockdown, I had the privilege to attend James Altucher 30 days book challenge. I am always dreaming of writing a novel in English but never find a chance to sit my ass down and write. With this 30 days time frame, I finally completed my book! Doing is better than thinking and talking. 

16. There is no universal solution that can solve all your problems. Stop reading those self-help or success stories from others. Find your suffering that you enjoy the most, and keep moving forward.
 
17. Creating content is a way to express my feelings and thoughts. It also heals my trauma and pains. Every time I create a character who suffers from the exact problems facing me, I can figure out a solution for her/him in a third person’s perspective. 

18. Be careful with others’ compliments, and then you won’t pay much attention to their criticism. Your ability has a benchmark and won’t change based on others’ thoughts. But be humble to take constructive feedback.  

19. As an ancient Buddha said, perceive as you see, believe not what you perceive, then accept what you know as they are. 「老僧三十年前未参禅时，见山是山，见水是水；及至后来，亲见知识，有个入处，见山不是山，见水不是水；而今得个休歇处，依前见山只是山，见水只是水」。

20. John Donne wrote the poem, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee”. Consider about others surround you and do something within your ability to help out. 

21. Learn to forgive. Everyone is on their journey. You don’t know what others are suffering. Be kind. 

22. Find someone who both of you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably share silence.
 
23. Mark Manson mentioned the concept of ‘Emotional Diversity’. Clarify your emotions and know what triggered them. Don’t let emotions serve as your master, especially during the decision-making process.

24. As Kevin Kelly said, the universe is conspiring behind your back to make you a success. Embrace this concept and accept the gift that the universe gives to you. Then share it with this world.

25. You are not your emotions, your thoughts and your body. You are your actions and the feelings you bring to others. 

26. What we do every day will shape the future. When our bodies vanished, our cultural memes would live forever. We have to pay attention to our thoughts and actions to generate a promising future for the next generations. 

27. Paul Graham mentioned every city has its personalities and ambitions. Pick up your city carefully that won’t drag you back but help you to find your tribes. London is a perfect choice for me as a football and literature enthusiast. 

28. Create your daily routine that can generate compound interest, and repeat, repeat and repeat. As Albert Camus said, “the struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy”.  

29. A life without constant examination is not worth living. As Naval said, a proper examination should ruin the life that you’re currently living. There is nothing wrong with continuous changing your surroundings, your networkings and your lifestyles. People have different priority in their life stage. Examine your focus and do not afraid of change. 

30. Learn to surrender. Control what you can control and let things go with the flow of what they are supposed to be. 

31. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” --Albert Einstein 
​
32. Life is only making sense when you look back. Collect and connect dots on the way.

I was born in Jinan, Shandong Province, China, where under the tremendous influence of Confucianism emphasised personal and governmental morality, the correctness of social relationships, justice, kindness, and sincerity. I was taught to respect and obey authorities and elders and sacrifice individual welfare to achieve a group goal.

I was a Merit Student throughout primary school because I knew how to please others by studying hard and obeying all the rules. I remembered so vividly on the graduation day of primary school, my best friend Shixin told me, “You have such a beautiful pair of eyes, but I can’t find any happiness inside them. I wish you a happy life.”

I was shocked, and then I cried.

That was the first time I realised I lived a pretentious life and never be a happy kid deep inside. All I did was oppress my free spirit to adapt to mainstream society to get approval from others. What’s for? Why do I do that? What’s my purpose? Those self-examination questions lead me to so many depressing hours during my childhood.

As you might know, Three Teachings (Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism) is a traditional belief system in China. Many Chinese families hike and worship those Buddha Statues at the top of the mountain, visit the Taoist temple to draw a fortune stick or go to Qu Fu to pray for Confucius for their children’s education. While my parents participating in those activities, I got my first personal computer to surf online to learn more about the stories behind those three schools of thoughts.

Thanks to my grandparents, Qi Kaimin and Sun Yuzhen, the survivors of the China Cultural Revolution, who were highly educated and cultured. They devoted their retiring life to researching Yi Jing (also known as I Ching or Book of Changes), a book by far being considered the most consulted of all books that believe it can explain everything. 

My grandparents proposed changing my name from Chenlu to Yixuan to alter my fate based on what Yi Jing said. I had no idea why I changed so dramatically after the name change (puberty hormonal changes?). I started to behave in such a rebellious way, disobeyed authorities, wrote political-sensitive content, asked numerous questions on existence that drove my parents crazy. They thought it would be better to send me overseas rather than living in a traditional Chinese society that brought everybody in trouble.

I joined the exchange student program and went to New Zealand to study. The language barriers and culture shock took me to another round of loneliness and depression. I came across a Baptist Church near my school and prayed for Christian God to save me from suffering. Meanwhile, I attended a campus counselling service and tried to cure myself based on psychological practice. I also found libraries and bookstores were my shelters where I could temporarily escape from reality and enjoy my alone time.

After I moved from New Zealand to the UK, I got a chance to meet and talk with people from different cultures and backgrounds where I could learn Muslim, Orthodox and other schools of religions and philosophy that originated from this part hemisphere. I read from Greek saints to German philosophers, from ancient guru to contemporary thinkers, and then developed my philosophy by standing on those giants’ shoulders.

Here is the list of names and schools that influenced my philosophy to my awareness:

• Stoicism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism and Existentialism
• Jean-Paul Sartre, Plato, Rene Descartes, Friedrich Nietzsche, Immanuel Kant, Soren Kierkegaard, Albert Camus, David Deutsch, Jed McKenna, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, Ayn Rand, Rick and Morty, Mark Manson, Ryan Holiday, Derek Sivers, Naval, Kapil, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Jiddu Krishnamurti
• Among hundreds of books I read, this is the list of the top books I recommend where I benefit a lot from those writers: https://mostrecommendedbooks.com/user/camelliayang

​

In 2015, I quit my first full-time job at a well-known New Zealand company because I lost my motivation and inspiration as a content creator. I went to America and indulged myself in materialistic pleasure. It was a fun month, but this kind of action provided me with a temporary solution but did not affect a permanent cure.

I fell into a void and emptiness.

Back then, my Dad made his trip to Tibet and shared photos of those majestic palaces and magical natural scenery with me. I have always been fascinated by Tibetan Buddhism and the profoundness of Tibetan culture. Since I was a child, I heard Princess Wencheng entering Tibet and marrying Songtsen Gampo and the story of how Tibetan used human skin to make drums. 

I longed for this sacred and mysterious land, and it was time for me to pay for a visit. 

It took me 24 hours by train to arrive in Lhasa, Tibet. I went through horrible altitude sickness (headache and accelerated heartbeat plus breathing difficulty), but the grand scenery along the way made me survive this mammoth trip. 

I visited many villages where I saw the national five-star red flag flying in almost every house. I had no idea if it’s the government’s efforts or Tibetans voluntarily did so. My journalist background drove me to talk with everyone I met, but many elder villages could not speak Mandarin. Although we could not communicate, their genuine and innocent smiles made me feel very comfortable.  

What impressed me most was the Tibetan Buddhism Prostration. Tibetan Buddhism believers prostrate themselves on the ground, with the head, arms, and knees down on the ground, and move forward slowly, following every step with a kowtow. This was the way to express their most honest hearts to the Buddha, as they walked from their hometown to Lhasa, one kowtow with every three steps they took until they arrived in Lhasa (usually took a couple of months with 100,000 kowtows!). 

I was shocked because I never saw hundreds of people prostrating this ritual along the way. What made them so devoted? What’s the purpose for them to do so? What would they want to achieve?

Reflecting on my life, I had never focused on one thing, not to mention committed to any practice like that. I talked with the locals and prostrators and learnt that Buddha said our world is an illusion. Human beings can strip themselves of this illusion through meditation and self-denial to achieve enlightenment. The prostration practice is essential to the mind’s purification and freeing it from lousy karma due to harmful doings or thoughts. 

Although I’ve read a couple of Buddhism books before and had an idea of the Tibetan prostrator. Words on paper could not compare with seeing them practising at the Dazhao Temple in front of you! I was so touched by their actions and devotion. Moreover, visiting Dazhao Temple made me emerge the hope to our human race. 

The Dazhao Temple owns its fame to its life-sized statue of the Buddha at age 12, brought to Lhasa as part of the Chinese Princess Wencheng’s dowry in 641.  1000 years later, another notable event happened in the temple’s long history: Chinese Emperor Kangxi’s visited here as a part of governing inspection.

How glad to see different ethnic group could live harmoniously in one land throughout history. Although conflicts and wars had happened occasionally, the mixed ethnic culture memes would find their way to survive and left essences to the future generation. 

One of the highlights of my Tibet trip was visiting the Potala Palace. Songtsen Gampo built this world wonder to marry Princess Wencheng from mainland China over 1,300 years ago. The Potala Palace was built on top of the mountain with more than 2,000 rooms full of paintings, books and exotic treasures.

The whole trip was mind-blowing with respect. Although human beings only existed in this universe for such a short period, the hard labour of creating those fantastic buildings and arts have always made me so emotional. ​
​
According to Tibetan Buddhist culture, if you circumambulate Mount Kailash clockwise on foot in the Year of Horse, it will bring good fortune because Mount Kailash is considered a home of Buddha Cakrasaṃvar, who represents supreme bliss; If you walk around Lake Namtso clockwise on foot in the Year of Sheep, it will bring buddha’ blessings because Lake Namtso is the holy lake in the Tibetan world.

​The sixth Dalai Lama, Cang Yang Gyatso, once wrote a poem about his experiences walking around the mountain and the lake, “In this lifetime, circumambulating the mountains, the lake and stupas but not to seek rebirth, only to meet you along the way”. How romantic! 

I also wrote a piece to this beautiful land that blessed me with her beauty and holiness. 

告别西藏，
难忘那白云朵朵蓝色静谧的天空，
难忘那浪花淘淘绿色磅礴的江水，
难忘那蓝白红绿黄代表天地五行的经幡，
难忘那东西南北中虔诚扣头敬拜的教徒。

布达拉宫依旧在旭日的照耀下璀璨生辉，
藏香袅袅，佛音阵阵，
美好一天又轮回，
我在告别，
你在守候，
何日我们再相会？


Farewell to Tibet, 
The Potala Palace shining brightly under the rising Sun.
Farewell with the prayer flags with five pure lights.

Farewell to Tibet,
The Tibetan incense is curling up, 
Farewell to its white clouds, blue sky, and colourful lands.

Farewell to Tibet,
The Buddhist chanting is bursting out,
Farewell to devoted people from the bottom of my heart.

A beautiful day has come and gone.
I’m saying goodbye.
You are staying hereby.
We are fated to meet again,
Between the dark and dawn.
​

If you’ve never tried it before, meditation can seem both improbable and pointless. You might wonder what the point is of sitting quietly for twenty minutes. It looks like a waste of time that doesn’t have any tangible benefits! But countless people and books talk about how important meditation is for your health, so I wondered: shall I give it a go and see what would work for me? 

In 2018, after researching many different ways of meditation, I signed up for a Transcendental Meditation (TM) course, primarily influenced by Ray Dalio, whose Principles was one of my favourite books. In this six-week course, my teacher taught me a mantra (he said everyone’s mantra is different. The mantra itself is meaningless, and it’s just an anchoring tool to help you focus). All I have to do is practice meditation for 20 minutes twice a day, once after waking up in the morning and once before dinner, in any setting or comfortable position.

How do I practise?

First, choose a comfortable position, either sitting cross-legged or on a chair or sofa, as long as you are not lying down. Second, close your eyes and sit still for half a minute to a minute. When you feel relaxed, start repeating your mantra in your head. Your brain will generate many mixed thoughts at this time. The ideal state is when the mantra and the thoughts cease to exist, and a feeling of emptiness is achieved.

As it is written in the biography of Steve Jobs, “If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes things worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things — that’s when your intuition starts to blossom, and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse at the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It’s a discipline; you have to practice it.” I totally agree. The important part is not controlling your thoughts but letting them go without interruption.

It takes time but worth it. 

Yoga and Meditation Retreats 

Once a year, I took a couple of weeks to do a Yoga or Meditation retreat. In 2019, I joined the Blooming Lotus Yoga retreat in Bali, including daily morning and evening yoga classes, theoretical study of the yoga system, daily morning and evening meditation sessions, and Bali’s cultural tour. 

As an amateur CrossFit girl, I always find yoga too soothing and soft. I prefer to pump and punch in the gym or go to a HIIT class, making me feel like exercising. This seven-day intensive yoga training has changed my perspective on yoga classes in a fundamental way. I had a chance to learn Yin and Yang yoga. One is slightly faster, fluid, energetic and powerful; the other is softer, focusing on stretching and emphasising the endurance to achieve a state of unity between body and mind. 

Yoga is not just a form of exercise but a way of life that unites body, mind and spirit, dating back 5,000 years to the Indus Valley. It has evolved over the millennia into many schools of thought, from the classical five major systems (wisdom yoga, karma yoga, hatha yoga, king yoga, kundalini yoga) and the eight branches of practice (abstinence, practice, asana, pranayama, mindfulness, concentration, meditation and samadhi) to the countless variations in modern society (hot yoga, Iyengar yoga, etc.).

The instructor briefly introduced us to Yoga Nidra, Chakras, Ayurveda and the yogic philosophy of ‘Unity of the Self’, and highlighted how to apply this theoretical knowledge to practical life by adopting healthy eating and exercise habits, self-healing and achieving a state of inner peace through a series of daily rituals. The most exciting part for me was the sister of Yoga: Ayurveda, derived from the Sanskrit word ‘life science’ with 5,000 years of history (Chinese medicine is also derived from Ayurveda). 

Ayurveda believes that everything in the universe is made up of the five elements: Air (Akash), Wind (Vayu), Earth (Prithvi), Fire (Tejas) and Water (Apa), and the same is true of the human body (the five elements of Chinese medicine). These five elements are mixed to form Doshas’s life energy and are divided into three main categories.

Vata = Air + Wind 

Pitta = Fire + Water

Kapha = Earth + Water

The Ayurvedic system teaches people to look within, understand themselves from the inside out, and find out what makes ‘themselves’. The essence of Ayurveda is to find, discover and regulate your own sense of balance, to live in harmony with yourself, with others and with everything in the world. No one can give more than what they have, which is why you must first start loving yourself. Be less obsessive with perfectionism and focus more on caring for yourself.

The most noticeable change since I started meditating is that I have become more aware of my ‘thoughts’ and many things I thought I had forgotten. Also, the emotions I had previously hidden and suppressed have come out (it can be horrifying at the beginning few months of practising meditation because you have to confront those ugly things that you avoided before). 

Sigmund Freud once said, “unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.” No wonder I went through a couple of panic attack in the past years --- my repressed emotions eventually reached their breaking point and suddenly attacked me. 

With the help of meditation, I have more courage to face these deeply buried thoughts and feelings, which, although painful, are temporary, and when they are resolved one by one, I will no longer be disturbed by them and will have a clear-thinking mind.

Meditation, like most things, is a long-term process, and just as the body needs to keep exercising to build muscle, the brain needs to keep meditating to develop awareness. Once you can be aware of yourself rather than follow the crowd, you’ll better understand who you really are and what you really want. And once this fundamental problem has been solved, other secondary issues that arise from a lack of clarity about ‘who you are’ will cease to exist.

Digital Detox Retreat

Due to my work’s nature, I am always on my phone or in front of my computer, swiping through various social media platforms at all times, and actively/passively receiving a lot of fragmented information. Because of the fragmented knowledge in my head, I cannot focus and easily affected by all kinds of redundant and cluttered information whenever I am thinking about complex issues. I constantly feel tired and less productive.

In 2018, I got a chance to check out a digital detox retreat in Auckland. It’s an excellent excuse for me to get away from the screen, be alone with myself and reflect on myself. In those three days, I didn’t touch any of my electronic devices. Each morning, I woke up naturally and practised two full meditation sessions, including 10-15 minutes of yoga, 5 minutes of breathing exercises, 20 minutes of Transcendental Meditation, resting in bed for the last 10 minutes and then repeating the above set of movements.  

The rest of the day was writing journals, reading books, going out, and talking with other participants. I remembered one day I was sitting on my balcony and meditating. The Sun was shining brightly before I closed my eyes. When I woke up from the half-hour-long meditation, it was drizzling outside, and a little bird standing on my balcony, singing freely. 

It reminds me of the time I watched the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The heroine saw a deer strolling on the green grass under the billboard, with the sunray in the backdrop. The heroine could not help but talk to the deer about her love for her daughter, and she returned to nature and facing the soft part of her heart. I shared the same feeling, appreciating nature’s beauty with gratitude.
​

Last but not least, my grandpa left a poem to my family before dying in 2009.

He was a lifelong learner and independent thinker with intellectual curiosity on many subjects. Although he went through numerous ups and downs in his lifetime, he chose to have an innocent heart with a peaceful mind. 

I hope one day I could reach the same level as what he called oneness between me and the universe.​
​

《静坐吟》
流光荏苒去无踪，富贵如云过眼空。
淡泊生涯游物外，超然世俗学禅宗。
阴阳和化情缘净，动静参修性意通。
精气相乘神内守，天人合一九霄中。 ​​​​

​Meditation
The light of the day is gone without a trace,
Wealth and fame are like clouds passing by.
I am a simple person living a life outside of the material world,
And I have studied Zen from the journey within.
Yin and Yang harmonise and purify my emotions,
 Moving and meditating cultivated my mind.
The essence of the spirit is my inner guard,
The universe and I unified in one.

作为20+年的老球迷，每逢大赛就鸡血满满，今年的欧洲杯也毫不例外！19年作出从新西兰搬到英国的决定，66.66%的原因是可以看英超和欧冠不受时差影响，顺便打卡欧洲各地知名球场，以及现场看欧洲杯。疫情的突袭打乱了我的计划，好在欧洲杯还是「顺利」举行了，我也有较大的概率可以在伦敦见证英格兰取得历史性的突破。今年公众号的文章一直偏向脑力知识方面的内容，而疏忽了我一直很看重的灵性成长，正好利用无比赛的这几天反思下自我，分享一些心理和精神层面的感悟。

博客的老读者们应该对「学霸猫」毫不陌生，这位我多次提到过的「颜值博主」应该是宇宙送给我的最好的礼物之一！每次感到状态不对的时候，我都会去学霸猫的微博和公众号遛遛，感觉她写的每一个字都像是说给我听的，有的人光是在遥远的地方存在着，就能给他人带来能量和帮助！

人在海外飘，难免会因为孤独、焦虑和身份认同失调而产生情绪波动。我在之前的文章中也分享了自己「恐慌发作Panic Attack」的经历，也正因为生活给自己敲响了警钟，而真正开始由内探索的旅程，寻找一个可以从底层解决问题的方法。身体上借助健身和饮食调节，头脑上则开始冥想和写作自省。

归根结底，一切问题最后都会落脚到自我认知层面：自己究竟是一个什么样的人？什么才是对自己来说最重要的事情？一辈子想要什么样的活法？... 人只有在根本上解决了「自我」的问题，才不会因为由这个本源问题而引出的一系列工作、感情和生活的问题苦恼，回归本质，其他问题自然而然的就被解决掉了。

尼采在《作为教育家的叔本华Schopenhauer as Educator》一书中阐述了每个人都是独一无二的，可是人们畏惧于世俗，害怕他人的评判，因而怯于成为自己。人们因为懒散和羞怯，主动去迎合他人的目光而不敢去做自己。伟大的思想家叔本华则鄙视这种做法，他冲着每个人的良心呐喊：做回你自己吧！所有这一切，你现在所做的、所欲望的、所认为的——这些都不是你！这类敢于冲良心呐喊的人就是唤醒时代活力的人。如何找到自己？别无他法，只能通过深思观察然后自己走上这条探索之路。问问自己到目前为止，你真正爱过什么？是什么使你振奋？是什么使你拥有使命感？将这些事情物罗列出来，也许它们之间彼此联系，相互补充，相互结合从而呈现出一种规律，那就是你深深埋在心底的真我。

除非从繁忙的生活中抽出时间反思自我，不然你永远不知道什么才能让自己达到真正满足的状态。仅仅实现了当下的冲动和渴望，只会为人类带来一时的快乐，并不能为人们带来长远的幸福生活。独处和记日记便是一种投资回报比很高的反思生活的方法。书写过去可以让你知道自己究竟是谁；书写现在可以帮助你评估优缺点；书写未来则让你思考自己真正想要的是什么。心理学家乔丹·彼得森在采访中说过，每个人都有理想（如果你还不知道自己的理想，其实它已经存在于你的脑海中了，你需要把它从深处挖掘出来）：如果你不朝着理想前进的话，你的良心就会备受折磨；如果你不知道自己深埋的理想，你就会被社会任意摆布。

当你放弃了主动选择自己人生信仰和行为守则的权利，父母、社会和周围环境就会「帮」你做出选择。在生活中，任何不忠于本我的决策和生活方式，都将导致痛苦。世上没有统一的人生意义，如果有的话，那我们全会成为实现这个意义的奴隶。既然人生意义没有标准答案，那就为自己创造一个意义，书写自己的人生故事。

订阅了我的英文邮件的读者们应该记得我在年初的时候写下了自己的生活哲学：Flowism: My Philosophy of Living 。通过回顾我走过的30个年头，从无数人生事件和读过的书籍中总结了我的处事之道，并概括为「行云流水派」。如果你也想抽出时间，对自己的人生做一个梳理，可以参考如下模板：

首先把生活分成几个关键的时期，就像写自传一样，将人生归类为一个个单元或主题。比如说，幼儿园、小学、初中、高中、大学等等，或者根据隶属的各种关系来对自己的经历进行分组。第二步则是找出每个时期的关键经历：过去发生的哪些事件让你尤为印象深刻，无论是好是坏都要一一列出来。回忆挫折和灾难可能会让你产生焦虑、愤怒或复仇等负面情绪，大脑甚至会主动避免回想或者思考该负面记忆。但一定不要放弃，勇于面对深渊才能最终战胜黑暗。

确定完每个时期的关键事件后，第三步就要对这些事件进行因果分析：了解为什么有些事情进展顺利，而有些则事与愿违。全神贯注地分析大小事件的原因，评估自己的行为细节、其他参与人士的动机、时间地点的特别之处，以及事件产生的影响。以上三步将帮助你深度挖掘自己的真实感知和行为模式，从而产生清醒的自我认知。

人这一生不能拥有全部的东西，但却会得到你最想要的东西。知生命之意者，便可承受生命之重。通过总结和书写人生的故事，便可看清自己的欲望，摸清欲望的来源，了解自己的行为模式。弄清楚现在和过去到底发生了什么。完全理解它们才能让自己免受记忆的折磨，也为未来做出适时调整打下了根基。

想起之前看过的一段话，当你看到一个地方不断有人落水时，重点不是不断重复救人的过程，而是应该探究到底是什么引发了连续落水的问题，然后从源头上解决问题。人类的大多数活动都是以天为单位进行计算，审视自己一天24小时的时间安排，有的放矢地制定「日常惯例Daily Routine」，就是一个从根本上解决日复一日生活状态的方法。我的示例如下：

 一天24小时
- 7小时睡觉 = 剩余17小时
- 1小时洗漱、穿衣、咖啡 = 剩余16小时
- 2 小时维护个人网站/社媒频道＋收发邮件 = 剩余14小时
- 2小时户外和健身房锻炼 = 剩余12小时
- 1小时超市购物或处理其他杂务 = 剩余11小时
- 2小时和朋友家人聊天 = 剩余9小时
- 1小时吃饭时间 = 剩余8小时
- 4小时深度工作 = 剩余5小时
- 1小时预留给各项突发事件 = 剩余4小时
- 2小时看书 = 剩余2小时
- 2小时娱乐时间（一般选择看球看电影）= 剩余0小时


清楚自己的时间花销后，就可以根据事态的轻重缓急来合理安排或者替换不同项目所需要的时间。时间是最公平的东西，也是你可以管理的东西。我们很多人认为时间是免费的，可以随便浪费。我们甚至讲如何「打发时间」「消磨时间」。但过去的每一分一秒都在提醒我们，我们离死亡越来越近。罗马皇帝马可·奥勒留时刻告诫自己，今天能做的事不要拖到明天，因为今天是他唯一能控制的事情。斯多葛派宣扬的教义也是：命运不可预知，死亡随时来临。

人们总觉得忍一忍现在的生活，将来就会过上理想的生活」；人们总喜欢把眼界放在虚无缥缈的未来而忽视了当下，如果想让每天的生活服务自己，那设计理想的一天并去遵从就十分的重要。一个人的「日常惯例Daily Routine」或是「理想的一天」需要在摸索中总结出来，需要十分地详细，而不是「我的理想的一天就是不上班在家躺一天」或者「我的理想的一天就是环游世界」这样过于概括又与实现个人意义毫不搭边的总结。

我的理想一天：

• 早上起床先10-20分钟冥想
• 一小时健身或者一小时公园散步
• 上午深度工作
• 中午和朋友吃饭聊天
• 下午写作或者看书
• 晚上看球或者看电影
• 睡前手写日记，反思自我或者单纯记录

最后，我想说生活是你自己的，不是任何其他人的。你迟早会发现自己没法一直取悦所有人，总有人会对你的行为指指点点甚至安上完全不着边际的动机，也总有人会误解你的话语。一个人必须要尽早学会不再按照别人期待的眼光去过自己的一生，而是遵从自己的标准去体验，去生活。

你的生活由你塑造，由你完成。世上独一无二的品牌只有你自己。

这几年最好的投资就是在「自我认知」上面，不仅解决了焦虑和恐慌的心理问题，同时也摆脱了束缚，让自己能够在更广阔的舞台上发挥自身的优势。最近开始重读《道德经》《Why Buddhism is True》还有Jed McKenna和Kapil Gupta的著作，慢慢地去体验「无我」的境界，此时又想起姥爷临终前所作的诗：

《静坐吟》
流光荏苒去无踪，富贵如云过眼空。
淡泊生涯游物外，超然世俗学禅宗。
阴阳和化情缘净，动静参修性意通。
精气相乘神内守，天人合一九霄中。
​
希望可以早日达到他老人家「天人合一」的状态！

I've been studying the web3 media model recently. The more I learnt, the more I feel like it's very much like the Renaissance Patronage model.

History is constantly repeating itself. What has changed is the tool, but the essence always remains the same. 

So I have an idea, "Shall I leverage the power of the Internet to experience the bantering economy that our ancestors used to have? 

From now on, I will use a book as the initial item to trade with you. 

Each time I have to exchange something slightly more valuable than what I had (not limited to monetary value), and repeat the whole process. Let's see what I would get at the end of this year.

I will record the whole journey on this page, including photos of the item and brief information about the item and trader (anonymous is an option).

At the end of the year, I will invite those who have successfully participated in this game to a online party to meet each other and have a chat (maybe an offline event later depends on which part of the world I'm in). 

If you would like to get the [THIRD ROUND] item, please contact me by email with the subject line "Game".

Please attach a picture of the item you'd like to exchange with a brief story and value.

We could meet in person to exchange or mail each other the items (I base in London, England).

Welcome to the July Issue of Chiwi Journal! Your monthly newsletter with the content I filtered, curated and wrote based on 140+ hours of reading and listening time.

Quick update from my side:
I launched Chiwi Journal podcast! Oooh-weeeee! After recording 111 episodes in Chinese, I switched my gear to interview global citizens who follow a unique path to build a better future and share stories and tips they learned along the way.

Our conversations are focus on cultural observations, technology trends, career development and philosophy. From 112 episodes onwards, all content will be in English!

Thanks to my friend @Chance, my first guest at the new podcast, to encourage me to start this new initiative!

Last month also marked the 1st anniversary of publishing my first novel, The Invisible Third Culture Adult. So glad to see many readers resonated with the protagonist Nora as a contemporary immigrant!

Last but not least, there is no perfect timing to re-read Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf in London during the June season! I feel like I was in the story because of the familiar streets names and similar anecdotes and thoughts. I hope I could stay here longer to explore more hidden gems in this amazing city!
​
Now, let's get straight into the content.

“Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and he turns to others in order to make up his mind. We desire what others desire because we imitate their desires.” – Rene Girard

French philosopher Rene Girard created the Mimetic theory that explained human behaviour and culture and significantly impacted the legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel.

Rene argued that human desire is not autonomous or entirely our own but under the influence of the desires of others. Although, in some respects, imitation is the foundation of human civilisation to learn language and culture, mimetic desire is the root of conflict because we do what we do for the sake of other people are doing it and end up competing for the same things.

Understanding mimetic desire can help us break the vicious cycle of never being satisfied with what we've achieved because those things are not from our true nature but learned desired from others. It can also help us make better decisions and provide clarity about things we hear and see.

Here are four books plus one blog post to equip you with a deeper understanding of your desires and thoughts.

• Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant
• The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Henrich.
• Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire, and How to Want What You Need by Luke Burgis
• How to Pick a Career (That Actually Fits You) by Tim Urban

Only a few understand why people still feel unfulfilled once they achieve 'dreams', because most of us have been conditioned by our society and live a 'false' life and have a 'false' goal. When a desire arises, don't forget to ask yourself: Is that really what I want? Why do I have this desire? Always remembering 'an unexamined life is not worth living'.
​
P.S. Here is my all-time favourite books recommendation.
​​

As a longtime fan of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, I’m super excited to see Andreessen Horowitz (known as “a16z”) finally launched a media brand Future, a content hub for those who build our future!

Highly recommend my fellow content creators to read the below blogs:

• ​Individual Before Community: Why Creator Tokens Will Precede Community Tokens​
• ​Hybrid Anxiety and Hybrid Optimism: The Near Future of Work​
• ​Designing Internet-Native Economies: A Guide to Crypto Tokens​

“As technology changes everything — not just in Silicon Valley or in traditional ‘tech’ companies, but across all industries — it’s also changing the way we all work, live, eat, learn, and play”. The a16z Podcast and a16z live are my go-to podcasts to learn tech trends and future changes. "This show aims to help make sense of it all: for builders, for the tech curious, for anyone seeking to understand the future, now, through carefully curated, in-depth yet accessible, nuanced conversations with top industry and academic experts from around the world; company leaders, builders, makers; book authors; and emerging voices”.

​More podcasts and newsletter recommendations ​

I mentioned creators economy in my last month's newsletter and got a few queries about what platforms I use as a part-time content creator. Here are a few examples to share:

• Newsletter: ConvertKit​
• Podcast recording: Zencastr​
• Website host: Weebly​
• Online design: Canva​
• Paid content tool: Buy Me a Coffee​
• Royalty-free music: Artlist.io​
• Online course and community management: Podia​
• Study notes: Notion​
• Landing page creation: Carrd​
• News subscription: MorningBrew​

​
What else are you using as a creator?
​​

I’m always fascinated with the concept: Salon, a gathering of people held by an inspiring host to exchange ideas and thoughts over a conversation. According to Wikipedia, the Salon was an Italian invention of the 16th century. Some brilliant circles formed in the smaller courts, which resembled salons, often galvanised by the presence of a beautiful and educated patroness. Salons flourished in France throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and were carried on until recently as the 1920s in urban settings.

In today’s world, Anna Gát builds a global community called Interintellect, where thinkers dedicated to hosting salons on the internet to talk about philosophy and science, art and technology, finance and history, religion and music.

I recently joined one conversation with Jim O’Shaughnessy (one of my favourite podcast hosts!) to discuss the philosophy of Rick and Morty and Jed McKenna. And I’ve added a bit of my learning to my philosophy blog.
​
Highly recommend you to check out this online community where amazing conversations happened all around the world!

In addition, I signed up for two courses at Acumen Academy, the world’s school for social change. Suppose you are willing to embrace the challenge of solving the world’s most challenging problems, such as gender inequality. In that case, poverty, injustice and more, Acumen Academy is your go-to place by providing the practical tools, practices and resources needed to create new solutions for an interdependent world.
​
What a time to be alive to have unlimited access to infinite resources at home!
​

Question from a newsletter reader:

How to find your audiences?

My answer:

Serve the person you once were.

For example, I used to be an international student and a new migrant in New Zealand. So I shared my overseas studying and job hunting experiences with those on the same boat or about to join the same journey and gained my follower base.

My friends Ellen and Summer, who spend years at fitness training and devoted their time to nutrition research, also share their learnings and lessons along the way. Now they build a large online healthy lifestyle community with hundreds and thousands of girls who read, watched and tried their articles, videos and products.

I spent loads of time on WeChat, Weibo and other Chinese social media channels to serve Chinese international students. Now, as you see, I'm bootstrapping my media brand, living in English speaking countries and also on my way to becoming a full-time creator. So I switch my focus to produce more English content on different channels. If you read through the whole piece of this month's newsletter here, thank you very much for being part of the journey!
​
​

本周读了不少科技类的文章，总结一下我们所处数字时代的未来七大趋势：

1. 指数增长。互联网的发展赋权于个体，让我们随时可以生产和消费来自世界各地的信息。截至2021年初，世界只有50%的人口可以稳定接入互联网，而这一数字将随着卫星技术和基建设备的完善而显著增长。同时，伴随着技术的升级，尤其是「去中心化技术」和「无/低代码平台」的涌现，我们的生活也将随之迎来巨变。

2. 远程工作。知识工作者们现在可以选择在世界任何一个地方工作和生活。从长远角度来看，这将对国家和城市如何吸引优质人才产生重大的影响。硅谷的衰落，迈阿密的兴起就是掌权者如何打造线下城市竞争力的示例。

3. 自治个体。全球化影响了人们对于身份的认知，我们不再单纯的属于一个国家、一个组织或者一个社区。人类的身份是复杂且多变的，凭借互联网的力量可以在世界各地找到志同道合的组织和个体。越来越多的个体将不再受到中心化机构的控制，成为具有自治力的个体，这将是一个不断崛起的阶层。

4. 去中心化自治组织（DAO）。一定数量的自治个体为了一个相同的目标和愿景聚集在一起，就形成了一个DAO，在数字时代的当下，一群自治个体正在通过DAO来进行实验，首先形成数字社区，然后来创建物理世界中的新城市（也可称为初创城市），比如说迈阿密的市长就是初创城市CEO的代表（悄悄透漏一下，我全新的英文播客Chiwi Journal将在未来几周聚焦「初创城市」话题，七月上线嘻嘻！）

5. 元宇宙。人类花费越来越多的时间混迹在网络之上，结交的网友甚至比现实生活中的朋友还要多。当数字和现实世界的界限不再明确，新的商业模式也因此显现。数字时代的赚钱能力不再受制于地理和物理环境，我们正迅速地走向元宇宙的奇点，而传统机构和组织已经不能再满足数字时代的需求，这将对未来社会互动和治理产生深远的影响。

6. 超人类主义。古往今来，我们一直试图通过饮食、运动和改变生活方式来提高寿命，改善健康。在数字时代的当下，我们可以运用越来越多的科技手段来达成这一目的。无论是智能手机和手表，还是其他移动和佩戴设备，科技正在帮助我们搭建第二个大脑。移动智能设备和高速的互联网正在进一步提高我们的能力，帮助我们在数字世界和物理世界之间互动，生物科学技术也将改写人类这个物种在地球上的历史。

7. 多行星生存空间。幸运的话，我们即将看到人类成为一个多行星聚居的物种，SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, Varda Space等公司正在将太空探索业务私有化，这将大大降低太空旅行的成本。多行星物种的诞生也将影响着地缘政治格局。

总结：随着以上趋势的融合和发展，我们所处的时代将迎来翻天覆地的变化。普通人能做的就是尽可能地迭代自己的知识系统，打造、购买或者利用信息资产，尽早适应新兴商业模式以及远程工作；理解并驾驭不断变化的地缘政治格局。俗话说，「大多数人高估了在一年内能取得的成就，却低估了在十年内能取得的成就」，这些变化不会在一夜之间发生，当然，十年后会不会全部发生，也没有一个人能够预测和保证，你需要主动去思考如下问题：

-如何理解和适应这些变化？如何教育你关爱的朋友和家人？
-如何加入或者投资这些新兴领域的公司？
-数字时代必要的技能是什么？你如何能够脱颖而出？
-你的下一个目的地是哪里？如何为新兴初创城市的来临做好准备？

详情参见：https://dougantin.com/8-technology-trends-that-define-the-digital-age/

前几年的ICO热潮把代币（Token）这个概念炒作的像一个骗局，但实际上，代币只不过是基于区块链点对点网络上的一串儿代码，加密货币便是代币的一种类型。代币分为同质化的和非同质化（例如NFTs）两种类型。前者可以用来交换商品、储存价值，作为集体决策的投票手段；而后者则可以用来收藏、作为奖励机制，给参与者提供身份地位价值和归属感。

游戏行业是最早应用代币的产业，无论是虚拟世界中的通用货币（同质化的），还是皮肤武器（非同质化的），仅在2020年，消费者在游戏中购买虚拟商品的花费就高达540亿美元，而这仅仅是一个开始。

传统经济模式的局限性限制了经济增长的速率，同时也加大了贫富差距。随着越来越多的经济活动转移到互联网之上，我们需要建立新型的互联网原生经济模式，只要有一部可以上网的手机，就可以实现生产、分配、交易和消费等经济活动。

a16z最近推出了自己的媒体品牌Future，多位在创投圈的资深人士贡献了自己的真知灼见，十分推荐对未来经济模式感兴趣的朋友们仔细阅读一下：https://future.a16z.com/

作为创作者，web2.0时期在社交媒体上收获的的关注和点赞都是很低效的奖励机制。而在web3.0时代，创作者可以通过成熟的区块链技术平台搭建可量化的社区，发行NFT，或者让粉丝来赚取或者投资你的社交代币。如今很火爆的Mirror平台便赋权于创作者，通过发布代币众筹项目，对每一位支持者的贡献一目了然。

同时，NFTs还将实现一种新型的认证关系，传统的学历和工作都是泛泛的认证手段，并不能表明你具体的成就和贡献的价值；但是NFTs则可凭借其稀缺性和真实性，为招聘、约会等场景建立更好的推荐系统。

在过去的十年间，我们看到了加密货币（BTC）、去中心化金融（DeFi）和数字艺术资产（NFTs）的诞生，很快我们便会有加密社交网络、加密公司等更多商业模式。下一个十年将见证新一代的公开透明的互联网原生经济的飞速发展。

a16z Live是我很喜欢的一档关于创投和科技主题的播客，简单总结一下最近一期关于「远程办公」的节目。

Andressen Horowitz对其投资的公司进行了关于未来工作模式的调研，是重返办公室？还是远程办公？调查结果显示：
- 25% 的公司采取完全远程办公的模式
- 67% 的公司采取混合制（如一周1-2天来办公室工作）
- 89%的公司计划继续雇用远程员工
- 86%的高管倾向于采用混合或远程模式召开董事会会议
- 63%的员工相信混合/远程办公可以有同样的创造力

受疫情影响，大多数的公司都将适应混合或者远程办公模式。应运而生的远程通信工具加速了这场数字化转型。但是，也有一些问题需要解答：
- 如何确定适合企业的混合或者远程办公模式？
- 你怎么知道员工没有身兼数职？没有摸鱼？（我身边已经有很多身兼数职的例子了，我自己不也是嘛！）
- 如何在新的工作模式下兼顾员工职业发展？
- 管理层如何更好地适应这场数字化运动？

远程办公的普及将促使人才更多地考虑所处地的生活成本问题，而公司则需要思考激励制度和远程办公薪资问题来招聘或者挽留人才。

远程办公也会淡化同事间原本在办公室会产生的共生关系，对于有社交需求的雇员来说并不是一个好的兆头。远程办公之后的「团建」意义更为重大，能确保雇员之间产生紧密的联系，为日后的工作协调和合作打下坚实的基础。

远程办公将重新定义生产力，公司不应该再用固定的办公时间来衡量员工的表现力。

物理世界中的「硅谷」将继续没落，但是网络世界的「硅谷」将重新崛起。

1. 和朋友聊天谈到了面试中经常会碰到的问题，有个常见问题是：
- 你身边的朋友会用哪三个词来描述你？
- 你的父母会用哪三个词来描述你？

说一个让我感到惊讶的朋友反馈：大多数的朋友都会告诉我，和我在一起聊天不知不觉地就把很多从未向他人透漏过的秘密坦露出来，觉得我给他们创造了一个倍感信任且安全的环境，而且能从我这里得到很多实用的建议。

我是从来没有意识到这一点，只知道自己很喜欢听别人讲故事，也会由着好奇心去问更多的问题，没想到「自私」的一面反而也让他人受益，是不是该考虑转型做心理咨询师了？

回答如上问题：
朋友：古灵精怪、好学好问、潇洒独立
父母：独立自主、好运连连、让爸妈放心
你的答案呢？

2. 如何找到自己的受众？
帮助那些曾经和你一样的人。
3. 大多数人宁愿选择确定的不幸，也不愿意去面对不确定性。
4. 现实生活中，我们经常想换个环境，安排一次旅行，或是搬家和换工作。
数字世界中，我们也应该时常更新自己的信息摄取来源，甚至跳出圈子接触下自己从未涉及的领域。
就像去一个陌生的城市旅游或者生活一样，阅读学习的过程中也不妨每年给自己「放个假」，安排点新鲜的「地方」，去探索新的大陆吧！

推荐订阅Morning Brew（我唯一看的新闻频道）

「能者多劳」很适合现在的「创作者经济」。

独立的创作者们可以组团一起做项目，项目的时长从几天到几年不等，个体与个体之间的对接远比公司与公司之间的对接来得高效又便捷。比如说去年写书出版时，我就想起同样对「中土世界」有着特殊情节的@Norloth ，于是邀请了她来设计封面；再比如最近在Discord上集合了一票对「初创城市Startup City」概念感兴趣的网友们，准备在今年一起做出概念雏形...

Packy McCormick在他的订阅邮件Not Boring中提到了「合作经济The Cooperation Economy」，指的是具有互补技能的个体，围绕同一个目标聚合在一起工作，在互联网技术的驱动下产生更多的流动合作组织。这种点对点的合作方式首先冲击的就是出版和媒体行业，因为他们的产品和商业模式相对单一。创作者完全可以跳脱传统媒介的束缚，凭借现有的创作者工具和平台，打造自我品牌或者自我出版。这是科技赋权于个体的佐证。

疫情加速了「合作经济」的发展，以往个体需要每天去办公室工作，很难有充足的时间搞副业，但是在家办公期间则赋予个体更大的灵活性，甚至有时间同时为好几家公司工作。很多人的生活意义和乐趣都来源于创作或者工作本身，只要可以按时完成工作任务，为什么不能者多劳呢？

创作者经济教母Li Jin提出一个有趣的想法，她创办了Atelier基金项目，指导创作者进行天使投资。这是一个双赢的过程，也是「合作经济」的典范：创作者通过参与项目学会了新技能，知晓了如何将影响力转化为股权的方法；而Li Jin则拥有了庞大的创作者网络，以及他们成千上万的粉丝，从而提升她的竞争力，助力其所投资的公司。

谈到这里，不得不提「去中心化自治组织DAO」的概念。简单来讲，DAO是一种集合项目融资、社区管理和价值分享的全新协作方式。它没有自上而下的等级结构，而是使用Web3技术在区块链上运行，并将决策权交给利益相关者。通常情况下，DAO的成员会获得基于参与、贡献和投资的代币，然后根据代币的加权比重来提交提案，投票，并分享收益。个体可以加入多个DAO，而每个DAO也可以共享成员，这是互联网时代全新的协作机制。DAO事关人类共同协作可以实现多少伟大的目标。


PleasrDAO将一群人聚集在一起，集体出价购得爱德华·斯诺登的NFT；Krause House DAO的目标是购买和经营一支NBA球队（顿时觉得自己拥有一家足球俱乐部也不是梦了！！有人入股嘛）；SyndicateDAO则本着颠覆风险投资的目的... 我最感兴趣的还是Mirror上的创作者DAO，合作写文+按照作者贡献比例分成的模式，可以确保贡献者有动力写出高质量的文章。

对于个体来说，合作才是未来制胜的法宝，有时候一条私信就可以促成项目的合作，或是结识志同道合的朋友。网络世界遍布着数以百万计的机会，个体之间的沟通协作成本要远远低于公司之间。现在，速度就是竞争优势，不断试错就是成功的基石。「合作经济」的每个参与者都需要发挥主观能动性，利用自己的优势为项目带来价值。这个让工作和生活界限消散的元游戏实在让人激情澎湃！期待能和更多的小伙伴们一起邀约合作！


最后再提一下之前推荐过的1729网站。创始人Balaji希望实验一种新的媒体模式（众包叙事模式+ 数字货币激励机制），来搭建一个去中心化的网络社区，随着时间的推移，小社区将逐渐演变成「网络国家Network State」或者「云国家Cloud Country」，拥有自发形成的守则规范、风俗文化和治理模式。

1729和其赞助伙伴在网站上发布任务（主要涉及前沿科技、身心健康和科普教育），嘉奖在固定时间内完成任务的社区成员，从而达成信息传播的目的。我们可以把1729视作一个实验样板或者是Protople或者「最简可行产品MVP」。

不知道未来会不会有更多像是1729这样在新媒体领域的商业模式实验，或是DAO类型的组织的诞生（比如Mirror，有人用吗？互相投票呀！）。无论最后结果如何，1729都将为未来数字时代的国家组织提供有价值的经验，从数字社区的形成，到建立规范、筹集资金，最后从云端落地物理世界。

1. 小行星袭击地球之前，恐龙已经在地球上存活了三亿年，如果不是天灾，并没有什么其他证据显示它们不能继续存活下去。

智力发展和物种延续并没有什么直接关系，不然蟑螂早就进化出一个大脑袋，我们不应该假设人类掌握了知识，就有了物种进化优势。

在浩瀚无尽的宇宙中，我们渺小的不足挂齿，但反过来想，我们能够存在就是奇迹。

战胜虚无主义的关键就是「爱」。

2. 去餐厅吃饭时，经常会看到桌子上已经摆好了葡萄酒杯，而侍应生通常一桌只给一份酒单，酒单也不叫Drink Menu，而叫Wine Menu。这背后都是餐厅在潜移默化地影响消费者做出购买葡萄酒的决定。很多餐厅并不靠食物赚钱，而是靠销售葡萄酒赚取的暴利。当一桌人一起吃饭时，拿着菜单的那个人点一瓶大家共享的葡萄酒是最寻常的操作。

多多留意生活中的细节，常常质疑习以为常的事物，可以相对地减少被他人操控的风险（全部摆脱是别指望了，作为社会人，你从出生的那一刻已经被设定好了）。

再分享下之前写过的市场营销相关的文章，长个心眼儿，别总被坑：
- GM思维模型
- Morgan Housel《The Psychology of Money》
- 市场营销大师Seth Godin博客

3. 受到网友@王逅逅 的启发，也翻了翻自己以前写的网络日记！11年前给自己规划的生活，慢慢地竟然都实现了哈哈哈（见下图）！所以说有一个长远的目标是多么的重要，潜移默化影响着你走在正确的道路上。同时，我也会经常鼓励周围的朋友写下自己的人生哲学，作为生活的指导方针，你也来试试吧！