Camellia Yang

25/10/2021

浅谈web3，财福双全和《不安之书》

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Photo Credit: Mike Kononov

Web3

之前的文章中浅谈了「元宇宙」「代币」「DAO」「NFT」等概念，今天再来简单描述下另一个热词「web 3」。

大约在1990至2005年间，互联网搭建于开放协议之上，并采取去中心化或者社区管理的模式，网络上的创造者和用户能建立直接的关系。这是web 1时代。

2005至2020年，互联网上的大部分价值都由谷歌、苹果、亚马逊和Facebook等少数几家公司控制，大企业以中心化的形式掌控着互联网的一切。这是web 2时代。

而我们现在则处于web 3时代的开端，结合了web 1的去中心化且由社区管理的精神web 2的先进科学技术和功能。

web 3不再属于公司和企业，而是归属于创造者和用户，并用代币维持关系，进行协调交易。

我们为什么需要去中心化的web 3？因为在web 2时代，诸如谷歌和FB等中心化的平台遵循一个可预测的市场生命周期。起初，他们尽一切可能来招募用户、开发者和其他第三方运营伙伴，从而加强网络效应。你以为的免费加入和使用，实际只是成为大公司棋子的一部分。

这样的增长模式遵从S型曲线，当达到S型曲线的顶端时，大公司与用户和第三方合作伙伴的关系就从正和变为零和。为了继续增长，他们需要从用户那里获取（卖）更多的数据，并与之前的第三方合作伙伴成为竞争对手。具体例子可以参见：微软与网景、谷歌与Yelp、Epic与苹果的竞争等等。

因此，大多数的第三方初创公司、开发者和创作者已经看透了中心化平台的伎俩，这也是创作者经济热潮在这两年爆发的原因，既然我们有实力有能力，干嘛还要依靠在你的平台上呢？

web 3就将所有权和控制权交还到创造者和用户的手中，彼此之间在区块链上通过使用代币的方式来实现经济交换。无论是同质化的数字货币ETH，还是非同质化的NFT，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。

作为创作者，web 2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web 3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。

P.S.
更多阅读和学习资料请参见：
https://www.useweb3.xyz/
最近开始玩Mirror了，空投几个TCA Coin试试看，以及欢迎收藏我的Dao in DAO NFT哈哈！
https://mirror.xyz/camelliayang.eth/QfJ1dVWSFJRm0mYyc2PY5SVfQjqlGRkUA22nSoqexXU

财福双全

一位50岁财福双全的人总结的17条生活建议：

- 人生中真正重要的东西是关系和经历。与亲朋好友分享美好的经历是世上最美好的事情，但很多人却在错误的地方寻找快乐。

- 如果你尚在40岁以下，你就是一个时间亿万富翁。你愿意拿青春去和90岁的沃伦·巴菲特交换位置吗？

- 遵从极简主义的生活并不是一种约束，而是让更好的东西有机会进入自己的生活。

- 有一项可以让你全情投入的爱好。在你最伤心难过的日子里，也可以给你精神上的支持。

- 身体是本钱，健康没了一切都白费。

- 坚持写作。写作的好处不胜枚举，也是一种改变生活和宣泄情绪的积极做法。

- 不做愚蠢的事情。大多数的时候人只要避免做些蠢事就可以在生活中取得成功，但许多人却花钱买罪受或者耗费时间和精力在不值得的事情上面。

- 工作和生活虽然没有完美的平衡，但不要把自己搞到焦头烂额，不要成为欲望的奴隶。

- 选择居住环境和选择终身伴侣一样重要，可大多数人宁愿被困在一个自己不喜欢的环境都懒得做出改变。

- 多帮助他人，尤其是在自己郁郁不得志的时候，因为施比受更能让你振作起来，并因此得到非凡的机会。

- 远离有毒的人。放弃那些耗尽你时间和精力的人。

- 学会说不。

- 把大梦想转化为一个个可实现的小目标，相信复利的力量。

- 说到做到+ 保持激情 +从不迟到 = 受欢迎的人。

- 体验宗教仪式，你不用相信，但可以体验，有意想不到的疗愈效果。

- 人类600万年的历史亘古不变的是需要阳光和他人的爱抚，不要整日独自宅在家里和生物进化作对。

- 幸福是一种选择，事无好坏，诠释在人，杯子是半空还是半满，完全取决于你对世界的看法。

一周杂思

1. 搬到阿威罗以后和邻居阿根廷小哥聊了一晚上，发现他竟然通读了《易经》《道德经》《红楼梦》，说起老庄也是头头是道！转念一想，阿根廷的国宝作家博尔赫斯的作品，无论是跨越时空限制的想象，还是故事套故事的结构，不都是受到中国传统文学的影响吗？难怪他也有所耳闻。

此时又想起莱布尼茨的二进制受到《易经》启发，贝多芬的音乐有着《薄伽梵歌》的影子，东西方文化每每碰撞，总能激发非同凡响的火花。

从没想到能在葡萄牙一个名不见经传的小地方，和说着不同语言的音乐人一起讨论《易经》、禅修、博尔赫斯等话题。也许语言限制了我们的思维和感受，但音乐却可以充当跨越时空的交流媒介，把我们的思想引向更高层面的东西，甚至使我们颤抖...

正如叔本华所说，「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」。

2. 原以为是我来到你的城市，走过你来时的路，

现在才发现，却是你在追寻我的痕迹。

在佩索阿的咖啡店，我们相隔两月拍下了同样角度的照片。

又在异地几乎同时吃下鳕鱼蛋，看相同的纪录片。

想起当年的漫画《向左走，向右走》，

不经意的遇见，谁知道命运之后会把我们带向何方？

也许时间和空间只是幻觉，

在第四维空间我们已然再相见。

3. 整理文档的时候发现了今年三月份在伦敦半亩方塘读书会的录音，分享了我最爱的一本书《不安之书》。当时做PPT的时候写下了Let's go to Lisbon！向宇宙发射的这个信号现在就实现了，这感觉不要太好哈哈哈！

音频前15分钟是我的分享，后30分钟是Q&A。小宇宙搜索「理想屯」也可收听。

21/10/2021

No Time Today

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Photo by Murray Campbell on Unsplash

Time is one of the common themes from ancient Chinese mythology and historical books.

For example, the Monkey King from Journey to the West only went to Heaven for ten days as a horse trainer. When he returned to his hometown Mount Huaguo he realised that many years had passed on earth. Just like an old Chinese saying goes, "one day in heaven equals one year on earth".

According to Book of the Later Han, a woodcutter saw two men playing chess on his way to work in a mountain. So he stopped over and watched the game. All of a sudden, he realised the grip of his axe had rotted off, and when he returned home, he found that a hundred years had passed since he left.

I was always fascinated with those Chinese stories since I was little. Every time I indulged myself in books or video games, time seemed irrelevant to me anymore. I opened a portal to time travel to another reality where I followed my interest to learn, feel and grow.

In 1733, the Irish novelist Samuel Madden published Memoirs of the Twentieth Century, about a guardian angel who travels back to 1728 with letters written in 1997 and 1998. This book is considered to be the earliest novel about time travel in western literature.

In 1895, British novelist Herbert George Wells' science fiction The Time Machine popularised the idea of time travelling. In 1921, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was notable as the first film adaptation of Mark Twain's novel and the second film about time travel to the past (after The Ghost of Slumber Mountain).

The End of Eternity, published in 1955 by American science fiction writer Isaac Asimov was regarded by sci-fi fans worldwide as the ultimate time travel classic in the 20th century.

In the 1980s, James Cameron directed The Terminator, and Robert Zemeckis launched the Back to the Future series, together ignited the passion about time travel among the public.

Fast forward to today's world, Tenet by Christopher Nolan and Netflix show Dark sparked my interest towards time again. Although it's almost like a mission impossible for me to figure out about TIME with my limited knowledge, I'd like to dig into different mediums to explore this nebulous yet relevant concept to our lives.

So, what's TIME?No one can give a definite answer.

Einstein once said, the distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion; Nietzsche believed that time is an eternal cycle where past, present and future are interconnected to form an endless loop. Nowadays, we treat time as a unit of measurement or a product of capitalism to increase productivity.

In the Buddism Sutra, the 'present moment (当下)' is the smallest unit of time --- 1-second equals 3,600 present moments. The 'past' is just a series of memories woven by the human mind (its accuracy is questionable); The 'future' is full of unknown and uncertainty, with death as our ultimate destination. Only the present moment, the 1-second we noticed, is what we really have.

Living in the present moment means experiencing the most real time.

Ted Chiang brought up the concept of 'mastering a language, and you'll see the world differently' in his sci-fi novella Story of Your Life. The heroine learned to understand the alien's language, which allowed her to 'see' her whole life. Ludwig Wittgenstein's famous quote, "the limits of my language mean the limits of my world," also serve the same meaning.

What does time mean in your language?

I can't help but ask.

Is it possible that people who speak more than one language can see a different world or better understand the concept of time? Is it possible that the German language has something to do with so many great thinkers and philosophers from Germany? Or there is no such cause-and-effect relationship, just my brain trying to trick me by summing up the pattern in a presumptuous way?

Back to my favourite TV show Dark, the theme is man's understanding of the world is nothing but a drop in the ocean.

Perhaps the unknown is the best gift the universe has given to our human beings. So we can go ahead and experience and explore everything and live our life to our standard of fullness.

19/10/2021

在艺术中迷失又找到自我

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Photo credit: Steve Johnson

阿威罗

重返里斯本的这五天，应该算是宇宙给我的一份厚礼了。完美理想生活再现，还有喜欢的朋友相伴。还是那句话，有的人光是存在着，就能给他人带来能量和帮助；还是那条规则，当我真心实意去做某件事时，什么困难和问题总能迎刃而解。

两个月的假期也该告一段落了，新接了一个艺术相关的活儿，这几个月准备扎根在葡萄牙水城阿威罗（Aveiro），和一群音乐人、画家、陶瓷艺术家一起，在阿威罗传奇艺术家Vasco Branco的故居VIC Art House合作，打造集「艺术居室Art Residency」、影院、画廊和博物馆于一体的文娱中心，也会面向游客开放Airbnb，欢迎来玩！

阿威罗被誉为「葡萄牙的威尼斯」，这里延续着欧洲中世纪海港的迷人历史，搭乘颇具特色的香蕉游船Moliceiro，便可平静惬意地欣赏沿河而建的大量五彩斑斓的渔村木屋。我所在的VIC Art House距离运河不过5分钟的路程，外表平平无奇，内部却充斥着文化和艺术气息，从《天堂电影院》中的影音播放设施，到现代电摇器械；从上世纪的复古家具，到当代的艺术品收藏... 一栋凝聚了历史的古宅，在现代艺术家们的手下重现光彩。

Vasco Branco视阿威罗为「女人之城」，因为女人是水做的，轻柔又刚韧，宽广又细腻，和水城阿威罗的特色不谋而合。他说，「再精准的词藻也无法描述落日洒在运河上的美丽，再确切的颜料也无法绘制光影交织的城市。流动的道路在我眼前展开，抬头是一望无际的蓝天，空气中弥漫着咸涩的味道，我只是我的感觉」。

VIC Art House现在的屋主是Vasco Branco的外孙Hugo，他本是一位周游世界的DJ，后来在外公去世后，不忍心看到荒废的故居被卖入他人之手，而停止了游历生活，搬回童年居住过的古宅，开始修葺工作。经过五年的打理，VIC Art House终于重见天日，还得到了国家文化遗产的认可。我和Hugo也算是网友，正巧在葡萄牙搭上线并且一拍即合，加入他的团队，重新发掘我的艺术细胞。

音乐哲学家Brian Eno表示，如果「天才Genius」指代一群拥有创造性智慧的群体的话，那「Scenius」就代表着天才群体们所处的环境和年代。

位于英国牛津的The Eagle and Child酒吧就是典型的例子，C.S刘易斯和J.R.R.托尔金在这里孕育出有史以来最畅销的奇幻小说《纳尼亚传奇》《霍比特人》和《指环王》；18世纪末期的苏格兰启蒙运动，激发了亚当·斯密和大卫·休谟等知识分子；20世纪初的维也纳孕育了艺术家古斯塔夫·克里姆特、物理学家恩斯特·马赫、哲学家路德维希·维特根斯坦、心理学家西格蒙德·弗洛伊德和卡尔-荣格，以及经济学家弗雷德里克·哈耶克；还有早期的Y Combinator，孵化了Reddit、Dropbox、DoorDash、Airbnb和Stripe等公司。

正如Stripe创始人帕特里克·科里森所说，回顾历史，往往是特定时期的一小撮人的创新努力，从而提升了整个人类社会的发展进程。

人类社会进步的飞跃取决于对世界思考方式的变迁。莱昂·巴蒂斯塔·阿尔贝蒂为文艺复兴创造了条件，他在一篇名为《绘画》的文章中阐述了线性透视的原则并提升了画家的文化地位，在此后的1310年至1510年期间，艺术家们学会了如何运用透视法作画，从而使得文艺复兴得以爆发。

如今，这些可以引领人类文明进程迈入下一阶段的小群体们，可能就存在于向阿威罗这样名不见经传的小地方中，来自五湖四海还的志同道合的成员们通过交流思想彼此激励对方，又通过协同合作共同成长。

没有人可以不受环境影响，如果你总生活在一个和你品性格格不入的地方，那很容易陷入自我怀疑的深渊。你的出生地并不代表一定和你的性格相符，你每个人生阶段所追求的东西也不尽相同，不过在你心智成熟的那些年，选择一个对的城市对你未来的发展有千丝万缕的联系。印象派的画家们出生在世界各地，后来死在世界各地，但是他们的壮年时期都选择巴黎作为落脚地，那里有他们的同僚，有他们的观众。

年轻的时候就应该选择不同的城市生活，感受这座城市传递给你的信息，看看是否和你的性格相符，看看这里有没有你向往的群体。也许随着互联网的壮大你没有必要在搬来搬去，你可以坐在家中就和世界各地志同道合的人们取得联系，但是实体环境对你的影响力总是无孔不入，不要让一个不接受你的环境强行改变你，也不要试图凭借一己之力改变环境。

世界这么大，总有一个你的落脚之地。

为你写诗

告别马德拉小岛时，收到当地朋友发来的短讯，候机时写下了：

临行前最后一练，
C罗机场疯狂按键，
回首短暂友谊碎片，
你告诉我，坚持做自己，不要改变！
里斯本我们马上再见，
新生活新朋友新的体验，
对着星星许下的心愿，
期待都能一一实现！

重回里斯本写下了：

临时起意，造访欧洲大陆最西角欣赏落日。
搭乘火车又转汽车，一路向西，
却见云层厚重，了无太阳痕迹。
失落之感油然而起，索性化伤感为动力，攀爬悬崖峭壁。

踏步崎岖山路，粉发引起瞩目，人群中突现马德拉小岛故友，欢笑畅谈，前缘再续。
秋风暮雨，催人离去，再次独自上路。

此时窗外紫霞遍布，心底石浪掀舞。
思君念君终见君，彼此知名，虽然初见，情分先熟。

一周杂思

1. 在元宇宙的世界里没有成年人，只有充满好奇心不断学习和试错的孩子们。
没人知道自己在干什么，也没人在意你在干什么，所以尽情地创作吧！胡搞瞎搞~胡搞瞎搞~

2. 把一袋盐倒进一杯水里，水会变得齁咸而不能饮用；把一袋盐倒进一条河里，却毫不影响河水的口感。河流因其宽广和流动性可以接纳和包容一切事物。

人心也是一样。

当我们拥有一颗狭隘的内心，那我们对于他人的理解和同情也十分有限，总是容不得他人的缺点，妄图改变他人，从而因事与愿违而导致自己受苦。

滋养内心的第一步是培养我们自爱的能力，一个人连自己都不会关爱，怎么可能有能力去关爱他人？在不知道如何去爱，或者自己没有准备好的时候去爱，只会伤己伤人。

首先理解自己，接纳自己，治愈自己内心的苦楚，然后再去理解别人的痛苦，接纳他人的不完美。

同时也要彼此信任，并怀抱信心。前提还是你要对自己有足够的尊重和信任，相信自己可以和对方一起同甘共苦。然后在此基础上建立双方之间的尊重和信任。

理解和信任是爱的根基，这也是你能给你所爱之人的最好礼物。

3. 大部分的人不是在特定的重大事件中被打败，而是在一个个看似微不足道的小事中投降，从而逐渐弱化真正的自己，一步步地走向失败。

人最大的敌人还是自己，别让脑海中那个不断重复的「我不行」的声音控制自己，更不要让周围人的杂音阻止你前行的步伐。

找到属于自己想要承受的苦难，然后负重前行。I’m Not Crazy, I’m Just Not You. I have a life, just not your life. Stay hard

4. 刚开始健身的时候，总是需要纠结好久，「哎，太累了，要不改天练吧」「也不差这一天，歇歇吧」，这样时断时续的折腾了一年。

后来找来例如David Goggins和Jocko Willink这样的硬核大神来激励自己，终于跌跌撞撞地养成了一周训练3-5次的习惯。但每次还是需要耗费时间和精力去说服自己，虽然终于训练了但也累心。

现在终于意识到，我已经知道我需要做什么了，立马去做就是了，那些纠结的时间完全可以用在别的地方，比如说专注读一本书或者专心工作。

你以为你需要意志力和完美的准备工作去做一件事，其实不然。

你只需要去做就是了。

12/10/2021

How is Making Friends Changing?

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Digital Nomads Meetup in Madeira, 2021

I had at least 500 classmates from kindergarten to graduate school, but now I only stay in touch regularly with less than three people. Classmates are a product of random assignments, limited by your geographical locations.

Chances are we are surrounded by people who have very different backgrounds and interests, which lead to different paths in the future.

The same logic applies to colleagues unless we share the same vision to achieve some grand goals together. But most of the time, coworkers just want to have a stable job and get paid on time.

It’s nice to have random encounters in the physical world. However, I’m a high agency person, so it’s better to take action to make friends rather than waiting for life to surprise me once in a while.

I met 90% of my friends online, from using digital platforms to producing online content. I used to feel intellectual isolation because I couldn’t find my tribe in reality, but my problem has been solved thanks to the Internet.

If you feel invisible or don’t belong to any tribes like the old me in the physical world, here are some tips for you to make friends and connect with people worldwide.

Stage One: Rely on Third-Party Tools

I enjoy using dating apps to make friends because most apps have a comprehensive user profile on display (of course, I’ll note in my profile about my purpose). Most of my dating conversations focus on diet, training, mental health and sleep quality or exchange podcast lists and book recommendations to help each other extend our knowledge base.

80% of the time, my dates (or future friends) would show me around their favourite parts of the cities, which is a great way to know their personalities and personal preferences. Good start to a friendship, right?

While travelling, I like to use Airbnb and stay with locals because they are the first point to provide me with all the information in the new environment. I also enjoy Nomadlist, Meetup, Workaway and many other community-based networking platforms to meet new people.

However, using those third-party tools still depends on serendipitous meetings by proximity. I might have a chance to ‘know’ the people I will meet based on their online profile compared with meeting someone totally random and strange in reality. I still want to be able to connect with like-minded people across the globe.

Stage Two: Attract Friends on the Same Wavelength

Producing online content is a low-risk, high-reward approach to attract like-minded people and cure loneliness.

In his article How to Maximize Serendipity, David Perrell said, “If you publish content (blogs, podcasts, videos, etc.) regularly, people will discover you and initiate unexpected opportunities”.

So true.

I started to write a blog on MySpace when I was in high school, mainly focused on reviews of football games, movies and books. With 20,000 reviews monthly, I met many online friends with the same interest. My mum was shocked that I always know someone everywhere I travel to during the summer holiday. She also worried about my safety since ‘online friends’ was not legit in the mainstream world back then. Well, mum, I’m still alive!

Nowadays, I like to DM or cold email people I want to connect with and invite them to my podcast. Although I have decent social skills, I have to admit I HATE small talk. That’s why when I record podcasts with my guests, I let my curiosity guide me to ask relevant questions and discuss mutually enjoyable topics. No small talk. Just exchange ideas.

Perfecto!

You can also @ people in public to make connections. Here is one of my favourite examples from George Mack. Remember, don’t spam people or talk nonsense but provide VALUES only.

@matthewsyed HUGE fan of your work. Read bounce when I was 14 and changed me forever.

The emails that you are sending out are so below par! It’s often ending up in spam + formatted all wrong.

My background is online marketing. Would love to help for FREE to say thank you.
— George Mack (@george__mack) October 11, 2019

Stage Three: Online to IRL

‘Hey folks, I’m going to xxx soon! hmu if you’d like to meet up!”

I’m open-minded to meeting my online readers and listeners in real life and usually post on social media channels or announce in my newsletter about the next destination. From Chengdu to Glasgow, from Melbourne to Madeira. I’m surprised to find out they are all over the world!

When I moved to London, one reader offered to tour her campus because she remembered I mentioned longing to indulge in the British academic atmosphere; the other invited me to join her dinner group because she knew I love experiencing local cuisines.

I am always grateful for their hospitality and can answer their questions face to face. Such a win-win strategy to make friends in this way!

While meeting IRL, the most fulfilling moment is to know how my content has positively impacted my readers and listeners lives. Nothing can ever compare with that feeling!

Tips on Successful Meetup IRL

When meeting online friends IRL, I always keep in mind that people are complicated and wear thousands of faces. What attracts me to connect people at the first point might only be 1% of their whole personality.

Therefore, I never harbour a high expectation or delusional fantasy about whoever I will meet in reality. Just let it be and make an effort to contribute to a good conversation in the face to face meeting.

I like meeting online friends while walking with a set timeframe to avoid potential awkwardness. If the conversation doesn’t go well, I won’t feel trapped in the closed environment (e.g. restaurant or cafe) staring at each other or make a silly excuse to run away.

Instead, I can look around the surroundings, asking questions about the buildings in front of me, or share my knowledge and opinion with moveable scenes. At least a walking meeting will contribute to my daily 10,000 steps goal.

If the conversation goes well, I can even tell my new walking partner, “It’s been such a pleasure talking with you. I’d like to postpone my next appointment and spend more time with you.”

Having a choice to leave or stay by sharing a specific agenda in advance will reduce my stress about potential disaster meetups and give me the confidence and flexibility to make new friends.

As a sports fan, I’m a part of many clubs and teams’ online communities, where we share the same passion for football strategy, UFC skills or F1 drivers. However, if I expect to talk about philosophy and literature with them, I might get disappointed because those topics are not their expertise (10% chances are but still rare).

I’ve learned over the years that friends don’t need to be your soulmates who can understand many perspectives about your life. As long as both of you feel the connection and have an exciting conversation in at least one area, that’s enough.

I told friends about my startup but some didn't care □

So I stopped spending time with them.

Then along the way I met people who cared more □

Eventually I replaced some of my old friends with the new ones…

And now everybody roots for me □

It's giving me wings □□
— Dagobert Renouf (@dagorenouf) October 9, 2021

Many people complain that the older they get, the more challenging it is to make friends. I’m the opposite. The more mature I become, the more I know who I am, what I need and who I can be friends with.

The digital age is here. We have numerous chances to reach out and connect with people all around the world. There is no excuse to sit alone in a room and complain about why nobody understands us.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

One last thing to remember, we are the average of five friends around ourselves. So, choose our friends wisely and review our contacts regularly!

Good luck making friends in the Metaverse!

11/10/2021

浅谈失败教训、写作课程和大众传媒

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Photo credit: Yue Su

Ryan Holiday

线上导师Ryan Holiday每年生日时都会写下对过去一年的感悟，今年的生日感悟则聚焦过去34年来的失败和从中学到的教训，简单总结一下：

- 如果可以回到过去给年轻的自己一个建议，那就是「放松」。曾经的Ryan对很多事情都怀抱着激情，但现在看来绝大多数的事情其实都是无关紧要的，根本没有必要耗费自己的热情和精力。做事真诚且有野心是美好的品德，但如果太过火，则会适得其反。

- 回顾写作生涯，令Ryan感到不安的并不是写错了什么，而是不确定性。因为世上的绝大多数事情都不是非黑即白的，你以为是对的真的概念，往往可能恰恰相反，所以需要时刻保持谦逊和开明的态度，不惧怕更新自己的想法。

- Ryan的第一本书的主题关于揭露媒体如何利用假新闻操控舆论，他当时觉得需要立即出版，不然就会错过机会窗口。那本书在2011年出版后并没有引起太大的反响，而在2017年则迎来最佳销售。当你不急于求成时，事情往往会发展地更好；当你心急火燎时，只会被短期的成就蒙蔽双眼，而错失了玩好长远游戏的机会。

- Ryan最后悔的事情就是没有依照自己的内心而是听从出版商和编辑的意见为书籍命名。他希望自己可以成为一个艺术家，而不是被商业操控的小丑。

- 生命过于短暂，不要屈居于一个你不喜欢的环境中，你永远都有选择的权利。

- 你永远不会100%准备好做一件事，所以在结婚生子这件事上不要等待，你应该在实践中学习，不然就会错过人生当中能为你提供最大快乐和带来最大意义的事情。

- 性格决定命运，很多人在你接触他们的时候就知道，你无法和他们成为朋友或者共事。

- Ryan最后悔的就是自己曾经因为害怕而没有做，或者做晚了的事情，比如说应该早点辞掉工作，早点结婚生子。人应该相信自己，会有办法来解决接下来会发生的事情。

- 人的适应力被远远低估。如果你在2020年1月被告知，接下来的一年无法旅游、无法外出就餐、没有聚会和趴体，没法去办公室上班，很多人都觉得那是天方夜谭。但看看现在，活着的人还好好的活着，一切皆有可能，人也可以适应。

- 学会说「不」。

- 你必须清醒地意识到小时候的经历会带给你一辈子的影响，事情发生在你身上不是你的错，但如果你不在今后的岁月学习怎么处理和应对这些创伤，那就是你的错。

- 世界上真正愚蠢或者坏的人其实很少，人应该给对方机会，通过彼此了解相互学习。

- 我们总有一种「实现了xxx就会幸福快乐」的幻想，人的欲望是无底洞，你永远不会因为得到了什么而快乐一辈子。

- 不要在常用的东西上面省钱，与其斤斤计较，不如买高质量持久性长的东西。

- 婚姻成功的秘诀：不要对对方有不切实际的期待。

- 人生短暂，读到烂书就不要努力读完；吃到不好的东西就赶紧吐掉；参加了不好玩的趴体就尽快离开。

- 有话就说，不用等到没机会说的时候再追悔莫及。

- 功亏一篑是特别痛苦的体验，尤其是因为你自己并没有孤注一掷而是选择在最接近目标时放弃。

- 进步的关键不是为了避免错误，而是为了避免多次犯同样的错误。承担错误带来的痛苦并不可怕，可怕的是一直在重复承担相同错误的后果。

Ryan Holiday文章集合
- 11条拉丁「人生法则」
- 让生活变得更好的100条短建议
- 12个改变一生的问题
- 28种方式助你通往成功和快乐之路

Write of Passage

五周的Write of Passage写作课程即将接近尾声。这期间不仅解锁了新技能，还通过主动和写作导师David Perell联络，打开了商机！

在互联网上，没人知道你是猫是狗，只要你能为他人产生价值，就主动去联络，去争取吧！发私信或者写邮件，展现你对他们作品和现状的了解，然后讲明白自己的需求和能提供的帮助，越简洁明确越好，大家都很忙，没空small talk或者看云里雾里的叙述。

Write of Passage写作课程最令人惊喜的一部分就是请来了说唱歌手Logic！当晚两个小时的分享和答疑充满了泪水和欢乐，没有什么比近距离的了解创作者更有意思的事情了！

也许是因为从小在充满暴力、犯罪、毒品和酒精的环境中长大，Logic对周围一切都格外敏感，在问答环节中，有三个小细节让我对他格外充满好感。

- Logic注意到一名女生一直在举手但没有被叫到，所以他直接点名让女生向他提问。这名女生专门搬到美国来追寻成为song writer的梦想，也是Logic的忠实粉丝，她分享了Logic那首火爆全球的「自杀热线」歌曲如何拯救了她的生命，以及想拜Logic为师学艺。Logic当场让助理给她lifetime concert pass➕周边产品，还要了她的联系方式为她圆梦，简直是宠粉狂魔！

- 一名害羞的亚洲男生用蹩脚的英文问Logic问题（我都没听懂他问的什么，全场其他人表情也是充满各种问号），Logic则一边耐心地等待他把问题说完，一边鼓励他说喜欢他这种内向的vibes。没有丝毫的大牌明星架子，就像一个邻居家的大哥哥，温暖的让人想哭。

- 一名印度裔男生也是磕磕绊绊的紧张提问，Logic则打趣说自己是1/4印度人，因为他最好的朋友们有好几个是印度人，瞬间拉近了和粉丝的距离，让提问的印度男也可以放轻松。温暖➕1。

每次看到这种在黑暗里跌打滚爬历经千辛万苦走出深渊，然后通过作品和个人去温暖世界的人都好想抱抱他们！世界太需要这种自己凝视深渊却向外投放温暖的人存在了！

What impressed me most was his kindness to people. Three tiny details:
- Noticed one girl was raising a hand for so long
- Super patient with two shy guys and encouraged them to finish questions
- Found connections with people by praising their style or ask them questions.
— Camellia Yang 翊瑄 (@Camelliayang) October 9, 2021

延伸阅读：David Perell的50天免费写作课程：
这次价值$4,000美金的课程内容更加丰富，也极具实用性。
课程PPT和我的笔记已与CY CIRCLE的订阅者分享，欢迎订阅方式！期待认识志同道合的你！

一周杂思

1. 「宣传propaganda」一词的文字记录可以追溯到1622年。

当时的教皇格雷戈里十五世试图大规模的宣教来招募更多的教会成员，自那以后，宣传一词就与普及信仰联系在一起，通过影响公众的意识形态，对他们进行行为操控。

近代的宣传则聚焦于征兵打仗，官方通过使用报纸、海报和电影等传播媒介，向公众发出鼓舞人心的「参战最光荣」的讯息，而绝不提战事的失败、经济损失或死亡人数。

现代的大众媒体则通过宣传选定的议题，忽略其他不符合利益集团的问题来控制舆论。媒体利用群众不愿意花费时间和精力理清所有的问题的天性，「帮助」我们过滤信息，让我们产生获得了知识、了解新闻和天下事的假象，来操控民众的注意力和舆论导向。

宣传手段在很大程度上依赖于心理和说服策略，通过使用生动的图像和简单易懂的语言，将复杂的思想概念变成朗朗上口的口诀，不断地重复，将某种概念烙印在民众的脑海中。

人的大多数决定都是由我们无法控制的潜意识所支配的，我们高估了主观意识的比率，然后天真地认为一切决定都出自于所谓的独立思考。

正是这个因素让宣传有机可乘，尤其对某种信仰和观点深信不疑的人来说，他们认为是自己做出的决定，而并非受到外界环境的影响。

宣传之所以能成功，关键在于是否能调动受众的情绪，比如说利用恐惧、道德评判、爱国/民族主义或者同情来引起群众的反应，个体往往会为了减轻心理罪恶感而盲目屈从于群体的决定。

这就是我为什么不再看新闻的原因，虽然了解到自己逃不出环境和舆论的牢笼，但有意识地选择信息，时刻提醒自己不陷入非黑即白的思考方式，大概就能减少成为乌合之众的几率了吧

2. 几个高效生活的小贴士：

- 看不懂的邮件不回复，回复邮件的时间不超过1分钟。
- 不看新闻，不接电话（除非紧急事务，概率＜1%）。
- 使用键盘快捷键。
- 找到适合自己风格的衣物，只买同款式和材质。减少在穿上的决策。
- 有想法赶紧写下来，或者录下来。
- 第一稿永远是垃圾，但重要的是先有第一稿。
- 别管这么多，干就是了，在实践中积累经验。
- 感到焦虑时就去运动或者跳舞。感到能量低的时候就去小睡一觉。
- 熟记80/20法则，将精力聚焦在能带来高回报的任务上。
- 和常去的健身房、咖啡店和餐馆商讨常客折扣。
- 能花钱解决的事情，一定不占用时间，时间成本最珍贵；每天都用的东西一定买最好的。
- 建立一个可以支撑自己做好工作的系统，自律即自由。

3. 宇宙正在为你书写自传，
一秒一段。
不在当下的时光都是虚幻。

4. 即将告别生活了一个月的马德拉小岛，重回里斯本和我心心念的网友会面，然后加入「葡萄牙威尼斯」的水城阿威罗，进行一项艺术项目，敬请期待！

6/10/2021

Third Culture Adult in the Metaverse

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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Dao produces one (universe),
One produced two (of YIN and YANG),
Two produced three (of Heaven, Earth and Man),
Three produced the universe of all things.

Lao Zi, Dao De Jing

I used to live a double life in high school:

Daytime: lovely A-class student with good grades in the physical world
Lunch break and nighttime: underground gamer collecting skins/weapons and fighting opponents to level up in the virtual world.

One day, my teachers discovered my secret identity by spot-checking the Internet Cafe. I was caught up onsite and told to quit playing games and focus more on the hyper-competitive Colleague Entrance Examination.

Instead of deleting my account as ordered, I sold it online and made a couple hundred bucks. That hot springtime in 2007 is still vivid in my memory - the first time I tasted the power of making money from the virtual world.

Although I’m moderately popular with my social skills in school, I constantly feel intellectual isolation with randomly allocated classmates around me. But in the virtual world, I can cross my physical boundaries and meet like-minded people from all over the world.

While surfing and catching waves in the online world, I notice that a relatively large number of people like me don’t want to be limited by their physical locations and prefer to explore cultures and languages beyond their own.

At the same time, so many of us have gone through a multicultural identity crisis and have rootless and isolated feelings along the way.

Since I grew up in China, moved to New Zealand in my adult year and live in Europe now, I don’t have a good answer to the questions like ‘where are you from?’ and ’which team do you support?’

People like me could belong to any culture, but none of the cultures would accept us as their own. We could behave and talk with people from different countries in their way, but they might still feel like we are an alien trying to integrate into their territory.

Also, constantly moving and exploring the physical world means we won’t have stable 9-5 jobs. When people ask me what do I do, I don’t have the right answer. Writer? Founder? Podcaster? Investor? A Chiwi girl with two newsletters? I have so many titles, and I’m sure the list will grow over time.

People suggest that Third Culture Kids (TCK) might be the closest term to describe my multicultural identity and the feeling of belonging everywhere but nowhere. But I’m not a typical example of TCK like Barack Obama, born in Hawaii and spent a formative part of his childhood in Indonesia as a son of an American mother and a Kenyan father.

Then I heard that Starbucks has built up the Third Space Empire for creating physical public spaces for congregating and socialising. But since the collapse of boundaries between the real and online world, people need a hybrid space that allows them to engage with one another no matter where and when and form a solid social interaction and connection.

Third Culture Kids, The Third Space… Three is a magic number that I learned from studying Chinese philosophy. Just as Lao Zi said, “Three produced the universe of all things.”

So I borrowed the idea from above and coined the term Third Culture Adult (TCA) - an adult who absorbs first-hand experiences from multiple cultures and plays the Great Online Game in the Metaverse.

Looking through history, the connections between different cultures never cease to stop in our physical world:

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz is considered one of the first Western intellectuals to adopt ideas from traditional Chinese philosophies Yi Jing to develop the binary number system that is still being used today.
Beethoven read the ancient Hindu text Bhagavad Gita to deal with his deafness and isolation and created masterpieces that we are still listening to in two centuries.
Queen Elizabeth I wrote a letter to Chinese Emperor Wanli of Ming back in 1602, attempting to establish direct trade with China.

While in the Metaverse, the scale of intellectual fluidity and international business could reach exponential growth. I can remote work with clients from three continents and make business deals; You may mint an NFT produced by someone who lives in the middle of nowhere, 20 years younger than you and live a different life IRL.

When monoculture collapse in the Metaverse, we discover a Third Culture, which contributes to exchanging ideas beyond language and border barriers. When we look beyond stereotypes and do not tie our identity with a single title, we become Third Culture Adults, who embrace different cultures and societies with an open heart.

John Donne once wrote, “No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main.” In today’s context, the ‘main’ is no longer limited to our physical world but extends to the Metaverse.

That lonely girl who used to play video games by herself now finally find her tribe.

Here in the Metaverse, I met so many passionate people eager to learn from each other with curiosity. Let’s build the Third Culture Adult community ($TCA) and play the infinite game together!

p.s. I wrote a novel titled The Invisible Third Culture Adult during the lockdown in 2020. It’s full of inside Easter Eggs that only TCA should be able to resonate with and have laugher. Enjoy :)

5/10/2021

在长途跋涉的人生旅途中返璞归真

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Photo credit: Ben Owen

宇宙共鸣

形态形成场（Morphogenetic Field）是目前我能找到的解释身边诸多巧合问题的最好理论了。

英国剑桥大学生物化学博士和研究员鲁伯特·谢多雷克（Rupert Sheldrake）提出了「记忆是与生俱来的... 我们的生态系统可以从所有以往同类事物中继承集体记忆」。换句话说，物种之间会产生心灵感应式的相互联系。

证实这个理论的几大著名试验包括：
- 观众猜画实验：在A国电视节目上播放附带答案的谜题，B国没有看过电视节目的人的答案正确率提高。
- 老鼠迷宫实验：将老鼠关在A地迷宫中，A地老鼠找到出口后，它们的下一代以及B地的老鼠找到出口的时间越来越短。

还有身体的所有细胞都含有相同的基因，但为什么它们会在特定的地方发展出特定的形态？为什么宠物可以预感到主人回家而在门口等待？你甚至不用回头看，就知道哪个方向的哪个人在盯着你看...

一半的科学家认为，这种场域理论可以解释生物学领域之外的很多现象，人的心灵感应、本能和方向感等很多现象。但另一半则认为他的理论是异端邪说。

谢多雷克博士认为记忆并非存在于人类大脑之中，而是存在于一个形态场中，并通过共振的方式形成个体和集体记忆。我对此说法的理解是：记忆不是USB，需要插入电脑主机才可以读取，而更像是蓝牙设备，可以无线输入甚至共享。这就解释了为什么蜘蛛生下来就会结网，鸟类本能地认出同类，然后一起迁徙。

这个生物化学理论与现在的量子力学中的量子势（Quantum Potential）不谋而合，同时也可以链接到荣格在心理学上提到的集体潜意识概念。最为奇妙的是，这也与我最近一直研究的佛学观点也颇为相似：「物我不二，自他无别」，世间万物彼此相连，真相整体显现，意识遍于一切。

英国诗人威廉·布莱克（William Blake）曾用一首诗描绘了自己的开悟感受：
To see a World in a Grain of Sand，　　
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower；
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand，
And Eternity in an hour.　　　
李叔同翻译为：「一花一世界，一沙一天国；君掌盛无边，刹那含永劫」。

当我总是用理性大脑去反抗和强迫事情的发生轨迹时，感性（灵性）的那一面总能找到办法提醒我应该多多听信自己的直觉，感受宇宙发出的信号。

想想这几年无论是工作，感情还是绿卡，都是不费吹灰之力顺其自然得来的，而那些强求的东西要不然就是求之不得十分痛苦，要不然就是费尽心思得到却发现不是自己当初想要的。当你不去控制了，当你完全放松了，宇宙自然而然就把你带到真正对你好的地方。

不再惧怕那些难以用当前科学解释的事件，如水一般随遇而安，宇宙为你安排的计划远比自己短浅目光设想的计划好太多了，那就放心大胆地去体验生活，臣服于宇宙的力量，一切都是最好的安排。

延伸阅读：
- #379 Modern Wisdom Podcast with Rupert Sheldrake
- Morphic Resonance and Morphic Fields Introduction
- A New Theory Indicates Physical Reality is Just Quantum Mirrors
- Nan Huai-Chin

一周杂思

1. 这周跟着写作导师DP学了一个词「知识导游Intellectual Tour Guide」：表示人们可以通过你而开启知识的大门，探索他们感兴趣的内容。这和我们常说的「宝藏男/女孩」有异曲同工之妙

2. Lando Norris功亏一篑错失F1俄罗斯大奖赛冠军头衔那撕心裂肺的感觉我深有共鸣… 不过年轻的时候多体会点「人生的无常性」还是很好的，就像在年轻的时候也要过点苦日子，以后的日子里你就有足够的勇气说，「咳，多大点事儿啊，之前再难的生活我都挺过来了」。时常感谢20来岁的自己没有因为挫折而放弃甚至一蹶不振，才能让我有机会成为了现在的自己，过着想要的生活。

运动员其实在我生命中扮演着蛮重要的角色，尤其是像贝克汉姆（98红牌被全国人骂后来完成救赎）、塞纳（雨中赛车的胆识和能力）、阿圭罗（9320奇迹）、C罗（怎么有这么自律的人）等等… （还有David Goggins这个大神！）

竞技体育精神真可谓是人类的宝藏，而我因为身体局限，也只能借着笔头抒发下对他们的致敬，以及下次HIIT再努力多做一组吧…

3. 我们终其一生只不过在实现长途跋涉的返璞归真。

4. 通过阅读名人自传以及和欣赏的推特大咖交流，那些拥有迷之自信的人都实现了自己一开始都没料到的成就。

香奈儿起初只想卖个帽子，却成就了时尚帝国；拉里·艾利森本想做个好一点的软件，却打造出甲骨文公司；DP写作的初衷是找到可以交流的朋友，现在发展出有上千的学员因为他的写作课程而终身受益...

没有人完全知道自己究竟在干什么，每个人都在摸着石头过河，并在前行的道路上充满了疑惑和问题，但超强的自信心帮助他们战胜了内心的魔鬼，这不是幸存者偏差，而更像一种现实扭曲力，推荐看看Marsha Shandur的一则视频Taming the Beast。

这里没有别人，只有你自己。

5. 朋友三年没回家了，这会儿从加州飞到葡萄牙给他妈妈一个惊喜。
我看了他弟弟录制的见面视频，隔着屏幕都能感受到他妈妈那种喜极而泣的心情，满满的喜悦和爱！
我也快三年没见妈妈了，一直想象着下次要是回国也要突然出现在家门口给爸妈一个惊喜。
然后想到我们家的行为习惯，大概率的结局是我爸妈出去旅游了家里没人，剩我一个人拉扯着两个大箱子孤独坐在楼道里…
哎，有些浪漫的事儿，看看别人做就好了…

在马德拉小岛的最后一周！

2/10/2021

Chiwi Journal Newsletter: future of work, Zen, grow network, writing course and music

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Welcome to the October 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:
It’s been a colourful and exciting past month for me here in Portugal - exploring Lisbon, attending a writing course, remote working with clients from the globe, and hanging out with the digital nomad community in Madeira!

Living in the digital transformation age, I’m super excited to upgrade my knowledge on Metaverse. This month, I’ll continually invest in cryptocurrency, create relevant content, and participate in some web3 projects.

Now, let’s get straight into the content.

Book of the month

Speaking of digital nomads, one of my favourite Twitter friends, Pieter Levels, recently published two reports that featured digital nomad characteristics and remote work categories. As an early adopter of digital nomad life, he predicted that by 2035 there would be 1 billion digital nomads in the world.

Are you ready to join the party and enjoy the life of living and working anywhere?

Here are the books list to help you pave your way:

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson

The digital nomad bible empowered us to know the possibility of living and working with just a laptop and a passport and achieve sovereignty.

The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau and Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

Real-life examples of self-employed travel around the world lifestyle to showcase how to turn your dream into a reality.

Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer by Steven Kotler

Build a good habit system to support your unsettled digital nomad life and achieve flow-state productivity.

Silence by Erling Kagge and Tribe by Sebastian Junger

Music of the month

"The only thing that matters is to feel the fado. The fado is not meant to be sung; it simply happens. You feel it, you don’t understand it and you don’t explain it."
– Amália Rodrigues

When in Lisbon, you can't miss the soul of Portuguese music Fado.

Fado means 'fate' or 'destiny' in Portuguese. However, just like another famous Portuguese word, 'Saudade', 'Fado' cannot be perfectly translated into other languages. The Fado performers lament the impermanence of fate, but there is also love and defiance within it.

While listening to Fado, I remembered a well-known Song Ci (lyric poetry) written 939 years ago by my favourite poet Su Shi: "The music kept streaming out and lingering in the air, so melancholic that it sounded like a continuous sigh of sorrow or like a ceaseless weep with grief, which could entice a scaly dragon perching in a deep pool to rise and dance, or make a widow sitting on a lonely boat cry."

Music is the universal language of humankind that travels through time and space and touches our hearts.

More podcasts and newsletters recommendations

Article of the Month

Once you see 'Zen', all of a sudden is everywhere!

I interviewed Richard Reis on my podcast about his experience of practising Zen Meditation last month. To my surprise, Tim Ferriss interviewed Richard's teacher Henry Shukman in the following days and deep-dived on the topic of Zen, tools for awakening and meditation.

Richard also wrote a blog post, sharing everything he learned during his 4-month meditation retreat with Henry. I know my Chinese readers would love this topic, so I translated it and got more than 30,000 views across the channels.

What more excited was I met one of my online friends in Madeira who is very into Zen philosophy, so we decided to record a podcast to discuss self-actualisation, Chinese Buddhism and Love.

My grandfather was a lifelong Zen Buddhism practiser. Although he went through numerous ups and downs in his lifetime, he always chose to have a peaceful and generous mind. He left a poem to my family before he died in 2009. Hope one day I can reach the same level as what he called oneness.

(English translation)
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,
Exercising and meditating cultivated my mind.
The essence of the spirit is my inner guard,
The universe and I unified in one.

Course of the month

In September, I joined the Write of Passage Cohort 7 run by David Perrell to accelerate my online writing skills. Halfway through the 5-weeks course, I've already broken through my writing barriers in English and built up my information capture system to help me with consistent writing!

What I enjoyed the most about the course was meeting like-minded people who share the same journey with me. Through brainstorming ideas and writing together, and giving feedback to each other, we formed a comradeship.

I also got a chance to have Robbie Crabtree as a mentor, which I've been following for a long time on Twitter. When students are ready, the teacher will appear!

Highly recommend people who want to build personal branding and establish professional opportunities through online writing to join this course! Cohort 8 will start in February next year!

AMA: How to make friends and build up your network as a digital nomad?

My answer:
I'm not too fond of the traditional way of making friends, limited by your geographical locations.

I had at least 500 classmates from kindergarten to graduate school, but less than three people I could call friends (I was moderately popular at school). In my opinion, classmates are a product of random assignments. It's normal to be surrounded by people who have very different backgrounds and interests from you, which lead to different paths in the future. The same logic applies to colleagues unless you share the same vision and are willing to work together to achieve the same goal, but often everyone just wants to have a stable job and get paid.

Many people complain that the older they get, the more challenging for them to make friends. I'm the opposite. The more mature I become, the more I know who I am, what I need and who I can be friends with.

I met 90% of my friends online, either through proactively reaching out to them or being approached by my readers who shared similar experiences. I used to feel rootlessness because I couldn't find my tribe in the physical world, but my problem has gone with all the digital platforms where I could connect with people from all over the world.

During travelling, I like to use Airbnb and stay with locals because they are the first point to provide me with all information in the new environment. I also enjoy Nomadlist, Meetup, Workaway and many other community-based networking platforms to meet new people. I interviewed one of my online friends, Chance, on his approaches to make friends as a digital nomad.

Last but not least, I highly recommend one of my favourite podcasters, Jordan Harbinger's free 6 Minute Networking Course. You will master the game of making friends and growing networking, and connect with people you want to know.

Remember, you are the average of five regular friends around you. Choose your friends wisely and review your contacts regularly!

Recap of my English content

28/9/2021

Digital Nomad 2.0 is Here! 5 Reads to Help You Work and Live from Anywhere

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There I am, looking out at the vast Atlantic Ocean in front of me, breathing the tropical air from mid-autumn Madeira Islands, feeling the warm and energetic vibes at the local co-working centre.

I glance down at my laptop to greet my client from the other side of the world. Looking at the beautiful scenery of New Zealand in her background, I could almost smell the homey aroma of the flat white in her hand.

Imagine you can escape the 9 to 5 trap and work and live anywhere.

Imagine you can earn a decent living while enjoying the holiday every day.

Yes, I’m not talking about daydreaming, but actually living in different parts of the world while working or collaborating with others in an asynchronous way.

When I first heard about digital nomads a couple of years ago, I was sceptical about this concept - the stereotype image of backpackers or independent contractors living in a hostel or hammock came into my mind. Let’s call it ‘Digital Nomad 1.0’.

However, the global pandemic has changed our world dramatically with remote working popularised in the mainstream. According to the research, digital nomads rose from 7.3 million in 2019 to 10.9 million in 2020 (+49%). Guess what? Among all of them, traditional jobholders (e.g. corporate employers) contributed to this surge from 3.2 million in 2019 to 6.3 million in 2020 (+96%).

The stereotype that most digital nomads are low-income and move to cheap countries is debunked once again

□ 73% of nomads make over $50,000 per year, and over 1 in 3 makes more than $100,000 per year

□ The majority of top destinations are rich and high-income countries pic.twitter.com/DmHyrEI95X
— ؜ (@levelsio) October 8, 2021

The ‘Digital Nomad 2.0’ is here!

Chiang Mai and Bali used to be the hub for digital nomads with low-cost living. Nowadays, many European towns and cities leverage their developed infrastructure, easy crypto regulations and tax policies, and remote working visas to compete with those crowded touristy destinations.

The 2.0 version will attract more established tech-savvy workers, entrepreneurs and investors and traditional office workers. They may want to spend a relatively long time with legal working rights, seek future citizenship, and prefer to match or upgrade their living standards at the new destination.

Pieter Levels, founder of Nomad List, predicted that by 2035 there will be 1 billion digital nomads who can enjoy the life of living and working anywhere in the world. Here is the list to help you build a fundamental understanding of Digital Nomad 2.0 and pave your way to adopt this new way of living.

1. Counterflows by Lauren Razavi

Lauren is an early adopter of remote work and has lived as a digital nomad since 2013. When I searched the history of digital nomads, her tweetstorm popped up and helped me understand this concept’s origin.

Her newsletter Counterflows focused on borderless living and featured the six best links on the topics to enhance people’s knowledge of digital nomads every week. Apart from that, Lauren is working on her new book Global Natives: The New Frontiers of Work, Travel, and Innovation that documents her insights from living and working across 40+ countries.

It’s the starting point to gain the general idea of digital nomads and prepare your mind to digest this concept.

2. The Sovereign Individual Weekly by Doug Antin

Doug is on a mission to provide people with the facts and tools necessary to navigate an increasingly digital life successfully. His weekly newsletter Sovereign Individual covered personal sovereignty, geopolitics, finance, crypto, digital transformation and all things in between.

If you are not familiar with the concept of the Sovereign Individual, this most popular essay on his site covered the core principles of the emergent Sovereign Individual class as it stands today.

I interviewed Doug at my podcast Chiwi Journal, and we discussed some actionable insights into the emerging opportunities and trends of the current digital transformation.

3. Nomad List by Pieter Levels

After being mentally prepared for your upcoming digital nomad 2.0 life, time to pick up your destination and find a remote job! Pieter is the guy behind many products and projects. His brain baby Nomad List (1,350+ cities in almost 200 countries) and RemoteOK (5,018 jobs posted in the last 12 months) are two of my favourite sites to navigate my digital nomad life.

Do you want to know what nomads do for work? What are the fastest growing and highest paying remote jobs now? Recently, Pieter gathered the data from members and published Digital Nomad Statistics 2021 and Remote Work Statistics 2021. You’ll find detailed data, including age group, nationality, hobbies and many more categories.

4. 1729.com by Balaji Srinivasan

Balaji has been regarded as Cassandra, a Greek mythology figure who has the gift of prophecy. He predicted the severity of the global pandemic in January 2020. He expressed his views on the future of Bitcoin and Ethereum, Network State, Startup Cities and personal freedom and wealth in a new digital world.

His flagship website 1729.com is the first newsletter that pays you to learn technological progressives. That means people who are into cryptocurrencies, startup cities, mathematics, transhumanism, space travel, reversing ageing, and other ‘crazy’ ideas will have the space to learn and earn money at the same time.

5. Book List for Digital Nomads 2.0

Last but not least, based on my two years nomad life and talked with my fellow digital nomads, here are the top five most recommended books to help you live and work productively and happily:

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson

The digital nomad bible empowered us to know the possibility of living and working with just a laptop and a passport and achieve sovereignty.

The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau and Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

Real-life examples of self-employed travel around the world lifestyle to showcase how to turn your dream into a reality.

Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer by Steven Kotler

Build a good habit system to support your unsettled digital nomad life and achieve flow-state productivity.

Silence by Erling Kagge and Tribe by Sebastian Junger

Sometimes, digital nomad life is a solitary journey. We have to get along with solitude to refocus on prospective decision-making, rather than just reacting to problems as they arise; The other times, digital nomads need to foster a sense of belonging in a community to maintain mental health.

Andressen Horowitz researched their portfolio companies on the future of work and found out 71% of companies will adapt to a hybrid or remote working model due to the pandemic. Many countries, including Portugal, Iceland, Mexico and Norway, introduced new visa schemes to help remote workers and digital nomads. That means the 'Silicon Valley' of the physical world will continue to decline while the 'Digital Nomad 2.0’ will dominate the online world.

Are you ready to join this future way of living and working and make a difference?

27/9/2021

浅谈未来工作、女性艺术家和周遭环境

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数字生活

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？

埃莱娜和玛丽娜

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。

一周杂思

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！

Chiwi Journal Podcast

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。

21/9/2021

You Get So Alone At Times So You Write

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“I have always maintained, even as a schoolboy in Russia, that the nationality of a worthwhile writer is of secondary importance… The writer’s art is his real passport”.

Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-American novelist

“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.

20/9/2021

浅谈马德拉岛、数字游民和音乐创作

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Photo Credit: Filipe Gomes

数字游民

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！

音乐创作

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。

一周杂思

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”》

14/9/2021

从禅修谈起...

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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！

13/9/2021

How to optimise your 24 hours?

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“It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.”
― Winston S. Churchill

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 want to do it, you do it. There are no excuses."
- Bruce Nauman

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

Record your 24 hours to see where you spend your time.
Write down in detail what your ideal day looks like and live towards it.
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!

10/9/2021

「能梦见你，是我的过人之处」---里斯本游记

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Photo Credit: Paulo Evangelista

Fernando Pessoa

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。

Books

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。

Sightseeing

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。

Tram 28

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。

Food

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。

Fado

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

8/9/2021

To Whom It May Concern

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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，
因为无法理解他们的动机和行为，
他们也没法理解我，
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。

我走遍了四大洲但没有一处可以称之为家，
但却在创作中建立了自己的根基，
我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，
我想把生命活成艺术，
把我的存在变成一首诗歌。
尽管艰难，
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

3/9/2021

浅谈纹身、诗歌和创作

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Photo credit: Diego Garcia

纹身

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。"

播客推荐

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。

一周杂思

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。

2/9/2021

Chiwi Journal September Issue: BBC, Churchill, Sovereign Individual, Ideal Day and More

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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.

Podcast of the month

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

Book of the month

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
- Winston Churchill

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:

My all-time favourite books recommendation.

Tip of the Month

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 want people to listen to it and do it, and as much as they can, which is record your parents' memories. Find a service that does it for you, email them a bunch of questions. However you want to do it, do it. My father's memoirs, recorded by my much more prescient half-sister, are the most precious thing that I have. Because he died before my son is alive, and I would have no other way of telling him what my father was like. And we live in this age of information abundance, where we just assume we can recall every memory that's ever available to us. And that's bullshit. When they're gone, they're gone. And if you don't do something now, you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. So I would just implore everyone to do that".

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!

Newsletter of the month

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.

Ask me anything

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.

“You and a friend are having a picnic by the side of a river. Suddenly you hear a shout from the direction of the water—a child is drowning. Without thinking, you both dive in, grab the child, and swim to shore. Before you can recover, you hear another child cry for help. You and your friend jump back in the river to rescue her as well. Then another struggling child drifts into sight… and another… and another. The two of you can barely keep up. Suddenly, you see your friend wading out of the water, seeming to leave you alone. “Where are you going?” you demand. Your friend answers, “I’m going upstream to tackle the guy who’s throwing all these kids in the water.”

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...)

Each month, I spend 140+ hours digging valuable insights from books, articles and podcasts and share them in a 6-min micro-lesson email.
Join 1,000+ lifelong learners at Chiwi Journal today!

25/8/2021

我和英国的8件小事儿

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Photo credit: Benjamin Davies

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！

#01 足球

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

#02 故居

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

#03 市集

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

#04 书店

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

#05 庄园/宫殿

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

#06 约会

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。

#07 他国

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

#08 成长

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！

22/8/2021

观影| 十大邪教相关影片推荐

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Photo credit: Myke Simon

导语

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。

仲夏夜惊魂 Midsommar

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！

逃出绝命镇 Get Out

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！

伊甸湖 Eden Lake

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。

美国田园下的罪恶 American Crime

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）。

真探 True Detective

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》。

战斧骨 Bone Tomahawk

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。

异教徒 The Wicker Man

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 Martha Marcy May Marlene

《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？

永劫 The Endless

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。

好莱坞往事 Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

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》

继续阅读

18/8/2021

Book Review: Indistractable by Nir Eyal

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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:

1. Calculate everyday time spending

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).

2. Journaling

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.

3. Meditation

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 :)

17/8/2021

浅谈主权个体和施瓦辛格

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Photo credit: Jonathan Cooper

主权个体

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！

施瓦辛格

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!

一周杂思

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。

10/8/2021

浅谈宇宙信号和旅居生活

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Photo by Fabian Jones on Unsplash

宇宙信号

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！

一周杂思

- 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。

3/8/2021

Chiwi Journal August Issue: Biography, Journaling, Self-authoring, Storytelling and More

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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.

Podcast of the month

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

Book of the month

The things we do today, the choices we make, are compounding assets to where we go in the future – Matthew McConaughey

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.

Story of the Month

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!

Course of the month

It seems to me that the purpose of life is to find a mode of being that is so meaningful that the fact that life is suffering is no longer relevant. — Jordan Peterson

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!

AMA

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!).

I WRITE ABOUT future living, eastern PHILOSOPHY AND SHORT SCI-FI STORIES.

Web3

​财福双全

一周杂思

阿威罗

为你写诗

一周杂思

Stage One: Rely on Third-Party Tools

Stage Two: Attract Friends on the Same Wavelength

Stage Three: Online to IRL

Tips on Successful Meetup IRL ​

Ryan Holiday

Write of Passage

一周杂思

宇宙共鸣

​一周杂思

Book of the month

Music of the month

Article of the Month

Course of the month

AMA: How to make friends and build up your network as a digital nomad?

Recap of my English content

​1. Counterflows by Lauren Razavi

2. The Sovereign Individual Weekly by Doug Antin

3. Nomad List by Pieter Levels

4. 1729.com by Balaji Srinivasan

​5. Book List for Digital Nomads 2.0

数字生活

埃莱娜和玛丽娜

一周杂思

Chiwi Journal Podcast

数字游民

音乐创作

一周杂思

Fernando Pessoa

Books

Sightseeing

Tram 28

Food

Fado

纹身

​播客推荐

​一周杂思

​Podcast of the month

​Book of the month

​ Tip of the Month

​ Newsletter of the month

​Ask me anything

Each month, I spend 140+ hours digging valuable insights from books, articles and podcasts and share them in a 6-min micro-lesson email. Join 1,000+ lifelong learners at Chiwi Journal today!

#01 足球

#02 故居

#03 市集

#04 书店

#05 庄园/宫殿

#06 约会

#07 他国

#08 成长

导语

​仲夏夜惊魂 Midsommar

​逃出绝命镇 Get Out

​伊甸湖 Eden Lake

​美国田园下的罪恶 American Crime

​真探 True Detective

​战斧骨 Bone Tomahawk

​异教徒 The Wicker Man

​双面玛莎 Martha Marcy May Marlene

永劫 The Endless

好莱坞往事 Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

继续阅读

1. Calculate everyday time spending

2. Journaling

3. ​Meditation

主权个体

施瓦辛格

一周杂思

宇宙信号

一周杂思

​Podcast of the month

​ Book of the month

​ Story of the Month

财福双全

Tips on Successful Meetup IRL

一周杂思

1. Counterflows by Lauren Razavi

5. Book List for Digital Nomads 2.0

播客推荐

一周杂思

Podcast of the month

Book of the month

Tip of the Month

Newsletter of the month

Ask me anything

Each month, I spend 140+ hours digging valuable insights from books, articles and podcasts and share them in a 6-min micro-lesson email.
Join 1,000+ lifelong learners at Chiwi Journal today!

仲夏夜惊魂 Midsommar

逃出绝命镇 Get Out

伊甸湖 Eden Lake

美国田园下的罪恶 American Crime

真探 True Detective

战斧骨 Bone Tomahawk

异教徒 The Wicker Man

双面玛莎 Martha Marcy May Marlene

3. Meditation

Podcast of the month

Book of the month

Story of the Month

Course of the month

AMA