I KNOW, I KNOW, I haven't written anything since January. In fact, I haven't written anything since the beginning of January. So, it's been more than a month now that this blog has been dormant. That's not my intention at all. Some of you might even be wondering, "Is Non going to get the 100th day as he has planned?" Well, once and for all, I have never doubt that I'll eventually get to the 100th day. I set the goal in order to achieve it.
What explains why I haven't been more active lately is the fact that, also lately, I have encountered a series of unfortunate events which show the dark side of human beings: People who I used to trust threw me under the bus with a false accusation, an insecure and opportunistic work colleague who weren't interested in putting her jealously of my teaching skills into a good use tried to make me her subordinate using, also, another false accusation, and students for whom I have been working my ass off did not seem to appreciate what I did for them.
All of these unfortunate events came all at once just about when the Spring Festival was arriving. I, however, was lucky, though, to have been given a great book by my mother. The book was Mediations by the Great Marcus Areilus. At some point I will talk about this book at length but for now I have to say that it is the most single influential book I have read so far. The prose is clean and clear, and the ideas are vivid.
Marcus Arelius was a lifelong stoic who believed that a simple life is the life that brings joy. Anything extra brings complication, and unnecessary complexities that would end up making our life more disturbing. So, I have been reading this book for the past few days and I have come up with many short and clear thoughts in the fashion of this great book. Here, I'd like to share all of them (many more to come in the next days). So, no, I haven't stopped writing.
I am just experimenting with a different way of writing: something short, concise, and true. Happy Chinese New Year. May everyone be kind to one another.
Giving up the Urban Life