What Is Gone Is Gone, but What Lies Ahead Will Bloom

Another year has come to an end. Hey! Me at the end of 2021, what are you busy with right now?

The you from before told me: you love freedom. But ever since you graduated from middle school and set off on your long journey in 2021, you felt like you had lost the freedom you loved. Yet in this passing year of 2022, I will tell you the answer: that is not the case.

In 2022, you rediscovered the freedom you longed for most. The brilliant fireworks will reflect the greatness of your soul. You no longer talk about "freedom" all the time, but instead feel the warmth and cold of the world with your heart. Even if natural disasters separate you from the ends of the earth, even if man-made misfortunes keep you from the farthest shores, nothing can stop your soul from touching the edges of your ideals.

Your brother, who loves you deeply, finally walked down the aisle. After half a lifetime of searching, he found his true love and now has a child he adores with all his heart. In a daze, you realize you have become an elder, and the hair at your mother's temples—once supposed to be jet black—is beginning to turn gray. Tears roll down your cheeks, which should still be youthful but are gradually growing mature. You finally understand that time is quietly slipping away from between your fingers, and it is no longer meaningful to be willfully stubborn. You resolve to change yourself, change your family, and change the world.

You cannot forget those tender old days that made you linger with joy. You gently touch each memento, each fragment of memory, and silently let tears fall. But in the end, you bow deeply to the past, say goodbye to it, and resolve to seek a new future.

In the past year, you chose to stay more often in this small city, watching the years flow by like water. Here, you experienced the warmth and cold of the world, the vicissitudes of life. You are no longer full of passion, no longer charging ahead fearlessly, but instead view everything rationally and take every step cautiously. You know that the you of the past might have been the picture of youth, but the you of today stands taller and has grown deeper. Yet before this, many voices will sway your thoughts and make you impulsive, but looking back, you realize you never truly understood the darkness of political struggles. You should become more profound, and so you learn a new truth that makes you deeper.

Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened; heed only one side and you will be benighted.
Wang Fu, Qian Fu Lun (Comments of a Recluse), "On Light and Dark"

Becoming deeper does not mean you have lost your warmth. You have not made many new friends, but instead walk slowly forward with your old friends, sharing your innermost thoughts. They are more than happy to spend joyful times with you, and their opinion of you remains the same as before: a lovely and passionate friend. You finally understand the true meaning of what Xin Qiji once wrote: "I searched for her a thousand times in the crowd; suddenly I turned around, and there she was, in the dimming lantern light." The beauty you spent countless years pursuing was right by your side all along. You smile and wave to fate, telling it: though fate once played such a joke on you, you still found the beauty you sought. You walk away without another word of argument, leaving fate to ponder for a long time.

In the past year of 2022, the Chinese people endured too much suffering! Wave after wave of hardship, and even you could no longer escape it. You even absurdly felt that 2018 had taken too many guardians from this world, but only now do you think: perhaps you could become the new guardian of this world? Your kind light shines across the entire universe. Life is the meaning you pursue, and you should become stronger and more determined, gradually growing into the person you love most.

Even as you lose, you also bloom. You seek the warmth of this world and discover that the little things you never noticed before are the most precious memories you own and will never lose. Those moments with your loved one will become enchanting and grant you endless motivation to move forward. What lies ahead will soon bloom in your sea of flowers!

You will write more articles that touch people's hearts, helping the countless lives that suffer just as you once did. Remember this: start by changing yourself, then gradually change your family, and ultimately you can change the world.

You are me, and I am you.

Sincerely,

To myself at the end of 2021