Waking up early this morning, I suddenly felt a hint of autumn in the air. The air was no longer as stuffy and there was a slight chill. With the start of school and the end of summer vacation, summer has completely passed. Although the temperature hasn't changed much and I'm still wearing short sleeves, the summer atmosphere is no longer present in the air.
Around August 23rd each year is the period of "Chushu". This is a solar term between the peak of summer and the beginning of autumn. The word "Chu" means "to stop". The summer heat gradually fades away, and autumn is coming. The ancients said, "At the beginning of autumn and the end of summer, the heat is intense. You shouldn't take off your clothes and expose your body, but rather seek coolness." This means that even though it still looks like the height of summer, there is already a subtle coolness. When drinking and eating meat at night, don't bare your arms anymore, and cover yourself with a thin blanket when sleeping.
In the morning, I listened to Hu Defu's song "Hurry". I listened to this old man with white hair singing "Time passes by without a trace".
You see, summer is about to pass, but it feels like nothing has happened.
In stories related to summer, there are passionate, vivid, and vigorous emotions, as well as unfulfilled regrets. There is burning, there is youth, and there are good times that will never return. Perhaps everyone has an unforgettable summer in their hearts. That's why we feel a sense of loss when we say, "Summer has passed, but nothing has happened."
We always feel that time is running out now because we are becoming more and more anxious about time. People perceive time differently at different stages. Children think of time as a circle. After spring comes summer, and after summer comes autumn. One semester ends, and the next semester will come, year after year. So children are not very sad when another summer passes. They think about quickly finishing the remaining homework and seeing their "old classmates" in the new semester.
But gradually, we will realize that time is actually spiral, constantly rotating forward. Although it cycles year after year, "each year and each season brings different people". Realizing that we will become different people in time is exciting, yet also a bit unsettling. Perhaps the worst feeling is when we perceive time as a line. The so-called "time flies like an arrow". Once the arrow is shot, it will never return, and we don't know where it will ultimately land.
In Japanese, "summer is over" is called "natsu ga owatta". This phrase contains many unspeakable meanings, just like "the moonlight is beautiful tonight". "Summer is over" actually signifies the end of singing, the end of performances, the final whistle, and the dispersal of banquets. It symbolizes disillusionment.
And all we can do is accept it and then let go.
A friend once told me that time is like a train running at an accelerating speed. It starts off slow, then gradually accelerates, becoming faster and faster, and can't be stopped. This metaphor was very vivid and triggered my anxiety for a long time. So I always remembered it. But later on, I realized that this comparison was too scary. In fact, people perceive time differently in different environments.
"A person's perception of time is a product of their environment."
Our perception of time now is shaped by various environmental factors surrounding us. Since the Industrial Revolution, people have changed their daily routines from the agricultural era and replaced it with clock time based on sunrise and sunset. People no longer rely on changes in daylight and the flow of seasons to arrange their lives, but rather live in the standardized clock time. Nowadays, our time is measured in minutes and seconds. Our communication is instant, with hot topics on social media updating every minute, and there is always news happening. And from recent events, usually not much good news.
This is the era we live in. Time is not just an arrow, it is like the arrow formation in the movie "Hero", shooting towards us in a dense black mass.
We have nowhere to hide.
What I want to say is that some beautiful things have never really left us. They are still hidden within our bodies, and if we encounter the right environment, they will revive. It's like having a secret seed in our hearts. It will accompany me through countless difficult nights, and together we will navigate through the fog of reality. Finally, one day, I will arrive at a promised land in my heart and let it take root and sprout. I tell myself not to panic, those things are still there. What you need to do is calm down and do what you need to do now.
The essence of time is its content. Time is colorless, tasteless, and shapeless. When we look back and search for time, we discover that time is made up of one event after another. Just as Gabriel Garcia Marquez said, "Life is not what we have experienced, life is what we remember."
"Summer is about to pass, but it feels like nothing has happened."
This line is from the movie "The Blue Gate". The story is about a girl's confusion and helplessness during her adolescence. She is confused about her sexual orientation, as she likes girls and secretly loves her best friend. But this secret love eventually ends their friendship. I like the ending of the movie. Two young people trapped in their youth ride their bicycles recklessly through the streets. Each person's youth is like the peak of summer in their life. It is so intense and so fleeting. But summer is about to pass, and it feels like they haven't gained anything.
But life is about experiences. Where can we truly gain something? Just like the most beautiful thing in the summer is waiting and anticipation. The real harvest season is autumn.
Summer has passed, and nothing has happened. Most of life is like this, plain and monotonous, but it can bring infinite emotional twists and turns at certain moments.
However, as Japanese picture book author Yoko Sano wrote in "Without Gods or Buddhas": "Every moment has its own joy. No matter how bad the moment is, people can live on with small joys. The secret to life is to discover many small joys."
Autumn is still worth looking forward to. 🍂