This is a good time to be a doomsday believer. We’ve gone right past climate castrophe and straight into financial fallout. I can’t help but laugh when I read the business section in the newspaper now. Everyday there is a new headline in big bold letters of underlining how we’ve reached a new low. There are photos of shell-shocked financial traders, hopeless quotes from “big people” who supposedly know what’s going on, and so-called analysis that doesn’t make an ounce of sense. It’s absurd. With all the fear-mongering, most of all are still going on with our lives without much immediate change. No one knows what in the world is really going on with the financial tsunami, hurricane, crisis, fallout, disaster, castrophe, armageddon… So I don’t know what else to do but laugh.
I guess part of my lightheartedness comes from the fact that I don’t seem to have much to lose. During all this hoopla and my obsessive reading of the latest financial news, I have wondered several times what I should really be doing (instead of checking Google News over and over). I’ve come to the conclusion that I should basically do nothing. I am not invested in the stock market, I don’t own a house, and I don’t work for an organization on the verge of bankruptcy (i.e. any financial company). I only have some modest savings in the bank. Oh, and I have my student loan debt which means that my net worth is about….zero. If the banks really do go bad then we are all basically screwed, so I guess won’t worry too much about that scenario. Instead, I have wondered if there was any way to outsmart the system and make it out of this crisis better off. But after more consideration (and acknowledgment that I know absolutely zilch on economics), I have realized that the rules of the game have completely changed. No one at this point even knows what the rules are. If anyone makes money out of this disaster it will most likely be from pure luck (or corruption).
What can I get out of this crisis? Life in “interesting times,” I guess. Hmm…I am actually not surprised to find out that phrase is not from any known Chinese proverb. I’ve never heard anyone in Hong Kong say it’s a good thing to live in chaotic times. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Nevertheless, I have been learning not to take life so damn seriously while living in Hong Kong. No better way to learn this to witness firsthand what happens when you DO take life seriously. Every morning, I watch people falling asleep on the train, sometimes on my shoulder, after working too late the night before. I see late night rush hours on the trains and buses as people get off from work at 10, 11, or later. I time how long it takes before the lights go out in the office building near my house. On the street, I brush against fast-paced throngs of workers heading to work, stiffly walking in their dress shoes and suits.
It’s a depressing, life in my opinion, to work all the time. I’m actively trying to avoid it these days. I have set cut-off times when I promise myself I will leave work. I bug the hell out of Goldie by calling her and telling her to come home. I try my best to leave work at work and not to bring it home. Somethings I have not been so successful at yet. I’ve been thinking about trying to cook at home again instead of eating out every night. But so far, no progress. I also haven’t quite gotten us back to hiking regularly. But I am still motivated to keep working on these goals.
If I could sum up the lesson I am learning from all the crazy stuff going on these days in one word it would be… sustainability. (The royal) “we” are not living in a sustainable manner at all. Not in terms of natural resources, finance, or mental health. What I want to seek out in my life right now is balance. I want to work towards life that has enough comfort and uncomfortableness that my life can be called “interesting.” ‘Cause even though it’s not some cliche Chinese proverb, I still always wanted to live in interesting times.
