Off To See The World

This is a collection of modern Chinese and English poems in the most popular classical Song style metrical formats, and short Chinese and English essays in the concise and sharp styles. The collection provides completely different perspectives on the world and life.

There are 16 categories with total 152 pieces in this collection of literacy works. From Hometown, Youth, College, to Study Abroad and Work, it is a trajectory of life. Holidays, Travel, Foreign Culture, Living Abroad and Second Hometown describe the different ways of life in different lands. Then comes the bird view on the world and life, Philosophy, Faith, Life, See the World, History and Look into Future. It is the Out-Of-Box thinking and sharp reflection that really pull all the things together.

Human beings are so used to what we see and hear every day. We are constantly confined to a domain that we are subconsciously accustomed to. That is why we need to see the outside world by going out of box. As we get comfortable with what we see and hear, it becomes clear that the outside world is not that different. The new world then becomes a box itself. We need to continuously get out of the comfort zone, find the new comfort zone and go through the iterations in a never-ending way.

Growing up and spending the youth in China allows me to be deeply inherited with Chinese philosophy and the Eastern way of thinking. Thirty years of American experience provide me a completely different way to look at the world and life. It is not about having it all. It is more about experiencing it all. It is life itself, bit by bit, drop by drop, that makes it all meaningful. At a certain stage of life, it all suddenly starts to make sense. Inside out, upside down. Spiral ascending. It is the Out-Of-Box thinking and sharp reflection that traverse a truly meaningful life. Attempts have been made here to express all these in a concise and articulate manner, in the forms of metrical poems and short essays, in both Chinese and English.

Some of the pieces may contain sharp personal opinions. The beauty is that you do not have to agree with me. And the essence is the thought process itself. The goal here is to inspire new thoughts and new ideas. It is the critical thinking and sharp reflection that I am aiming here. Ultimately this is an Out-Of-Box collection of literacy works after all.