I’m sitting on the Boat at the Pu Dong ferries, on its way to Pu Xi. A gentle fog envelopes the surrounding water, turning the skyscrapers that we pass into abstract jokes fading into the distance and the water itself into pale white sheets broken only slightly by the turbulence of our passing. Earlier, we had a spitting of rain, a last lingering reminder that winter gives up its presence only very reluctantly, even into these first days of March.
I usually enjoy these minutes on the ferry, for all that they add considerably to the complexity of my going across. They are times for reflection, for helping to put things into perspective. Reflection, and the time for it, is becoming a rare commodity in this world. We move at “Internet Speeds”, twenty-four hours a day, caught up in the big now, yet in all of our trumpeting of technological advance we often lose sight of the fact that the truly profound discoveries and realizations of humanity did not come from the middle manager, from the hyperactive programmer or the driven politician. Instead, they came from people who sacrificed some or all of their worldly drive for goods and status in favor of spending time in reflection, for taking the time to truly think.
Yup, free thinking makes the wise man wiser, but the lonely one even more lonely. Sometimes I feel sorrow seeing the lovers on the boat because the jealousy of their being together. However, sex and thinking are about the only things you can enjoy without being good at. So, I choose to keep going once a month.
And you wonder why in English? I just want to bother you so you guys won’t read through to find out where I am going.
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