WEBVTT 00:25.425 --> 00:26.793 In my opinion, 00:26.793 --> 00:29.429 one's course of life 00:29.429 --> 00:31.798 has a close relationship 00:31.798 --> 00:33.800 with one’s experiences in childhood. 00:34.400 --> 00:37.703 I was a latchkey kid, 00:38.337 --> 00:40.973 every time I went home from school 00:41.174 --> 00:43.176 there was only me at home alone. 00:43.342 --> 00:44.610 I often felt lonely. 00:44.911 --> 00:46.412 When a person feels lonely, 00:46.412 --> 00:48.514 she sets out to seek friends. 00:48.881 --> 00:51.250 At that time, I found two friends 00:51.451 --> 00:53.186 and both were unable to speak. 00:53.453 --> 00:54.520 One is books, 00:54.821 --> 00:55.988 the other is a cat. 00:56.355 --> 00:57.723 I often carried the cat 00:57.723 --> 00:58.991 onto my lap. 00:59.425 --> 01:01.994 And I’d fetch some story books 01:01.994 --> 01:03.262 from home and read them. 01:03.729 --> 01:05.264 During the process, 01:05.264 --> 01:07.800 I’ve forgotten what solitude is. 01:07.934 --> 01:09.101 Through reading, 01:09.101 --> 01:10.436 I enter an expansive 01:10.436 --> 01:12.271 I enter an expansive 01:12.271 --> 01:14.273 realm of literature. 01:14.540 --> 01:16.075 I was so young that 01:16.075 --> 01:17.844 I don’t know the complexity of things 01:18.277 --> 01:21.280 and I vowed to become a writer in the future. 01:21.681 --> 01:23.382 And I’ve worked toward the path 01:23.382 --> 01:25.451 of becoming a writer. 01:31.757 --> 01:33.759 My parents thought 01:34.126 --> 01:35.394 majoring in Chinese 01:35.394 --> 01:36.295 would have difficulties 01:36.295 --> 01:38.564 in finding jobs after graduating from school. 01:38.965 --> 01:40.967 So, they wanted me to major in law or business. 01:41.300 --> 01:42.134 However, 01:42.134 --> 01:43.302 I still thought that 01:43.569 --> 01:45.304 I should be true to myself. 01:45.671 --> 01:48.307 On an occasion I read it on book that 01:48.307 --> 01:50.309 a German philosopher, 01:50.309 --> 01:51.477 Immanuel Kant 01:51.477 --> 01:52.311 who once wrote: 01:52.411 --> 01:54.847 the most beautiful thing on earth 01:55.047 --> 01:56.516 is the starlight in sky 01:56.516 --> 01:59.585 and the truth deep down human’s mind. 02:00.052 --> 02:02.421 At that time, I asked myself 02:02.421 --> 02:05.157 what’s my deepest desire. 02:05.591 --> 02:07.226 That is, to be a writer 02:07.226 --> 02:09.228 and to receive training in Chinese department. 02:09.595 --> 02:12.865 Then I spent times communicating with my parents. 02:13.366 --> 02:15.234 They finally agreed to let me major in Chinese. 02:18.504 --> 02:19.171 I personally think 02:19.171 --> 02:21.807 that I am not a very capable person 02:22.174 --> 02:23.876 nor a smart one. 02:24.076 --> 02:24.810 But, 02:24.810 --> 02:26.812 I think that my strength lies in 02:26.812 --> 02:28.614 creative writing. 02:29.015 --> 02:30.449 I’m sensitive to words. 02:30.883 --> 02:32.451 I achieve personal accomplishment 02:32.451 --> 02:34.987 through writing. 02:35.521 --> 02:36.622 In my writing, 02:36.622 --> 02:38.624 I put my personalities, 02:39.191 --> 02:40.826 my faith, 02:40.826 --> 02:42.361 or my observation and reflection to this world 02:42.828 --> 02:43.729 into words. 02:44.096 --> 02:46.098 Maybe my writings will 02:46.098 --> 02:47.934 serve a purpose to this world. 03:53.899 --> 03:55.534 As a writer, 03:55.534 --> 03:57.703 I ponder on the meaning of writing 03:57.703 --> 03:58.904 in the process 03:59.338 --> 04:01.440 of creatin a work. 04:02.341 --> 04:03.442 And naturally I’d think of 04:03.609 --> 04:05.544 what Han Yu once wrote: 04:05.544 --> 04:07.013 “Writings are for conveying truth.” 04:07.279 --> 04:10.483 That is how Han Yu see the value in creative writing. 04:11.183 --> 04:12.084 And I, 04:12.084 --> 04:14.086 expand the question further by asking myself 04:14.120 --> 04:16.122 what kind of truth I want to convey. 04:16.656 --> 04:18.658 I have been pondering on this for quite a while. 04:18.658 --> 04:19.925 Then, it so happened that 04:20.092 --> 04:23.362 I was thinking about the issue of stray pets. 04:23.562 --> 04:25.197 At that moment, 04:25.297 --> 04:26.198 I realize 04:26.832 --> 04:28.868 that the truth I want to convey 04:29.001 --> 04:31.270 is the truth of caring 04:31.504 --> 04:33.105 that people need to 04:33.105 --> 04:35.474 jump out of their self-centered point of view 04:36.008 --> 04:38.310 and care more about others around them 04:38.310 --> 04:41.681 as well as the world around them. 04:49.488 --> 04:51.057 As I start writing, 04:51.057 --> 04:52.758 which is an activity that requires little action 04:53.392 --> 04:56.128 I feel that I need some exercises 04:56.128 --> 04:57.763 to create a balance. 04:58.230 --> 04:59.331 In the end, I choose 04:59.598 --> 05:02.768 an activity that human being is born to do. 05:03.035 --> 05:03.703 That is, running. 05:05.971 --> 05:07.773 In fact, it takes strict discipline 05:08.040 --> 05:10.609 to finish a marathon. 05:10.710 --> 05:12.078 That discipline will 05:12.511 --> 05:15.715 extend to realms in life. 05:15.915 --> 05:16.982 Sometimes when I encounter obstacles 05:17.416 --> 05:18.617 in writing, 05:18.718 --> 05:20.720 or when I feel depressed about something 05:21.153 --> 05:22.188 back in those day 05:22.188 --> 05:23.923 when I was younger, 05:23.923 --> 05:24.924 I’d feel 05:25.157 --> 05:26.792 anxious, unsettled, 05:27.259 --> 05:29.261 or even a sense of frustration. 05:29.428 --> 05:30.796 But now, 05:30.796 --> 05:31.464 I consider things 05:31.464 --> 05:32.431 I consider things 05:32.431 --> 05:36.202 in a point of view and principle I apply in running a marathon. 05:36.268 --> 05:37.536 I’d tell myself that 05:37.536 --> 05:38.637 this kind of depressed feeling 05:38.637 --> 05:41.006 is just a transient state, 05:41.540 --> 05:43.175 if I hang in there, 05:43.442 --> 05:44.477 and make an effort 05:44.810 --> 05:46.378 to move forward 05:46.645 --> 05:48.647 that depressed feeling will soon be overcome. 05:48.748 --> 05:49.648 And then, 05:49.648 --> 05:50.382 it is true 05:50.382 --> 05:53.085 that the difficulty has passed. 05:55.554 --> 05:57.022 I should put it this way, 05:57.022 --> 05:58.724 now I view everything 05:58.924 --> 06:00.826 in a point of view of a marathon. 06:01.093 --> 06:02.561 I view 06:02.661 --> 06:04.130 my writing as a 06:04.363 --> 06:06.132 literary marathon. 06:06.298 --> 06:08.134 And I hope that 06:08.200 --> 06:10.469 my life is a marathon of love and hope. 06:11.036 --> 06:11.971 That is, 06:12.104 --> 06:13.939 when you find your goal 06:13.939 --> 06:15.775 you have to stick to it 06:15.775 --> 06:17.042 and continue to move forward. 06:22.214 --> 06:24.049 Literary writing to me 06:24.049 --> 06:24.950 is a way 06:24.950 --> 06:28.754 that I manage to settle myself physically and spiritually. 06:29.155 --> 06:30.122 That is to say, 06:30.489 --> 06:32.124 through creative work 06:32.525 --> 06:34.894 I fulfill my childhood dream 06:35.327 --> 06:36.428 and I also fulfill 06:36.428 --> 06:38.798 the responsibility of being a human being 06:38.798 --> 06:40.866 who lives in this world.