Minimalism in Life & Visual Media 「極簡主義生活」

During my last month in Taiwan, I set out on my bicycle to ride a loop of this island country. I felt the freedom to move at my own pace and stop at my own will, the lightness of being in motion and the dopamine kicks of physical exertion. It was a very liberating feeling living an unrestrained yet minimalist way of life.
「在台灣的最後一月，我去騎腳踏車環島。一路上，我可以隨心所欲停止或再啟我的腳步，因為運動而散發出的多巴胺使我愉快。無拘無束的極簡生活讓我覺得好解放，好自由。」

Apart from the generosity of people who found me a place to stay at night, I relied heavily upon the ubiquitous convenience stores particularly on the west coast of Taiwan. I was living out of a small backpack and a sleeping bag. I spent more than a year out of two backpacks, a few of the items in which still remained unused.
「除了熱情當地人的幫忙以外，我依賴隨處可見的便利店，尤其是在台灣的西岸。我只有個小背包跟睡袋。事實上我住在台灣的一年這段時間裏，我連我的兩個背包裡面的東西也沒有用到。」

Taiwan is a sort of place that makes it easy to lead a minimalist way of life. A large number of public amenities that are available free of cost helps people let go of a lot of unnecessary belongings. On the other hand, in India one would need relatively large number of belongings. I find it a daunting task to go out without a bike.「秉持極簡主義的人很舒適在台灣生活。這裡便利店還有其他的免費的服務讓人不需要很多東西。反過來看，在印度我們需要比較多東西。」

Minimalism forestalls redundancy. Even in visual media a lot of information can be absorbed with little use of visual components. Design has been making use of what we see and what we do on a regular basis to make interfaces appealing. However an artificial system needs to be smart to understand minimal gestures.
「極簡主義避免冗余。在視覺媒體上，大量資訊也得以儲存於非常小零件上。設計也使得我們日常使用上的介面看起來比較友善。人造的系統必須要足以聰明到判別人的微笑的動作。」

The more you know, the less you need.「你的智慧越大需求越小。」

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月亮忘記了 - When the Moon Forgot

今天早上我看完機米的書“月亮忘記了”。

機米的作品介紹個新種的視覺傳媒給我。他的書的內容大部分是畫，可是並不像漫畫。他的畫有比較大的角色。其實畫才是他的作品的亮點，它們的音響很大。

我以前看過他的兩本書，可是這本書的特色是它的特別厲害的想像力。我遇到過很少很感動的奇幻作品，這本書是一本那樣書。

月亮忘記了是個月球跟個小孩的友誼和冒險的故事。它的過程相當未卜。它的結末讓我起雞皮疙瘩。書裡面最後的照片是個人站在田地裡望著天空裡面發光芒的月球。那張照片是很難忘的。

This morning I finished reading Jimmy's book "When the Moon Forgot"

Jimmy's works introduced an alternate form of visual media to me. His books contents are a combination of sketches and text but it's nothing similar to a comic book. His sketches have a bigger role to play. In fact, his sketches are the highlight of his books. They are very powerful.

I have read two of his books before, but this book's special feature is its extraordinary imagination. I have rarely come across works involving fantasy that is poignant too; this book is one of those works.

When the Moon Forgot is the story of friendship and adventures of the moon and a little kid. The course of events in the book is highly unpredictable. Its ending gave me goose bumps. The last picture in the book is of a man standing in the middle of a field staring at the moon spreading its rays around. That image is really unforgettable.

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How I Should Have Traveled in Asia

「2013年5月起我開始旅行看亞洲的社區。我事後越想旅行的方式越想出不同的旅行的方法來」

Starting from May 2013 I moved constantly for months within the communities of Asia. The more I look back at it, the more the number of things I come up with which I should have done differently.

「那時我應該有做個小的自己計畫 －採訪人，查問東南亞洲的販賣人口，發現各種個的人類被那種事刺激到。我不知道為什麼我沒有做此事。我向隨意性投降，於是我捨不得做不舒服的事情。」

I should have had a side project - interviewing people, inquiring into human trafficking in South East Asia, surveying stimulants of emotions in people across various lands or something similar. I don't know why I never did any of the above. I surrendered myself to prevailing spontaneity but it only led to an increased reluctance to embrace discomfort.

「還好我沒有當志工。亞洲的大部分志工機會就是第一世界人的炫耀冒險。」

I am happy I didn't get into any volunteering project. Most volunteering projects in Asia are merely an extended leg of a first world citizen's swashbuckling summer adventure.

「旅行時我的雙極個性一陣一陣別管地害我沮喪。我本來以為這件事的理由是我的不滿足的在新加坡的工作可是其實是我的基因讓我的內啡肽程度上下。」

Throughout the travel, zaps of bipolar sulkiness kept rattling me no matter what I did. I thought it was an upshot of a highly dissatisfactory way of life in Singapore but it was actually some stupid gene in my cells messing with my endorphins needlessly.

「我很愉快我每逢有機會我去跑。」

I am happy that I ran whenever I could.

「我越探險越意識到我的限度。我的目光應該多客觀一點。我的主觀性沒有經驗而且我的主觀有時非生產性。」

The more I opened up, the more I realized my limitations. I should have been more objective in my approach. My subjectivity is mostly inexperienced and works unproductively.

「我花了太多時間觀光。對我重要的事是人類，當地（藝術）社團還有鄉下。宮殿跟博物館難得吸引我。」

I wasted a lot of time on sight-seeing. Things that matter to me while traveling are people, local (art) communities and countryside. Historical palaces and museums rarely attract me.

「我不喜歡懶惰。我開始覺得不快樂。」

I can't sit idle. I start feeling huffish.

「我應該有比較長的爬山探險。」

I should have gone on longer hiking trips in the mountains.

「再有一年不用工作的機會的話，我會做：

1）學泰拳或是一年住在偏僻的少林寺

2）做紀錄片

3）學在個體經濟裡最窮人的角色

4）社會裡兩段接口的工作「我怕這個句子很奇怪」（在另外一篇文章我要描述這件事）

5）假如各校藝術社團

6）練習跑酷」

Things I will do if I get another chance to take a year-long break:

1) Learn Muay Thai for a year/ spend a year in Shaolin temple in a remote hilltown in China

2) Make a documentary

3) Learn about the role of economically poorest sections in microeconomic theory

4) Do a job that interfaces two different sections of society (more on this in a separate post)

5) Join a small art performance group

6) Learn Parkour

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