Unit 1, book III.

The topic of this unit is Changes in the Way We Live, with two articles: Text A, Mr. Doherty Builds His Dream Life; Text B, American Family Life: The Changing Picture

With urbanization, globalization, scientific and technological advancement, etc. the way we live is changing rapidly. Some changes are favorable but others are not so. Cities are usually a preferred place to live in for young people, but there are people who choose the old-fashioned simple, leisured, unsophisticated, close-to-nature way of life, such as this guy in the American film,

电影《荒野生存》(从 in to the wild搜; 时间，01:57)

行善行之事

修身养性 怡情山水 泛舟书海 唱游天地

邻里坊间 其乐陶陶

这就是我理想的幸福

而最重要的是 有你为伴

还有孩子

若得如此 夫复何求？

Film：“Into the Wild”

And work which one hopes may be of some use

Then rest, nature, books, music,

Love for one’s neighbor.

Such is my idea of happiness.

And then, on top of all that, you for a mate.

And children perhaps.

What more can the heart of a man desire?

We can keep from pondering such question:

How has our way of life changed? What is your dream life? Does a dream life mean an easy or difficult way of life? Why? What is your plan to make your dream life come true?  

The way of life of our own choice has a personal significance in it. It is what gives us value to this life. After we make the decision, we will enjoy the fruit and face the challenges, as well.  On  page 11, we have the poem, “The Road Not Taken”, here we see what way of life the famous American poet Robert Frost has chosen, and what turns out for him. The last stanza:

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

He chose the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference.

Life will change. In Chinese, you may know “Book of Changes——i ching ” and from ancient times, we have realized that the only thing in the world that doesn’t change is changing.

Here are some nice quotations in our book for us to meditate:

Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes. —— J. W. Von Goethe

In a progressive country change is constant; change is inevitable. ——B. Disraeli

I have changed in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind.——Emily Bronte

In text A of this unit, Mr. Doherty and his family change their place of living; they moved from the city to the countryside: After years of frustration with city and suburban living, my wife Sandy and I have finally found contentment here in the city.”

Does having their dreamed life mean that it is an easy life, with less work and more enjoyment? More time for social life? More conveniences? More money to spend? Extravagant Christmas? No. Do you think they are stupid? Why is this life still preferable?

In the first paragraph, the writer tells us that there are two things that he has always wanted to do: write and live on a farm; and he and his wife finally found contentment in the country.

Why are they contented with their life in the country? They enjoyed a self-reliant sort of life and a satisfying life, too, though the good life can get pretty tough. In very cold and warm weather, they had to haul firewood and do farm work. The man has to work long hours every day and the wife also pursues a demanding schedule. The writers summarizes their life with this sentence: There is, as the old saying goes, no rest for the wicked on a place like this—and not much for the virtuous either.

Their hard work is paid off: the unforgettable first winter: a sharp contrast, tough harsh outside, they kept warm inside and loved every minute of it; the two floods of the first spring: one overflowing of the river, the other swamping them under wave after wave of produce; the next year they grew even more food and managed to get through the winter on firewood that was mostly from their own trees and only 100 gallons of heating oil.

Up to now, they enjoyed their country life so much that the writer decided to give up his job and start to freelance. The timing was terrible but they thought there would never be a better time, and so — with his employer’s blessings and half a year’s pay in accumulated benefits — off he went.

How was he doing when freelancing? There have been a few anxious moments since then, but on balance things had gone much better than they had think they had any right to expect. He ventured to different places and wrote for various magazines.

He wasn’t making anywhere near as much as he did when he was employed full time, but he thought they didn’t need much either. They were getting by financially.

They were able to make up the difference in income by cutting back without appreciably lowering their standard of living.

Many people including the Chinese talk about going to the country to live, but they don’t want to make a living as farmers. They just want to enjoy the exterior beauty of the countryside, and are unable to bear the hardships of cultivating the crops, as it takes a couple of special qualities to live the way they do. One is tolerance for solitude, and the other requirement is energy— a lot of it.

It is anybody’s guess how much longer they’ll have enough energy to stay on there. The writer tells us that when the time comes, they’ll leave with a feeling of sorrow but also with a sense of pride at what they have been able to accomplish. Though they should make a profit on the sale of the place, they didn’t move to the country primarily to earn money. They went because they wanted to improve the quality of their lives. When he watched Emily collecting eggs in the evening, fishing with Jim on the river or enjoy an old-fashioned picnic in the orchard with the entire family, he knew they had found just what they had been looking for.

We find people in this article have a similar view on ideal life: simplicity, closeness to nature, carefree, and relaxed亲近自然，返璞归真，轻松自在

Such life did not come easily or naturally; they had to do so much work. But Jerome Klapka Jerome, a British humorist said, “It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.”

Are they special people who are so different from us that they only like working? No, like us, they take work this way: “I do not like work – no man does – but I like what is in the work – the chance to find yourself.” (J. Conrad)

We also agree with this saying, “Work has a bitter root, but sweet fruit” , which reminds me of an old saying from my neighbor, “It’s not too bad to experience hardship while young, but it is too bad to be poor at old age. 不怕少来苦，就怕老来穷。”At old age, if one is left uncared for, the society is to blame for not establishing a system to support the old; But when one is in spiritual poverty at old age, one is most pitiful. So don’t shun from hard work that not only offers you chances to get a well-paid job, but also adds to quality of life.

This article also clues us to wonder what the meaning of life is. What is to be attained in life?

Sometimes, the changes may be unbearable, but it is such change that completes us spiritually. Here is a bit from “Down the Rabbit Hole”《兔子洞到底有多深》:

我为什么在这里，我死后会怎样？我要去哪？一旦开始问这些问题，让他们有一种快要精神崩溃的感觉。实际上，我们所经历的，所做的事情，是自己原有的生活观和世界观开始变得四分五裂，这也是为什么只有少数人会走上这条路的原因，因为它使人们深感不安，我们生活中原有的一切框架都被打破。就像崩溃后的一场重建，一次破茧重生。有时这个过程会让人相当尴尬。从过去相对稳定的状态，变到后来拥有自控的另一个稳定状态并不是件容易的事情，与之相伴而来的会有一种内心的混乱。很多人挺不过这个混乱过程，最终放弃了改变的过程。转回到依赖过去那种虚幻的安全感，选择一条有条不紊的生活道路，直至安详离开人世。但是这样的话，在我们称之为生命的这个实验过程中，他们并没有获得精神上的提升。

我的书本是巨大书本中的一页，在其中，我们永远都会是我们自己，但是一直，那些内在的、固有的，野心勃勃的追求，会不断让我们如坐针毡。它会驱使我们，从枯燥无聊的自我反省、自我憎恨中，变为追求新梦想的自我创新。我们都是野心勃勃的神。

Fortunately, there is never a definite answer to life. Each person is entitled an opportunity to change, and to discover what life is to him or her.