From Tomorrow 从明天起...

With 2013 fast approaching (or upon us, depending on when you read this), now is the time to reflect on the happenings of the past year and set your resolutions for the year ahead. A time to change. 

But, what is it about the changing of the date that makes us think that we can suddenly tackle our entrenched flaws? Some people feel a New Year is a new leaf, that it wipes out the misdeeds of the past and makes it easier to begin again. And everyone around is doing it too; ‘next year I will go to the gym’, ‘next year I will be punctual’, or my own personal foible, ‘next year I will not procrastinate’. And so on and so on. 

Such lists are full of aspirations to become the athletic, organised, and efficient self we feel we could be if we ever put in the effort. Yet, I also feel that setting a New Year’s Resolution gives you a few more days to wallow in justified indolence before the clock strikes midnight. It’s okay if you eat that entire left over chocolate cake now, because you’ll totally work it off when your New Year exercise workout begins. 

Rare is a person who notices their own shortcomings and decides to change it, right then and there. It’s far easier to say, in the New Year, or next week, or tomorrow. Tomorrow is a wonderful place where everything gets done, and of course, you’re also more toned with brighter complexion and a new willpower to avoid tiramisu. 

So before you make your resolutions, if you haven’t already, spare a moment and read this poem by Haizi 海子. A very simplistic poem, it too speaks of wanting to reform oneself, to not overcomplicate things, and to prioritise only what matters in life.

Facing the Sea, with Spring Blossoms

From tomorrow, I will be a happy person.

I will feed the horse, chop the wood, and travel around the world.

From tomorrow, I will care about food and vegetables.

I will have a house facing the sea, and in Spring’s warmth the blossoms will open. 

From tomorrow, I will write to every one of my family,

I will tell them I am happy.

As that carefree lightning bolt told me,

I will tell everyone.

I will give every river and every mountain a fond name.

Strangers, I also wish you happiness,

I wish you a glittering future,

I wish you wedded bliss with your sweetheart,

I wish that in this mortal life you obtain happiness.

I only wish to face the sea, where in Spring’s warmth the blossoms will open.

Perhaps the saddest element of this poem is that Haizi two months after penning it, he committed suicide by lying down on train tracks at the age of 25. As with many artists, recognition and fame was only achieved after his death. He is now regarded as one of the most important post cultural revolution poets. As I was given a compilation of Haizi’s prolific poetry for my birthday, one of my resolutions is to translate them for you.