At the beginning of 2023, in the animated short film "Chinese Strange Tan - The Summer of Little Monsters", a little pig demon who left his hometown for his dream poked the hearts of countless migrant workers;
In the face of rising life pressure, the younger generation has begun to gradually change their mode of thinking, and they no longer simply pursue lofty ideals or passively accept the baptism of 996 overtime culture. Instead, they began to explore multiple life paths, whether looking for side hustle opportunities, or returning to their hometowns to start their own businesses, trying to break out of the old box and seek a more practical and stable sense of well-being.
Return to his hometown "Langlang Mountain"
There are thousands of paths in life, returning to your hometown or working hard in the big city? For a long time, this has been an unsolvable question. However, with the faster pace of life, more and more people are making the decision to "flee Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou".
According to Max's research data, the proportion of fresh undergraduates who have studied abroad in the past five years has increased year by year, from 43% in 2018 to 47% in 2022. Behind the macro data are the life choices of countless individuals.
Brother Jun, a senior North Drifter, has been in bustling Beijing for 13 years. From a network administrator to a delivery man, he has tasted the ups and downs of life, seen the glamorous life in the big city, and deeply experienced the hardships behind it.
Countless young people with dreams go out with enthusiasm and hope, eager to find their own world. However, the harsh reality has repeatedly hit a wall. The high cost of living, the fast pace of life and the 35-year-old layoff crisis are like insurmountable mountains, overwhelming them. But just as the saying goes, "First-tier cities can't accommodate the body, and third- and fourth-tier cities can't accommodate the soul", between big cities and hometowns, there are many tired but unwilling people.
When Brother Jun found that his road to the north was becoming more and more difficult, he made up his mind to return to his hometown and began to renovate the old house. Although he lost the prosperity and convenience of the big city, he gained peace of mind and spiritual relaxation. Now he is free to breathe fresh air and enjoy the warmth of his family, which makes his life healthy and fulfilling.
Unlike Brother Jun, Dada chose to return to his family after graduating from college. He took good care of his elderly mother, and also used the proceeds from self-media to install a cochlear implant for his father, who was born deaf and mute. Although his life is not as passionate and prosperous as that of his classmates in the big city, he has many warm moments with his family.
While pursuing their dreams, how to balance physical and mental health and quality of life is a topic that every migrant worker must face. For Brother Jun and Dada, returning to their hometown may be the best answer.
Hometown is not a utopia
People who make a living outside will always yearn for the comfortable and slow life of their hometown, but when they really return to that familiar land, they will find that everything is not as simple as they imagined.
In the hit drama "Hometown, Don't Come to Harm", four girls return to Chengdu from all directions, only to find that the work experience and skills of the big city are not fully applicable here. At the same time, interpersonal relationships have become more complicated, and the rules of interaction between relatives, friends, and neighbors in the hometown are completely different from those in the big cities, and in order to integrate into local life, you must re-examine your relationship with your hometown.
From the perspective of returning to the hometown to start a business, returning to the hometown means stepping into another trivial life, and it also means meeting new challenges.
In 2019, at the age of 30, he returned to his hometown in Sichuan, after serving as a soldier for the past 30 years, moving bricks on construction sites and working in the back kitchen of a restaurant. In the first year, he changed the trajectory of his life, determined not to wander anymore, and returned to his hometown to open a farm.
In people's impression, the farm is an ideal holy place in the world, with green mountains and green waters, cute little animals, no need to squeeze the subway to work every day to check in, no need to be submissive in front of the leader and Party A, leisurely and self-sufficient.
However, there is always a slight gap between the ideal and the reality. In the process of starting a business, Qianqian encountered the infestation of mosquitoes, wasps, mosquitoes, spiders, and ants were everywhere, making people miserable; the weather on the mountains was hot and humid in summer, and when the power outage in Sichuan last year occurred, people were as hot as ants on a hot pot; doing farm work sounds simple, but repairing houses and cultivating the land is also hard, and it is often necessary to brave the sun and rain, making it muddy; in order to make a living, Qianqian devotes himself to the self-media industry, without the shackles of 996 and 007, but he has to roll himself, otherwise the video data is not good and the income is worrying......
Ah Yuan, who is also freelance, faces another dilemma. As a photography enthusiast, he has walked through mountains and rivers, hoping to capture the customs and customs of various places in the lens. Behind the freedom and glamour, Ah Yuan hides an uneasiness in his heart, he often worries about suddenly falling ill during the trip, worrying about missing those long-awaited scenes and moments, worrying that he will not be able to capture the agreed characters and scenes, leaving endless regrets for himself.
In fact, hometown is not the utopia we imagined, and choosing to return to our hometown to start a business or become a freelancer is likely not to make it easy for us to "lie flat". Whether it is a metropolis or a small county, it is just a container of life, and what really makes the flower of life bloom is the heart that loves life. Only when we find what we truly value in our hearts and cannot part with can we make a choice without regrets.
Escape for a short time and encounter the spiritual peach blossom source
A thousand years ago, Tao Yuanming, who was tired of officialdom, lived in seclusion in the fields away from the hustle and bustle, and wrote "The knot is in the human realm, and there is no noise of cars and horses." Ask you how you can be, the heart is far away from itself".
Thousands of years later, when the choices and pressures of life are overwhelming, modern people have also found a way for themselves to buffer their minds - short escape.
Short escape is a compromise between "rolling" and "lying flat" made by modern people, escaping from the established day after day, giving yourself a pure, enjoyable, and only your own moment of relaxation. The destination of the escape can be a corner of the city, or a forest and field that has never been set foot in, and as long as it is completely separated from the mechanical repetition of the everyday, it is possible to regain the enthusiasm of life in a short escape.
At the end of 2023, Jiawei bought a friend's idle estate and became a farmer, providing a spiritual paradise for young people who are experiencing the stress of life. And just a year ago, he was running for a living, just like thousands of migrant workers. It all changed when I got sick at the beginning of the year.
Jiawei used to be a designer, and he stayed up late and worked overtime all year round to form a lesion in his body and had to undergo surgery. During his hospitalization, he unexpectedly found that only in the hospital bed could he calm down and do the little things that he neglected on weekdays - quietly flipping through a book, washing carefully, no longer being distracted by looking at his phone during meals, and working and resting on time. During this time, he pondered a question that he had never paid attention to: What is the most important thing in life?
After witnessing countless life and death in the hospital, Jiawei gradually found the answer: the most important thing in life is not to be tired of running for a few taels of silver, but to be able to eat well, sleep well, have a strong body and a healthy mental state.
I have experienced wind and rain, and I am more willing to hold an umbrella for everyone. After realizing the true meaning of life, Jiawei is determined to provide more young people with a place to heal their souls, so that those who yearn for the peach blossom paradise but cannot escape from the big city for the time being, can also experience slow life and get comfort and strength from nature.
Nothing is as healthy as a roll
Now, Brother Jun's old house has been renovated, and he is greeted with a new chapter of life; Dada's father has gradually adapted to the cochlear implant and can slowly listen to the beautiful sounds of the world like everyone else; an uncle named Brother Hornet has come to the farm ahead, always happy, and his hearty laughter has injected vitality into the farm; Ah Yuan has begun to learn to accept all kinds of regrets on the journey, as long as he tries his best to capture the meaningful things in life, regret is a part of life; and Jiawei's manor is still under repair, and it will become an excellent place for everyone to graze their souls until next spring......
Through them, we may be able to get a glimpse of the living conditions and mental journeys of contemporary young people.
Over the past three years, the global pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges, and many young people have begun to re-examine their lives, health and values.
In the past, mental exhaustion was an "epidemic", in order to pursue worldly success and social recognition, many young people did not hesitate to pay the cost of health, overtime and stay up late for a long time, irregular work and rest, irregular diet, resulting in physical and mental exhaustion;
In the past, the most enviable circle of friends was that so-and-so bought a new car and moved to a new house; now, a physical examination report with no abnormal indicators is enough to make everyone look at them with envy.
Looking back on 2023, topics such as "crispy college students' anti-crispy" and "anti-sudden death package" have exploded, mountain camping and gap year have become everyone's longing lifestyles, "relaxation" and "anti-mental internal friction" have become hot words in the field of psychology, and at the same time, the "2023 Douyin New Paradigm of Healthy Life White Paper" also shows that in recent years, the health literacy level of Chinese urban residents has increased significantly, and topics such as "health preservation", "health science" and "fitness sports" have been widely concerned by more people.
All these trends point to a significant change in young people's attitudes towards life: instead of desperately rolling up, they are beginning to realize the importance of health. When we think deeply, we will find that the most valuable wealth in life is not money, but inner peace and physical health. As advocated by China Spirit, we should put health first in life.
Once, the popular phrase "Although the wine is good, don't be greedy", the advertising slogan made Chinese wine an instant hit among the middle-aged people. And this year, "whether the wine is good or not, look at the ingredient list first" has risen in the social circle of young people. The traditional Chinese medicine formula containing angelica, yam and wolfberry has found spiritual resonance among today's young people who are keen on punk health. With a magical "Wujia Po" BGM, paired with a sentence "Chinese's own whiskey", the strong wine quickly attracted the attention of young people, and even became a new way to socialize.
Nowadays, "Chinese's own whisky" not only grabs the voice in the marketing topic, but also enriches the taste of mixed drinks by matching cola, Sprite, wangzai and other fancy concoctions, from the mind to the taste, all of which are whetted the appetite of young people with "punk health". Therefore, it is logical that strong wine has become the new favorite of young people, and it has become one of the best health products of the new generation.
As the New Year approaches, the atmosphere of the Spring Festival is gradually thickening, and it has come to a high-frequency period of gifts and exchanges. In a time of uncertainty, it's better to give health than to give anything. During the Spring Festival, relatives and friends gather together, raise a glass and drink, and pass on health and happiness to everyone, which is the best wish of the moment.
No matter where we are or what kind of work we do, true stability comes from a healthy and strong body and mind, which is the "certainty" we can hold in the palm of our hands, and it is the exit to all possibilities. In the new year, let us walk hand in hand with China Jinjiu to jointly protect this precious wealth and welcome that stable happiness.