The Art of Doing Nothing in China现实世界:在中国什么都不做的艺术

When I left behind the hallowed halls of academia and was thrust into the “real world” to teach English in China, I received the well-wishes of family and the wisdom imparted from professors and friends. But no one teaches you how to be, well, alone.

In college I was so busy that I had to schedule time to eat. When I wasn’t in class, I was interning, in club meetings or hanging out with friends. But I loved the tight schedule. I thrived on this.

When I moved to China, I was busy at first as I learned the ropes of being an English language teacher but I soon began to realize that my life would never continue the way it had during college.

At first I was angry. I wanted to be busy and surrounded by friends. I wanted to be consumed by numerous projects and activities. Instead, I was the only foreign teacher at my school and (at the time) knew only two other people where I lived. Although I loved the kids and the local teachers, I found that I lacked the comfort of always having a close friend. I had a lot of alone time and I didn’t know what to do with it.

Since then, as I learned to deal with my frustrations, I’ve actually learned how to appreciate the down time, and learned a little more about happiness. How do you measure happiness? How do you define it?

In China, I’ve learned that simplicity is an integral part of happiness: reading a good book, cooking myself a great meal, taking a walk near the lake, or on special occasions, getting a cup of coffee at Starbucks (it’s a luxury in China) and reading the paper. In a way, I’ve discovered what Elizabeth Gilbert discovered in Italy: The art of doing nothing.

Just because I no longer plan every hour of my day like in college, it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be fulfilled. I’ve since surprised myself and learned that I can make myself happy in any situation I find myself and it begins with doing nothing.

当我离开神圣的学术殿堂，被推到“真实世界”在中国教英语时，我收到了家里的美好祝愿以及教授和朋友们给予的一些智慧建议。但是，没有人教你如何独自一人过得好。

在大学里我非常忙，以至于不得不安排时间吃饭。当我不在上课时，我在实习，在俱乐部聚会或与朋友外出。但我喜欢紧凑的安排。我因此成长。

当我移居到中国，摸索到做英语语言老师的门道时，我起初很忙碌，但我很快就开始意识到，我的生活再也不会延续在大学期间的模式。
起初，我很生气。我希望忙碌，有朋友围绕四周。我想时间被大量的项目和活动给消耗掉。恰恰相反，我是学校唯一的外籍教师而且（当时）在我住的地方只认识两个人。虽然我喜欢孩子们和当地的老师，但我发现我缺少始终有一个亲密朋友的那种安慰。我有很多独处的时间，我不知道用它做什么。
从那时起，当我学会了如何应对我的挫折，我实际上已经学会了如何去欣赏低落的阶段，并对幸福认识得更多一点。你如何衡量幸福？你如何定义它呢？
在中国，我已经认识到简单是幸福的一个主要的部分：读一本好书，给自己做一顿美味佳肴，在湖边散步，或在特别的时刻，在星巴克喝一杯咖啡（这在中国是一种奢侈）和读报纸。在某种程度上，我发现了伊丽莎白·吉尔伯特在意大利的发现：什么都不做的艺术。

仅仅因为我不再像在大学里一样安排我一天的每一个小时，这并不意味着我不会幸福。自从那以后我自己都感到惊讶，并且意识到我可以在自己找到的任何情境下让自己快乐，从什么也不做开始。