Lin Xi_So, What About Yourself? New Edition_Hong Kong Macau Exclusive

Author: Lin Xi Publisher: Bright Light Publishing Size: 140mm x 210mm Pages: 272 ISBN: 978-988-8884-00-1 Publication Date: May 2024 [Synopsis] Cover calligraphy by Lin Xi Excerpt from the New Preface: "So, what about yourself? You are not so grand as to be a mother's child + a son's father + a friend's confidant + a wife's husband + a subordinate's superior + a superior's subordinate + a just arbiter of right and wrong + a peacemaker in quarrels + a confidant for troubles + an emotional blackmailer and victim But are so small as to be a mere breath in the gaps of human connection. You are the sum of your studies, career, lover, family, the previous generation, the next generation, your ID card, your credit cards, your savings, your debts. Yet those people, those things, those events do not entirely equate to you. So, after having nothing left, how will you face yourself? And what are you then? If I question you like this, please remember to retort: The world plus you minus you does not equal the original world. So, even if you lose yourself, you still have yourself. And you are still yourself." This is a new edition of "So, What About Yourself?", with a newly added preface. "So, what about yourself?" Hearing this seemingly open-ended question, how would you respond? Would you reply: "Myself what? What about myself are you asking about?" And then, the questioner would ask: "Anything is fine, as long as it's about yourself." When you see a house, do you think of a place that shelters you and your loved ones, a space for your life together, or a place that traps you under the roof? "So, what about yourself?" A single question anchors the entire book, prompting you to reflect on yourself. As people grow, their identities and roles multiply. The self, after being linked in a chain of relationships, is compelled or willingly becomes increasingly blurred. Until one day, looking back, you find yourself to be merely a shadow cast on the ground, and the self that was once tangible is no longer clear. As Lin Xi asks in the preface: "What about your own hobbies? If your hobby is loving this family, and if family members have their own preferences, for the sake of harmony, would you also learn to love what they love, and profess that love?" "If his happiness is your happiness? Then your own beliefs, your values, your sense of right and wrong, your private world are all collectivized. What about your personality? A person without a self, no matter how accomplished in the lives of those around them, becomes a mere appendage to other people's lives, doesn't he? If the relationship falters, you become nothing. A healthy relationship can also allow each person to have their own passions, without conflict, and then live out their own lives. To lose oneself is merely to fall into a pit, grinding yourself into malleable clay to fill it for the sake of completeness. If this is you, I can only offer infinite blessings." The self and others, and those you care for, can indeed coexist. When did we forget this? [Author Biography] Lin Xi Graduated from the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Arts, majoring in Translation. He has been an assistant lecturer in the Chinese Department at HKU, an editor at Express News, a creative director/deputy manager of the program department at Asia Television, a creative director/general manager at Music Factory, and head of the advertising creation and production department/creative consultant/consultant at Commercial Radio. He is currently a full-time writer.