I was once at an Ikea with my mother in some obscure suburb and made a comment on how boring the conservative path was, and she replied, “that’s how life is supposed to be.” She basically conceded to my statement. I remember feeling a bit sorry for her. I couldn’t tell if she was trying to impel me to gravitate toward a life like hers (she was) or if she was just saying it as a sort of “that’s life” retort that my father has gotten used to saying whenever he’s losing an argument. Either way, ever since I was little, I’ve had a subtle dissatisfaction with how my family has lived. The materialistic values, the totalitarian focus on the conservative and traditional life, as if there’s no other way to live a fulfilling life.
I see people who choose to have children (I suppose if it’s a genuine love union, then that’s alright) move to these suburban environments away from the excitement of the big city, and I wonder how these individuals ever get any excitement out of life. I felt that when I was still living in Davis, California, a part of me was sort of dying in that environment. It’s hard to say if I would’ve been any happier at a more liberal school like UC Berkeley, but you’d never know.
All in all, I’m grateful to be in the United States, where individuals have the right to think and live the life they deem best for themselves. In China, I would’ve had no other choice, but then again, the temptation to veer off course probably wouldn’t have been there either. Art in China is heavily censored, and I imagine it is reserved only for the few who can afford it and speak well to the communist party. That’s certainly not the case in America.
The Ivory Tower 
Leave a comment