We often complain that life is too dull, monotonous and boring, and we are eager to live a different life, see different scenery and experience different people.

Someone moved his lips and didn't act all his life; Someone, on impulse, embarked on a novel journey.

Therefore, people who complain keep "the day after tomorrow" in their mouths; People on the journey have turned "the day after tomorrow" into meaningless wandering in different places.

French thinker Michel de Montaigne said: "As we can see, if some idle land is fertile, it will be covered by thousands of useless weeds." People who live carefree and idle will lose their thoughts aimlessly in the wilderness of illusion. "Only madness and fantasy are produced in the turmoil."

-0 1- The cowardice in the bones determines that "change" is only the futility of "the day after tomorrow" and an escape from reality.

"Life is like smoking. The first few mouthfuls are wonderful for you, and you never thought you would finish them one day. And then you start taking it for granted. Then you suddenly find that it's burning out. At this time, you will taste the bitterness. "

This is the hero of Covering the Sky, Potter mosby, who has a profound understanding of life. When he tasted the bitter taste, he set foot on the journey of North Africa, eager to find the meaning of existence in the Sahara desert without being immersed in civilization.

Potter mosby is a typical American public figure. He has a good material life, so he finds something exciting when he has nothing to do, and then euphemistically says: get rid of the shackles of civilization and let life return to its original meaning.

So he took his wife Kit and his wife's lover Turner on a search trip in the Sahara desert.

At the beginning of the trip, Potter's ambition was to change everything in the past and start over in the Sahara desert.

Sometimes, there is a gap between what people want to do and what they actually do.

marry

12' s marriage made Potter and his wife drift away, and he hoped to find his old love by this trip.

However, in the face of the primitive opening of the relationship between men and women in Africa, he flinched. He didn't want to bear the emotional responsibility between husband and wife because of love. He temporarily shelved the idea of repairing marriage on the pretext that "the timing is wrong, the state is not good, and the judgment made is definitely wrong, and things will naturally happen tomorrow or after a while".

work

Potter hasn't worked since his father died. He didn't think it was necessary.

Arriving in Oran, the port city in northern Algeria, the first stop in Africa, he rekindled his idea of writing (because Kit said he was a writer) and decided to continue writing for Kit.

He felt a little embarrassed when he rehearsed the idea in his mind with great interest. He hasn't written for a long time, but he wants to finish a masterpiece, so he can't. Therefore, Potter intends to start with a diary and record what he saw and felt during his trip. But the reality is that Turner pesters Kit all day, and the threesome every day makes him fidgety and difficult to write.

Finally, Potter made up his mind that he would plunge into the desert without leaving a trace. At this point, writing this matter, no one knows its existence except himself.

Looking for the meaning of existence

Porter believed that war and civilization destroyed everything, so he came to the Sahara to find the meaning of being away from civilization and being human.

He stayed in Oran for two days, spent the night with a woman who lived in a tent after drinking and chatting, and then went to Posiv with a mother and son who had just known each other for a day. In Perseus, Potter tried to write a love story with a blind girl, but failed. Then he fled to Ain Corfa, followed by Bunora and Algiers, just to get rid of Turner and Kit.

Potter walked blindly and hurriedly all the way through cities, but never stopped to see and appreciate the significance of their existence.

Some people say that everyone wants to live in peace. Which one will be turned upside down like Alexander and Caesar?

Obviously, Potter mosby is such a person-life is too easy and smooth, and he always wants to make some waves and splash. The only difference is that Alexander and Caesar fought a bloody battle, while Potter dedicated himself to Huangsha.

Having money, not having to work and living a simple life has become the "culprit" of Potter's boredom with the city. The envious words of his friends turned into accusations against him. Therefore, he was sad from his ease and thought that existence was worthless. At least, the existence in a civilized city is worthless.

Cicero, an ancient Roman philosopher, said, "Sorrow does not exist in nature, but in ideas."

Plato said that the world is the shadow of ideas.

Therefore, Potter mosby's grief is a matter of ideas and a shadow cast by the outside world. It comes from urban civilization. For African aborigines, all they have is life, and the sadness of being out of life does not exist at all.

Lu Kanus, an ancient Roman poet, said: If you do nothing, you must think.

There is no doubt that Potter is a spoiled child. He never cherishes what he has. His heart is always in turmoil, full of unrealistic "madness" and "fantasy".

He wants to change, but his natural cowardice makes him lack the courage to change and can only keep looking forward to a better tomorrow; He is eager to find the meaning of existence, but blindly escapes from life, reality, responsibility and emptiness thousands of miles away. His search trip is just a waste of time, a blind rebellion against life, a profligacy that he doesn't know how to cherish, and a childish recklessness that he doesn't know much about.

Covering the Sun is the middle-aged work of the legendary American writer Mr. paul bowles and his first novel. It is said that Bowles wrote only four novels in his life, but he was called "a unique person of that era" by Time magazine.

This book, together with The Outsider and The Unbearable Lightness of Life, is listed as a classic of existentialist literature in the 20th century. However, at the beginning of its construction, it met with cold eyes from publishers. They think it's more like a biography than a novel, and they don't want to take risks for the benefit. In the end, only New Direction Publishing House promised to publish 3,500 copies.

However, it turns out that gold always shines. A good work, even if it is dusty for 70 years, still blooms the light of life.

When Bowles wrote the preface to The Covered Sky in 1998, he wrote at the end of the preface: "Fifty years later, its vitality is stronger than its author."

The famous Italian director bernardo bertolucci once commented: "Covering the sky and the sun is a great novel full of philosophical thoughts and a very modern adventure story."

Outsiders face reality with absurdity and maintain the truth of existence with resistance. The sheltered sky, as a bystander, observes people's self-struggle and every step towards submission when facing the lack of personal value with calm, neutral and firm eyes.

The book covers almost all life problems, such as love, marriage, travel, responsibility, existence value and the meaning of life and death. Bowles is like a cruel law enforcer, tearing off masks, packages and disguises that we can endure in order to survive, and then forcing us to stand naked in front of the mirror so that we can have a clear vision.

American writer byass Wolff said, "The covered sky is like a nightmare; The words in this book are too easy for us to get lost, because there is an unrealistic fear hidden inside. "

Bowles is an existentialist writer who loves to explore people's hesitation, indulgence and depravity after losing their self-worth. He always tells calmly, shows mercy cruelly, and never tries to lend a helping hand to save him until he is cornered.

Byass Wolff said, "This is the power of this novel, which forces us to face the reality-there is an attractive voice hidden in everyone's heart, telling you that efforts to refuse responsibility and choice will bring great freedom."

The three main characters in the novel have three different personalities, but they have one obvious similarity: escape-escape from reality, responsibility and the difficulty of choice.

Potter often wondered: "When I look up at the sky, I often feel that it is some kind of solid, blocking something behind us." He believes that the sky blocks the darkness.

As a shelter, the sky is a kind of balance, a balance that maintains people's normal life, reality and fantasy. Once this balance is broken, people will fall into the abyss of endless nothingness and depravity until they are destroyed.

Bowles showed us all the possible results after breaking the balance:

Porter longed to stay away from civilization, so the author let him sleep in a small hard shell on a high sand mountain in the Sahara-the hospital in Spa; Kit is afraid of constellations, eager to avoid choices and be dominated by others. The author let her wander in the depths of the desert forever, completely losing her mind. Turner is cynical, and the author makes him feel guilty and uneasy, and he has been wandering on the strange road of pursuing Kit.

I read Covering the Sky three times, with a time interval of one year. And every time I read it, it will bring me the same feeling-sadness and fear.

-03- The meaning of existence is written by ourselves.

Human nature, most importantly, can't stand exploration and test. Once it penetrates the "sheltered sky", it is doomed to be fragmented. Bowles put the story in the Sahara desert, which is like a huge mirror in the sky, making people sexually exposed.

Seeing that Bowles showed us the end of life after escaping from reality, responsibility and choice, I suddenly realized that life can actually be a little dull and relaxed. You can find the meaning of existence in life without looking for distant alien yellow sand.

Man is an accidental existence in the universe, and the contingency at the beginning of life can be covered up by self-shaping and self-achievement. In other words, the meaning of existence is written and created by ourselves.

Personally, I agree that thich nhat hanh's mindfulness practice and life are at this moment.

At this moment, that is, at the moment, my life, work and everything that is closely related to me are the meaning of my existence.

I understand the meaning of existence, not far away, just simply enjoy every day, eat when it is time to eat, sleep when it is time to sleep, and drink tea when it is time to drink tea. Focus on everything and every breath in the moment.

Thich nhat hanh once said that when he was a little novice monk, the last thing he liked was washing dishes. But he has to do it. Because this is his life and his responsibility.

He recalled that washing dishes was very unpleasant only when they were not washed. But when he really concentrates on washing dishes, his heart is happy.

He reminded people that if they keep thinking about the unpleasantness of washing dishes, they will be perfunctory or have no intention of starting at all, and will only blindly escape and yearn for snacks and tea. Then, when we really enjoy snacks and tea, we will think about what to do next, so that those delicious snacks and the pleasure of enjoying this food will disappear. Just like Potter mosby, he ran and chased all the way and found nothing.

Life is like washing dishes. We wash dishes just to wash dishes, in order to fully feel every moment when washing dishes. Just as we live only for life itself, we feel the freshness of life and the practical existence as human beings, and we do not escape or resist. So there will be no regrets and regrets.

Time is progressive, the universe is fluid, and our lives are endless in this change. Every minute, our bodies, the land under our feet and the air we breathe are different and brand-new. Therefore, if we can enjoy every day, we are enjoying the novelty and significance of life.