Good morning everyone! Today is November 11, 2021, our Curionesty College’s fourth Independence Day, and we are celebrating the Bar Mitzvahs of three 17 year olds, Wu Han, Wu Yishen, and Zhang Kexin. Thank you all for taking the time to witness it with us.
Many people ask why the curious Bar Mitzvah is at 17 and not 18.
Socrates said that an unreflected life is not worth living.
First of all, we need to realize that there are actually a lot of things that we take for granted that we don’t think hard enough about why it has become what it is today. Not everything is so deserved.
So why is 18 adulthood? Is it the same all over the world? Has it been that way since the beginning of time? Does this setup make sense? If it should be changed, how should it be changed?
Coming of age at 18 is a mark given to us by law and social convention. What does adulthood mean for ourselves?
Legally, we are suddenly adults on the day we turn 18.
But adulthood as a state is not a linear outcome, but a complex process.
We often criticize many adults for not acting like an adult. That’s why writer Wu Zhihong satirizes them as giant babies, and writer Yu Shicun calls them humanoid children. Mr. Peng Xiaohua once translated a book called How to Make Children Adults and Adults. What we at Curionesty College keep reminding you to think about is this question: How to make yourself an adult?
Adulthood means that the law no longer restricts you from smoking, drinking, going to nightclubs, bars, dance clubs, and internet cafes.
Your parents, as your guardians, can also legally stop caring about whether you have any of these worrisome habits or hang out in these worrisome places. Yes, they can stop caring about you, and of course, at the same time, they can stop giving you pocket money.
It is the basic responsibility of every adult to be self-supporting, and the power to govern yourself will really transition from your parents to you.
No one else can control you, but you honestly ask yourself, do you need someone to control you? And who can govern you? The sovereignty to manage you is in your hands, are you up to the job? Are you prepared for it? How are you going to get started?
We all aspired as children to a state of unfettered freedom as adults, but the reality is that freedom may not be as romantic as you think it is to be able to do everything you want to do. Our time and energy are very limited, as are our will and ability. What adulthood will bring you is not the freedom to indulge, but largely, the freedom to choose not to.
The truth of freedom is sometimes closer to the fact that you know there are many things you can do without. And what can be done is to go ahead and invest your full capacity in the limited options you have chosen out of your own peace of mind and settle in. Enter a state of disciplined self-discipline.
This will be a long process of discovery.
I hope that in this process of exploration you will keep your heart and remind yourself to be careful what you say and what you do, so that you do not let your impulses lead you to regret.
I hope that in this quest you will encourage yourself to go higher, to explore places that no one else has ever explored.
You are going to have to make many, many choices to determine where you go.
My hope is that in making your choices, you will keep your heart safe.
Choose to lean in when you can muddle through.
When you can be disingenuous, choose to be honorable.
When you can be complicit, choose to stay out of the mud.
When there are extenuating circumstances, choose to bite the bullet.
To be able to make these decisions, you will have to go through trials. This is not an easy area to muddle through.
So why do we have a Bar Mitzvah at 17?
It’s because we want you to start preparing ahead of time. The countdown to adulthood began long ago and never stops, and you must remind yourself that you must begin to hold yourself to the standards of true adulthood from this day forward to continue learning.
I hope that while you are learning, you will keep your heart.
When you can be uninformed, choose to be humble and ask for guidance.
When you can stop growing, choose to keep learning.
This year, we were fortunate to have Mr. Fan Xiao as our Bar Mitzvah speaker. Mr. Fan Xiao is an experienced learner whom I respect very much. We have had him give lectures at Curious before, and he took us on a full day tour of Jianmen Pass during Chuan Yue. We say that we should read ten thousand volumes of books and travel ten thousand miles, and he is practicing what he preaches, and he really does it.
I often read Mr. Fan Xiao’s public website “River and Mountain Without Words”, and I can see his love for geography between the lines. He was the chief engineer of the Sichuan Geological Corps, and the map of China is a four-dimensional three-dimensional map in his case, and he has personally traveled to many mountains and rivers. He has done in-depth research on the Three Gorges issue and the earthquake issue. He walks in space, also walks in time, trillions of years of geological landscape evolution, paleontological fossil exploration and protection, he is an expert. He looks up at the size of the universe and down at the abundance of categories.
He is a senior writer and photographer for National Geographic and has a unique sense of beauty. He is also not untouched by the world; he has had a column and a long history of soccer commentary.
I hope that all of you will put your love into action as Mr. Fan Xiao did, which is why we invited him.
I hope all of you will keep your hearts and listen carefully to Mr. Fan Xiao’s precious life experience. Finally, I solemnly congratulate the three students on growing up, and I am sure you will become the people you want to be! Thank you all!
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