Why I Always Lose Interest After Three Minutes, Yet Some Things Always Come Back

I am not sure whether this is just my personality, or the imprint of family education, but I have always been this way: I throw myself toward new things, and once the freshness fades, my interest evaporates with it. Maybe I belong to the species of “search engine” — always indexing, rarely going deep.

There is an old Chinese saying: “knowing a little of everything, but nothing firmly.” English has a corresponding proverb too: Jack of all trades, master of none. Yes, that is exactly me.

At the same time, I know very well the strengths and weaknesses of the education I received. So for many years, I have been looking for an answer: What do I actually like? What am I good at? Or, to put it another way — what is my talent, really? I deliberately avoid the word “passion,” because my feelings are not easily lit.

So this “three-minute enthusiasm” is a curse I have to break.

Fortunately, after many years of trial and error, the boomerang has finally returned. I picked up my brushes again, pulled out my swimsuit again, and sometimes even returned to calligraphy brushes and drumsticks. I feel that somewhere deep in my life, something is burning again — a spark, not a fire, but enough.

I hope these things I have found my way back to will stay with me for the rest of my life.