💬 I came across this Zhihu post near the end of my graduate studies, at a time when I was overwhelmed by anxiety. It resonated deeply with me, and I translated it in hopes it might help others who are also feeling lost.
Table of Contents
- Freedom and Emptiness
- Ideal Life vs. Reality
- The Absence and Assignment of Meaning
- Anxiety Has No Answer — Only Acceptance
- Awakening from Illusion
Freedom and Emptiness
没有一种生活方式能彻底解决人的空虚感。 No way of life can completely solve the feeling of emptiness in a person.
自由不是答案，还会放大空虚。 Freedom is not the answer; it can even amplify the emptiness.
很多人以为，辞职自由了我就不焦虑，恋爱了我就不焦虑，赚到钱了我就不焦虑。 Many people think, "If I quit my job and am free, I won't be anxious," "If I'm in a relationship, I won't be anxious," "If I make money, I won't be anxious."
但现实常常是，每一次达成后的兴奋感都会快速消失，新的空虚却会再次升腾。 But the reality is often that the excitement after achieving each goal quickly fades, and a new sense of emptiness rises again.
你辞掉了工作，焦虑没有消失； You quit your job, but the anxiety doesn't disappear;
你搬到了理想城市，却也觉得不过如此； You move to your ideal city, but find it's not all that special;
你拥有了一段关系，却依旧有感觉自己没有被真正理解的时刻。 You're in a relationship, but still feel you're not truly understood.
人的空虚感是一种常态。 A person's sense of emptiness is a constant state.
以兴趣为生，并不会因此热爱每一天； Living by your interests doesn't mean you'll love every day;
建立亲密关系，也不能完全抵御孤独。 Building intimate relationships can't completely fend off loneliness.
当生活不再有外部的强制要求时，自己和世界之间那种无所指的茫然会更加猛烈。 When life no longer has external mandatory requirements, the aimless bewilderment between oneself and the world becomes even more intense.
Ideal Life vs. Reality
所谓理想生活，也许只是审美意义上的幻觉。 The so-called ideal life may just be an aesthetic illusion.
社交媒体有很多理想生活的模板：在京都喝茶写字，在意大利晾晒白衬衫，在巴黎的公寓里跳舞。 Social media has many templates for an ideal life: drinking tea and writing in Kyoto, drying white shirts in Italy, dancing in a Paris apartment.
这类场景之所以迷人，是因为它们有滤镜、有距离。 These scenes are charming because they have filters, and they are at a distance.
但真当你到了这些地方，空虚也会如期而至。 But when you truly get to these places, emptiness will arrive as scheduled.
你发现真正的问题不是我在哪里，而是无论我在哪里，我依然不确定自己是谁。 You discover that the real problem is not where I am, but that no matter where I am, I am still not sure who I am.
人之所以会空虚，不是因为没有好生活，而是因为我们活着本身就要面对一个无法逃避的真相： The reason people feel empty is not because they don't have a good life, but because we have to face an inescapable truth in life itself:
这个世界没有为我们量身定做坚固的意义，我们只能自己去赋予它。 This world has not tailor-made a solid meaning for us; we can only give it meaning ourselves.
The Absence and Assignment of Meaning
而这种赋予的过程，是一个漫长而内在的劳动。 And this process of giving meaning is a long and internal labor.
不是生活方式的选择题，而是叩问自我的开放式问题。 It is not a multiple-choice question of lifestyles, but an open-ended question of questioning the self.
过去我焦虑，是因为我以为一切不安都必须有解法。 In the past, I was anxious because I thought all anxieties must have a solution.
情绪来了要调节，关系坏了要修复，工作焦头烂额要立刻变好。 When emotions come, they need to be regulated; when a relationship goes bad, it needs to be fixed; when work is overwhelming, it needs to get better immediately.
但后来发现，有些问题是没有快速的解决路径的。 But I later discovered that some problems do not have a quick fix.
比如孤独，比如自我怀疑，比如对人生意义的空洞感。 For example, loneliness, self-doubt, and the sense of void about the meaning of life.
你越急着摆脱它，它就越萦绕在你身边。 The more you rush to get rid of it, the more it lingers around you.
你越执着于成为某种人，越容易把现在的自己变得不可接受。 The more you insist on becoming a certain kind of person, the more you make your present self unacceptable.
而你越温柔地看待此刻的自己，反而越容易前行。 And the more gently you look at your present self, the easier it is to move forward.
空虚不是要打败的敌人。 Emptiness is not an enemy to be defeated.
正是因为你不是一个完全麻木的人，所以你才会察觉到这无名的空白。 It is precisely because you are not a completely numb person that you can perceive this nameless void.
而每一个空虚的时刻，都在提示我们，去倾听、去看见、去深入那些没有被清楚的部分。 And every moment of emptiness is a reminder for us to listen, to see, and to go deeper into those parts that are not yet clear.
Anxiety Has No Answer — Only Acceptance
真正停止焦虑的那一刻，不是在得到答案之后，而是在意识到答案本身并不存在。 The moment you truly stop being anxious is not after you get the answer, but when you realize that the answer itself does not exist.
真正的生命力，也不是存在于抵达之后，而就是那种正在挣脱的内在张力。 True vitality does not exist after arrival, but in the internal tension of struggling to break free.
所以后来我开始允许焦虑，并把它当作更新自己的前兆，和创造力的入口。 So later I began to allow anxiety and treat it as a precursor to renewing myself and an entry point for creativity.
不是你选择了对的职业、对的城市、对的人，就能得出安宁的结果。 It's not that choosing the right career, the right city, or the right person will lead to a peaceful result.
不是每一条路都通向明确的意义。 Not every road leads to a clear meaning.
不是人生所有的阶段都有标准动作和完美剧本。 Not all stages of life have standard moves and a perfect script.
我不再期待生活某一天终将安稳。 I no longer expect that life will one day be stable.
我也不再期待有一个人、一个事业、一个选择能彻底消除我的空虚。 I also no longer expect that one person, one career, or one choice can completely eliminate my emptiness.
我开始理解，那种到达彼岸的幻想，就是我们制造焦虑的根源。 I began to understand that the fantasy of reaching the other shore is the source of our anxiety.
Awakening from Illusion
世界在变，人在变，关系在变，身体在变。 The world is changing, people are changing, relationships are changing, and the body is changing.
不安不是我的人生出了错，而是正在流动。 Anxiety is not a mistake in my life; it is the state of being in flow.
当你不再要求谁给你一份满分答卷，你才开始真正地书写你自己的故事。 When you no longer demand a perfect answer sheet from anyone, you truly begin to write your own story.
当你不再抗拒那种未完成、未抵达、未命名的状态，在动荡中建立起自己的重心，你就拥有了和生命同频的自由。 When you no longer resist the state of being unfinished, un-arrived, and unnamed, and establish your own center of gravity in the midst of turmoil, you will have the freedom that is in sync with life.
Translator: Jack
Original: 知乎：在明白什么道理后，你不再焦虑了？
Author: 珞珞如石，一位务实的理想主义者。