In recent years, I've noticed that the minimalist style has been prevalent. Adhering to the concept of "decluttering and detachment", people are subtracting from all aspects of life. There's the so-called "capsule wardrobe" for clothes. In winter, six pieces are enough, and in summer, eight pieces will do. The main colors are black, white, and gray, with colorful accessories used as highlights in the collocation. Make the best use of everything and improve efficiency. Don't spend time and energy on such superficial aspects as clothing, so that one can face study and career more efficiently.

At first glance, it seems quite reasonable, but when you think about it carefully, it doesn't taste that good. This idea has placed aesthetic needs on a pedestal from the very beginning. It seems that pursuing useless beauty will only become a burden on achieving the ultimate goal of life. Indulging in it is seen as a cowardly manifestation of being unable to break away from low-level material desires and being unfit for important responsibilities.

In fact, material desires are one of the normal desires of human beings. There's no need to deliberately magnify or reduce them. Instead, they should be appropriately adjusted based on one's current mood and progress. It's inappropriate to deliberately label everything. Even if a person owns a lot, as long as he isn't trapped by these materials in his heart, there's no problem. On the contrary, if a person owns very little but can't let go of many things, always thinking about them or being reluctant to part with them, that is a state of being trapped by materials. "Not being trapped by the heart" is the best criterion. Even if one owns a lot, being able to let go and cut off is the superior state of mind. We shouldn't judge this matter or even a person by how much material they have. That would be too one-sided and quantitative.

In this world, often when an item or an event has no quantifiable value, it becomes something that is ridiculed as useless. There's a very mature social evaluation system for what's useful and what's useless, which basically boils down to whether it can contribute to the increase in productivity. Anything else is considered useless. For example, both photographers and photography enthusiasts like taking pictures. Photographers make a living from it and are considered to be achieving great things, while enthusiasts who spend a lot of money on it are regarded as being indulging in worthless pursuits and doing useless work. It seems that as long as what one does doesn't help with fame and fortune, it's a waste. Such a clear-cut judgment has made many people rush around all day long and be trapped in pain.

Some of our useless moments are the times when we perceive the world with our whole being. These moments are natural and contain extraordinary wisdom and true beauty.

Zhuangzi talked about the way of dealing with the world in "The Human World": "The trees on the mountain are felled by themselves; the grease is burned by itself. Cinnamon can be eaten, so it is cut down; lacquer can be used, so it is tapped. People all know the use of the useful, but no one knows the use of the useless."

The trees in the mountains that are not of good quality can, on the contrary, be preserved and grow into towering trees. It can be seen that the use of the useless can sometimes turn out to be of great use. Reading some "useless" books, doing some "useless" things, and spending some "useless" time are all to reserve an opportunity to surpass oneself beyond all that is known. Some remarkable changes in life come from such moments.

As I grow older, I attach more and more importance to my inner feelings and can better balance the two poles of inner desires and social requirements. I accept and allow myself to enjoy some useless moments, awaken my most primitive and pure perception, and discover the corners that are ignored and underestimated in daily life. These experiences inject new vitality into what seems to be ordinary days.

I really like a sentence by Wang Xiaobo: "I came to this world not to reproduce. Instead, I came to see how the flowers bloom, how the water flows, how the sun rises, and when the sunset falls. I live in this world, just wanting to understand some truths and encounter some interesting things. Life is an accident, and I'm looking for causes and effects in it."

Whether one becomes a "useful" or "useless" person doesn't matter. What's important is that "not being trapped by the heart" is the best way. If one can be like this, then one can travel and enjoy the sights in this world without much hindrance.