Off-beat= Pain-hop
An editor of an advertising company, senior editor of a fashion magazine, music producer of TV shows, radio station DJ and a well-known writer, Shiuan Liu has establish himself as a very unique public character indeed. Shiuan admits being very fond of the Taiwanese expression of “Off-beat” (literally, beat-hop), but even more the expression “Pain-hop”. Shiuan Liu: “I admire being able to insert oneself into different environments. With each ‘hop’, we leave our comfort zone and learn to adjust and adapt whatever is around us. This leads to, of course, emotional distress. Even the fact that we have to get of our cozy beds is a ‘pain’.”
From Vice-president to Repeater
Since his father’s great success as the author of Ying Chuang Xiao Yu, Shiuan’s family moved to the US to support his father’s pursuit to become an artist. After years of effort, they finally settled in New York; such a change in life had deep impact upon Shiuan personality: he was too young to master English at that time, yet admitted into an English-speaking school in suburban New York. The teachers did not know how to communicate with him at first. Shiuan had to do his best and “sketch” out the words on the blackboard, and bring it home for his parents to interpret.
▲When Shiuan’s family suddenly moved to New York, he was arranged to go to an English-only school.
▲Shiuan could not even write ABCD. He had to imitate the words on the board like drawings. On the first day of the semester, Shiuan’s parents where informed that he needed a retention in order to catch up with the others. In Taiwan, Shiuan was the vice-president of his class. In the states, he became a repeater.
Setting Higher Goals
Facing such big changes did not defeat him. Shiuan became the first in his class upon graduating from middle school. Yet the teachers had higher expectations for him, and suggested his parents to have Shiuan target better schools in downtown. With such a goal set before him, Shiuan applied and was admitted into one of the most prestigious schools; and was the first in a decade to do so. Although he had started out as someone with no command in English at all, into graduating with top honors, again he was plucked from his comfort zone and thrown into a new setting. The circumstances, and his experience in NYC, had profound impact on his way of thinking. Stuyvesant High was full of child prodigies, and he started to wonder: “Who am I? What makes me special? What do I care about?” These 3 questions were like the beacons of light during his teenage rebellious phase, and by trying to figure them out, Shiuan was able to pay ever more attention to his choices and the consequences of them. He was admitted into Juilliard at the same time, and started his journey of experimenting music.
The Harvard Experience
Upon enter a decent university in the states, there are 3 questions that one must have answers to: 「Who are you? What makes you special? What do you care about?」 They happened to be the 3 questions that Shiuan was always asking himself: “Who am I? What makes me special? What do I care about?” Shiuan was admitted into Harvard without any problem. Upon graduating from Harvard, though, Shiuan decided that he must remove himself from his comfort zone yet again. Shiuan Liu: “We need to be able to disengage on our own accord. No one will really push you to do so, and if we do it ourselves, there will always be distress.” The word “commencement” is used for graduations in the US, and it also means “a new beginning”. Shiuan pondered on this more: I graduated from one of the best universities in the world, yet, but”: “Who am I? What makes me special? What connection do I have with the world? In order to answer this question, he decided to embark on a soul-searching journey and travel around the world.
▲The Harvard campus
Dreams must be realized while you still can
He returned to New York around the time when the 911 event occurred. Shiuan volunteered to take the role of a counselor and help the victim’s families mourn. Shiuan witnessed over a hundred personal accounts during this period, and it suddenly struck him: Plans can be made, but they will always be just ideas until they are actualized. He promised himself to be sure to realize his dreams while he still can! Packing up his suitcase again, he decided to visit ever more corners of the world. Shiuan finally returned to Taiwan, and enrolled into the advertising and music industry; he became also a magazine editor and started living the life he had always admired.
▲The twin towers collapsed during the 911 attack.
The word “play” has multiple meanings in itself. For Shiuan, being “Pain-hop” is a kind of “play”. When you force yourself to step out of a familiar territory, one always suffers. Yet as you go on, you realize that you have gained so much more through this, and look back to see how far you have come. “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.” At the end of his speech, Shiuan quoted Haruki Murakami as to encourage all to leap out of their comfort zones. The process will be painful nevertheless, yet one can choose to control it, or let it control you.
References:
http: //www. presstv. ir/usdetail/260968. html
http: //en. wikipedia. org