The end of every year may be when people feel most restless. If life and everything else have gone well that year, that is one thing. But what about those for whom things have not gone well? At year's end, it all becomes plain to see. 2012 really was a rather muddled year, with many things going less well than I hoped. I take a relatively rational view of success and failure. Looking at my own circumstances, I count among the relatively outstanding people out of China's countless millions. When I look at my peers, I can hardly tell what sort of lives they are living. All right, all right, let us not get too self-absorbed. The Ganwen blog records the many sides of my life, without restraint.

Compared with the impulsiveness of youth, the older I get, the greater my inner temper seems to become. Yet I can tolerate more and generously let go of many things. As I grow older, I feel increasingly open—in my thoughts, my body, and my words. At every age I have had goals: for love, for my career, for my future, for honour. Now I am gradually growing calmer. It is about living what I consider a good life! I am no hero, just an ordinary person looking at the world through an ordinary person's perspective. Staying alive is not easy; let us encourage one another.

An article with no structure, written as the thoughts come: this is Wen Gan's journal.