Tonight’s clouds look as though they have been loosely knitted from ragged, charcoal-gray wool. Moonlight, like mercury, streams through the holes and down into the world, lighting mountains and water, people and animals—all so familiar to the moon. I lie alone and silent in an electric car. I have fooled the people passing by, fooled my own brain, and even fooled the moon.
It is my second day living in the car, and I am surprised by how quickly life has fallen back into place—almost too quickly. In a single day, I seem to have grown used to everything, and now I have the presumption to think this is a good life. It is a good life. As I mentioned before, the first advantage of living in a car is the considerable sum I save on rent. That money can go toward a better life, and it also helps me make sense of what I spend. I am someone who loves to do the sums. If I do not think something is worth it, I will not buy it, however cheap it is, let alone if it is expensive. I go back to China at the end of every quarter, so isn’t the rent I pay while I am away just money wasted? The second advantage is that living in a car gets you to bed early and up early. In the morning, sunlight pours in and you wake naturally. At night, once you are back in the car, without a big screen or bright lights to keep you alert, sleepiness soon sets in. The third advantage is that it toughens you up and makes you stronger.
If I can stick with this, what other difficulty in life or work could I not overcome?
要政阳
September 20, 2026, at eleven at night in Santa Clara