{"id":1513,"date":"2024-12-01T02:12:25","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T02:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lasttimeu.com\/?p=1513"},"modified":"2025-11-21T12:22:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T12:22:34","slug":"dopamine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lasttimeu.com\/en\/dopamine\/","title":{"rendered":"Dopamine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Art is a kind of drug. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lunch<\/a> by My Little Airport<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Growing Up in Fantasies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immersed in Cantopop culture\u2014primarily music and movies\u2014I grew up indulging in fantasies of romance, bromance, and action. These stories were captivating, yet they were ultimately just fiction. I never stopped to view the worlds they depicted through the lens of regulations or laws. Instead, I drowned myself in endless romantic songs, the perfect sanctuary for a teenager tasting the bittersweet flavors of crushes and love for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reality in the Details<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to 2019: my first visit to Hong Kong. What stands out in my memory isn\u2019t the city’s glossy facade, but its air conditioning, humid climate, and unpredictable weather (unlike its future). It was in these unremarkable details that I encountered reality. Reality, I realized, isn\u2019t cinematic. It\u2019s made up of billions of fleeting moments\u2014a glance exchanged with a stranger on the street, the subtle intonation in a conversation. These nuances, impossible to fully capture in fiction, form the true fabric of life. Ironically, they\u2019re the very things tech and capital feverishly strive to replicate and commodity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time, walking those same streets today, I feel comfortably numb, noticing things I had overlooked before. The city and the bookshelf feel different now (for obvious reasons), and perhaps it\u2019s me who has changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Song<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years ago, I was addicted to the song \u4eca\u5bb5\u591a\u73cd\u91cd<\/strong><\/a>, enchanted by Nicole\u2019s beautiful voice and the “ancient” speech<\/a> it carried: \u201cUnprecedented though this moment in history may be, we have the utmost confidence in the abilities and resilience of the Hong Kong people<\/s>.\u201d<\/em> We all know what followed. History keeps marching forward, its relentless certainty unyielding. Each day becomes a piece of the past. Some went to jail, others locked themselves in a shapeless prison of their own. Don\u2019t we all carry a cage of some kind? Is my body the cage, or is it my mind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Night<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show I attended was the best night I\u2019ve had in years. I was fully immersed in the moment. There were no extravagant stage designs, just raw music and songs, delivered in the simplest and most honest way. The awkwardness, the introversion, the sense of being lost\u2014it reflected my own journey of growing up. It was achingly real. I don\u2019t feel the desire or motivation to attend another show anytime soon. For now, I just need to step aside and capture something more meaningful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dopamine Trap<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, a troubling thought lingers. What if all of this\u2014this music, this experience\u2014is just another form of dopamine consumption? What if it\u2019s joy for the sake of joy, a distraction from confronting deeper truths?Am I using these fleeting moments to avoid facing myself? Is this another utopia I\u2019ve created, not to live in but to hide in? Today, it\u2019s easy to get “high”\u2014whether through showbiz, literature, or bizarre entertainment. Each need is precisely targeted, commercialized, and fulfilled. I don\u2019t feel pain anymore, but in the process, I’ve become lonelier than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel like I\u2019ve overconsumed dopamine. Now, it\u2019s time to confront the emptiness. I\u2019ve come to realize it\u2019s better to live in a \u201clow-frequency\u201d world, where the intake and output are deliberate, not dictated by the relentless pace of modern life. It\u2019s not just the difference between analog and digital; it\u2019s about frequency. A slower, steadier rhythm that aligns with who I truly am, rather than what the world demands me to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Art is a kind of drug. Lunch by My Little Airport Growing Up in Fantasies Immersed in Cantopop culture\u2014primarily music and movies\u2014I grew up indulging in fantasies of romance, bromance, and action. These stories were captivating, yet they were ultimately just fiction. I never stopped to view the worlds they depicted through the lens of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-experience"],"yoast_head":"\nDopamine - Last Time<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lasttimeu.com\/en\/dopamine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dopamine - Last Time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Art is a kind of drug. 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