A new book by Open University of China (OUC) student and wheelchair-bound writer Li Ziyan, Longing for the Sky: A Collection of Li Ziyan Works, was recently published by the China Central Radio and TV University Press.
"Having no wings will not stop me from flying. With the wings that sprout from my heart, if I cannot cry, I choose to smile." This is an excerpt from Li Ziyan's monologue. She is a writer who is confined to a wheelchair due to paralysis high in her spine, but who has an unremitting self-improvement spirit and shows great enthusiasm for public welfare undertakings.
At the age of 18 years old, Ziyan lost her “wings” due to illness, at which time she began her career confined to a wheelchair. She continued to pursue her literary dream and kept up with network literature creation. As of today, she has published nearly twenty network full-length novels, a long-length inspirational and emotional fiction with herself as a prototype, entitled Left Hand Love, and five inspirational books for youth, entitled My Future is not a Dream. At the same time, she also insisted on pursuing her university dream and became a student of Changchun School for the Disabled in OUC. She said, "It is the care of my relatives and friends that light up my hope of life. It is the Radio and Television University and the Disabled Persons Federation that has saved my college education dream for 18 years. The public warmth from others teaches me to be thankful and to pay back to society." Because of her zeal for creativity and learning, she insisted on moving forward and pursuing her dreams. She put the ups and downs, joy and gratitude, the dreams and hopes of her life into warm words and thus created a touching masterpiece in prose, Longing for the Sky, A Collection of Li Ziyan Works.
Included in the book are inspirational essays, emotional expressions, and enlightening life experiences. Through the warm text, the most flexible and indestructible strength can be felt. With the theme of "every life involves a story, including you, me, and love", the book tells many thought-provoking stories, introducing readers to moments of reflection on life, raising timely questions about pursuing love and dreams. Each of the words is full of vitality and every sentence warms the heart, which encourages people to move forward and pass happiness and gratitude on to more people. By painting a beautiful mental picture, Ziyan depicts the pain as a mellow past, during which she faced the warmth and coldness of life with a smile, took up life challenges with great courage, and started her most beautiful journey with the words, "With the call of enthusiasm and warmth, although being confined to a wheelchair, the swift found a way out of the thorns. Despite of the pain and the blood, a fervent desire for the sky still burns bright." In her pure style, Ziyan demonstrates the power of dreams and gratitude. Even if we find ourselves strangled by a difficult situation and facing a rough future ahead, we can still pluck up our courage, keep moving forward to pursue our dreams, and heading for happiness.
The editors of the book expect that through Ziyan’s experience, readers will be able to know that life is like a voyage. Whether with joy or pain, we should cherish it and move forward with gratitude, taste the beauty of life with a relaxed mind and a sincere smile, defeating the thorns and overcoming suffering, and thus harvest our own happiness.
By Shao Huiping, OUC