In the past, to study ocean currents in more confined sea areas with greater precision, scientists utilized an object imbued with a sense of romanticism—the drift bottle. Thousands of these bottles were cast into the sea at different locations. Each bottle’s glass edge bore notices written in several languages, instructing finders to break the bottle and read the instructions inside, thereby contributing to research on the direction and speed of ocean currents. The drifting bottle not only embodied humanity’s quest to explore the unknown but also symbolized a state of drifting governed by natural forces. This phenomenon of drifting reminds me of another example in nature: the floating characteristics of plankton.

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Plankton, defined as tiny organisms suspended in water, are completely dependent on ocean currents and their environment to determine their movements due to their lack of sufficient mobility. Among the many unsolved mysteries in the natural history of plankton, one of the most perplexing is vertical migration. Many plankton rise to the surface at night to feed and descend to deeper waters during the day. This survival strategy is both passive and highly dynamic, reflecting their delicate balance in adapting to environmental changes.

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In modern society, the human condition shares certain similarities with the floating characteristics of plankton. Zygmunt Bauman, in his theory of “liquid modernity,” describes a world where almost nothing is predetermined, and virtually nothing is unchangeable. Society maintains a liquid and fluid state, which brings about uncertainty, accompanied by feelings of ignorance (inability to predict what will happen), helplessness (inability to prevent it from happening), and a vague, pervasive unease. This unease manifests as an anxious search for a foundation while despairing over its absence. Modern individuals are forced to embrace a state of being directionless, embarking on journeys without knowing their destination or the duration of their travel, fraught with confusion and disorientation.

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We continuously “think travel”—that is, the act of departing from familiar places toward the unknown. Yet this journey also entails embracing the risks, joys, and dangers of the “unknown,” including the possibility of no return. Michel Maffesoli deepens this perspective: we are “fragile individuals” confronting a “porous reality,” where only those who are fluid, ambiguous, and adaptable can survive in a constantly changing state. He argues that modern individuals must perpetually detach from themselves, daily reaffirming and reconfiguring their state of “being in motion.” This dynamic adjustment to drift and fluidity resonates with the characteristics of plankton, which follow ocean currents while performing their daily vertical migrations. Their existence is dynamic, transient, and ever-changing, always seeking balance in motion.

Sean Carroll, in The Big Picture, elucidates the essence of life. He posits that individuals are small and ephemeral beings. Life is a process, not a static entity, and like a fleeting moment, it disappears in the blink of an eye. From the drifting bottle to plankton, and then to the state of drifting in modernity, these concepts collectively form the foundation of the research behind Drifting Poetry.