Day 362 - Knitter

Thought of the day: Jasmine had been practicing piano duets for an upcoming multi-piano festival. Her teacher made a CD with all her songs so she could practice with the music at home. One song was particularly challenging for her and she had been struggling with it for days. Today she finally got it through without making a single mistake. She was ecstatic! It was certainly a good thing that she could finally play this song as her audition was coming up soon. But a more important lesson she learned was that with persistent effort she could improve and achieve what might seem impossible just a moment ago. It was a lesson worth learning at any age.

Photo of the day:

I ran into a group of women outside of a cafe knitting and chatting under the sun. Apparently they do this every week. What a wonderful tradition to have! They all seemed to be pretty good at knitting - I guess it is one of those things you get better at with a lot of practice too.

Day 309 - Keynote Speaker

Thought of the day: I attended a YWCA luncheon today with some wonderful women from our neighborhood.  It was nice to catch up with old friends and meet up with some new ones.  We had an inspiring keynote speaker and two women served by YWCA telling touching stories of their personal journeys.  The speakers were all very frank, articulate and their speeches were thought-provoking.  It was an all-women event and I could feel a tangible, emotional connection among the audience and between the audience and the speakers. After spending years in a male dominated tech world, I have rediscovered and enjoyed the companionship of some amazing female friends in the past few years.  Our friendships are comforting, supportive and fun.  In a way, I think I'm trying to make up for what I have missed in the earlier part of my life. Today's lunch reminded me yet again of the power of our collective being. Together, we can overcome obstacles that life throws our way. Together, we can achieve what we can't achieve alone, namely, the finding of truth and the attainment of happiness.

Photo of the day:

Robyn O'Brien, our inspiring speaker and the author of "The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It".  Reading her book had changed our family's diet in a fundamental way and we are all very appreciative of her efforts.

Day 271 - Connection

Thought of the day: This afternoon, I watched a young woman conversing with an elderly woman in a cafe.  Judging from their appearances, they must be at least two generations apart. The young woman was describing her summer experiences and her plans in a lively and animated manner, while the older woman was listening intentively and occasionally injecting her comments in a soft voice. They were both fully absorbed in the conversation.  It was fascinating to watch as you don't see this taking place very often.  The Americans, for the most part, tend to socialize with people of similar ages.  Kids play with same age kids, young mothers socialize with young mothers, and the retirees tend to keep to each other.  It's not surprising that people at the similar stage of life would find the companionship of each other both convenient and comforting, as they do similar things and face similar challenges.  However, regardless of the age difference, we often have more in common than not.  In fact, precisely because we are at different stages of life, we have a lot to share with and learn from each other.  It's a pity that people don't socialize more across the age boundaries. We can easily become the prisoners of our age, profession, race, social status and an assortment of other things that made up our identity. Watching the exchanges between these two women in the cafe reminded me of what we have to lose when we willingly imprison ourselves in our daily lives instead of reaching out to people who are "not like us".

Photo of the day:

Zhou Mama carrying a patron's baby girl in her arms, while the three women in "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" watched on.  There is a harmony and connection displayed in this photo that is easier to sense than to describe.

Day 160 - Sisters

Thought of the day: Tonight I watched "Courage Under Fire" the n-th time.  It was a very well-made movie about a courageous female commander who was accused of being a coward by one of the soldiers.  She eventually had her name cleared and received the Medal of Honor posthumously.  Co-incidently, there was also a news segment on TV about the ongoing class action suit in the Supreme Court against Walmart for gender-based discrimination.  Even in this day and age, discrimination and abuse against women are still rampant around the globe.  According to statistics released by the Department of Labor, women in the US are suffering from unequal pay.  However, the discrimination here is often subtle as the law and public opinions are against it.  Subtle discrimination is hard to fight and can be very frustrating, but around the world, women suffer from far more blatant abuses that deprive them the right to work, to vote, to decide where to go, who to marry, among other things.  In some countries, the discrimination is sponsored, or at least condoned, by the government.  In others, it could be a cultural "thing" that has been going on for millenniums.  Unless something is actively being done against it, inequality won't just go away on its own as it's unlikely for anyone to give up power voluntarily to a disadvantaged group.  However, there is hope.  I heard that women in Northern Europe, especially in Sweden, enjoy more equal rights than their counterparts elsewhere.  I would be curious to find out what they did to get there.

Photo of the day:

Sisters playing on a toy truck - Lila adores her big sister.  I sure wish that they would not have to endure gender based inequality when they grow up.