Learning occurs independent of teaching

Last time I was here, I was in quite the vacation funk. Since then, I’ve gotten out of it. Don’t get me wrong – I’d love to be back in Belize, but it’s been so busy that I haven’t had much time to think about it. I’ve been busy learning.

Last Thursday, I got the chance to attend TEDx at my university campus. TEDxCPP to be exact. We had a line up of about 10 speakers, and each came with their own passion, key take aways, and uniqueness. Many of them spoke of their vulnerability, and many of their stories and lessons derived from their own upbringing. That’s how all good stories come about, from our own risk taking and learning. All my lessons I’ve learned in life are tied in with great stories. One day I’ll tell you some of them, especially the one where I was paid to deliver a book.

After the TEDx talks, I was inspired to watch a documentary I’ve been wanting to watch for a while- Crossing Borders. A feature documentary that follows four Moroccan and four American university students as they travel through Morocco, learn about one another, and discover themselves more than they ever would’ve thought. With vulnerable discussions about stereotypes, religion, and difficult subjects, they break down the barriers that the media have set on them in regards to their views of one another.

An empowering film about the power of cross-cultural interaction, the importance of intercultural empathy and critical thinking skills, as well as the necessity to initiate dialogues among different cultures.

Why should you spend 70 mins to watch this? Because as the Director’s statement states: “The relationship between the Muslim and the Western worlds have been cast as a “clash of cultures:” a war between civilizations in which one is destined to prevail over the other. But is this so? What are the real attitudes and viewpoints of ordinary Americans and ordinary Muslims?” 

Needless to say, almost a week later, I’m still pondering the questions that were asked. I will definitely watch it again in the future. In a time where we seem to be putting more and more invisible walls between cultures, Crossing Borders reminds us that we are more alike than we were taught to think we are. It reminds us that through humor, honesty and a willingness to be challenged, we can be closer to one another, and break down the barriers of hidden stereotypes.

Post Vacation Funk

I had the incredible opportunity last week to travel to Belize (and a little bit of Guatemala) with my boyfriend for a week. On the itinerary was a mixture of adventure exploration and also “do nothing” activities. I’ll have to spend more time on another post telling you more about my trip, what we did, where we stayed, and show you more photos. Despite having so many activities we wanted to do yet didn’t get to, we definitely made the most of our week and did not tire ourselves as much as we expected ourselves to.

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We came back state side about two days ago. In addition to the jetlag, the post vacation funk has definitely come at full force. Coming from a week being surrounded by fellow travelers, staying in hostels and lodges where there is always something to do or someone to talk to- to my own room in Pomona where I wake up to a quiet house, where the only noise I hear all day could be the sound of my alarm- is quite alarming.

I’ve written about this before but it’s a thought that comes back to my mind on a regular basis. Being a social creature. I desire the sound of my parents walking around bright and early in the morning sometimes, the sound of our bread maker going off, or the juicer squeezing delicious fresh juice for breakfast. At times, I desire the sound of my college roommates getting ready for class or work. At times, I desire the hustle and bustle noises coming from the streets, cars honking, birds chirping, and even construction noises.

Not to say I don’t enjoy the peace and quiet when I get to sleep in after a long night, but my desire for everything above normally wins over simply wanting to get more sleep.

I know I’ll get over the funk, and get back to my daily grind- especially for the next two months with three big projects to focus on and to get done. But as for now, it’s times like this that gets the best of me as I dwell on negative emotions, and yet remind me of the type of environment in the future I hope to have.

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With all that being said, Belize was a beautiful country in all sense of the world, very fascinating blend of languages and culture. I’ll feature more details of our trip in the next post.

It’s March already?

It certainly feels like just yesterday that I celebrated the end of 2015, and rung in the beginning of 2016 in Toronto with my family. I’m sure you’ve heard time and time again from your family, friends, and fellow strangers- but damn, I can’t believe two months have passed by just like that.

A lot has been going on, to the point where I start calculating my months as the “amount of weekends I have free”. In between Quidditch, and unexpected trips here and there, I’ve been swamped every weekend – but in the best way possible! February was full of joy, my four weekends consisted of, Chinese New Year, Seeing a childhood friend in San Jose and Valentines Day, Post valentines day weekend celebrations, and last but not least, Quidditch Regionals tournament with my Lost Boys family.

Without boring you too much with words and detailed explanation of what I did, and how awesome every weekend was- I’m just going to leave you with a few photos as an update.

Driving en route back to LA from San Jose
Exploring San Jose
Picchetti Winery in Cupertino
CNY escape in Coachella Valley
What beauty.
Hanging out at Air&Style festival for a belated valentines surprise
The genius behind In Steady Rotation, Essential Hip Hop Listening
Lost Boys Quidditch Club! My Fam!

The next few months will consist of lots of writing, reading, researching and planning for post-graduation. It’s all incredibly exciting, but if you’re in the same boat as I am, just try to not be overwhelmed with moving too quickly. Despite the big things to accomplish, every day is still filled with micro-adventures that have yet to be explored.

What are some micro-adventures you’re planning to dive into this month?

Never Grow Up

It’s ironic that I’m surrounded by the slogan “never grow up” on a pretty regular basis. The slogan of my quidditch team, The Lost Boys Quidditch Club: Never Grow Up.

Part of me convinces myself that I wish those words rung true. Many of us wish we were little kids again, not a worry in the world except for making sure we pick up our toys before our parents yell at us… but the more I contemplate, the more I question: do we really want to never grow up?

I’ve always enjoyed growing up. From middle school to high school, I looked forward to new teachers, new classes, and being at the top of the food chain. Graduating high school and going to college, it was a new experience- studying in a new country. It was all pretty grand. Coming to LA to get a Master degree was exciting, it made me feel like a big kid, feel like someone important perhaps. But as I count down the months before defending my thesis and graduating, I find myself drawn to those words all over again: “Never Grow Up”.

The kid in me wants to go back to high school, where I simply worried about making sure I get to school on time, and making sure I hand in my forms to take school trips around the world. As I reminisce on those easier times, I realized something…. the reason we want to never grow up, isn’t because being a kid was the best years of our lives, but because we let fear take over. It’s not because we don’t want to hold responsibilities, but it’s because we’re scared we won’t be able to live up to those responsibilities and expectations. It’s not because we want to turn back time, it’s because we’re fearful of the unknown and it’s much easier to think about what we already know.

These moments of fear, of anxiety, of irrational thoughts can easily take hold of us and prevent us from being our best selves. It has a way to lead us to thoughts that automatically seem less ideal.  Think back to a time where you were excited about something, a trip, an event, a big life change…. I bet the thought of never growing up never crossed your mind during that moment of excitement. You probably couldn’t wait for that moment to come, you couldn’t focus because you just wanted to get there, and you just wanted to fast forward time.

Imagine if we lived every moment excited for the next, we would never look back at say “I wish I could never grow up”. It’s not easy to always be excited, and sometimes fear is rational and necessary. But most of the time, when we dig deep within ourselves and face our fears, we only come out stronger on the other side.

Some fears we can overcome with enough preparation.

Other fears, we may simply have to stare it straight in the eye and say, today: I’m not thinking, I’m just going to do. So you might as well leave me alone before I stampede over you on my way to happiness.

So here I am- growing up- battling the unknown on a daily basis, and recognizing that fear is only as powerful as I let it be.

Jane Goodall’s inspiration in 5 mins

Many of us spend our days strolling through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and various other social media sites- and we often find humorous gifs, intellectual articles and inspiring content.

Tonight, as I was about to head to bed, I decided to watch one last clip I saw floating around- a clip of Jane Goodall’s interview from the movie Human. I haven’t seen the movie, but it’s on the list!

I’ve had the amazing opportunity to meet Jane and hear her speak to our school back in Hong Kong. Throughout all these years, she hasn’t given up, she’s still stronger than ever, and still as inspirational as ever.

Without going on and on about Jane, I simply wanted to share two of the many things that I felt were incredibly powerful from her interview.

“Education is learning from experience. We continue to be educated throughout life. Every day brings its own kind of education and we can learn from it. If we keep our eyes open, our ears open, and think of every day as an adventure- then each day will give us a lesson.”

I pray you start your day every day visualizing it as an adventure, embrace the ups and downs of each day, and know that whatever happens- it is a lesson to be learned. It is a lesson that will contribute to our life-long education.

Secondly,

“What I really really would love to change… is the unsustainable lifestyle of everybody else. We just greedy. And I always think of Ghandi’s saying ‘This planet can provide for human need, but not for human greed.’“

I ask that you simply ponder on that. Think about the belongings that we own, we want, and compare that to what we need. We live in a finite planet, and with the amount of resources we are using- compounded with the high population of people- we will see more suffering in the future due to limited resources. I’m not sure if I’ll be alive when that day comes, but it’s frightening. But till then, I will continue learning in my every day adventures- and learning to slow down human greed.

What are some of your inspirational thoughts to get you pumped up? How do you encourage yourself or your family on a daily basis? Here is always looking for encouraging thoughts and inspirational content!