Hi, all! I have a book signing coming up, and would love for you to stop by if you’re in the area. At some point during the day I’ll give a talk about my book, Confusion to Clarity: The Twentysomething’s Guide to Finding Your Calling.
Here are the details:
What: Showcase of Long Island Authors
When: Saturday, February 11th, 12-5pm
Where: Breathe (store), 116 East Main Street, Port Jefferson Village, NY, 11777
Hope to see you there!
Since the recent move, I’ve been exploring various spiritual communities in our area. This exploration led my husband and me to attend a Unitarian Universalist service last weekend. The hour was lovely, complete with a Buddhist Tonglen meditation, hearty banjo music, and contemplative moments to ringing bells.
The minister also gave a captivating talk. She spoke of her lifelong journey of coming to know God. In childhood, like many of us, she associated God with a deity who alternately rewarded the good and punished the bad. She also pleaded with him to fulfill her youthful desires. Couldn’t he please make the cute boy in middle school like her back?
As she became an adult, this view of God struck her as silly. She tossed it out. She also disdained other people who believed in God. How could they swallow such nonsense? Because her view of God had not evolved since childhood, she assumed theirs hadn’t either. This was a false assumption. Read more…
Here's wishing you a magical day!
I just watched a fascinating documentary called Forks Over Knives. I recommend it to anyone who'd like to learn more about the connection between food and health. The film presents a compelling look at the benefits of eating a plant-based diet, free of animal products.
Even before watching the film, I’ve flirted with the idea of becoming vegan. Plant-based foods make me go weak in the knees with their rich colors, textures, and flavors. But in reality, dairy and I still maintain a strong love affair as well. I consider myself a practical vegetarian. I rarely eat meat or seafood, but allow room for flexibility. For example, I occasionally eat dishes prepared with chicken broth. And a couple of months ago I ordered “veggie tuna” at a deli, thinking it was some type of faux tuna. When I dug in, I quickly discovered it was the real thing, only with some celery sprinkled in. No worries. I savored every bite.
I'm not qualified to make dietary recommendations to others, and am not trying to do so. All I know is that I've personally experienced food to be wonderful medicine for ailments of all kinds. If you're interested, check out the documentary!
Gentle hum of crickets
Spontaneous birdsong
Frisky squirrel skittering by
New fall breeze grazing my arm
Steaming lemon ginger tea
Crisp purple grapes
Afternoon sunlight streaming through the window
Fresh air filling my lungs
Stillness of mind
A day just like today
A moment just like this one
“Trust yourself, and you will know how to live.”
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What a surprise to move to New York, then experience my first earthquake, followed by Hurricane Irene! Dan and I were evacuated from our house on Saturday morning, August 27th, as Irene rattled up the coast. The night before, we had watched our neighbors haul away boats and board up windows. Police were cruising through the neighborhood belting mandatory evacuation orders through bullhorns. Stores were bursting with people scrambling to buy water, batteries, and non-perishable foods.
On Saturday, we headed to stay with friends who live in a more protected house than ours. By then, Irene had downgraded in our area to a tropical storm. The sky was gray and leaden during the day. That night, something eerie and electric fizzed in the air as I drifted to sleep. Read more…
Aaahh, transition. My husband and I have moved from China to New York. I’ve bounced around a great deal over the past decade, but this time an extra adjustment is in the mix. Upon returning to the U.S., I had hernia surgery. A minor event, in the grand scheme…but the ordeal was taxing, and it taught me a few things. Read below for lessons from my hernia!
Lesson 1: If something is amiss, investigate. For an entire year, I noticed a bulge developing in the lower right side of my abdomen. And I ignored it. My excuse was this: Given our international flux, going to the doctor just seemed like too much work. Finally, in Beijing, I decided to get it checked out. There was a brief scare in which the doctor surmised something more serious than a hernia was growing. Thankfully that turned out not to be the case, and the path to surgery was clear. Read more…
Among my greatest joys of living in Beijing has been the opportunity to volunteer for a terrific organization: United Foundation for Children’s Health. UFCH improves healthcare access for orphans and impoverished children in China. The love and resilience of the kids, along with the devotion of the caregivers, doctors, and UFCH team, are truly inspiring.
Below is an excerpt from the website:
In China today there are an estimated 820,000 orphans. Many of these children are abandoned at birth once their parents discover they suffer from a congenital defect. Although many of these defects are treatable, often the lack of information and/or high medical costs result in abandonment. These children will be sent to live in orphanages that do not receive funds to cover the cost of these needed surgeries.
The average orphanage receives roughly $30 a month per child to cover food, shelter, clothing, caregivers’ salary and medical costs. Life-saving surgeries just cannot be afforded. According to the China adoption guidelines, only children who have received their needed surgeries may be put up for adoption. Most of these children will never have the opportunity for the medical care they so desperately need and will have no hope of finding a family.
UFCH is an organization of caring people committed to doing our very best to improve access to healthcare for these children. After being in this field for nine years, we can definitively say that receiving the needed medical care not only saves that child’s life, but also gives her a real chance at a future.
If you'd like to learn more, visit www.unitedfoundation.org
A few days ago I was a guest on Talkbox, a talk show on Beijing radio’s bilingual station AM774. Chloe (the host), Holly (the cohost), and I covered a lot of ground…from the struggles facing Chinese and American 20somethings, to finding your calling, to Forest Gump!
Click here to listen: May 19th Talkbox Radio Show
**When you visit the web page, look to the box on the right side. Scroll through the shows and click on the May 19th, 2011 episode titled “Confusion to Clarity.” Just let me know if you have any trouble tuning in.
