Five years ago, I lacked confidence. I didn’t trust my creativity. So I decided to practice gratitude. My thinking and feelings started changing in surprising ways. Today, daily gratitude makes every single day worth living. Gratitude showed me how to exercise flabby mental and emotional muscles. Over time, muscle memory added up to a new outlook. Everything happened very gradually, …
If you want to feel better, meditate now
I used to be scared of meditating. What if I tried it and nothing happened? Then I’d feel like a spiritual failure. But then, I learned that meditating is as natural as breathing. That’s why I meditate now. And life is better for it. Now, I breathe. When I’m in the grip of overthinking, I breathe to help myself. Paralyzing pressure …
6 reasons why the badass hapa BBC girl inspires my inner child
Marion Kelly is four years old. She’s hapa — half Asian and half-white. She has a Korean mommy, a white American daddy and a baby brother named James. On March 10, Daddy was Skyping an interview with the BBC. When she crashed it, they went viral. And now, I just love how this badass BBC girl inspires my inner child. …
Why the shocking history of Chinese immigrant women makes us powerful
Did you know that a ban on Chinese immigrant women created America’s first immigration laws? Discovering this forgotten historical moment left me appalled by the suffering of the ancestors. They were singled out because they were poor, foreign and “exotic.” Learning these facts makes me more aware of the deep racism and sexism in our legal system. I’ve always felt that …
Single & satisfied on Valentine’s Day
Are you in love today — and every day? It can happen. That’s why this year, I’ve set aside my usually hating against hearts, roses and candlelight dinners. Every Feb. 14, I used to rant, even when I was in a decent relationship. But this year, I’m celebrating a new, different kind of romance. Finally, this girl is single and …
Year of the Rooster: therapy talk for 2017
Year of the Rooster has me thinking about how happy I am to finally, truly appreciate my difficult parents. The two of them, plus my first shrink, now occupy the V.I.P seats in my head, reserved for my most precious ancestors. Yup, they’re both dead. A heart attack killed Dad when I was a teenager. Mom died seven years ago, …