Monday, May 26, 2008

The Sunshine Post #23: Thoughts Before the Big Two Five

Hello dears!

In a week from now, I shall be turning the supposed dreaded age: twenty-five. You know, young people tend to be mortally terrified of reaching this age, and I’ve been given so much advice and warning on what should be either a milestone, or a death sentence. Even my aesthetician used to tell me that I don’t have to put on make-up, or begin to be seriously concerned about my skin, until I turn 25. What is it with this age? I am sort of imagining my body to suddenly deteriorate when June 3rd strikes. I will let you know.

But on this note, I wanted to share something I wrote on Christmas Day last year: a summary of the last three (lonely but tumultuous) years, written in three lists. (When you are alone for Christmas for the second time in a row, you write more as a way of talking to yourself to ward off the silence. Hmph. Hopefully, Yule 2009 will find me watching fireworks on some white sand beach.) Looking at these rosters after six months gives me such joy; I think of my life now and I am suprised to find out that I’m sticking to them, and I didn’t even have to check on them every so often – everything comes naturally now. Before, my life was very linear: It could be summarized as:

Get Ph.D. --> Head lab --> Die

Whee! Yeah baby! Thank God this wasn’t what I am meant to do!
***
December 25, 2007

10 Things I Learned about What I Should Do with My Life, Whether Scientific or Otherwise

1. There must be joy.
2. I must love the people, or they at least must not want to kill each other.

3. The odyssey must be as enjoyable as the destination.
4. I must be surrounded by role models.
5. Social skills and leadership qualities must be an absolute requirement.
6. It shouldn’t bank on knowing what other people are doing.
7. It must be based on actual talent and creativity.
8. I should not ride on anyone’s coattails.
9. There should be variety, instead of hammering a point down repeatedly to the point that it has lost all its wonder.
10. I should be able to make a personal, original contribution.

10 Things I Learned About Life and Myself through Cancer Research
1. The only thing worse than failure is questionable success.
2. Being correct does not matter to me.
3. I have a very short attention span.
4. I live in my own little world of happy.
5. I am capable of doing absolutely anything as long as I want it.
6. I am incapable of being obnoxious just to try to sound intelligent.
7. I have no desire to compete with other people.
8. When making plans, be as detailed as possible. But when something better pops up, grab it before it’s too late.
9. It is still cute to make mistakes in your early twenties, but tragic to do so much later.
10. Do what makes you happy!

Three Scenarios I Can Think of Ten Years from Now
1. I join the circus where my flexible yogafied butt will be paired with my juggling skills, and I livehappily ever after with a Spanish-speaking trapeze artist who caters to my vegetarian dietary needs.
2. I live in a Shaolin monastery where, in exchange for martial arts training and rent, I bake vegancupcakes to feed the bald monks.
3. I write novels and cartoons in the quiet European countryside and moonlight as a teacher of taekwondo to juvenile delinquents. Occasionally I may cross paths with Peter Mayle and Carolina Herrera* while shopping for organic food, and we high five each other for choosing the creative life.

* Peter Mayle left the corporate world of advertising to be a novelist. Carolina Herrera, Jr. took up biochemistry but joined her mother’s fashion empire. Added to this list is Yohji Yamamoto, Paris-based fashion designer who also has a black belt in karate. There are a lot of us! Woohoo! I hope to be like these people!
***

I just finished watching Iconoclasts, this show about today’s “visionaries” (I haven’t had a TV in so long; the good thing is that I am very selective about what I watch now. If it’s not CNN, BBC, the Discovery Channel, NatGeo, or reruns of Will and Grace, I think twice before giving it the time of day). Quentin Tarantino and Fiona Apple were on, and I loved how the former said that after doing Kill Bill, he felt like he climbed Mt. Everest. After that, so many other potential projects became small easy hills, which he didn’t want to do anymore. He also thought that he didn’t want to do another tumultuous Kill Bill climb. But he said that “Years from now, you won’t want to climb Mt. Everest. Now is the time you have to climb your Mt. Everests.”

Whee! Here’s to seeing the world and not letting any opportunity go to waste. Climb on!


Lots of love,
Cathy

P.S. Anyone interested in contributing to a happy creative project? Am looking for interested people! Please e-mail me!

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