Fencing Tournament Oct 30, 2021 at Pinecrest Academy

October 30, 2021 was my second time seeing Jasmine compete in fencing tournament. This time was at Pinecrest Academy which is about 45 minutes from where we live. Women competed first that day, so, we got to get up at 6:00 a.m. and be there by 7:30 a.m.  I prepared blueberry muffins for her and her friends. 

Jasmine had a good time and so did I.  Tournament gives Jasmine opportunity to make friends from different schools as well.  Who know, they might cross path again in the future!

https://www.fencingtimelive.com/events/results/447A005DC2D54170BD57D17662BC5C4A

Fencing Tournament Oct 16, 2021 at Pope HS

October 16, 2021 was my first time to see Jasmine compete in fencing tournament. It was held at Pope HS. It was the first time the organizer allowed spectators to stay and watch the competitions. Jasmine looked so cool in her fencing outfit. Believe it or not, the jacket probably weighs about 5 lbs. The protective helmet probably about 2-3 lbs,  Fencing gear indeed is heavy. There were total of 28 women from several high schools competed that day and Jasmine finished at rank 20. 

The rank does not matter. I was happy just to see her having a good time with her good friends. Besides, she looked so determined while competing with the opponent.  I am so proud of her. 

Go Jasmine Go!

https://www.fencingtimelive.com/events/results/A2A2B3712F1445C38D5E6FF0AF2C5625

Hope and Aspi

Hope
Hello there, my name is “Hope”. I could hardly survive this long if I had given up too soon. In August 2020, Jasmine started to soak my seed bottom in the water. Then, my root just felt too shy to come out. Ann and Jasmine almost gave up on me after 3 months had passed and I still could not get the root to come out.  But do not worry, I did not give up. Finally, around November, my root decided it was the time to be fed in the water.  Since then, both my root and my one limb started to grow.  I grew about 2 leaves at a time with total of about 6 leaves until November 2021. This time, after I shredded all my leaves with the last withered one hanging on the tip of the limb, Ann thought, well, the end of my lifetime was reached, and she told Jasmine, it was time to throw me away. Again, I did not want to give up. Not yet. I started to grow a tiny bud with little bitty leaves. Phew…. Ann finally dropped her thought of throwing me away, instead, she now determines to keep me and will never lose HOPE on me.

Aspi
Aspi is my new friend.  Her real name is “Aspiration”. Ann just started to soak her seed on November 18, 2021.  Together with Aspi, we will demonstrate how Avocados like us are so determined to survive in just water.

November 11, 2021 Do you see little tiny bud with little bitty leaves?

        

  November 18, 2021 Aspi's life began. 

November 23, 2021 Hope's new leaves are getting bigger. Aspi is still relaxing.

     December 5, 2021 Hope's new leaves were getting withered. Aspi was hibernating.

December 15, 2021 Hope could not spare its leaves through this winter coldness.  Let's wait and see what Hope would transform to this coming spring.  Aspi was still enjoying her time and the root was still hiding. 

  

True Love

True Love, A Practice for Awakening the Heart by Thich Nhat Hanh

I finished this book once but I am planning to read the book one more time to pay more attention word by word on what Thich Nhat Hanh meant to teach a reader like me to understand what so called -- "TRUE LOVE"--

I will be back to write more once finishing the 2nd round reading the book.

Oct 30, 2021
I am back to read the book again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Understanding is the essence of love. Love is a true thing if it is made up of a substance called understanding. If there is no joy in your love, you can be sure that it is not true love.
You must love unconditionally and let the person you love be him/herself. 

Love is Being There (for the one you love)
Do you have time to love? 
You need to be there for the one you love. But first you need to make sure your body and your mind come together in one first before you can be there for your loved one. Practicing breathing in and out is a good starting point of bringing your body and mine together. Breathing in, you know you are breathing in, breathing out, you know you are breathing out. Know your breathing and tell your loved one that you are there for him/her. Now, you are really with your loved one with both your body and your mind ready to listen and understand him/her.

Recognizing the Presence of the Other
Being there with your body and mind is the first thing, then, next is to recognize the presence of the other. When you recognize your loved one, he or she will be very happy and will open his or her heart for you. When you touch a flower, touch it with your finger and also with your mind. Breathing in, I know the flower is here, breathing out, I smile at the flower. When you see the blue sky, see it with your eyes and also with your mind. You cannot call back the past, and you do not know the future, so, be with the present. Practice being with the present by breathing in and breathing out and recognize the present and the presence of the other when you are there with him or her.

Being There When Someone is Suffering
When you practice mindfulness, you understand the present situation and therefore, you can notice when your loved one is suffering. Your presence with the unification of body and mind plus your kind words can help to relieve your loved one's suffering. 

Overcoming Pride
This mantra is getting difficult to practice. When you are suffering, you are suffering the most when you think it was caused by the one you love. If it would have been someone else, you would feel less suffering. Because of this, you refuse to lower your pride and you expect the one you love to say something, or do something to ease your pain first. This can get worse as your suffering might be caused by misperception.  So, you should lower your pride, go to your loved one and let him/her know you need to talk to him/her and you need his/her help to ease your suffering.

Deep Listening
When a knot starts to tie up in your loved one's mind, then, he/she starts to change. If he/she keeps it in his/her mind, then, it eventually becomes a bomb that can get easily exploded.  At the same time, if you do not try to listen to him/her, your mind starts to also have a knot that will explode as well. So, you should offer to listen to your loved one. Let your loved one speak and you listen. Then, take turn to speak and have your loved one listen. This will help both of you to open up and understand each other better. 

Learning to Speak with Love Again
Following deep listening is speaking with love. Writing, a form of speaking, to your loved one is also a practice of mindfulness. If you cannot write, then you can start by practicing breathing in, I can see your face, breathing out, I can see you as a child and so on. Keep practicing and one day you will eventually understand your loved one, the situation and how you would like to communicate to him/her.

Restoring Peace within Yourself
You can take care of your loved one only after you can take care of yourself. Caring for yourself is restoring peace within yourself. To restore peace within yourself, you can start with practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness carries with it, concentration, understanding and love. Practicing mindfulness for three weeks can bring back your joy in living, and compassion within yourself can help the one you love. 

The Energy of Mindfulness
If you have a deep pain within you, then, meditate. When you are breathing in, know that you are breathing in, when you are breathing out, then, know that you are breathing out. When you have anger, then, know that you are angry. Anger is an energy which has no need to be suppressed but instead, when you know you are angry, you then use another energy which is mindfulness to care for the anger. Practicing breathing or walking meditation can help you to use energy of mindfulness to care for your pain, your anger and undesirable energy happening within yourself.

Caring for Our Pain
When a baby is crying, mother is running to the baby and hold the baby up in her arms. Even the mother still does not know what is wrong with the baby, the baby starts to feel soothed. Then, not long after that, the mother is smart enough to understand what goes wrong with the baby; diaper needs attention, the baby needs a bottle or the baby has a fever touch. Mindfulness is just like the mother. Practicing mindfulness everyday will help transform your pain, anger and suffering in your life into positive energy. Then, you will be capable of understanding the negative energy and deal with it. 

The Principle of Nonduality
Nonduality means oneness. Hate and love, evil and good, suffering and happiness, negative and positive, in fact, they are not two separated things. They just transform within themselves. It is just like when a gardener sees compost, he sees tomatoes, and flowers inside the compost. And when the tomatoes and flowers become wither, they turn to be compost. So, we must practice mindfulness to transform pain and suffering into positive energy of compassion, understanding, and love.

Reconciliation
Body and mind are also oneness. You need to practice mindfulness with every part of your body from hair to toes, your eyes, your heart, your liver, and so on. You are reconciling your body and mind into oneness. Breathing in, I am thinking about my heart, breathing out, my heart is working nonstop day and night. I should support my heart and I will not eat fatty food. Breathing in, I am thinking about my liver, breathing out, my liver is working hard because I drink. I will stop drinking so my liver will not overwork. You are using mindfulness with compassion, understanding and love towards every part of your body.

Coming to Life Again
Coming to life again is being with the present moment. Practice walking meditation will help you to come to life again. When you walk from your house to the subway station, you can take a little more time and walk with mindfulness. Build the walking meditation into your everyday life to allow you to build positive energy within your body and mind every day.

(What is Walking Meditation? 
What is Walking Meditation - A Beginner\'s Guide! | (improveyourbrainpower.org)
Walking Meditation is the exercise that aims at increasing your awareness as you walk and being mindful of the body, sensations and feelings with every step.)

Telephone Meditation
When you hear a phone ring, you get agitated. You start to concern who is calling, if it is bad news or good news, and you tend to rush to pick up the phone right away. You can change this habit by practicing telephone meditation. When you hear a phone ring, you will breathe in and breathe out and walk with mindfulness to pick up the phone. Or if your phone is within reach, you will observe your breathing in and out and let the phone rings for couple times before picking it up. This will help you to feel less agitated but calmer when picking up the phone.

Everybody Should Practicing Mindfulness
Relief, peace, well-being, joy and better relations with others will be better if we practice mindfulness in our everyday life. We should be mindful as individuals, but also as a community, as a family, and as a nation.

Getting Rid of Our Concepts
We are afraid of everything; of our death, of being alone, of being apart, of change and so on. Practicing mindfulness will help us to touch nonfear. In Buddhism, the greatest relief that we can obtain is that of touching Nirvana, where nonfear has become something that is part of our everyday life. Joining community practicing mindfulness can help you to reach nonfear much better as you will be practicing with sisters and brothers who as well have compassion, understanding, love, and freedom. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the 2nd round of reading the book indeed helped me to understand much better of "TRUE LOVE".  I have been trying to practice mindfulness since 2017 and now in 2021, I think I become a little better person but this practice should still be going on.  I used to attend a day and 3-day meditation courses and it was a good starting point for me. One of my bucket lists is also attending a long meditation course such as at Goenka Vipassana Meditation locations or at Thich Nhat Hanh's practice centers. 

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

First, I have to say that I am so glad I finally got to read Tom Sawyer! Ask any child or adult in this world and I doubt if there will be any that has not heard about Tom Sawyer. Yes, I have heard about Tom Sawyer too and of course, I visited Tom Sawyer Island at Disney World in Florida for at least 2 times.  But to be honest, I did not know the story of him, not until I finally finished this book on August 31^st, 2021.

Injun Joe
I really love the way the story developed from the beginning until the end, especially when the story involved Injun Joe, the true murderer. Each time when Tom and Huck had something to do with Injun Joe, the reader’s heart was pounding. The treasure hunt was also very exciting, and, in the end, I had to keep my fingers crossed if Tom and Huck would finally possess those 1,200+ yellow coins or not.

Tom and Becky
The chapters involving Tom and Becky were also well bound, Their relationship development was very very cute and it looked to be what actually could happen in one’s real life. I could see how they pretended not to like each other in the beginning but ended up hurting themselves by doing so. I could see how Tom sacrificed himself for Becky. He saved Becky’s face by falsely accepting that he tore the human anatomy page of Mr. Dobbins’ book. And this was how he won Becky’s heart. When they got lost in the cave together, I could see how dependable Tom was for Becky. Tom showed several traits of a great little man whom any girl could dream for.

A little bit about Huck
Huck had no parent and was homeless. He might not dare to testify against Injun Joe at the court but, in the end, he was a boy with moral when he went to tell the old man and his sons to come help the widow after he heard murderous talk from Injun Joe and the Spaniard. He really was a boy with free spirit, and he could not stand living a normal life like others. He disliked to just living in a house, doing things with the same routine every day and all that. When Tom finally successfully convinced him to stay with the widow, I still doubt if he really could be changed.

The world with no cell phone and electronics
I started to use cell phone probably around the year um, I just could not remember, probably 2006. And for the smart phone, probably around the year 2009. Now, while I was writing this paragraph in the year 2021, I could hardly see any kid or adult without smart phone, and I cannot imagine living without my laptop either. The period of the story was around 1840. If time machine was real, I would really really love to travel back through time and live there for a while. My life and my new way of life must be closer to the nature. I would ask Tom and Huck to take me to the cave and teach me how to live in the wild. It MUST be so fun!

About the Author
Mark Twain was a pen name – his actual name was Samuel Longhorne Clemens. The phrase ‘mark twain’ was shouted out by river men to indicate a water depth of two (twain) yards marked on a stick, as that was sufficient draught for the hulls of boats to pass by without fear of grounding.

Falling Out of Fear

 Falling Out of Fear by Valerie Xu

This short story has many things to offer from the beginning to the end of the book.  The first chapter already keeps the reader engaged with the curiosity of what that orange round object, the one that kept following Abby every where, might be.  The snowman coming to life is also what we all want it to happen in real life. I am wondering if Abby lived in a wonderland, in her imagination or actually a world mixed with reality and imagination.

Each chapter is filled with little excitements and couple takeaways.  Abby found a piece of paper written "Power is not from yourself. Strength is your power, and comes from within."  Abby answered Bella to the question "...do you think we will ever find how happy one can be?", "...I don't know, I think it captures one when the moment comes, and even if one is feeling down, happiness is a part of them. They just haven't reached in that time."

At last, that orange round object was a PUMPKIN! It was not just an ordinary pumpkin, it was the pumpkin with fear, the fear of Abby's own inner thought, the fear as the pack of wolves that kept charging them and retreating on and off. But why?  Pumpkin talked to Abby with a sad smile, "I'm afraid to take risks. Exploring relationships with others scares me because it's unpredictable and the anxiety of losing a friend fills me whenever I try to become closer with someone. I don't want someone I love to leave me, you know?"

Abby helped the pumpkin fight the wolves. The pumpkin risked his life by jumping himself to protect the wolf from closely charging on Abby.  In fear of losing her new friend, Abby used all her strength to strike down the wolf, her insecurities. At last, all the wolves retreated and disappeared like the stars exploded in a blast. 

At last, the pumpkin was not with fear anymore. The unforgettable friendship, love and great memory would be part of their life long journeys forever.  Abby, in the end, was falling out of fear.

      --- Love is beautiful. Love is unconditional. Do not be afraid to love.---

Twilight over Burma

 Twilight over Burma, My Life as a Shan Princess

I checked out this book from the library because my NC close friend, Duang talked about the movie of the same name, plus the coup that has been going on in Myanmar since February 1st.  I enjoyed reading the book. I learned that the last Prince of Hsipaw – called Sao Kya Seng was a good man indeed. I could sense how much he cared for his Austrian wife and his people. He was also leading with virtue and wanted his people to thrive with better quality of life. He was also planning to form democratic government instead of having him alone to make all decisions. Basically, he learned American ways and wanted to adopt what he thought were good in Shan state. I also learned that the military coup this year, 2021 led by Min Aung Hlaing was also as cruel and inhumane as the coup led by Ne Win in 1962 which was also the starting of the military ruling from 1962 until 2011. Well, and again now in 2021!

I have to mention about the Prince' wife, Mahadevi Thusandi or Inge as well.  She might be just in her early 20s when she moved to Hsipaw. She was very charming, brave, very supportive, determined and well adapted to the life completely different than where she was born, Austria. Prince Sao and Inge were indeed a match made in heaven. It was so heart breaking when she tried by all means to search and contact her husband until she had to decide to leave Burma. Her depression also let her to a new enlightenment through meditation. I could not imagine how I could get through day by day when facing such a life and death situation again and again like her. I really wish her well. 

Credit https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/the-last-prince-of-hsipaw/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inge_Sargent