2005/09/27 - Letting Go of Perfect

今天鬧鐘還未響便自然而然醒了, 轉身拿了一本書, 翻到之前讀到的第十章 - Letting Go of Perfect. 讀了第一段, 決定寫入日記中, 提醒自己, 也提醒身邊的家人朋友們 - 人生該追求的是自己想要擁有的, 而不是完美, 尤其是他人為我們定義的完美.

Midlife Crisis at 30 - by Lia Macko and Kerry Rubin
Chapter 10 - Letting Go of Perfect

" We are a generation of women who were raised to believe a future without limits. However, the positive "you can have anything" cultural message that defined our youth can also shift in our minds to a "you should have everything" brand of guilt at 30 and beyond. This expectation gap leads many of the Gen X/Y women we interviewed to question their choices if they are not well on their way to having the perfect career, the perfect body, the perfect husband, and the perfect kids. But perfect is, at worst, a myth and, at best, a distraction - having the ability to "Have It All" does not mean you have to have everything. These members of the New Girls' Club claimed futures without limitation by letting go of perfect and focusing on their true priorities."

Starbucks最近於咖啡杯上印著不同的短文, 我特別喜歡這一段 - 印在我Tall Skim Latte上的" The Way I See It #31"

"Risk-taking, trust, and serendipity are key ingredients of joy.
Without risk, nothing new ever happens.
Without trust, fear creeps in.
Without serendipity, there are no surprises."

By Rita Golden Gelman, Author of Tales of a Female Nomad.
She has had no permanent address since 1986.

2005/09/12 - 不一樣

如果要你描繪一個Forty-year-old-virgin, 你會用什麼形容詞? 你想他會是怎樣的個性, 他會作什麼工作, 他平常喜歡什麼? - 前幾天和朋友去看了電影Forty-year-old-virgin. 一部成人版的American Pie喜劇片, 許多stupid jokes, 但是當"不一樣"成為一個笑點時, 我不知怎地笑不出來, 甚至覺得有點sad. 難過的不是關於劇情, 而是刻板印象. 男主角騎腳踏車上班, 穿著整齊, 工作認真, 愛玩電動, 蒐集漫畫人偶, 不喜歡聽黃色笑話, 不去pub. 這和你的答案相同嗎? 我想著, 刻板印象究竟是怎麼產生的? 興趣biking (+), 騎腳踏車上班 (-); 下班去pub (+), 下班回家 (-); 上高級餐廳 (+), 家裡煮飯 (-); 到處旅遊 (+), 沒出過國 (-); 花錢 (+), 存錢 (-); 喝酒 (+), 喝水 (-); ... 雖然以上並非每個人都會相同有的刻版印象.

要好好認識一個人 - 你會用什麼當指標? -
外表, 口才, 見識, 才藝, 學/經歷;
還是, 他有什麼興趣/嗜好? 家人的相處? 有什麼難過和快樂的事情? 個性? 未來有什麼計畫?
- 前者, 我視為奢侈品 -現代社會下必須具備的奢侈品 - 之中有多少是天份? 有多少是後天養成? 重要性佔一個人的百分之幾? 你是怎樣看一個人的呢?

大學社團時有機會接觸到許多國中生, 許多被父母或同學批評到近一文不值 - 功課不好, 不唸書, 不喜歡上學, 笨, 反應慢, 不懂得如何跟人講話, ... 但是每一回, 我都在他們身上找到驚喜, 有些有著很柔軟的心, 有的很有創意, 有些很敏感細心, 但是誰在乎這些呢? 只是, 當他們穿著邋褟, 當他們身材較同龄胖, 當他們什麼才藝都沒有, 當他們父母離異, 當他們家庭資源有限 - 少了這些必備的奢侈品, 那些驚喜, 有多少人還願意了解.

最後, 我知道我看的是一部喜劇 - 過度分析stupid jokes好像更愚蠢.

* 備註: 被朋友問說我是不是喜歡這部電影, 想澄清一下(尤其是對我的姊妹們) - 我並不會太推薦這部電影, 因為...認識我的人大概都知道我生性保守 :-)

2005/09/11 - 懸著

蜷縮在客廳的枕頭角落, 清晨七點的空氣有點冷, 眼皮很重, 但想法擁塞, 只好開始打字, 用衣角擦了一下眼鏡, 第一個想法說話了 - 本總以為是世界太複雜, 所以自己看不清楚; 鏡片有著兩面, 起了霧, 有了盲點, 有時外頭的那一層其實清澈, 模糊的是- 裡頭的那一層世界.

朋友大概會笑我吧! 我想著. 但手指仍不停地敲著鍵盤, 服輸了. 輸給了不斷浮現的文字片段, 繞著同一個問題打轉 - 為何自己走不出去, 別人也進不來 - 突然間樹葉被照的好亮, 忍不住把家裡的大窗戶打開, 拉高百葉窗, 什麼都不想, 專心地望著那樹葉頂端, 風好涼; 或許, 雲淡風清, 一切只是庸人自擾. 接下來的想法, 就放著吧! 給一個機會被風吹走, 在下回我睜開眼睛之前.

對了...兩年前的今天, 我提著兩大個行李箱, 離開中正機場的天空, 出發.

2005/09/05 - Las Vegas

"You are going to Las Vegas!" Greg left this voice message when I was in the mountains at Seattle on my vacation. So again, I am back to the west coast. After five-hour of flight, the window views changed from the green to the dessert and from the houses to the canyons, then to "Welcome to Las Vegas!" - the sign with neon light. Four huge sculptures of desser animals lying on the corners of the airport, grand TV screens advertising various shows and night clubs, tens of slot machines sitting next to the baggage claims - "a City of Entertainment" - the airport is just the starting point of all these fantacy and luxury.

The two-day conferences and the over 100 degrees desert weather did not allow me to fully explore the city. At night, Las Vegas is like a miniature of Tokyo or New York - roller coaster beween the buildings, Disney castles, and the Statue of Liberty. You can also find the Great Sphinx becomes the entrance of a hotel with casino, the Eiffel Tower becomes a restaurant with city view, and many more. Another must-see is the music fountain show in front of the Bellagio hotel where Ocean's 11 remake was filmed - it can be over 20-story high.

Surprisingly, there are many Asian visitors and almost 90% of the black-jack table traders are Chinese as well. I don't really like Chinese to be associated with gambling though. That said, I only played slot machines and almost got break-even with 8-dollar back - I know what's in your mind - only spent 8 dollars? - My answer is - I'd rather go shopping. Speaking of shopping, the malls are filled with brand-name stores and luxurious decorations. We also met Wolfgang Puck at the mall conducting a TV interview at his restaurant.

Lastly, the business trip - the seminars went well although there is too much time leaving for networking, which I was totally not good at. The participants seem to focus more on techy sides of marketing but not many companies have strategies around E-mail List Build and managing e-mail database. It is my first time interacting with email marketers from different companies - not ideal but a good exposure to know many people caring about the similar issues as you do.

I flied the red-eye back to Charlotte - my eyes could barely open when the flight landed at Charlotte at 6:30. I caught up a 6:50 bus back home with 20 minutes of sleep and went to work at 9 am. Thanks to two smoothies with engry boost, I survived through three meetings but crashed into bed with a 12-hour sleep that night. I think I got enough of the west coast. Interestingly, I started to find Charlotte a very nice city to live after all these travels.