I finished my 10th speech with the Toastmasters. For this last one, I was asked to speak in front of a room of high-school teen girls, conjuct with the Campaign for Real Beauty by Dove. I was given this a national report on the self-esteem and asked to talk about body image:

 

It'll difficult audience - just think about how little attention I would have paid to speeches like this if I were a teen. I thought about it again and decided to get involved. Surprisingly they were nice to me. I thank them for the positive feedback - I feel flattered. I want to put my script down here, and I want to share it with Claire some day.

 

You Are Beautiful

“A journey to self-acceptance is never-ending, but definitely worth the trip.”

When I was a teenager, at about your age, look, there were lots of parts of my body I didn’t like: my nose, my acne, my legs, my upper arms, etc and etc. You name it, and I hated it.

I thought a certain lip gloss, a pretty pair of shoes, or weight loss would make me feel beautiful, or lift my spirit. But, in the end, it still rises and falls with compliment or criticism.

At lunch so many girls talked about how they dropped a size. It’s not only at lunch. It’s everywhere, on TV, radio, internet, magazine, people spent so much time talking, and thinking about weight loss, body and clothes. So I learnt from them and only ate so little. I spent a lot of time looking to others to build up who I am. But, in the end, I found it was actually up to me to decide my level of satisfaction and worth.

As I grew up, life stays interesting…. I graduated from high school and went to college. I traveled overseas and met so many great people who gave me inspiration. I work hard and make my colleagues and my company proud of me. I made true friends who accept me and like me as a real person. My focus switched from how I look to what I do, because what I do, not how I look, really says who I am.

I got married, and now I’m expecting my first child. I gained a lot of weight, but personally, I felt even more confident in my body and myself. Everywhere I go, people would look at my pregnant body and instantly smile. I don’t know if I remind them of something else or if the mere image has such a positive effect on people. Either way, somehow I felt that it made their day a little bit brighter, and I felt beautiful. See? I do not need to look like a runway model to be beautiful. My curves that support life and allow me to give birth are beautiful. My strength to push through discomfort for the sake of another life is beautiful. Women are capable of bringing new life into this world, and our bodies, of all shapes and sizes, make that miracle happen.

What you do reveals who you are. What’s the best way to really change the self-esteem? Do something that uplifts your spirit. It’s not that we do each of the things perfectly; it’s that we did them at all that matters. Live your life out loud. Live it truly and put yourself out there. Not everyone will like you. Nor should they. But if you like yourself and design for yourself a life worth living then that’s what really matters.

I want to tell you another story, the story about my junior high school best girlfriend. We grew up together complaining about our body flaws. She used to be ashamed of her big thighs. As she grew, she learnt to focus on something she was good at: she became a terrific basketball player and a dancer. Those flabby thighs she once complained became strong and toned. They carried her through dancing and playing sports, and even more, they carried her though life and made her a confident and beautiful woman.

As I speak, you might be thinking, “I’m not sure if anything you said could change my mind.” Friends, not me, were the most influential people in your life, at least at this moment. Their opinions outweighed mine. Only friends, not me, know what you are feeling, right? I know what you are talking about. Because I was just like you. When Mom or big sisters taught me about self-confidence, most of the time I went back to girlfriends. Because they were the ones sharing body flaws with me. They knew my pain and complained as much as I did.

It took me a while to see the wrong with that. What good did it do any of us to sit and bash ourselves? It only helped us feel worse. We hated ourselves more and more, and we helped each other do it. Then it hit me: the way to feel good about ourselves had to be the opposite!

Next time when girls at lunch eat lettuce and talk about how they dropped a size, change the conservation. Remind yourself not to get caught up in that and talk about more positive topics. I wish I could go back in time to do this myself. You don’t know this now, but you will be a positive influence on others in your class. Don’t obsess over your weight or the size label on your jeans. Stay positive and let the little things go.

Don’t stress about the little things, like losing your 1^st boyfriend or friends who say mean things to  you. There will be more boyfriends and better friends.

And, please, please stop comparing yourself to others. Stop looking at your friend’s bodies and wishing you looked like them. You are a beautiful girl with a beautiful body. You might think your bodies are not thin enough, your arms or thighs are too big, but they are strong. Start embracing your body now. It’s healthy and strong, and you are beautiful.

We've been looking for a fun event for a summer girls night out, and this one looks perfect.

 

 

A gift for the gods. A symbol of wealth and luxury. An economic livelihood. Bonbons. Hot fudge. Candy bars. For thousands of years humans have been fascinated with the delicious phenomenon that we call chocolate. Journey through history to get the complete story behind the tasty treat that we crave in "Chocolate," an exciting new exhibition opening on May 9, 2009.

 

You'll begin in the rainforest with the unique cacao tree whose seeds started it all. Visit the ancient Maya civilization of Central America and discover what chocolate meant nearly 1,500 years ago. Then travel forward in time and northward to the Aztec civilization of 16th-century Mexico, where cacao seeds were so valuable they were used as money. Discover chocolate's introduction into the upper classes of European society and its transformation into a mass-produced world commodity.

Chocolate will engage your senses and reveal facets of this sumptuous sweet that you've never thought about before. You'll explore the plant, the products and the culture of chocolate through the lenses of science, history and popular culture."

http://naturalsciences.org/exhibits/special-exhibits

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/chocolate/

 

谢谢你，邦妮。

 

 

It's this time of the year again: holidays. One of my favorite things about holidays is the Christmas carol.  Traditional oldies , or contemporary holiday jazz...When it comes to this time every year, I tune into holiday music channel and enjoy myself with those seasonal favorites all day long (http://www.accuradio.com/holidays/). My enduring favorites includes Have Yourself A Little Merry Christmas, Christmas Time is Here......and all songs from the album of A Charlie Brown's Chritmas.

 

I found out the A Charlie Brown's Chritmas through a brief trip back in 2005 while we were spending a December weekend in the Wilmington, NC. After indulgence of seafood and deserts, we decided to take a walk and see the downtown Chritmas lightning. We stepped out of the restaurant. It was a typical, chilly winter night, but he delightful instrumental jazz from one block away and the crowd immediately caught our attention. It's a band of four old guys singing songs from the "A Charlie Brown's Christmas". The songs and the laughter warmed up the air and filled the evening with cheerful holiday spirit. We ended up standing there for over 30 minutes and enjoying ourselves with the delightful music. Till today, I still remember the warm feeling those songs instilled us in that chilly evening.

I knew well enough about Snoopy and the Peanuts, but I never knew the movie A Charlie Brown Christmas and its soundtrack became holiday classics. In my childhood, I didn't watch the movie as the kids do in this country. I can't help but wonder: how fascinating it will be if there is a childhood museum where children in different coutries/cultures can share our childhood favoriates with each other -- toys, music, animation movies/TV shows, stories/history of cartoon characters, and beyond that, precious childhood memories. Imagine a place where kids can get to know 麦兜，阿童木，Hello Kitty, 西瓜太郎，流氓兔，Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, the toy-piano virtuoso Schroeder and explore even more behind their stories...

 

Maybe there are museums like that.

 

About the movie and the album: 

 

 

 

 

“女人做事情往往凭直觉，购衣、穿衣更是如此，只是之后总是免不了后悔。想成为穿衣高手吗？在漂亮衣服面前，冷静的判断、理智的分析可是很重要的。在这个购物热季，特意为你准备了穿衣的20个忠告，希望可以帮你省下银子，赢回面子。

1.

由浅入深，穿衣有三层境界：第一层是和谐，第二层是美感，第三层是个性。 

 

 

前段时间流行的一个Blog游戏，被点名了，补交功课吧：

 

1，很喜欢闻割草机刚开过的草地味道，很想咬上一口

2，觉得好朋友，很久没有音讯，还是好朋友啊

3，觉得血的颜色很迷人，蛇也很迷人

3，很喜欢绿色，很少买绿色衣服

4，总觉得为什么Bathroom不能装个音响啊

5，喜欢神经质的女生，和男生。如Friends里Ross and Feeby

6，洗长澡

7，很想穿着《傲慢与偏见》里女生的衣服，在家做点心

8，同情英国Prince Charles，他太不被理解了－算不上怪吧

 

暂时就这些了