True Love

Once upon a time, I stumbled on this random video. It shows up on my YouTube home page. In this video, a monk shares wisdom about true love. He tells the difference between love and attachment. He also gives examples that compare acts of love or just attachment. He talks about universal love that I think it's not limited to a religion. So, anyone can watch it.

Don't marry a teacher

One day, when I scrolled short videos on social media, I stumbled upon a video. It portrays a Chinese grandpa that is teaching his granddaughter. Grandpa is already old. He has white hair. His age might be around 70-80 years old while his granddaughter might be 12-14 years old. Grandpa looked calm and wise. He said to his granddaughter that if she wants to have a happy marriage, don't marry a teacher. He didn't explain why then continued with other advice. I froze and confused. My reaction was What?!? Why??? Does that mean I won't be a good partner in romantic relationship? Geez, I felt offended. Fyi, I work as an educator, and I have spent half my life teaching.

I couldn't believe what grandpa said. I was thinking for a while trying to find the answer. It still didn't make sense for me, so I read comments section and found the reason.

Fear of darkness

When I was six years old, I remember power blackouts often happened in my neighborhood. It doesn't bother me at all if it happened at day light. But at night, where there's no light, it's a horror for me. When that happened, I became anxious, scared, cried, screamed and called my mom. She would find me and try to calm me down. I would run to her then stick with her wherever she went. I held onto her, so we didn't get separated.

As I grow up, I start to think about what I'm afraid of when I'm in the darkness.

Tuxedo cat

Yesterday I went to the cemetery with my family. It was my mother's death anniversary as well as the need to extend the permit to use the cemetery. I entered the public cemetery office then sat down, waiting for the call. The office was quiet and I was the only one waiting. About two meters from where I was sitting, I saw a tuxedo cat on the floor licking its body. It looks like a street cat.

The cat didn't see me and walked away. After a few minutes, it turned out the cat hadn't really left. It walked past me, sat down by my feet and looked up at me. I said to it in my heart, why you here? I don't have any food. We made eye contact. I could clearly see its eyes deeply. I felt like it wanted me to bring it home. Crossed in my mind it was pretty. I thought it's a female cat. It didn't take long for it to jump onto the sofa bench and take the seat right next to me. I was confused because it wasn't supposed to sit there 😅 So I grabbed it back to the floor then stroked its head. Shortly afterward, an officer called me to retrieve documents from the officer's desk, which was about five meters from where I was sitting. I left the cat for a few minutes. When I returned, it had disappeared.

Brief encounter with tuxedo cat made me happy. This simple thing brought me joy 😊

I forgot to took a photo of it so I use Gemini AI to generate picture of a tuxedo cat.

No Intention to Recall the Memories

Dear mom, I'm sorry for not having intention to recall the memories of you. I know entering month of May there is your birthday. I never forget it. I know I've been so bad not thinking of you in many days but it doesn't mean I forget you. It's just that.. realizing the fact that you are gone has saddened me.

On your birthday, I can control my mind not to think of you but my heart feels sorrow. Well sometimes heart cannot cooperate with brain. But still I don't have intention to recall memories of you.