Gloria's Blog

Last week, I was in a friend’s home. Someone raised a question: "What is the opposite of love?" I had an answer. I didn’t say it. Someone else said, “Fear.” I couldn’t fully understand it at the time. But now I understand. *** Have you loved someone deeply but eventually have to end that relationship? What made you give up on the love? Is it out of fear? Fear of failure, fear of losing, fear of uncertain future, fear of the abundance of obstacles. You are fearful of a soul crashing breakup sometime in the future so much that you’d rather have it, right now. When my mother was in her last stage of illness. One day, at breakfast table, my dad said, “Be prepared. That day can come any time this months.” It is one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had. – you are going to lose someone that you can’t live without, soon, but you don’t know when, any second is possible. Fear is indeed the opposite of love, in this case. ***  Do you have this kind of experiences:...

The concept of 30-Day-Challenge is simple: you do a specific thing over and over again for 30 days, and write down what I've learned during the experience. I find it one of the most interesting, fulfilling, and inspiring experience. It has helped both my professional and personal life. So, I want to share what I did and what I learned. I will continue to do new 30-Day-Challenges in the rest of 2018. You are welcome to join me if the project interests you :) *** Introduction: In this challenge, I alternate walking for 30 minutes (and listening to audio book) and writing for 30 minutes every morning. For the challenge, I adjusted my daily routine. I now go to bed around 10pm. I got up around 6:15am. Basically switched up one hour from night to morning.  The audio books I read during the 30 days are: Principles by Ray Dalio, Fierce Conversations by Susan, Endurance: A Year in Space by Scott Kelly, podcasts with various guests hosted by Tim Ferriss I write down about 4...

On New Year’s Eve, me and my friend Jason set out for a mini adventure. We went on the street and asked strangers one question, “If you could change one thing in 2018, what would you change?” We asked nine people, including a couple from San Francisco, a backpacker from Spain, a homeless artist in front of a Starbucks, a couple under Ferris Wheel, a daddy taking daughter in a chocolate shop, a fisherman by the lake, an Uber driver. We videotaped everything, and made it into a documentary. Here are six things I learned from this mini adventure: 1. We asked nine people. Nine people answered. People are nicer than you thought. Well, I can’t ensure everyone will get 100% success rate at any time :) Win people’s trust is one of my strengths. Later, Jason told me his observation: my gesture of approaching people, how I open a conversation, how I pause after asking questions, how I listen. But I still think my seemingly innocent chubby face might be the biggest successf...

I have written a series of six blogs related to the happenings in Christmas 2017. This is the second one. This piece is dedicated to a good friend, Li, and his girlfriend, who actively and tirelessly organize activities for the Chinese community in Seattle. You are sharing your love to each other to warm and light up the community. Thank you! *** I have a friend in Seattle. His name is Li. We are not super close (yet), maybe a bit more than colleague. Li and his beautiful and sweet girlfriend are good people, and, very social. They love to organize drinks, dinner, all kinds of fun activities for the Chinese community in Seattle. I have been to a few. Usually, I need to try very hard to enjoy “just for fun”, unless I am under alcohol… I tend to seek meaning before and when doing things, maybe too much. Going to parties and talking about general, daily, random things, are not my favorite things. But sometimes life can be hard. For example, during Christmas. I have b...

Last December, I attended an amazing training - High Performance Training sponsored by my amazing employer Microsoft. It answers why and how the most elite masters in each field achieved what they have achieved - in sports, business, arts, etc. The training empathized the importance of mindfulness, positive thinking. During the training, they introduced a challenge, "To write down three good things that have happened everyday, for 30 days." I was inspired, and decided to do it with a friend. We made it through. We didn't expect it to be such a profound experience. ***** Here are ten things I learned from the 30-Day-Challenge. 1. Today’s happiness can only be appreciated today. We don’t remember yesterday well. One day we forgot to do it. It’s very hard to think three things that have made you happy yesterday. So live in the moment.  2. It’s not easy to stick to it for 30 days. Probably anything for 30 days.  We need discipline to do that. I tol...

The other day, a friend asked me: "Do you write novel?" Me: "What scene?" Him: "Love. Doubt. Courage." Me: "Any other constraints?" Him: "100 words. Exact." So here you go. This novel is dedicated to the people who are unsure about love, or people who are unsure whether their personal passion can turn into a career.  ********* Will This Work You ask me Will this work You think a lot Nine years apart Well my mom is ninety, healthy Genetically My life’ll be lengthy You’ve young kids to take care Well you have three side projects Holding your heart tight Keeping you up at night You don’t speak Chinese You’ll never speak to my heart Well you sure Ma Chi Fan Le Ma Ni Ai Wo Ma Oh God You are a lot Well if I am not You are already bored So Will this work If you want it to Same to everything That you’re putting your heart into ********* Dear friend, thank you for your attent...

I have written a series of six blogs related to the happenings in Christmas 2017. This is the first one. *** Christmas is a holiday meant to be spent with loved ones. It can be hard for people who are not surrounded by them, and didn't plan the travel in advance. On Christmas Eve, I didn't go to my friends' place to eat and hangout. I don't like being with people for the sake of being with people. I learned to say no. Recently I am reading the book Originals by Adam Grant. I was thinking, how to spend Christmas in an *original* way. Christmas has been a sad holiday for me. Six years ago, my mom passed away shortly before Christmas. I lived in Shanghai. At the time, the most painful things were the joyfully festive decorations and cheerful faces on the streets, when I was feeling absolutely lonely and lost. So I went to Yunnan, a remote area by myself. I realized all the emotions are following me and from inside, and it's probably better idea to be s...