Tag Archives: 30-day challenge

Seattle Adventures

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Sign at the Soul Food Coffee House, Redmond, WA

I’ve spent an incredible last 16 hours in the Seattle, Washington area.  I came here to visit my dear friend, Yafa, and adventure with her, so today’s post is a bit about the adventure so far.

When I arrived late last night, Yafa came to pick me up at the very crowded airport.  We agreed to meet at the airport parking lot, but she couldn’t find me right away and pulled over so I could find her.

And that’s when the adventure began.

She pulled over on a raised curb and her car got stuck on the front axle:

Here’s the car, stuck on the curb

We couldn’t move the car.  She called AAA who said that they’d send someone out by 1:30am.

Hmmmmm.

Fortunately, with the help of Andre, a heroic SEA-TAC parking security officer, some analysis of the car angle & a little prayer, we were eventually able to drive the car gently off the curb.  We called AAA, canceled the tow and headed back to her place, arriving just after 12:30.

After a delicious gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookie and decompressing from our first adventure, I got some sleep and woke up early to do a 3-mile walk with my dear friend, Anne (with whom I forgot to get a picture–sad me!).  We got to see beautiful views of Seattle:

View of Seattle from our walk (you can see the space needle on the right)

And, we even met a troll:

He was very friendly, in fact

After finishing our walk, Yafa and I grabbed some lunch and went out to spend some time in nature.  We stopped by Snoqualmie Falls Park:

And Lake Sammamish: 

This time, I remembered to get a selfie:

And now, after a little toy shopping, we’re planted in a warm coffee shop, and I am getting caught up on some blogging and e-mail.  It’s lovely work-life balance. Working with love and joy.  Living with adventure.

Stick to the Schedule?

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I’d like to be a more laid back, “go with the flow” kind of person, someone who is flexible and relaxed, accommodating with time, and free spirited.

I’d like that, but it’s just not who I am (at least not at this point in my life).

In an effort to both be more mindful and more reflective, I noticed, beginning yesterday and continuing until…well, right about now, how uptight I am about time, scheduling, and routine.

I was raised in a household where you take care of obligations first, and then you can play (or have fun).  I would always come home from school and immediately do my homework before watching television or doing some other leisure activity.

As an adult, I have internalized this idea, and made it part of my routine.  On days when I am supposed to run, I run first thing in the morning.  Given my commitment to this writing challenge, I blog first thing in the morning. (I am also freshest in the morning and I know that if things are going to get done, they are most likely to get done well before I begin responding to the many fires that will undoubtedly erupt during the day.) I also try to plan things with enough time and forethought that I have space to get to my next scheduled obligation with plenty of time to spare.

Today, it did not really work this way, and it was so interesting to see my internal stress at it all.

I’m going on a trip this weekend to see a lifelong friend. It’s a trip that is for me (and her too) and should be a ton of fun.  Cue guilt.  Because I’ll be meeting another friend to walk in the morning, I won’t be running 9-miles.  So, I had planned to do my long run this morning, but I had to reschedule a dentist appointment (at the last minute) which meant no time to run. The dentist appointment was right after my husband’s so I decided to carpool with him then drop him off at work, not accounting for the extra time that my filling would take. Sigh. After dropping him off, I headed (in the opposite direction) to my next meeting (which was great), but didn’t have time to stop home to check on my son.  Another change in plans. And, because I’m taking on the second exercise in Levy’s Mindful Tech book (Intentional e-mail), I knew I’d have to take 15-30 minutes of uninterrupted time to address the e-mails I needed to before I could blog and finish packing then go to pick up my husband so he could drop me off at the airport.

Whew!

Miraculously (or at least to me, it seems miraculous), everything got done (or is getting done — I still need to wrap this up and pack my books for my trip. and I’ll have to do my 9-miler this weekend) and actually, it’s fine.  This blog post is what it is. The mileage will get done. I’m going to make it to the airport at the time I wanted to.  It all got done.

Today, I got the insight that, in my every day, academic life that is not “vacation” based, I am clearly doing too much that leaves me stressed when any small thing doesn’t go according to plan.  But, I also got the insight that it’s possible to bring your awareness to the present moment and be intentional even if things are out of your routine.  I was able to be present.  I was able to be flexible. And, it’s all going to be fine.

Hmmmm.

So, maybe I’m not as laid back, or “go with the flow” as I’d like to be, but maybe I’m becoming more of who I need to be, and some of that includes building in more flexibility.  Maybe, being mindful is allowing me to choose more intentionally and to recognize that balance can only be achieved if I let go of some things and try to develop new habits.  Maybe.

Why Am I Doing This? Pushing Pause Instead of Pushing E-mail

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A week ago, I began the first exercise from David M. Levy’s Mindful Tech book, and started observing my e-mail use.  Levy encourages his readers to share both their observations and personal guidelines they’ve established after completing the exercise, and, well, I need to write a blog post today anyways, so here goes 🙂

Observations

It didn’t take long for me to notice several patterns with my e-mail use:

  1. I check e-mail automatically, as a routine when I’m bored or when I don’t have anything immediately to do in the moment.  Over the last week, I noticed that I’ll instinctually reach for my phone to check e-mail (and social media notifications) first thing in the morning, but also, when I’m the passenger in a car (even when someone I love is talking to me!), when I’m walking on the street, waiting for a light to change, when I don’t feel like doing something that I should be doing. I do this with social media too, but I start with e-mail, which I feel more justified doing as it’s ostensibly “productive.”
  2. E-mail is generally very stressful for me, but much more so when I’m on my mobile device.  My phone is great for many things, but it is not ideal for e-mail.  Over this last week, I felt my anxiety rise when my e-mail was loading slowly (or not loading at all), and when I saw an e-mail come in on my mobile device that I couldn’t respond to right away (or that it would be extremely inefficient for me to respond to using the device itself). When these things happen, I get SUPER anxious, which translates into tense shoulders and short breaths. I’ll either keep checking/ refreshing until I can get to the e-mail I need or I’ll inefficiently respond so I can feel like it’s off my plate.  If I don’t respond, I am afraid I’ll forget to respond.
  3. I feel obligated to get back to people as soon as I see their messages.  My work e-mail is the most stressful, followed by my gmail, which is stressful because it’s the one I’m most likely to forget to check or respond to, and email gets lost quickly in that account (i.e. I don’t have a good system to track who I need to respond to).  I am actually the best with my personal yahoo e-mail account which is basically my e-mail where all the Groupon, Target, charity, listserv e-mails come.  I feel ZERO stress checking that account, even when there are 57 notifications because if I start to get stressed out, I literally just delete almost every single e-mail and it feels cathartic. In fact, that e-mail makes me feel awesome because with a few checks and the trash button, I’ve just dealt with all those e-mails! Sometimes, I will check/ read the e-mails in that account, but I don’t feel beholden to them, like I do with my other e-mail.

Personal Guidelines

What can help me to use my e-mail more effectively?  Levy is clear in his text that personal guidelines are just that, personal.  They work for an individual and aren’t necessarily generalizable.  I’m going to play around with these personal guidelines for e-mail and see how they work for me, at least for the next couple of weeks, and then I’ll reconsider and revise as necessary:

  1. Put a pause on pushing e-mail.  On my phone, I changed my mail settings to fetch e-mail manually.  This means that I won’t automatically see the number on my mail icon.  I’ll need to open the app and ask it to download my e-mail. As a bonus game, I’m challenging myself to check only when my Apple Watch signals for me to stand (so, a maximum of once an hour, but not in the hours when I’m actually active and getting something done). When I’m focused on a task, I will quit my work e-mail app on my computer and only open it when either: a) I’m done with my task or b) I get my stand cue.
  2. Don’t respond to work e-mail or gmail on my phone.  I thought about deleting both accounts from my phone, but the calendar syncing is really helpful. So, I’m going to try just being intentional about not responding to these e-mails on my phone which I hope will help me establish a pattern of addressing them when I’m more present to my e-mails, on my computer.
  3. When reaching for my phone, pause, and ask why and if that’s really what I want to be doing? In reflecting on the past week and on my present “vacation brain,” I know that I use my phone (e-mail and social media particularly) to avoid things I don’t want to do, or to avoid being present.  I don’t think this is always bad, as sometimes my brain needs a rest, and I work extremely hard. However, I also think that being mindful and finding alternatives that feel more intentional and less stressful could be helpful.  It’s not necessarily that mindless, automatic habits are bad, it’s that this one actually can be really counterproductive.

So, that’s the first exercise.  I’ll keep you all updated as I continue to move forward in mindfulness….

Getting Out of My Own Way

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The work that is most valuable is often so hard. Ugh.

Yesterday, I was all reflective and hopeful as I wrote down some goals for the new year including being more intentional with my time and energy, setting boundaries and sticking with them, and reading and writing more.

I also wrote this: “I’d like to be kinder to myself.  I’d like to make self-care a priority, and take the time and space that I need to do what I know works for my physical, mental and spiritual health. I’d like to feel less guilt and let go of that which I will inevitably feel more quickly.”

Then, of course, I got tested.   Because transformation doesn’t come without going through the fire.

These were little tests, but they made me recognize how far I have to go. I’d like to be honest in my struggle, so you also can see how far I have to go:

  1. I was introduced in an e-mail to students at my son’s school as Mrs. Hsieh. I don’t go by Mrs. Hsieh ever.  When referred to by my last name, I go by Ms. Hsieh or Mrs. [Husband’s Last Name] or, preferably, by Dr. Hsieh, which is what I refer to myself as when I need to do the Bob Dole 3rd person self-referencing.  I wish this was a great feminist conviction, but it’s not. It’s about accuracy.  Correcting this subtly, by signing the e-mail “Dr. Hsieh” should not have been a big deal.  I was just claiming my right to be called by a title I’ve earned. It wasn’t calling out the other parent because I understand that the intention was to find the most appropriate title of respect for me. But, let me tell you, the problem.  I literally spent a long time (like cumulatively over an hour) stressing about this.  Seriously, this is not a big deal. I know that intellectually, but, as I discussed with my son, during dinner, I worried about “coming off” a certain way with the other parent, especially as I don’t feel 100% a part of the school community. I didn’t want to be myself because I was worried about the perception of someone else.
  2. I was reading (yay, for another part of my resolution) some really powerful work on Asian American feminism and Women of Color Politics and was really struggling, not conceptually or theoretically, but in actually thinking about the ways in which Asian American feminism (specifically) and WOC feminism (more broadly) do and/or do not inform the choices I make and the identities I empower, in so many ways, even in the above incident, in terms of claiming space. But, also in acknowledging the differences in the struggles among Asian American communities (and my own privilege as Taiwanese American) and between Asian Americans and other POC/WOC in the US in ways that build coalition, strengthen solidarity, and are authentic. Though, in writing this, I realize that reading, engaging, and reflecting in these ways are powerful, intentional and critical to my own growth, as a person and a scholar (thus fulfilling multiple goals for the year), I also struggle with a guilty sense of somehow not being enough, of doing the work too late or in the wrong way. My insecurities pull me towards voicelessness and I’m forced to push back in ways that are really uncomfortable for me. I find myself constantly being pulled towards saying what others want to hear to fit in, and that is how I lost my voice in the first place.
  3. Finally, after all of this reading and reflecting, and guilt, I read a friend’s blog post that landed in a weird way for me, and I said something about it.  First off, I don’t like to say anything less than glowingly positive feedback to anyone about anything that they’ve written (unless they ask for critical feedback) because it is such an act of courage to write vulnerably and share broadly.  Secondly, this is my friend and brother, and I had a feeling that my response would land critically and might be triggering.  But also, this is my friend and my brother, so I had to say something, because sometimes, when we journey together, we need to check each other, especially when something doesn’t sit right with us.  Still, the whole thing made me uneasy, probably because it is triggering for me to say something if there’s even a chance that people will react poorly to it. There it was again, this theme not wanting to be myself, or honor my own voice, because I was worried about the perception of someone else.

So all of this is teaching me that I have so far to go.  In pushing to challenge the model minority stereotype, which I’ve benefited from extensively, I know that I have to get used to raising my voice in these seemingly small interactions with people in my everyday circles (and of course, beyond them, although this, for some reason, is easier for me), not because it’s an obligation or the right way to enact Asian American feminism, but because, I am tired of self-censorship that doesn’t represent who I really am.

That is scary. It involves imperfect interactions that can be messy and leave me feeling uncomfortable. It involves faith that people and relationships are stronger than the oppressive structures that unconsciously inform our everyday lives. Or that, if they aren’t, and we can’t get through this with me being authentic, then maybe I shouldn’t be investing my time and energy in the ways I tend to automatically.

This is intentional.

This is hard.

Growth is hard.

But I can only move towards my greater work if I can get out of my own way.

 

Beginning a New Year

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I’d like to read and write more this year — in quantity, time, genre, and frequency.

I’d like to be more intentional with my time and energy. I hope to be more present with those I love and more deliberate with my choices in relation to technology.  I hope to use my time wisely to support my goals and those I care about around me. I’d like to do more of the things that bring me joy, and fewer of the things that I feel obligated to do because I’m good at them. I’d like to act with conviction and certainty.

I’d like to be kinder to myself.  I’d like to make self-care a priority, and take the time and space that I need to do what I know works for my physical, mental and spiritual health. I’d like to feel less guilt and let go of that which I will inevitably feel more quickly.

I’d like to set better boundaries and stick to them.

I’d like to pray more, reflect more, think more.

I’d like to cook more, eat more delicious food, explore new places, help my children to experience new things, and be open to change.

Will you join me? I’m pretty sure I’ll need the accountability to transform these desires into realities.

No matter what you’d like to do in 2019, I hope that you bring all of your best intentions to fruition this year.

Ending the Year with Love

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12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. — Colossians 3:12-14 (New International Version)

I don’t tend to bring my faith (explicitly) into this blog a lot, but it’s something that’s important to me and fitting to end this year.  This past weekend, the message at my church service was on finishing the year strong with love, and I wanted to spend a few moments reflecting on this, on the last day of the year.

Whether you’re a person of faith or not, when I read the passage above, I think about the many privileges that I have and how important it is to use those privileges to act with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love.  2018 has been a year full of opportunities to either respond in anger or reactiveness or to act with compassion, kindness and patience.

Something I’ve learned in 2018, particularly, is that all of these qualities (compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love) don’t mean that I’m not also fiercely advocating for justice.  In fact, how can we express true compassion and love without advocating for justice? But, what these qualities (when I’m able to embody them) do help me to do is remember that each person, as an individual, is operating from their own perspectives, biases and lenses, within social and societal structures.  If I can speak and listen to them, particularly with the people I know personally, and their humanity, they are more likely to hear what I’m saying.  Will we still disagree with each other?  Since I’ve considered my beliefs carefully and hold on to them strongly, yes, we probably will, on that point.  But, does it mean we can’t coexist peacefully and respectfully? In most cases, no. And, honestly, on the individual level, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the common ground we can find when we have conversations with one another across perspectives.

There are exceptions to this, where I can still hold love for the person, but in order to be compassionate to myself, I can’t interact with that person anymore, and that’s something that I’ve also learned in 2018. Sometimes, I need to walk away. Sometimes, I need not to respond.  Sometimes, the most loving thing to do is to leave a toxic situation. Sometimes, I do best to remember that change that makes an impact is structural and not individual, and I need to use my energy to dismantle structures, rather than focusing solely (or even primarily) on changing individual hearts.

Because I am trying always to embody the qualities mentioned above, I give away my time and energy in ways that aren’t actually compassionate, kind or loving to myself. I struggle most with being patient, forgiving and humble where there’s something that I need to get done or someone who needs more help than I can give.  I need to remember that I can’t be all things to all people (humility!) and that I can’t be anything to anyone, if I’m not first engaging in self-preservation.  And that’s challenging.  It’s something I need to continue to work on balancing as I move into 2019.

As this Biblical passage goes on, it talks about being grateful.  And, I am so grateful, for my community, that journeys alongside me, in life, and online, that remind me to be compassionate and kind, humble and gentle, patient and loving, to others and to myself.  I wish you all the best that 2019 has to offer and hope you end 2018 in peace, joy, and love.

Respecting Teachers

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What would it look like if teachers were valued and respected as professionals? My students thought about what would be necessary to sustain a discourse like this and how a discourse like that might be reflected in society

I am a teacher educator. I currently prepare people who want to become teachers to get their teaching credentials, and work with teachers in classrooms to improve their practice. I do this at a large, regional, public, comprehensive university that serves a large percentage of students of color, many of whom are first generation college students.  Prior to that, I spent over 10 years in public school classrooms, as a teacher and peer coach.  In my 17 years as a public school and university educator, I have been on strike twice.

Now, I have many teacher friends and former students, in Oakland and Los Angeles Unified School Districts (2 of the largest public school districts in the state) who are poised to go on strike.

Let me tell you, your public school educators do not want to go on strike.  Being on strike is exhausting and not fun.  It is not what educators are trained to do.  It is not our passion or purpose.  When a district gets to the point of a strike, the working conditions have gotten so bad that teachers feel they have no choice but to leave their classrooms and students in order to fight for things that all students and educators deserve, things like: libraries, nurses, counselors, smaller class sizes that allow for more individualized attention, special education, early education and bilingual education support, and the commitment of our society to public education.

Yes, they would like a salary increase too, because salary reflects the value of the critical work that teachers do. It shows that we respect the work of teachers.  They’d like less standardized testing and less prescribed curriculum that deprofessionalizes teaching and takes away from instructional time. They’d like the opportunity to design and implement innovative curriculum that integrates 21st century learning skills.

Yes, there are teachers who shouldn’t be in classrooms.  I’m not going to lie. There are teachers who struggle through our credential program and who I wouldn’t want teaching my own children.  My son, who has been in public schools for 7 years has had both exceptional and struggling teachers. I get that many people have had difficult experiences with public school teachers.  As a parent and a huge public school advocate, honestly, I have as well. And, as a teacher educator, I am working tirelessly (if you’ve read this blog, you know I work tirelessly) to prepare educators to do better for all students.

But these teachers are not the majority of the teachers I have worked with or continue to work with. These teachers do, however, get a lot of media coverage, and are often concentrated in schools and classrooms where students actually need the most supports but have the fewest choices.  However, even in those schools, there are great teachers who are fighting for students to have the best learning environment possible. Great teachers and students with so much potential exist in every school.  They need the resources to thrive and grow.

Of course, the answers to how we make public education work for everyone is complex.  Certainly, though, the answer isn’t to further make working conditions so untenable that great teachers can’t afford to stay in classrooms (either monetarily or for their own mental or physical health). And, it’s not to blame one another for these problems and scrap the system for a business model that allows those with privilege to gain more privilege.  Teaching under the conditions that many urban, public school teachers face is unfair to them and more than that, it’s unfair to public school students, all of whom deserve a quality education from their local neighborhood school.

Let’s actually show respect for our teachers and students. They are not only our future leaders, they are shaping our present society. They are our best investment.

Back to Life…Back to Reality

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Back to life, back to reality, back to the here and now, oh yeah. (Thanks Soul II Soul and everyone who is now singing along to this classic–I’ve linked it here in case you want a soundtrack to this post)

We just got back home after a few days in South Florida visit my in-laws.  It was a fun, family, vacation with a trip to the Lion Country Safari Adventure Park  (which seriously everyone should go to if you have young children and are in the area), the beach, and Miami, for Cuban food and mojitos.  One of my favorite things about the trip was actually not a place that we went, or a thing that we did. Instead, what I most appreciated was just being with family, and not having constant reminders about all the things I have to do in my life at home.  I brought my laptop along, but used it mostly to blog, for social media, and to watch Food Network online.

It was a lovely break from the reality of cleaning out my refrigerator, from my dining room table (and the explosion of mail, books, holiday cards and assorted sundries that need to be put away laying upon it), from articles that need to be written, and from emails that need to get returned (I’m still observing that).  But, alas, here I am, back in the dining area, writing amongst the mess, blogging quickly, before heading out to get our dog from our friends’ place.

And, well, duty calls, but vacation was lovely.

#TeamNoSleep & the Quest for More Mindful Tech Use

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That espresso in the corner symbolizes the #TeamNoSleep of this post; the rest symbolizes my quest for a more mindful relationship with technology

I’m going to start this post off by saying that I didn’t sleep well last night.

This happens when, every few months, I have a very strong coffee.  I am usually a tea drinker because coffee gives me the jitters, but I had a strong cup of delicious cuban coffee with milk and then I didn’t sleep.  So, if this post seems a little off, blame the indulgence of a cafe con leche.

That preface has nothing and everything to do with the rest of this post, which is on mindfulness is relation to technology.  It has nothing to do with the post because, well, it’s about sleep and delicious cuban coffee, and this is mainly a post about technology.  It has everything to do with it because it’s about mindful (or non-mindful) consumption.

In my life, I am fairly disciplined in terms of what I consume (within reason).  I know what makes me feel really sick and I know what keeps me up at night (clearly); I know that I need to eat, sometimes even when I don’t feel hungry or don’t love the choices presented to me; and I know that moderation is best for most things. I also don’t always make the best choices.  I generally choose well, but not always, and sometimes, I choose the opposite of the best thing for me in that moment, because, well, an occasional indulgence is part of life.  But, I’m very aware of what I eat and drink because my physical and mental health depend on it.

I can’t always say the same thing about my technology consumption.

I’m (ostensibly) working on a book about intentional tech use for sustainability. (I say ostensibly because I have the ideas for the book, but haven’t actually written a lot of it…) As part of my work on the book, I decided to buy, and read Mindful Tech by David M. Levy which is about bringing more balance into our digital lives.  I’ve been wanting to read this book for awhile and I know I need more digital balance (I’m a Libra. I need more every kind of balance), but, honestly, I was worried that the book would prescribe some kind of technology fast (which I’ve done before, for Lent, with Facebook) which hasn’t really worked for me in the past.  I mean, I fast, but then once I’m back on, the old patterns return, and I find some other tech tool to replace Facebook while I’m fasting.

Thankfully, the book really isn’t about fasting.  It’s about observing technology use and then changing to be more intentional (mindful & effective), which, as someone who does action research, is exactly what I need to do, without judgment, and with a lot of curiosity and self-compassion.

Yesterday, I began the first exercise in the book, which was about observing my e-mail use.  It’s funny because Levy’s first exercise is about focusing on one technology tool (e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) of your choice to observe.  I thought I’d focus on Facebook because honestly, I think I have more of a problem with it than e-mail.  But, what was interesting was that I actually wasn’t even aware of how much e-mail rules my life. I check automatically, feel stressed when I can’t respond right away, manage mail across 3 different accounts, and allow it to distract me when a message comes up and I’m around others that I love.  Whew! That’s a lot to realize in 6 hours of observation.  It’s one of the first things I do in the morning, and I get extra annoyed when I see a number (signifying unread messages) next to my mail app.

What I love about mindfulness is that it’s really about accepting what’s so without judging it.  I see my use of e-mail.  I see how e-mail has been occupying (so much) space in my life in ways that aren’t aligned with who I am or my priorities in life.  With this awareness, I can make better choices (like I tell my 3.5 year old).  Even more importantly, if I can start to bring more awareness to how I’m feeling when my use of a tech tool is counter-productive (usually stressed and obligated, which means a physical pit in my stomach and tightness in my shoulders), then I can observe what I’m doing in that moment and (hopefully, eventually) work to change that behavior.

Awareness can empower change.  And I’m excited about this journey towards more mindful tech use.

The Importance of Friendship (or Friendship is Awesome)

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Friendship is magic!

It’s winter vacation and I have a 3.5 year old daughter which means that, instead of finishing up a peer review of a book last night, I was watching the My Little Pony movie.  (That gif above actually captures my daughter’s expression as she asked me to watch the movie and my response)

So, full disclosure, I am actually a pretty big My Little Pony fan.  I’m a lot like Apple Jack, the orange horse, “raised in a barn” (it’s a joke in the movie). Apple Jack is honest and hard working, empathetic and caring, and she likes to eat.  I mean, she pretty much represents me.

[Movie spoilers ahead]

Anyways, the plot of the movie has to do with Twilight Sparkle (purple pony pictured above) who is the Princess of Friendship, but has doubts about the power of friendship.  She sees herself as less than the other princesses (of the sun, moon and stars) and is worried that the festival of friendship she has coordinated won’t turn out perfectly.  Enter the bad guy & his mean pony side kick (Tempest) who has her own trauma around friendship (she is a unicorn who lost her horn then subsequently got abandoned by her friends in childhood).  Eventually, after meeting a singing cat, a singing band of pirates, and some singing mythical underwater hippogryphs (there’s a lot of singing), Twilight Sparkle and her friends get in a fight.  You see, the hippogryphs have a magic pearl that could be the key to saving TS’s land of Equestria, and just as the hippogryphs seem ready to lend over the pearl through the friendship that they’ve established with the ponies, TS is caught trying to steal the pearl and they’re all banished to an island where TS’s pony friends (Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy), hurt by TS’s betrayal, not only of them, but of the power of friendship, take a minute, to reflect on the true meaning of their friendship.  At this exact moment, the antagonists’ henchmen come and capture Twilight Sparkle, taking her away.  Anyways, long story short, eventually, friendship saves the day, and TS learns that not only does she need to trust herself, but that friendship has the power to save us all (well, except the actual king bad guy who gets turned into stone and cracks into several pieces at the end–but the rogue pony ends up okay).

[End movie spoilers]

Even though, I’m much more of an Apple Jack IRL, I relate to Twilight Sparkle’s plight.  It’s hard not to have imposter syndrome sometimes, and it’s hard to trust in friendship when sometimes you feel like all the responsibility to get things done is your own. But, in the end, it’s friendship that makes life worth living, that brings us joy, and that can save us and our society.  If we can just connect with those that seem so different from us, our world can be so much more awesome.  It’s time to be awesome (it’s from the movie, which is now replaying this morning).