Uphill idealist

The only kind of proverb or wisdom that I’m used to getting in addition to my Chinese food is the tiny paper that comes out of a fortune cookie. At the end of the meal we ceremoniously hold up the tray of cookies and carefully choose the cookie. We bite into the cookie to reveal the fortune that is tucked inside of it. Then we read our fortunes out loud and ponder how they could come true. Often we save each fortune to decorate the bulletin board at home. Wisdom - it seems, is something we all are hungry for. “You can be skinny and you can be pretty, but you have to feed a happy heart.” When I first heard these words, my first reaction was confusion. All I had been trying to do was pick up some Chinese food for dinner, but in addition to my order and fortune cookie, I had been given a personal proverb from the cook.  This conversation with the cook had started when I had asked specific questions about how the dish was prepared. “What sauce is it served with? Can yo...

Image found at My Hero Project There is the idea of "No man or woman is an island.” The philosophy of Ubuntu lifted up by South African culture to promote balance of relationships within community, says we are not complete when left solitary. “South Africa's first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has died at the age of 95. Mr. Mandela led South Africa's transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison for his political activities.”( BBCNews Article ) In honor of Nelson Mandela’s life and his death this week – it’s timely to ponder the importance and meaning of “Ubuntu”. President Mandela was a man that risked everything in order to stand up against the injustice of Apartheid. This challenge was not one without fear, but fear did not keep him from stepping into the fray - for the restoration of justice for others. "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he...