Sweet Strength

With age and time, one believes strength ebbs.

The stones weather, the trees grow and split.

Through the passage of time, our hopes can fade away.

But that passage breed strength.

Reserves, once hollow, fill with the passage of each season.

The tenuous connection at birth becomes firm.

We see things, we know things

Where once we knew only fear and doubt.

We grow powerful within our own skin.

For truth, the mad rush of youth is gone

And the sunset is closer than the dawn.

But the sweetness of this strength is strong.

Delta Blues in Korean Youth

BTS’s latest album, Wings, which topped the US iTunes Overall Albums Chart when released in October and is the only Korean act to make Fuse’s 20 Best Albums of 2016, is an amazing and diverse collection of sounds and themes. Their latest effort helped them to win the coveted Artist of the Year award at the 2016 MNet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) December 2. This album brings something different with every single song and that’s especially the case with Am I Wrong.

This is not a remake of the Nico & Vinz song of the same name. It’s an interpretation of American singer-songwriter Keb' Mo' (Kevin Moore)’s Am I Wrong, with some of Keb’ Mo’s rich original upfront with BTS then moving into updated Korean lyrics by Naver Music while keeping the basic musical vibe of the original. It works. We go from a lover’s declaration in the original to that of a lamentation on social wrongs and the need to stand up against it in BTS’s version. The blogger Muish has a great run-through of the Korean political context of this song. It’s safe to say that South Korea has more than its fair share of injustice, frustration and social/political decay today.

Despite their youth (their oldest member just turned 24), 3 years into their career BTS has reached a point where they can, and are willing to, make some strong statements. With this song, they certainly do.

The best part- they sing a mix of English and Korean that is powered with absolute conviction. When Rap Monster asks, “The world’s goin’ crazy. How about you, how bout ya? You think it is okay? I don’t think I am” you know he’s serious. Then, he throws down the gauntlet: “If you don’t feel anything when you watch the news- If you don’t feel anything about that comment- If you don’t feel anything about the hatred- You are not normal, you are abnormal.” J-Hope growls “This crazy world, yeah- makes us crazy. Yeah, we are all CRAZY. Now scream MAYDAY MAYDAY” and the rhythm pumps you on to want to chant it with the band “Oh why why why why (OH MY GOD)”.

Live performances still show the band can sing these lyrics sweetly with the requisite sexy moves they’ve become known for, but the fact of the matter is, they’ve put some harder stuff out there with this new album. I expect they will grow into it with time. Am I wrong?

Seeking That Perfect Harmony

"A dandelion. Really?”

Yes, the bane of every overly-manicured lawn is the theme of today’s reflections.

First, let me thank my friend Marlene for the photo itself. What an amazing composition of texture, color and form. I am currently in the process of developing a project marrying her visual artistry with my essays for publication (and profit? ;-)). More on that to come!!

I was attempting to answer the question “Why do I write?” when I penned this line. It’s true that sometimes, the words flow almost effortlessly from somewhere and I just pray I don’t throw a mental spike in the road as they come out, causing it all to crash to a halt.

I’m sure you’ve felt that way about something. Like the symmetry of this dandelion: you are part of something complex, yet totally balanced and whole. It could be when you’re on a sports team, or in or a group of friends, or when you’re creating a meal or during a teaching moment in class: suddenly it all feels right.

Heaven knows it’s not always that way.

Things explode. Things break. There’s disappointment. There’s disaster. There’s a freaking blank screen staring at you...laughing at your feeble attempts. You can get ripped out of the ground and tossed to the wind.

Yet, like the dandelions in spring, we need to rise up once again. We need to reach for the sun. We need to fulfill our destinies- or at least just try and do our very best in what it is we choose to do.

Oh, that sweet harmony. Dawn breaks for us to try to reach it once again.

When We Believe, We Do

This essay is inspired by a child's mind.

So, I’ve written repeatedly of my interest in Korean culture. It’s not a unique thing- there’s actually at least one term for it: Koreaboo. Just like there are several levels of interest in Japanese anime (my husband insists he’s an otaku and frowns at weeaboo obsessions), people around the world enjoy learning about and expressing their interest in Korean music, film, food and other cultural expressions. I think whenever cultures touch, it helps ground us as one.

I’ve been enjoying my free time and available tools to check out parts of the scene on the other side of the planet from my cozy home in Wisconsin, USA. Just the other day, I found an Instagram posting of K-pop band BigBang’s member, G-Dragon, hosting a (RED) fundraiser on Omaze to support the purchase of antiviral medications against AIDS.

When I told my 10-year old I could donate to a worthy cause and get a chance to go to Seoul and have a meal with a K-pop star, he paused. Then, he simply said:

“I believe in you. You should follow your dream.”

Wow. OK. This wasn’t the first time he’s given me advice like this. It’s what he told me when I decided to start writing again and publishing my essays in this blog and see where that goes.

Logical Middle-Aged Mom Mind could come up with a laundry list of reasons to scoff at all of this and move on to “reality”. Yet, how unsettling and humbling it is to be given this mental pat on the shoulder and expectant nod to begin like that. You have the green light. Go for it, he’s telling me. I expect you to. With a child’s mind he can see a clear path between opportunity and success with one simple bridging action: believing it could come true by trying.

When we believe, we do.

Whatever it is, when you reach out, you risk getting burned. When you take a chance to speak, to write, to build or to draw something, you send the dice rolling out into the universe. It’s hard. There’s no guarantee whether you’ll succeed or fail.

There is, however, a raw beauty in the process of simply accepting, believing and following your dream.

Never Regret a Smile

I’m middle-aged and just now discovering what that might mean.

I’m not talking about wrinkles or stress or looming AARP mailers. I’m talking about regret. Why do we have stereotypes of freakouts during this time in our lives? If nothing more, it could be for the simple reason that our bodies are innately trying to do what we should be doing all along: regret nothing.

Sure, getting older means you know things. Your confidence grows as your experience lengthens. However, I’m becoming convinced that your middle-aged body's influx of energy is nature's way of trying, in a last-ditch effort perhaps, to get you back into a constructive mindset of growth and exploration: one based in joy, happiness and wonder.

If you can couple that mindset in a healthy way with the wisdom you’ve accrued, what revelations await? It doesn't have to simply result in a frivolous car purchase or destructive relationship choice.

Working as an assistant in an elementary school perhaps helped me begin to regain access to this more youthful perspective on the world where things are more fluid and potentials unchecked. Taking on the persona of a rogue in the classic MMORPG World of Warcraft back in my 30s, then diving into Japanese anime like Bleach and Attack on Titan and now enjoying Korean dramas such as this year’s Signal, W and Another Oh Hae-young and Korean pop like BTS’s I Need U- I've been reminded over and over to just loosen up and look at things differently. To not give in or up or simply endure but to enjoy what I'm doing and not regret it.

Basing your daily activities around the goal of simply experiencing them fully can make you truly appreciate all that you have right around you more intimately. It also reminds you that life is basically pretty good and can be made better by every one of your choices.

My biggest hope today is we all find a moment where we smile with pleasure and regret it not a whit.