People say you need to be strong, smart, and lucky to survive hard times, war, a natural disaster, or physical torture. But I say emotional abuse – anxiety, fear, guilt, and degradation – is far worse and much harder to survive.
But there are certain books I would never put on a Kindle because you want to be able to look at graphs and photos or the footnotes and maps. You can’t see that.
And often it would be a woman who was in her 70s or 80s who would win the beauty contest, because bound feet never age.
As she spoke, I wanted to cry, because sometimes it’s just so damn hard to be a mother. We have to wait and wait and wait for our children to open their hearts to us. And if that doesn’t work, we have to bide our time and look for the moment of weakness when we can sneak back into their lives and they will see us and remember us for the people who love them unconditionally.
They did this to me. They did that to me. A woman who thinks that way will never overcome her anger. You are not being punished for your anger. You’re being punished by your anger.
No coincidence, no story.
Tea reminds us to slow down and escape the pressures of modern life,” he says.
Our words had to be circumspect. We could not write anything too negative about our circumstances. This was tricky, since the very form of a married woman’s letter needed to include the usual complaints – that we were pathetic, powerless, worked to the bone, homesick, and sad. We were supposed to speak directly about our feelings without appearing ungrateful, no-account, or unfilial.
I have a whole life to tell; I have nothing left to lose and few to offend.
The problem with living so long is that you see too many people pass before you.
Fall down eight times, stand up nine. For me, this saying is less about the dead paving the way for future generations than it is for the women of Jeju. We suffer and suffer and suffer, but we also keep getting up. We keep living. You would not be here if you weren’t brave. Now you need to be braver still.
A weak man always seeks to hurt those lower than he.
The sea is better than a mother. You can love your mother, and she still might leave you. You can love or hate the sea, but it will always be there. Forever. The sea has been the center of her life. It has nurtured her and stolen from her, but it has never left.
Her house is the nest where she hides the joy, laughter, sorrows, and regrets of her life.
Parents exist in children,” Grandmother said to bolster my confidence. “Your mother will always exist in you. She will give you strength wherever you go.
You are not being punished for your anger. You’re being punished by your anger.
Maybe our lives are like gigantic jigsaw puzzles. You find the right piece and suddenly the whole picture has meaning.
We were to be like long vines with entwined roots, like trees that stand a thousand years, like a pair of mandarin ducks mated for life.
A single spark is not enough to warm a room nor is a single seed enough to grow a fruitful crop. Deep love – true heart love – must grow.
A woman isn’t just one thing. The past is in us, constantly changing us. Heartache and failure shift our perspectives as do joy and triumphs. At any moment, on any given day, we can be friends, competitors, or enemies. We can be generous or stingy, loving or petty, helpful or untrustworthy.