“Cầu ít thị phi” translates to “praying for less gossip”. I shared a meme version with this phrase on social media earlier this year but I follow the concept in relevance with my default community, whether or not they realize that paper cannot cover fire.

Whichever way it is sliced, one can only control their own actions and words and hope that others will wake up each day and actively seek out kindness.

It has been four months since my last entry. I have been doing what I needed for my mental health and this meant learning to truly relax after I made a shift in my job allowing me to do so. The last few years has been full of nonstop changes and grinding without the pandemic added. I learned a lot from my previous job responsibilities but the flip side of it was that I was overworked and underpaid compared to the team and dealt with my portion of office politics.

Last month, what everyone worldwide has been taking precautions against, affected my family and me—we caught COVID-19. When the pandemic hit early last year, we all started wearing masks and only went out for essential errands. Those with job functions permitting started working from home. As much as we made ourselves more aware of our surroundings to ensure that we were doing everything we could to keep us and others safe, there comes a point where it escalates easily because of one person.

At a young age, I was the type of kid who sought adventures regardless of accompaniment. A quest could mean climbing up a small hill in the backyard imagining I was on Mt. Everest or wearing traditional Chinese hairpins pretending I was a princess during the Tang dynasty.