My Westlake Family
Mountain View Friends (elementary/junior/high school)
UC Davis Buddies
Recently, an old friend suffered the tragic loss of one of his best friends. Although death is an incredibly difficult subject to deal with - especially when the person is so young - he is using the tragedy to reflect upon and appreciate his own life. One thing he did to cope was to reach out to old friends from his past in an attempt to reconnect and find out how they are doing these days.
All of this really got me thinking about my life and how I've become the person I am now. Of course, my family - especially my incredible parents - has always been the primary influence in my life, but it goes beyond that.
Upon hearing about it from a friend, I joined the website "Facebook" last year. At first it just seemed silly - filling out interest forms, posting photos, and playing on-line games. However, over time, old old friends started coming out of the woodwork. Friends from old jobs, church and sports programs, my 2 years living in Japan, college, high school, middle school, and even elementary school were discovered. It's fascinating to find out where they are today - family, location, careers - many taking a more traditional path and some making my jaw drop! I feel "connected" to those that post personal info about themselves - family vacations, photos of their kids, job frustrations, even mundane things like what they had for breakfast. Whether or not I run into them now, I love to know that they are happy (most of the time!) and doing well in the world.
In Buddhism, the word "karma" is thrown around a lot. Many people think of it as a very black or white thing - if you steal something, "bad" karma comes along causing your car to break down; if you help an old lady cross the street, "good" karma helps you win $20 in the lottery the next day. In my opinion, karma is a culmination of everything - both bad and good - you have experienced in the past that has made you the person you are today. I look at the 200+ Facebook friends I have today - people from different stages of my life - and I am grateful for how they have affected my karma and helped me reach my current stage in life.
Back to my awesome family...my little sister Rina offered to once again "switch lives" with me for a few days before she goes back to work again. She came out to Elk Grove to play full-time Mommy to my kids, while I went out to the Bay Area for some R & R. When I did this earlier in the year, I spent my time running through San Francisco - eating out, getting a haircut, shopping, and visiting museums. This time, however, I decided to have just one "me" day (reading and movies). For Days 2 and 3, I used the time to catch up with people - friends from college and high school (I hadn't seen them in close to 10 years) and teachers from Westlake School (I left 5 years ago) - all of whom are the same warm, loving, interesting and beautiful people I remembered so fondly. It was as if we were all in time capsules that were just opened and we started right back where we left off. I look forward to seeing all of them again, and hope to visit more friends in the near future.
If you're reading this, I hope you're inspired to do the same.
All of this really got me thinking about my life and how I've become the person I am now. Of course, my family - especially my incredible parents - has always been the primary influence in my life, but it goes beyond that.
Upon hearing about it from a friend, I joined the website "Facebook" last year. At first it just seemed silly - filling out interest forms, posting photos, and playing on-line games. However, over time, old old friends started coming out of the woodwork. Friends from old jobs, church and sports programs, my 2 years living in Japan, college, high school, middle school, and even elementary school were discovered. It's fascinating to find out where they are today - family, location, careers - many taking a more traditional path and some making my jaw drop! I feel "connected" to those that post personal info about themselves - family vacations, photos of their kids, job frustrations, even mundane things like what they had for breakfast. Whether or not I run into them now, I love to know that they are happy (most of the time!) and doing well in the world.
In Buddhism, the word "karma" is thrown around a lot. Many people think of it as a very black or white thing - if you steal something, "bad" karma comes along causing your car to break down; if you help an old lady cross the street, "good" karma helps you win $20 in the lottery the next day. In my opinion, karma is a culmination of everything - both bad and good - you have experienced in the past that has made you the person you are today. I look at the 200+ Facebook friends I have today - people from different stages of my life - and I am grateful for how they have affected my karma and helped me reach my current stage in life.
Back to my awesome family...my little sister Rina offered to once again "switch lives" with me for a few days before she goes back to work again. She came out to Elk Grove to play full-time Mommy to my kids, while I went out to the Bay Area for some R & R. When I did this earlier in the year, I spent my time running through San Francisco - eating out, getting a haircut, shopping, and visiting museums. This time, however, I decided to have just one "me" day (reading and movies). For Days 2 and 3, I used the time to catch up with people - friends from college and high school (I hadn't seen them in close to 10 years) and teachers from Westlake School (I left 5 years ago) - all of whom are the same warm, loving, interesting and beautiful people I remembered so fondly. It was as if we were all in time capsules that were just opened and we started right back where we left off. I look forward to seeing all of them again, and hope to visit more friends in the near future.
If you're reading this, I hope you're inspired to do the same.
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