GBA Lifestyle News
Three random thoughts from a Hong Kong millennial.
1. It’s really bad, but I often question my whole self after discovering how much more money my peers are making. I also can plunge into self-doubt when I see friends radiating this conviction about their future, knowing where they want to be in five years, and how to get there. Me? I’m all lost and confused and shaky inside.
I’ve decided to put that insecurity to good use: Every morning, I force myself to wake up by internally screaming, “GET UP AND WORK OR YOU’LL BE POOR FOREVER.” It works wonders. No more snooze buttons! By day’s end, though, I usually choose to channel Yoko Ono, because ultimately, I think she’s right, saying “The most important thing is that each one of us will do exactly what we can do. That’s all we can do.” Awww.
2. Somewhat related is this creepy confession: I stalk a lot of people on Instagram. Am I alone in this? I have this list of people whose username I remember by heart, and when I’m bored, I check their accounts. Sometimes, it’s essentially the same as flipping open a gossip magazine: what is she eating, what did she wear, where is she travelling to?
Other times, it’s to see what my friends are up to — like my incredible windsurfing Olympian friend here — as well as admiring those who are building nuanced narratives of themselves on the platform, by showing their work, or by putting down their fears and worries into words for somebody else to read, such as the instas of my friend/typography genius who just moved to Berlin.
3. What’s making me think… Tressie McMillan Cottom, assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, on why it’s important to let social movements grow in light of the Mizzou protests via podcast Call Your Girlfriend: “This idea that a movement will know what it’s doing immediately — it’s such a disingenuous critique. That’s why I can’t tolerate too much critique of Black Lives Matter not doing XYZ. For a movement that’s a year old, wow, look at the ground that they’ve covered, look at the things that they’ve had to grapple with and develop. Most people can’t, you know, organize their towels in a year.”
