Poem of Redemption

 In my vocabulary department, I still get confused by the definition of the word and its application in real life. Being native (South) Korean, who studied English in ESL (English as a Second Language) environment, I have endless stories to tell how I ended up speaking and writing in English eventually.

 For a while I was afraid of using the word 'redeem' and 'redemption', partially because I didn't know their exact meaning. So I finally look them up in the dictionary.
 Redeem : [VERB] If you redeem yourself or your reputation, you do something that makes people have a good opinion of you again after you have behaved or performed badly.
 Redemption : [NOUN] Redemption is the act of redeeming something or of being redeemed by something.

Title : Feet are Not for Kicking

    I thought about my 4-year-old daughter's school activity, Pulitzer Ceremony.  When I explained to her about Pulitzer prize and writers and illustrators, she wanted to write her own, and she said it was about a girl who played in the garden. She kicked a boy's face by accident. She felt sorry, and apologized to him, and now she knows feet are not for kicking (even it's make-believe), and she won't do that again. 


   I had to laugh, but shortly after I fixed my facial expression to a serious mode. That girl was meant to be her, and she was describing an incident at her school few weeks back. For many days of reinforcement of her self-reflection, she finally examined her behavior by herself. I couldn't be happier! I cried within, Hurrah!!!! 

Make-believe princess protects herself from the scary dragon, by kicking his face.
Boy's endless tears flow down to the ground.

A girl feels sorry, and apologizes to him.

  This is my daughter's first poem, a poem of redemption. :)

Confidence, unexpected discovery

Every morning I make a healthy juice from the juice maker, which my husband and I have been continuing since last September. Five days a week, as soon as I open my eyes I pull out bunch of fruits and vegetables on my kitchen counter. Celery stalks, carrots, cucumber, beet, apple, pear, kiwi and kale - these are my day starters.

   As usual, with half opened eyes, in a slow motion, I started to peel the carrots, cucumbers, chop the apples, pears, and my daughter, who had been enjoying her breakfast cereal, asked a question.

   "Mom, what is confidence?" as random it can be, as usual she can be, she flew a heavy question over my half awake brain.

   "Well, honey, confidence is when you do something you believe you can do it well.. or somewhat close," answered with the lower voice, I was still perplexed.

   "Then why do you have to show off your confidence?" again, my ever-curious daughter pitched the following question.

   "W..what? Why? Where do you get the idea?" I was half annoyed, and half curious.

   She was reading the back of cereal box, and this is what she showed to me. Speechless, I was numb.

   Later on, my husband who just got out of his shower, who presumably had a fresh mind, answered her question - "Oh, in this context when you eat healthy food, and you do exercise frequently, then you will have a nice body. And you can show it to others without bad feelings for yourself." 

   My daughter finally got the clear answer and she seemed to be satisfied. On the other hand, I was uncomfortably annoyed by this commercial on the breakfast cereal box. Why would they put such a silly line? After a while I couldn't stop thinking about this sentence, show off your confidence. Really? Does it even make sense in showing off and being confident? Doesn't it mean to be arrogant? What's the thin line between confidence and arrogance?

   Oh, crap! I needed to cut these crap! But still....

First day of Blogathon - Determination

Determination, that's what I need.

[NOUN] Determination is the quality that you show when you have decided to do something and you will not let anything stop you.

Uncertainty, self-doubt, pessimism and despair, I want to holler GOOD BYE to them. 
Then what will be left out?  
Dignity, self-assurance, optimism and hope.

Believe in yourself, I was told once,
It was not easy to believe in things that I couldn't see,
But she believed in me, and she told me she never had a doubt. 


Beginning is always cheerful, and exciting. I wish I can keep this enthusiasm until the end, until I reach the finish line. I know I will do it. It's a productive battle between me and myself, and I know the taste of the perseverance.