Week 3: Learn to Live a Little (Weekly Writing Club)

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What』s something interesting you learned this week?

Learning to beoptimistic. That』s one vital thing I learned this week.

Being optimistic doesn』t really soundpractical and it』s more like a perfunctory thing to say whensomeone pours out their bitterness. 「Hey, just try to be optimistic and you』ll be fine!」

My friend Minh』s suicide wore me outemotionally last week. I could do nothing but lie in bed crying,while going through all the details of the time we spent together. I blamedmyself that if I could have been more alert, this wouldn』t have happened. Icouldn』t eat, couldn』t sleep. I kept thinking about him again and again.

I was immersed in thesorrow. But one day I came to know that I』m not the only one suffering. My family had been talking to mein a very gingerly, careful way; the same with my friends. Finally,I decided to move on.

But how?

At first, I tried toconvince myself by repeatedly tell my mind that I』m willing to move onand let everything go. But it didn』t work well. Then I decided to hang out withmy funniest friends. I did have some fun times, but once I wasalone the depression just attacked me even more fiercely.

Last night, I logged ontoQuora and wrote my story about Minh. It took me severalhours since my English has always been bad. But when I finally published theanswer, I felt a long-absent feeling through mywhole body, peace and happiness.

I even jotted down thatdoing things which reflect my ability can help me achieve inner peace. So I joined this weekly writing club; I signed up as a volunteer in a group that translates populartalk shows and English movies into Chinese; I wrote emails to oldfriends and colleagues in English and, surprisingly, one Filipino friend invitedme to her grand wedding in Manila.

All these practicalthings keep me busy. The sense of achievement helps me define myself. The littleevery day surprises proves to me that life is beautiful.

I am being moreoptimistic. Most of the negative thoughts have gone outof my mind as there is no space left for them.

I read English books inorder to write better. I work out and eat healthy in order to wear abikini in the Philippines. I write in order to be optimistic.

By Wei

Brian: Holy Crap. Theres so many amazing aspects of this writing piece. The subject matter is at the same time both heartbreaking and inspiring. But the arrangement of the paragraphs is what gives this story its rise and fall. The parallel construction in the final paragraph is what gives the ending such a punch.

Whats your favorite way to learn something new?

As an addict of traveling, I can』t really tellwhere I will be in the next couple of days. Maybe I』ll spend a week in Tibet,experiencing a unique culture within China. Or I might go to Europe, beingexposed to other forms of social structures and dramatically different personalvalues.

For me, the most exciting thing in my life isalways exploring something new, something that is unusual from the world I』m usedto. And I would say that close engagement in the surrounding environment is themost effective way for me to reach the essential parts of the local culture. Bytalking to people who have lived there for most of their lives, I am able totouch their daily lives and to learn snippets of their personal values.

Through involving myself in different lives, different ways of transportation, differentdiet habits, or different ways of entertainments, I am exploring a differentdaily life, taking a peek at different social norms.

Engaging in something new has always been myfavorite way to learn.

By Sam

Brian: Man, Sam really needs to share his secrets for traveling around the world on such short notice. Ya know, for science.

What』s something interesting you learned this week?

Its interestingto learn that a flight can be overbooked. Its even more interesting to learnthat a paid passenger, under this circumstance, can be denied boarding, andeven ask to leave the plane involuntarily. And when the passenger refuses, allof a sudden he or she becomes "disruptive and belligerent".

Passengers dontknow that their seats were sold more than once. It isnt their fault. If anyoneshould take responsibility for this "system failure", it should bethe airline itself, not the innocent passengers.

No one should betreated like that. Someone learned it the hard way.

By Matthew

Brian: I think we were all surprised to learn this last week. I like the pattern, "Its interesting... Its even more interesting..." as a way to build tension in the beginning.

Whats the Weekly Writing Club?

The Weekly Writing Club is an online group that practices writing English. Learn More.