Carpe Diem

Via Death to Stock Photo

Perusing the library's shelves in the teen novel section, I had nothing in particular in mind; I just wanted something "light and fluffy" to read. Flashy titles advertising mystery, secrets, and intrigue jumped out at me but they were not what I was looking for. Then the natural tan spine of Autumn Cornwell's Carpe Diem (Latin for "Seize the day") caught my eye and a quick skim of the back told me everything I needed to know. This was the One. The book coming home with me! The story follows an over-achieving 16-year-old whose extensive plans for the future are sent into a tailspin when she is forced to spend her summer traveling Southeast Asia with an obscure relative.

Vassar Spore is an ambitious student with even more ambitious goals, including graduating valedictorian with a 5.3 GPA, getting her PhD from an Ivy League school, and publishing an award winning book before the age of 37. Her well-meaning parents have encouraged and supported Vassar in all her endeavors, even perpetuating her inflated ambitions. However, for all her plans and organization, nothing can prepare her for what Grandma Gerd has in store for her: a three month trip through three countries in Southeast Asia: Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos. At first glance, Grandma Gerd is everything Vassar is not: adventurous, unpredictable, chaotic. Grandma Gerd's LIM (Live In the Moment) philosophy combined with her massive "found art" collage project propel the story forward as the unlikely pair traverses the exotic terrain of Asia. Southeast Asia mirrors Gerd's unpredictable and chaotic personality putting Vassar in very unfamiliar terrain.

The novel follows Vassar's fantastical adventures as she trails Grandma Gerd and tries to figure out the "Big Secret"--a mysterious piece of information responsible for Vassar's being there. Along the way, she chronicles her adventures in novel format for her Stateside friends. Vassar's character begins the journey as pretentious and ungrateful, spoiled and unwilling to change. But time goes by. Sticky situations abound. And slowly she does change. At the climax of the novel (Spoiler Alert!) 

Small Steps of Faith

Used under CC0 license via Unsplash

Adrenalin rushing and heart pounding, I considered a radically different future than all my carefully structured plans could ever paint. Why? In a word, a book. Over the weekend, I finally finished reading David Platt's book Radical. The subtitle, "taking back your faith from the American dream" expresses Platt's examination of how the iconic concept of the "American Dream" has distorted and diluted the gospel message. Honing in on the command of the Great Commission, "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 20), Platt proposes that Biblical Christianity is much more radical than we've made it out to be in American culture. As I read, this book challenged me to re-think my mindset about my future and role in global mission work. The text convicted me to move but I didn't know where or how. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the (im)possibilities before me, I began with one tiny step--reaching out. Indeed, there was an email collecting virtual dust in my inbox with two missions-related resources: Brad Voeller's contact info, and a link to GoCorps.org. 

eXPerience curating

I know I've posted a few book reviews lately. Here's another!

Awhile back, I came across Joel Zaslofsky's blog Value of Simple. What first intrigued me was his self-explorative tool, the Personal User Guide, but I was quickly sucked in by his ideas for living more simply. Now, he's coming out with a book Experience Curating. Since I'm an email subscriber, I got a sneak peak at some of the content, and It. Is. Awesome! Curating has roots in the Dewey decimal system, and of course museums, but Zaslofsky talks about curating in terms of experience. We are overwhelmed with information day to day, but what's the point if there's no way to filter through that information quickly so you can use it and make it available to others? Whether it's an online article, a book you read, a movie you watched, a restaurant you ate at, or a story your heard, how can one organize it so that the resources and experiences available to us can be made available to others? Joel's answer: Experience Curating!

Joel uses spreadsheets. He has a spreadsheet for everything which he can access virtually anywhere as long as he has internet access. He even used a spreadsheet to name his child!! Crazy right? I've found that spreadsheets are hard for me to integrate into my daily habits, but I've found them to be really useful for organizing scholarships, keeping track of my checking account, queuing up blog posts, and most recently, collecting responses for my survey! My enthusiasm for spreadsheets has definitely increased since Joel introduced them to me (and additionally, we use them all the time at work so I've been getting tons of practice); but of course this system is all about customizing it to suit your needs and goals and the things YOU want to keep track of and share. Maybe a bit of a radical concept that definitely requires a little discipline to implement, but his writing style is easy to grasp and the potential benefits far outweigh the initial effort of getting started.

*UPDATE* You know what's even cooler? Joel is offering the e-version of his book for free on Amazon through Saturday! Check it out!

Never Eat Alone

I'd been trying to get my hands on this book for awhile but then I got it for Christmas and now I've finally finished it!! It was an excellent recommendation from Joel Zaslofsky, one of the bloggers I follow and I really enjoyed it!

Keith Ferrazzi talks about networking in the business world in new terms, arguing that business is moving from a less competitive model to a collaborative one. And in a collaborative model, relationships matter.
"We can go through life...making shallow, run-of-the-mill conversation with strangers that remain strangers. Or we can put a little of ourselves, our real selves, on the line, give people a glimpse of our humanity, and create the opportunity for a deeper connection" (149). I love his emphasis on the art of relationships. Although he focuses primarily on networking in a business context, I think what he has to say, especially about helping others, can be used in any relational context. Great book with a lot of practical applications. I even got to practice while in the airport!

Sister Africa's Story: Why I Read

Antelope Park, Zimbabwe

I love reunions. They make me cry, but man, I love reunions. There is so much joy and grief and pain all mixed up in a single embrace, as if a flood of all the past emotions away from this person are suddenly released. I've been through several reunions--reunions with family members, with returning service men and women, and of course we cannot forget Jake--more times than not, I cry.

Today, I think I stumbled across one of the most beautiful reunion scenes I have ever read. It was from Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire, a book I'm reading for my African Literature class. The biography is a running dialogue from a mother to her daughter, consolidating all the stories, wisdom, and traditions Maraire wants her daughter to know in one place as Zenzele prepares to continue her academics in America. It is a beautiful blend of memories, anecdotes, and motherly concern and advice.

Maraire begins chapter seven telling Zenzele about the difficulties she perceived surrounding the black diaspora, until Sister Africa changed her perspective. It is Sister Africa's story that I am most interested in telling here.

Maraire met the African-American (originally named Mary William Smith) through her sister at an underground political meeting."There was something charming, fresh, and open about the girl. And so it happened that despite myself, by the time they reached my corner of the room and [my sister] stepped forth to introduce us, I was genuinely interested in meeting her" (Maraire 95). Maraire soon discovered the exceptional qualities of Sister Africa. She had traveled widely throughout Africa and endeared herself to many there, earning the name Sister Africa.

She'd come to Africa in search of her Nigerian father who left her and her white mother behind when she was young. She followed every clue she could glean of him. He'd apparently become widely known in the underground politics, but no one could divulge his whereabouts. Every time she heard where he might be, she traveled there only to learn he was gone again.

Many years later, Sister Africa had given up hope of ever finding him, but by now it held less sway over her. She had developed her identity as an African now. She didn't really need to find him, but she still admired him for being the great African thinker and revolutionary that everyone knew him to be. In South Africa, she was arrested several times, finally being sent to the Robben Island, a terrorist camp disguised as a disciplinary facility. There she met other revolutionaries and exchanged ideas with them.

One day, they brought in a high-profile revolutionary known all across Africa as Baba Africa (Father Africa). Baba Africa spoke to them on many topics, including a fruit analogy which Sister Africa took especial liking to. On her last day, he spoke to her, "Daughter, how came you to be here?" Awestruck by the fact that this great man whom she admired so much was talking to her, Sister Africa was speechless. "I have heard of your bravery," he encouraged her, "Keep up the struggle for a united, prosperous Africa; it is a dream worth fighting for. Your love of freedom makes you a true daughter of Africa."

Later, she has the following encounter with her friend Keki:
"He asked me about you and I told him you were from America originally. He was very impressed that you had given so much to the struggle."
"Really, Keki, you must have exaggerated greatly for him to take any notice of me."
"Oh, no, Sister Africa. He is fond of Americans. He is a Nigerian, you know, but he went to one of those big, rich famous American universities when he was young. Columbia, I think. Yes, he studied law there. There is a rumor that he was once married to an American woman, or was she Oriental? I cannot remember. He dropped everything for the struggle. They say he has traveled all over the continent" (Maraire 105-106).

My heart dropped like a stone when I fully realized that. Of course, I had known all along: Mariare told me that she eventually met her "old man" (101) and as soon as she mentioned the high-profile prisoner, I began to suspect. But my suspicious did not prepare me for the emotional impact of realizing it. It was so beautiful, I lost my words. All I could think was, "This is why I read literature." There are a multitude of reasons why people read literature--to relax, to be entertained, to escape. But I read literature to experience something beautiful. And when beauty is achieved through words, there is nothing comparable.

"Zimbabwe 27 01042011" by Dave Mulder  used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share-alike-Noncommercial license.Da