Giving Thanks for a Fruitful Year

Another Thanksgiving comes, and this is perhaps the first in a long while with clear skies and still autumnal weather. I woke up refreshed and relaxed, ready to enjoy a few days at home. Reflecting on this year, it has been a long but certainly productive one both personally and professionally. This is the time for me to give thanks to the many blessings in my life that cannot be taken granted: a loving family, a quality education, secure life, good health, and many friends. Seeing the suffering, whether from economic malaise in Europe, war in the Middle East, or even from Hurricane Sandy so close to home, gave me good perspective. I know I could have done better to take time from my busy life to help out those in need - even delivering one Thanksgiving dinner to someone in need counts. I vow to do much better in December.

I'm also thankful to be an American. No country in the world offers its people as much freedom, both economic and personal, as us. The election has wound down, but it showed our country at its best - people exercising their civic duty to vote, and people debating about issues dear to our country. Let's hope the people's representatives (no matter how cynical you are of the political process) get their act together and avoid the fiscal cliff. If yes, all of us can breathe a sigh of relief and look forward to 2013. Our country still faces many problems ahead, including reinvigorating the economic recovery, tackling federal spending and debt, making health care sustainable, and opening our doors to promising new Americans. But we should be thankful of living here and having the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with our loved ones today and every year.

Mid-Autumn Festival thoughts

Tonight I am home for the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is wonderful to be home again and out of the city. As much as I like New York, it's always good to get away for the weekend - whether that be in North Jersey or Long Island. Moon cakes await!

Everyone says the third year of law school should be easy and a piece of cake. I find it nothing but, perhaps because I always manage to keep myself busy. I continue to keep pace in my classes, follow through on my extracurricular commitments, and try to learn new things in my spare time. There is plenty to occupy my time this semester, even after I forced myself to cut back on doing too much.

Reading the Wall Street Journal every day has been a blessing too, despite the constant need to keep up with so many pages. I am avidly interested in this upcoming election - people say it's almost lost for Romney but I do not believe it. This upcoming debate will be interesting, and I must distinguish each candidate's policies from the rhetoric.

Some of my close friends are now back in China or Hong Kong. I will miss them for sure - for now, the Far East seems like another world. But given how small the world is today, they are merely seconds away. Next year I will be back; will we still recognize each other when we reunite?

Thanksgiving

This past year, as I graduated from college, brought forth many experiences, none more important than learning to live in a recession. As countless friends and fellow graduates have learned, life isn't easy. I too was culpable of taking a simple view of life during the boom years from '05 to '07, and did not endeavor the utmost in my studies, work or other pursuits. The aftereffects of the crash in 2008 coincided with my exiting the coccoon of college, and entering the working world and planning for a career. I realized that adaptation was necessary. Here, on Thanksgiving Day, I reflect on those lessons which involve both traditional ethics and innovative ways:

1) Industry - no ethic has been more emphasized and proved right. Hard work is necessary to accomplish one's goals in life and to live a fulfilling life, period. It is easy for this generation to lose sight of this virtue, but once we enter college and the work force, it is imperative that we remember and adopt this virtue. If not, someone else - our parents, our colleagues, or the mistress that is the economy - will.

2) Simplicity - a booming economy and consumerist culture may belie it, but simplicity should be the character of life. Simplifying one's commitments, abode, and even writing brings numerous benefits and makes everything else much easier. We need not live as hermits, but should aspire to live like them in several respects.

3) Legal Profession - one of many evolving industries, especially in the skill set and marketplace. As an aspiring lawyer, I finally took time exploring the profession, various specialties, educational preparation, and the effect of the economy. As I found, much of the popular perception is indeed myth, but a legal career still involves much commitment and many qualifications to succeed.

4) Adaptation - change is the only immutable fact (someone definitely said it before). To survive in a volatile and interdependent economy, one needs to be flexible in goals, wants and habits. To do so, I find that the laws of evolution apply well: individual variation brings beneficial fitness. Just as an organism needs differential traits to adapt to changing environments, a person needs similarly different characters to adapt to changing economic and social conditions.

I wish not to preach a gospel, but to underscore my discoveries. Thanksgiving should be about spending time with family and loved ones. Whatever your Thanksgiving religion may be - turkey, feasts, football - it is an introspective holiday and an opportunity to reflect on the past year and the aspects of our character. To do so would be thankful; to do without would be thankless.

Great, short editorial from the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/opinion/26thur1.html

Song for Thanksgiving, 'Simple Gifts' from a Shaker hymn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBOYYlanm1k

Back again in Floral Park

I'm back again in Floral Park. Many say that this weekend marks the passage of summer to fall, and the weather seems to support that: it has been mostly sunny yet cool these last few days. Obviously, the actual date has little scientific basis, for the equinox is still 15 days away.

Friday saw me catch some re-runs of old episodes of Monk. I'm excited about the final season and the real story behind Trudy's murder. I just feel that some of the new episodes do not compare to the old ones, mostly regarding the quality of the mystery plot and the richness of characterization.

A great community resource here in Floral Park is the Centennial Gardens. Every Saturday morning, I, along with other volunteers, help out with gardening. It is a great opportunity to meet new people, and this weekend, several students my age were there doing community service. Too bad we mostly did weeding, although the fall season offers mostly uninteresting work (besides harvesting those grown tomatoes and peppers!)

We are midway through the US Open, which continues to be captivating. I too am surprised at the vast gap in quality between the top of the men's and the women's games. The women just cannot serve, period. You can see the result in the discrepancy between the numbers of top seeds already fallen. It will be interesting to see how the two draws unfold. I do not see anyone but Serena win the women's but Roger is close to but not exactly the sure thing on the men's.