The time is always right...

Take it from me...live an a-ha rich life!

by Jen Chau

I was never one for shoving things down people's throats. Nor do I presume to be wiser than my years. You know what I've done (and if you don't, you can look here), and those experiences are the things from which I draw my understandings of the world. I don't know any more or any less at the moment. But I always...I always hope to know and work to know more tomorrow than I did today. With that in mind, I like to think that other people also arrange their lives in such a fashion -- with a commitment to self-improvement and ongoing learning. If so, I will ask you to "take it from me" from time to time, when I feel strongly enough that I want to offer a learning that I have had. As I said before, I don't aim to convince anyone to change based on any of what I say. BUT I highly value the idea of people offering others tools and resources so that they may be empowered to live richer and fuller lives. If I can somehow spark/inspire learning for anyone else (the way that others have done for me), then I will be satisfied with my modest efforts.

People are fuel

by Jen Chau

Tonight, my tank is full even after an almost fifteen hour day...at almost 11:00pm. This kind of day? Well, I have had both the fortune and misfortune to experience many versions of this kind of day.

What happened today that leaves me still so gassed (sorry, I had to do it) so close to my bedtime? Well, it was people.

I Heart Change

by Jen Chau

As far as vices go, I don't think mine is that terrible. In fact, it's a little activist-nerdy (I just made that up :)). I am severely addicted to change. The good kind of change. The change that makes you happier and more successful. The change that helps you to live in a more well-rounded way. The kind that helps you to figure out what the hell you are doing in life. The change that makes you a better friend, sister, daughter, partner, employee, neighbor, etc. I love it. I live for a-ha moments because they are usually hints that point to some of the next changes I need to make. I. Heart. Change.

The time is always right...to VOTE!

by Jen Chau

At the annual cookie swap that my mom and I have in December (yesssss, I said cookie swap), her friends called me into the kitchen. Somehow, word had gotten out that I wasn't yet sure for whom I was voting. So here I was, standing in front of a group of about ten middle-class, middle-aged white women, all seemingly for Hillary. And they looked at me. "Soooooo, Jenny?! Who's it going to be? I mean, Hillary is your Wellesley sister after all!!!" Wow, trying to play the Wellesley card. Dirty and low. I took a deep breath, considered getting into it with them...but then decided not to, since my thinking wasn't yet fully formed. That, and at least 5 seriously arched eyebrows told me better. I said, "Ya knooooowwww, let's just enjoy the cookies, ok?" They let me off the hook, but I knew that this would be a tough one. A situation in which people were going to want to see whether I cared more about sexism or racism. After all, this is how people are looking at this race.

Congratulations, Head! I am giving you a promotion!

by Jen Chau

Now listen, Head. I know that you've been with this company for a long time -- 30 years. You've been able to go with the flow and have been a loyal employee, but the truth is that you haven't really been much of a leader. I know that I also haven't pushed you in this way. I realize now that I have spent the majority of my time nurturing and developing Heart, but I am committed to making some changes to ensure that this operation runs in a better way. I have begun to realize how we will soon fall short of our goals if we continue on this path of allowing Heart to run with things, unchecked. Let's be honest. Heart has overpowered you...

pieces of me: Sue ("Sis")

by Jen Chau

We are all pieces of other people, things, experiences. Less like a puzzle, but more like a delicious recipe -- a dish that gets more and more rich as you drop additional ingredients in. In cooking, it's very hard to separate out the ingredients once you put them in (believe me, I learned the hard way - "oops -- I added 3 too many cups of sugar into my cake batter! Do I scrap it or try to take some out??" I'm a better baker now... ;)), and I have found the same to be true in thinking about how I got to be the person I am today. It's hard to think about where I got my willingness to be silly, my passion for public friendliness, my penchant for self-reflection. :) But when I sit down to consider all of my influences, it is very clear to me that there are pieces of me that look very much like people who have been so meaningful to me and my life. I am going to write about these people -- not only to recognize the great things that they have given to me, but also because I think it's an important exercise. Very rarely do we feel that we have the power to impact others. Well, we definitely do, and sometimes, even unknowingly, we do. Also, we don't emphasize the true beauty of people nearly enough (too often we hone in on the ugliness -- just turn on the 10 o'clock news).

--

Click. A lasting smile on my face. Excitement about what was to come. Even though it was only the first time we had ever spoken, I felt immediately bonded with Sue Lambe.

Note to my ego: You better watch your damn back.

by Jen Chau

I have been losing to my ego for years. And the scary thing is, I never realized it before today. In boxing (my exercise obsession for the last two years), you know who your opponent is. No doubt about it. He is standing before you, punching and jabbing and swinging. Weaving and sweating and bleeding all over you. It’s obvious and unmistakable, and you know what you have to do. Land him before he lands you. You know who you are fighting.

I hope Katie rolls her eyes

by Jen Chau

I hung out with Katie this weekend – she has gotten so big. The last time I saw her, she mostly looked at me with wide-open googly eyes, but on Saturday, she was completely with me. She laughed and giggled, made funny faces, and ate my hair. We had a great time. Her mom, Lorraine, is my closest friend from high school, like a sister to me, so this is really the first baby of my friends to whom I will be close. It’s pretty amazing and unreal to me, still.

In the months leading up to Katie's birth, I would sit around with Lorraine and Harry, the future mom and dad, talking about what she would be like.

Resolution 2008: Write MORE! :)

by Jen Chau

2008 is the year of the written word, as far as I am concerned.

Writing more is my resolution for this year. I have a love-hate relationship with writing, and I always have. It’s been a roller-coaster with us -- periods of intensity where we can’t get enough of each other, and then long weekends where I don’t want to have anything to do with writing and can’t bear to be near it. I have had a basic understanding of the ups and downs of our relationship until just recently, when everything became a bit more complicated. Now I recognize that there is yet another layer to our dynamic – whether I love or hate writing depends on whether it is private or public.

Where Do I See Myself in 5 Years?? – Being Forced to Answer

by Jen Chau

I feel like I have been under a rock! The last couple of months have been somewhat tumultuous. I’ll give you a sense of what has been going on.

Imagine – your name is Jen Chau, and you’re the Human Resources Director for an education reform organization. You’re happy and you envision yourself doing this work for a long time. You enjoy the work that goes into supporting the internal workings of an organization, and you usually feel like you are helping to move the organization in a good direction. Sure, you have your frustrations from time to time, but your work is typically challenging and rewarding. Plus, you are going for a part-time Masters for Organizational Change Management. Everything in your life fits into a nice and neat puzzle. Your schooling informs your work and your work informs your schooling. It can’t get any better! And then, after leaving work one day, you find yourself walking down the street with a little hop in your step, a smile on your face…. And without notice, you are grabbed into an alleyway by a shadowy figure! He puts his gloved hand over your mouth and tells you that you aren’t who you think you are. Your name is not Jen Chau and you aren’t meant to be doing what you are doing. He demands an answer to the question, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?! ANSWER ME!!! WHERE?!”

Re-learning: Math and I CAN be friends after all!

by Jen Chau

In elementary school, Social Studies was the bane of my existence.  In high school, any science plus me equaled a small catastrophe. Calculus almost threatened to do me in. In college, rocks for jocks was even too much. I just wasn’t good in math and the sciences. This is what I told myself. This is what I told my family. And this reason was 100% accepted. No one told me that I was bull$#!++ing myself. No one told me to get over it. People told me to just do my best, after all, that was all I could do. And if I didn’t do that well, the thinking would be, “Makes sense. You just can’t do it! You’re not good at it!”