from chat with TJ

• everyone is different...
• it is difficult to be different. a lot of loneliness and struggles and self-doubts.
• loneliness on the path (of the soul).
• so you must love yourself. nobody else is reliable
• if you love yourself (then you are loved), and you can be brave.
• people always change and you can only hope for the best in them.
• it is more important to have self-worth.
• everyone should love themselves first, and then they can love others.
• love comes from within.
• it is dangerous to depend on other people for happiness.
• everyone should feel very proud of themselves.
• excellent is a wrong ruler, i think... it is an external ruler.
• it is hard to like/love oneselves. especially for us chinese people.
• we are always so critical of ourselves.
• we are always trying to be humble, to think that we need to do better, to compare us with others (socially)
• it is very difficult to accept ourselves as the way we are.. only when we can accept ourselves and know who we are, we can really be comfortable and be productive and be loving and be compassionate and all that.

• i absolutely ask the most basic questions.
• because i always feel, the answer is not as simple as we think or we wish it is, and also not as what we would like to know. not as what we like it to be.

• the answers come from within. just need to listen very very carefully to oneself
• all the wisdom comes from within. everytime you learn something new, you actually learn it from yourself
• no matter how other people tell you things, you only understand when you understand from within yourself.
• so... i don't have the solutions for other people...
• i think everyone has to find his/her own way.
• but it is good to share.... on the way.
• and to know that we are not alone. to know that there are other people on our path

• philosophy maybe too "intellectual". philosophy is more male dominated
• and life is composed of more than just the intellectual part. life is composed of anti-philosophy as well.
• if the music moves you more than a book inspires you, then it is more powerful.
• it's all just part of the big picture of understanding and appreciation of life/universe.
• love is the only thing that truly matters....

• it is not something to believe in, but something to compare with
• everything you learn is supposed to help you understand yourself better.
• to get closer to your true self... to be more brave, free, loving, ...
• just pick one thing and do it with passion and sincerity, and find fulfilment.
• life is supposed to be experienced, and better when the experience is enjoyable.

• I love Hermann Hesse...
• When I first read Hesse, I thought, "wow, I am not alone in this world".
• I thought he was writing about me.
• So I thought, I should write, write, write, so when someone read what I write, they will know they are not alone.

• but every viewpoint is an aspect of the whole picture
• learning about his viewpoint just helps me understand the whole picture better, fuller, clearer
• it is like, life is a big mystery for experience. everything you learn, you love, you experience, is just to get you closer to the true meaning of it. but only the earnest search, love, learning, will bring you closer to the meaning of your own life.

• hong kong was a good experience for me.
• it was the first time i experienced "freedom"
• the first time i understood the word "opportunity" and "choice"
• in china, there are very little choices.

• i'm happy to find another person on my path.
• happy to find someone else willing to be part of the world i live in.
• never lose hope
• this world is so big and so varied.... so many wonderful things and people to discover.
• (easy to say than to do)