This post is dedicated to my Singapore family and board members of the Singapore America Business Association and SingaporeConnect.

Growing up in Singapore, I spent many Chinese New Years basking in the carefree banter of a huge extended family, soaking in the vibrant festivities, collecting Ang Paos (red envelops with money!) and wolfing down bak kwa (jerky), pineapple tarts and candy.

We went from relative’s house to relative’s house in a convoy of cars – parents, uncles and aunts with screaming, gleeful kids in tow.  I played and ate at every stop, not realizing those were precious familial moments I would come to miss as I moved to the United States years later.

Well, it’s been too many years since I spent Chinese New Year in Singapore.  I have gotten used to simply celebrating as a little family, and have grudgingly accepted that this day is a regular work day this side of the Pacific Ocean.

But thankfully this year, my spirits lifted with a “shot of inspiration” from the Singapore America Business Association (SABA) and SingaporeConnect (SC).  My husband and I signed up for a SABA-organized Chinese New Year dinner party.  I dressed in a mandarin-collar outfit, sauntered into the Great Mall Mayflower Restaurant in Milpitas, and had a blast!  Well, literally, lion dancers “blasted” into the restaurant as cymbals clashed and drums rolled.  Some 300 people (including many kids) stood mesmerized by their agile jumps and kicks.  Catching up with friends old and new, partaking in a delightful 10-course meal of lor hey (new year dish), pepper crabs, roasted chicken, steamed fish and more, plus getting charmed by karaoke entertainers, I was transported that evening to a “home away from home.”

There are so many of us living in the Bay Area, in the larger United States, who left pieces of ourselves behind when we left our home countries.  How often have we thought back with nostalgia of the many festivities and family members who used to fill our days?  Now in our adopted country, these feelings become stronger during Chinese New Year.

But for that evening, some 300 of us who were far away from home experienced a slice of home.  Many amongst us didn’t have the chance to fly back for that reunion dinner, but we were able to eat, drink, laugh and ring in the Year of the Tiger with our “extended family” in a big and memorable way.

Special thanks to SABA and SC, especially Isabelle Lee and William Chang, for creating community home away from home.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

I haven’t stop thinking about 94-year-old Carmen Herrera ever since I read about her in The New York Times. Her story is such a shot of inspiration that I just have to write about it here.

The story goes that Carmen has a deep love for painting.  It was a compulsion, something she simply couldn’t stop doing.  She started painting back in the 1930s, when she was in her ’20s.  Her paintings focused mostly on geometrical shapes and lines, forms and colors, and were considered  “ahead of her time.”

Carmen Herrera's Painting, Image by cliff1066 via Flickr

Carmen was born in Cuba, lived in New York and Paris and eventually settled in New York.   Through the years, she labored quietly and produced a huge quantity of paintings.  But it was many, many years later, at age 89, that she sold her very first painting.  Today, her art is in in high demand and a recent painting sold at a whopping $44,000!

Now, at age 94, while homebound, resigned to a wheel-chair and afflicted with arthritis, she receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Walker Art Center.  The New York Times story quoted several people on her late-life success:

To bloom into full glory at 94 — whatever Carmen Herrera’s slow rise might say about the difficulties of being a woman artist, an immigrant artist or an artist ahead of her time, it is clearly a story of personal strength,” Mr. Zugazagoitia said.

We have a saying in Puerto Rico,” he said. “The bus — la guagua — always comes for those who wait.”   This came from her good friend Tony Bechara.

Indeed, the bus did come for Carmen and she is now basking in her success.  Reading Carmen’s story teaches me one thing:   If you have a passion, keep at it, keep at it, keep at it.  I’m willing to bet that even if Carmen didn’t receive the recognition she recently received, she will still paint, paint and paint and love, love and love it!

If you enjoyed this post, you might want to read these as well:

• Success Or Failure, Does It Matter?
• How Did A Poem Save Nelson Mandela’s Life?
• Moments Of Gratitude
• Wishing You Time… To Do The Things You Love

Have you ever had moments in your life when someone or something kindles a spark of gratitude within you and changes your perspective on life ever so subtly, or not so subtly?

Image via Wikipedia

I remember one instance, back when I was barely out of my teens, while attending college as a bright-eyed freshman.  It was the first day of a “Psychology 101” class.  Everyone in class looked around my age, except a 60-plus-years-old African American woman.  I will never forget what she said as we went around a seated circle introducing ourselves.

I have worked hard all my life.  I have made sure my five children grow up the right way,”

She began as her heavy-set chest heaved up and down.

“And now that my youngest has graduated college, it is finally my turn.”

Her happiness, well, glee, was apparent as she flashed a ear-to-ear grin at us.

The class greeted her story with spontaneous applause.  She became my inspiration, and taught me several things that day.  I was reminded of everything my parents have done to give me the opportunity of a college education.  I was inspired by my new friend, who may have delayed her dreams, but never let them out of her sight.

Have you had moments in your life when someone or something kindles a spark of gratitude in you?  Do share, for in sharing, and in knowing gratitude, lies the secret behind a happy heart.

Today, I simply have a pictures blog post, of the numerous flowers I came across this year and took pictures of. What is it about flowers that surprises and delights us? That enthralls and captivates us? That makes us cast aside our troubles, even for a moment? That makes our hearts sigh with contentment and joy?

As winter knocks and the cold winds howl, at least right here at Shot of Inspiration, we have these “eye candy” (no calories added) to warm your hearts!

Life holds so much promise, as the little bud starts to grow… “Hello future!”

Some like having company, so they grow in clusters…

This one can’t wait. We look away for a moment, and it’s already in full bloom, embracing life…

It prompts another little bud to follow suit…

Others choose to color the world with splashes of yellow…

Others with pretty pinks…

Even weeds have dainty flowers too…

Some light up with whites…

And a breeze kisses the petals…

…and the pollen ever so gently…

But alas, the sunflower, the sunflower, infuses us with energy…

…and unspeakable joys, as we uncover new ways to look at them, to look at life.

Hope your hearts warmed just a little bit, by this little post. What is it about flowers? That lights up our wintry world? It’s their spontaneous beauty, effortless effect – nature’s gift to you and me.

If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy reading these too:

• Love & Life
• Simply Time for Me
• In Was A Full Moon Night, Everywhere
• An Apache Blessing For You

This poem is dedicated to my wonderful friend, Leslie Shen, who taught me how to take time out to “smell the roses.”

Simply Time for Me

Simply time for me,

Simply time to be.

Time to take a walk and deeply breathe,

Time to calm the mind and hear the rustling leaves,

Time to slow the heart,

Say “bye bye” harried day.

Simply time for me,

Simply time to be.

Time for curious eyes to feast on nature’s gems,

Like the sun’s gentle rays kissing the rippling lake.

Hark, the water glistens and glows, and it says to me,

“You are always welcome here!”

Simply time for me,

Simply time to be.

Time to lift the face toward the heavenly skies,

Time to stretch the arms upwards, in sweet surrender and in trust.

Time to pause, to open the heart,

to let the evening’s rays bathe my grateful being,

From head to toe, from inside and out…

Sweet joy it is, to delight in simple pleasures, in nature, in life.

It is simply time, simply time to heed,

That happiness is to simply be…

Right here, right now.

~ Sharon Sim-Krause