Making Joy in a Time of Chaos
Three years ago, I was deeply lost. The sale of my last company did not turn out the way I expected, then my husband was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. I started my new company, Tokki, and Covid-19 immediately flattened us. Your narrative is probably not exactly the same as mine, but if you are alive today, I know you are grappling with your own version of these struggles. I see you.
It’s a Korean tradition to gather on New Year’s Day to share our wishes for each other in the coming year. I can’t send all of you my mother’s delicious dtuk-gook (rice cake soup) digitally, so perhaps you can find something round in your own home and gaze at it for good luck. And here are my three wishes for all of us for this new year, from what I’ve learned so far about trying to stay open to joy and meaning:
1. I wish for us the freedom of breaking up with the idea of closure. I almost missed out on the joy of Christmas dinner with my immediate family because I was so sad that we cancelled our trip to Toronto to be with my parents and extended family last week. This is not the sucky way this sucky year was supposed to end, I said to myself, (except substitute “suck” with another word that rhymes with it). This big knot was untied by just a little curiosity and empathy from my son that saved my night by…
