Quarantine Journals - BONUS
So I am back in Canada but have to sustain self-quarantine in a hotel for 14 days. That being said, what a great day to start a daily journal. I signed up to Isolation Journals where everyday it sends out a journal prompt. I decided to give it a try and I am writing these not in any order that was sent to me but based on random.
Prompt: Write about a time when you learned something that seemed to upend a long-held story or belief—but in fact revealed the complex truth of human experience.
This is my first attempt at this challenge, so let me see what I can come up with.
I think one of the earth shattering moments in my life is questioning what is “truth”, that I got a grip of it when I was younger. It’s earth shattering because when I came to that realization I had to step back and reflect the other things I have learned and begin to filter information that are presented to me. I came to the realization when I was in middle school, around 5-6 years after I came to Canada from China. At that time of your life, you still believe everything you were taught in school, by your parents, and from what you watch on TV. And it was TV that shattered my belief of truth.
My mom always complained about how much TV I watched, after all it’s making me a mindless zombie and ruining my eyesight (I am terribly nearsighted because of the TV and later on because of the computer). However, I also learned English (explains my poor grammar) and to think for myself because of TV. The first time I started was watching the news, especially those channels running news 24/7. By the time I was fluent in English, I begin to realize the North American media and Chinese media are very different in term of using words even if it is a perfect translation. It was when they describe the same situation in completely different angles that baffled my young mind. Even certain words have completely different connotations in different languages - for example at the time the war in the middle east was covered all the time and the non-NATO countries’ names involved were for a middle school child seems scary and dangerous. Meanwhile when you listen to Chinese news stating the same countries name, I felt neutral. It was similar to the word ‘socialism’ and related words, at a young age, still living in China I felt proud when I hear those words utter in Chinese. While, when I turn on the TV and listen these words uttered in English, I felt it was ugly and shameful. They are mere words, but that is how media transform and shape your thoughts. Because of these things, I begin to realize to think critically about how the information is presented to me, I mean I still fall for sensational headlines but at least I no longer just accept only one side of the opinion.
It has been a lot of wrap around since we grew up taught to listen to our elders, who are all wiser than you. Listen to school because they will only teach you the facts. As an adult, we realize that’s not exactly true. World maps around the world looks differently from place to place, history is taught also with some great variation - not just the scope but also the content. I am very thankful to went to school where I can question what was taught to me and has multiple resources from school, family, and friends (who grew up in their own unique environments) to make my own informed opinion.