Our Christmas drama rehearsal is going on FULL and MAX speed now.

A little background: I volunteered to participate in my church Christmas drama this year. Not knowing what I would get myself into but I landed 2 interesting supporting roles! A high school student and a “lady of the night” at Geylang in the 70s. (Geylang is a red-light district in Singapore). Sorry, no slutty clothes. :)

So, the performance is on the 20th and 21st Dec at BBTC – FREE ADMISSION. I don’t have the details yet. In fact, am designing the poster and flyer.

My on-stage teacher. I even bought a pair of super classic canvas school shoes.

Don’t have the picture for the “lady of the night” though. Take a good guess of what those ladies wore in 70s at Geylang. I wish I could travel back to the 70s to do my research. Not easy to act as one I tell you..

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Saw my toothpaste in this form one night. Mom was so kind to consolidate the paste at the front of the tube for me. (Yup, I am that kind who squeeze in the middle). I will only squeeze the bottom when it is less than 30%.

So squeezing aside, though it was a small gesture, her thought and intention was very sweet. I can’t remember the last time I did something small yet thoughtful for her.

One word came to my mind, empathy.

Mom taught my sis and I to empathize for people through helping out in house chores. My sis and I used to wash only our own plates after dinner. Very self-centered. When my mom asked us to help her to wash one extra plate or bowl, we whined and complained as if our hands would be chopped off.

One thing she said that changed our perspectives:“If you don’t help me to wash, I will be the one who ended up washing all the dishes.”

Similarly, she reminded us that doing house chores is not only for our benefits, it is also about empathizing and be more sensitive of others’ needs. In another words, MORE YOU and LESS ME.

It’s hard to do something for people if we keep thinking about ourselves. Eg, how tired I will be, how much time I need to help, how busy I am etc.

It’s much easier and enjoyable to help when we think of others more. Eg, she will be happy if I do this for her, he will feel loved, he will be less tired, she will feel appreciated.

My mom’s favourite questioning technique has always been:“If you were me, how would you feel…?”

That will shut us up and start to think for her. Because of that, we learned to empathize for people, even for a stranger who needs a seat on the bus. And of course, it is a long journey to learn that not everything is about ME and MYSELF. In fact, I am still learning.

It is funny how a “squeezed” toothpaste reminded me so much about her “subtle” questioning.

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