Why?

When someone learns that I am learning Korean they usually ask, "Why?" I take the opportunity to gush about Super Junior, and they just shake their heads and think I'm either going through a mid-life crisis or a loony woman. End of story.

But see, it's much more than that.  All of my life certain things have called to me and I have learned to follow the call. Oh, and I always follow it passionately - becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, education at BYU, social work degree, Dude-Man, motherhood, teaching preschool, Girl Scouts, gardening, painting, scrap booking, decorating, and now all things Korean. I run down a road as far as it will take me or until I run out of steam or some life event brings my pursuit to a screeching halt. I can try to fight it, but then I am miserable and I make everyone around me miserable because of my extreme grouchiness.

So what is it exactly about Super Junior that has caused me to have a burning desire to learn the Korean language and understand the culture? I think it's love. Yeah, that sounds sappy and weird. I'd try to reword it but nothing better comes to mind. This is about to get maudlin.

To  begin with, the spark is their amazing talent. Then, there is their story. Thirteen young guys plucked mostly from South Korea by SM Entertainment and then trained under rigorous conditions (2-5 years, with no vacations or sick days, learning to model,sing, act, etc.). Then they debut and make it big. Hooray! But wait, heartache follows with the death of Donghae's dad (he was well loved by all the members of the group). On the way back to Seoul from the funeral Heechul was in a terrible accident where he broke his leg in 5 places and nearly severed his tongue. Not to be deterred, the group presses on and sees more success. Several months later another car accident involves four members of the group. All of them are injured, two of them badly. Leeteuk has many lacerations and Khyuhun has broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a broken hip. Here is the part that gets to me every time - they do not give up. Ever. I find it so amazing that they keep bouncing back from adversity. I find this so curious because I don't think I have very much bounce. Ever.

But the love doesn't come from that part of the story. At this point I have a lot of admiration for these guys and nothing more. I have learned that when you really love someone or something, you you are inspired to become a better person. Not the vision that other person may have of you but to be your own true, best self. And for whatever reason, Super Junior does that for me.

When I think about the adversity some of them have faced, I look at my own problems and say, "That's not such a big deal. They overcame ...., certainly I can overcome this small thing." When I noticed that some of them do yoga, I decided that yoga needed to be part of my life. The side benefit of that choice was that I gained stamina to be able participate in life more fully. There are so many little things that I have noticed about their lives that make me go, "Hey, I can do that!" And then I do. And then my life is better. And then I want to spread the joy. Which is what this blog is supposed to be about.