Marsha Maung: Write. Cook. Read. Watch. Try. Innovate.

Can you believe it? I didn't even take a picture of this. This is so sad...😢😭 Cooking at home, something I used to actively and religiously advocate for It's been closed to a year and a half since we smell did cooking in the kitchen. Work took over my life and I don't really know it happened. I've always been an advocate of clean, healthy living and eating...and it makes me sad.  I have a fully-equipped kitchen and used to cook every single day. I was so fired up about cooking that I have my own recipe-sharing page on Cookpad where I share my simple recipes to encourage others to cook more at home.  I made something really something yesterday and the response I got from the boys was..."Wow, I smell something from the kitchen!" I felt so....overwhelmed.  Realizing that I have given everything, above and beyond, to the work that I do, there's a reason for me to feel proud too. This is the journey I want to embark on now that my boys are grown up. But not a...

Like every other parent, especially Asians (I am not a bigot because I am, after all, also Asian, so let me just be slightly jaded here), I signed my boys up for piano classes for years and years and years. I ferried them in and out of classes, pressured them to practice, paid the price for the expensive classes, and nothing came out of it.  Maybe it's me, maybe it's them, who knows?  I bought a piano (which I also loved and signed up for classes for) and I diligently tried to help them see the beauty of music. To no avail.  Later, Son 2 told me he had an interest in playing the guitar. Like a lightning bolt, we trudged through one music store to another, seeking out the right guitar. Bear in mind, I may know a thing or two about the piano, I know absolutely zilch about the guitar.  I had to take the word of the salesmen for what they were. So, we ended up with two guitars in the house...and no one playing them, gathering dust and absolutely unloved.  I signed S...

Today's writing prompt : I am lost in the woods and I only have 2 items with me.  Yup, that was the prompt. Just that. Why am I am doing this?! #lol  Well, if I was lost in the woods, which I won't be because I wouldn't go near the woods alone unless someone throws me in there against my will which is, by the way, a crime 😁, and I have only two items with me, it would be: A knife A lighter With a knife, I can cut down anything I find in the woods. It's a big-gish knife, alright? 😓😉😝And I believe that I can eat grass if I have to. Won't be the best meal on earth but one's got to do what one's got to do to stay alive. As for the lighter, I can survive the dead of the night and I don't like the dark. So, I think it's the best way to survive. I don't know if a knife and lighter can get me water but if I can find my way around with a fire, I might find a source for water.  Man, this writing prompt thing is hard, isn't it?  Hang on....scratch a...

I've been on this journey for close to two years now and I am still not used to this. But that's the reason I threw myself off this cliff in the first place, knowing it is a territory that I would need to learn how to navigate again.  But when I started this journey, there were a few conditions I set for myself: 1. I wanted to feel belonged 2. I have to be working on things that made me feel fulfilled or satisfied 3. The people I would inevitably surround myself with have to share my vision and mision. Nothing is going to be perfect, that much I know, but at the very least, working with people who had the same style and personality as me is top priority.  4. I don't want to deal with authoritarians every single day.  5. I would have to learn how to socially adapt myself to groups of people again and if my gut instincts told me that it is not the right group of people, I would have to get out.  6. The very nature, the very core of what we do on an everyday basis has t...

If there's one thing I am extremely proud of, and I only have to name one thing out of the intensely long list of things that I could and should be proud of, it would be this: I've managed to juggle the life of raising my kids and making money at the same time. I think the life of a single working mother is an extremely tough one. So tough, I don't think any kind of writing or speaking can do it justice. Generally speaking, life as a mother or parent is a tough one . The journey is not only harrowing, uncertain, scary (VERY scary), full of potholes, filled with closed doors and rainbows (it could both come to you all in one day or a whole year), goes unrewarded most of the time, but it is also the kind of journey that once embarked, you can never disembark. Sort of like getting on a plane. Once you're in, you're going to be there for the entire journey, like it or not. Image Crdit: Brooke Cagle on Unsplash "You can survive this, or you can lie down...

Sometimes I feel like shit. Sometimes I say "I'm sorry for being your mom" for no apparent reason other than a wave of guilt just swept over me when a disdainful memory hit me in the chest and I feel like crying over a touching Petronas commercial or a Kdrama. Being mom is a tough job and I don't think I did enough to let my parents know I NOW know what it feels like. Being a single mom also means that I am fairly attached to my kids and they'll forever be my babies. I know it's unhealthy attachment but spare me that for now. I want them under my wing all the time and yet, when they encounter a seemingly insurmountable problem, I want them to get the hell out from under my angel wings and let me fly. And then...cue...wave of guilt and an out-of-the-blue apology. I see the mess in the kitchen, the pile of cups, the crumbs on the floor, the never-to-be-worn-again clothing in a corner of the room, the boxes I never unpacked, the stained sofa, the broken...

I was visiting a college on Tuesday and although it is swankier than what I was used to, still, it made me want to become a student again. It wasn't peak hour when I was there, so, there were not many excited students milling in and out of the classrooms, lounge areas, labs, the library or cafeteria.  I saw small groups of students going up and down the almost-brand-new building in the elevator. That was it.  I've always loved learning and being in college although I spent most of my college-day hours outside of class doing anything but studying. In my case, if I wasn't on the Law floor, my classmates can find me at the auditorium dancing and singing my life away. #LOL Image credit: Students studying in a college with laptop by Mimi Thian on Unsplash What I love about college life is that there's a very otherworldly young, hopeful, ambitious vibe. The moment I stepped foot into its premise, I swiftly left the jaded life of being a responsible adult behind ...

I didn't even know minimalist parenting was a thing until I got a question from Quora and then read an article about it in Scary Mommy . Apparently, it's a thing. Back when I was a new parent when my first-born popped out of my womb, positive parenting WAS a thing. It was a departure from traditional Asian parenting style , of course, because instead of whacking your child with a clothes hanger or the ever-famous rotan (rattan) every time he/she throws a hissy fit, you talk your child through his/her emotions, get his/her to express it, and then it will be all fairy tales and rainbows. Positive parenting is more about parents who commit to being available to his/her child whenever possible, prioritization of a child over work in as many situations as possible, unconditional love , sustaining a peaceful household , providing affirmations , setting limits , and empathy . While traditional parenting style was more like a superior warlord minding over its minions, positi...

There comes a point in your life where change, whether it makes you elated or uncomfortable, will rap on your door like a determined neighbor trying to get your dog to stop barking. New Directions There's probably nothing much you can do about it and I've mentally gone through this in my head many times over. How, what, where, when, why ? One of the 'uncomfortable' things that I've had to do in the past 2 years is to face things that at not within my control. For one, when you're facing a brick wall, the options are few. You either stand there looking at it, wailing, or you turn around and look for new directions. In some cases, I believe, you have to just to stand there and wait for the minute of panic to pass. Decisions are best not made in anxiety-fueled flashes. Such is parenting when me and the boys are facing uncertainties, such is work when I am wondering which direction is best. We all want to live the best life, be our best selves, wake up ev...