Marsha Maung: I write. I love. I live

While some of us struggle with the worldwide Covid 19 lockdown, trying to either find peace eternally cohabiting with housemates or family members, there is a small fraction of people in this world who actually have no problems with it.  They love being stuck at home because, apparently, everything's right here. Everything that makes them happy, secure, and deliriously entertained is right here. At home. And they don't have to go anywhere to find that state of happiness and comfort.  I've heard differently from other people, though. Especially parents and my parents.  Parents have to deal with both work and their kids at the same time, struggling to find the right balance and time to have that Zoom meeting. Elderly parents, like mine, are just itching to get out...anywhere. The silence, I guess, is louder and more frustrating when you're not only alone at home but when you're not allowed to go out, even if it's just to get a bottle of tomato sauce for your egg s...

Image by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash I don't understand why the United States is trying its darnest to stunt its own growth or cast such a dark shadow over its world reputation as one of the world's biggest tech and economic leader. We all know China's never changed its stance - which is putting one foot in front of the other and keep competing with the world, not just the United States.  The rest of the world sees this and we're not likely to ditch China. That's a very harsh reality Trump as the POTUS must see and understand.  Yes, we adore the United States and we think it is a Super Power regardless of the political and economic turmoil it is going through. Politics will always be dirty and complicated. It's hard to understand and many (most) of us won't spare more than a couple of minutes a day to gloss over the headlines.  Targeting China is a bully move I never expected of the United States. Never. It has always been an all-embracing, progressive country...

No matter what the phase is that I am going through in my life, I try my best to be as grateful and happy as I can be. Yeah, sure, I get bamboozled by bad news and stuff (who isn’t, anyway, these days) but there’s always a silver lining in every dark cloud.  So cliche but I can’t help it. It’s the secret sauce to surviving.  On top of that, both my boys are now enrolled (albeit in a funny kind of Coronavirus way) into college and the spending is mind-blowing.  I am not alone in this, of course.  The rest of the world is with me  on this one but it doesn’t make it any easier. At some point, if you’re like me, we might find ourselves wondering if it was better for our kids to actually take a what-you-call a short hiatus while waiting for that darn vaccine.  What rubs me the wrong way is that we are paying full fees for college but are presented fed at the trough with a buffet of Masterclass-style and Udemy kind of services. I can’t help bu...

At some point in your life, you stop noticing how old you are. More accurately, you stop bothering about the number of candles there are on the birthday cake. Instead, we tend to notice new white hairs, creaky joints, and wrinkles.  One of the things that I've noticed about creeping past the 40-year-mark is that I have a renewed confidence about the things I do. Apart from fixing the leaky sink, faulty electric socket, or removing computer viruses, I think life has delivered me a flurry of experiences that has finally become pretty useful.  People in their 40s also tend to care less about what people think.  "So, you don't like the new AWESOME home decor piece I bought for my bathroom? Screw that. " My priorities in life have also changed. I no longer care about making a statement when it is too much bother, keeping up with the Joneses, or what that guy I just furiously honked at thinks of me.  My social circle, online and offline, has also gott...