I'm Working On The Chinese Characters

I couple of years ago I went through somewhat of a depression. I guess that is fairly normal, but I ended up going to see a counselor to talk through my issues. Being a counselor myself, it felt kind of strange at the beginning, but I did it anyway. Why? I guess because I am a firm believer that sometimes healing comes only as we get outside of ourselves and share with others. Anyway, one of the first things my counselor suggested that I do was make a list of things that intrigued me and that I'd like to learn about. Ever since then, I have been working my way through my list. I guess it is sort of my life goals in a way. I'm currently working on memorizing and being able to write the Chinese characters.

Learning how to write the Chinese characters was somewhere in the middle of my list. I'm not sure what exactly inspired me to include it on my to-do list except that I've been to China once and I still cannot get over how beautiful the written Chinese characters are. So their beauty intrigued me enough to want to learn them. So last fall I enrolled myself in an introduction to Chinese class and began plugging away at learning the Chinese characters.

The Chinese characters have proven to be as hard to master as they look. I thought they would come easily for me since I have at least a little bit of artistic talent. But no. They didn't. I have had to really discipline myself and practice consistently to grasp even the most simple Chinese characters. Many friends have suggested that I just quit because they know that I don't have any intention of ever learning how to speak or communicate the language.

There is something in me that cannot quit learning the Chinese characters though. Maybe it is because I am really trying to learn commitment to even small things and because I am trying to accomplish all of my goals. I just know that when my counselor suggested that working towards goals we care about can be really healing for people, I took her words to heart and have found that they are true. I have found a great amount of healing by focusing in on the things I want to see happen in my life. Even small things like learning to write the Chinese characters have taught me so much about myself.