"MAYBE IT'S TIME TO REST ON OUR LAURELS."
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Pandemic has brought up a lot of things I need to heal through, and this is one of them: the idea of the "perpetual achievement". Sound familiar?

We glooorify it. What you did today is good, yeah - but what about what you'll do TOMORROW? You'd better be going higher, stronger, faster - never stop, don't you dare. Post the next ig picture. Generate tomorrow's tiktok content. Hope for likes. Touched the sky? Blow a hole through the atmosphere and torpedo straight on to the next burning star. The you from yesterday? We don't know her. We're better. Upgraded. V 2.0.

I've been living my life like this for years now, but the past 2 years have forced us all to BE slowed down and re-evaluate.

Don't get me wrong. Ambition & achievement are wonderful. (There are certainly many more things I want to achieve, and much coming up that I'm going to be sharing with you guys. Never stop dreaming.) But dreaming becomes a problem when it turns living into a nightmare, because you can't stop trying to put distance between yourself and yourself. Stop being the shadow you are continually trying to win. It's EXHAUSTING. Aren't you exhausted? I am.

So maybe the truth is this: that we were put on this earth to do ONE good thing with our lives. ONE properly good thing.
And maybe that's winning a great Waterloo style battle, or achieving a certain dream. Maybe it's finishing one great performance. One great thesis. A beautiful painting. An espresso magnum opus.

And then - we let that be enough. And we rest on our laurels. "Greatness" does not have to be continually proven. Likes are transient, clout & remembrance fade. Do what you do because you love it, and it is good, and it fulfils you. If when your day comes to an end you can say "I did this one thing to the best of my ability and it was good" - that is enough, hero. Be at peace. The bards will sing of that one deed. The song will be equally wonderful without infinite stanzas.

So rest on your laurels, goddesses. You've earned it.
--
📸: @thejoshfather, before an epic storm blew in
🧜‍♀️: @finfolkproductions I LOVE THE FANTASIA
👙:@sirenallure
👑: @missgdesigns
📿: @mermaidmilynn

推到上路透 -
冷知識： The hymn was composed in 1974 by Linda Stassen-Benjamin in the United States for Easter. Its five words are repeated over four stanzas in a minor key, which gives it an air of meditative solemnity.

賀 齊邦媛教授獲頒印第安那大學榮譽博士學位

Emeritus Prof. Pang-Yuan Chi Awarded Honorary Doctorate by Indiana University Bloomington
　
國立臺灣大學外文系名譽教授齊邦媛榮獲美國印第安那大學伯明頓分校（Indiana University Bloomington，以下簡稱印大）榮譽文學博士學位，授予典禮於2019年2月25日上午在國立臺灣大學行政大樓第一會議室舉行，由印大孟世安（Michael McRobbie）校長親自來臺頒發榮譽學位證書。
　　
臺大管中閔校長在典禮中致詞歡迎印大的貴賓，感謝印大與本校自2004年以來維持密切與實質的伙伴關係，也感謝齊教授與校內印第安那大學校友維繫兩校情誼。齊教授任教本校期間，培育眾多傑出的人文學者，管校長表示自己也是《巨流河》的讀者，格外讚嘆齊教授以優美動人的文字，記錄時代洪流下平民百姓的顛沛無依與隨遇而安的心情。

本校於創校83年校慶（2011年）時頒發名譽文學博士學位給齊教授，2月25日典禮中，另由管校長贈予特別製作之名譽博士紀念徽章
　
孟世安校長致詞時提到齊教授在《巨流河》中深深懷念留學印大的美好歲月；而她日後的學術與文學表現，印第安那大學深感與有榮焉。他更盛讚齊教授致力於推廣臺灣文學，有助於增進各國文化之間的理解與欣賞。他表示印大授予齊教授榮譽文學博士學位，表彰她對世界文學的卓越貢獻，促進國際和諧，並開創學術新局。不論處世與治學，她的智慧與毅力都足為表率。
　
典禮由文學院副院長吳雅鳳教授擔任引言人，她以外文系晚進教師的身份，感謝齊教授對臺灣教育界、學術界與藝文界的付出，尤其為女性學者樹立典範。吳教授更引詩人雪萊（Percy Shelley）的〈致雲雀〉（To a Skylark）中的詩句表達對齊教授的仰慕。
　
齊教授致詞時提到50年前因家務及公務含淚離開印大校園，遺憾未能完成學業，因此獲贈榮譽學位意義非凡。她感謝印大的訓練，提升她返國後在教學及研究上的表現，更讓她深信文學是連結文化、社會與人生的橋樑。她一生致力於文學教育與譯介，急於補足因戰爭與災難而蹉跎的光陰；回首一生志業，更慶幸見證了臺灣孕育出當今華人世界最豐饒的文學果實。她也慶幸一生皆活在愛當中，尤其父母的慈愛，更成為她寫成《巨流河》的動機。最後她再度感謝孟世安校長讀了《巨流河》的英譯，謙稱讓他注意到一介華人女性的努力成果。
　
#齊邦媛教授 #巨流河 #榮譽文學博士 #臺大 #印第安那大學

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NTU campus received a rare visitor today. Emeritus Prof. Pang-Yuan Chi—a distinguished writer, educator, translator, and scholar who wrote the masterpiece and best-seller “The Great Flowing River” in 2009, graced the campus to receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Indiana University Bloomington.
　
A retired faculty member of NTU’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Prof. Chi has made profound contributions to the literary circle. She is particularly praised for translating and introducing Chinese literature in Taiwan to the Western world. Besides compiling and overseeing the publication of “An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Literature: 1949-1974” (1975), Prof. Chi took on the editorship of “The Taipei Chinese PEN” after retirement, a quarterly journal that translates and introduces contemporary Chinese literary works from Taiwan to the world.
　
The conferral ceremony was opened by NTU President Chung-Ming Kuan and IU President Michael McRobbie. President Kuan appreciated Prof. Chi’s dedication to Taiwan’s education and her impactful role in pushing the 15-year partnership between NTU and IU a step further. President Kuan also thanked President McRobbie and the IU members for flying all the way to Taiwan while expressing hopes to see more substantial collaborations between the two schools.
　
Associate Dean of Liberal Arts, Prof. Ya-Feng Wu, presented an introduction about Prof. Chi’s contributions to Taiwan’s education, translation, and literature. At the end of her address, she quoted three stanzas from Percy Shelley’s “To a Skylark” to sum up everyone’s respect and gratitude toward this great mentor. The ceremony ended with the presentation of gifts and bouquets. One of the bouquets was composed of peonies—Prof. Chi’s favorite flower and Indiana’s state flower—the flower that has always reminded her of her fruitful life on IU’s campus in the “Blooming Town.”

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