By Holly T.
It all began with a Spiritual Marketing Quest. I went with the intention to gain insights into my reflexology practice and instead left with an epiphany that could change the world.
Like many second generation Asians, I grew up feeling tremendous pressure to fit in and honor the sacrifices my parents made to move to North America. What that meant was that I had to do well in school and pursue a respectable career with the final goal of earning lots of money.
My parents weren’t Tiger Moms and Tiger Dads. They just wanted what they believed would make me happy and do them proud too. I’m a fairly new mom myself and it’s given me the perspective of what it’s like to be a parent. As a second generation Chinese Canadian, I now realize how difficult it must have been for my parents to raise a family in a new country, thousands of miles away from any support system.
I understand now why they felt it was so important for me to get a good job instead of pursue my passions. They really believed that they knew what would make me happy.
And of course, being a dutiful daughter, I set aside what my heart was calling me to do and instead compromised. I didn’t cave in and become a lawyer, but I did choose to pursue a business degree instead of a degree in fine arts. I also learned to follow my mind and set aside my heart. I became very good at this, eventually creating a successful career in high tech and earning a six figure income.
Supposedly, I had arrived. This was the crowning glory of the immigrant child. So, why did I walk away?
The truth? My heart just wasn’t into it. I am a highly intuitive, sensitive, creative and spiritual person. This doesn’t fly well in the high tech industry, so I hid it. I certainly wasn’t going to discuss past lives, aura pictures, and deep trance channeling with my co-workers. I didn’t want to be judged as flaky.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that hiding this part of myself was actually a disservice to me and to the world.
Was it easy to walk away? Yes and no. It was hella scary! How would we get by on one income? We lived in Silicon Valley. It sounds facetious if you don’t live here, but six figures doesn’t go very far in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s considered the median income.
I also bounced around for quite awhile, not knowing exactly what to do next. So, when I learned of a spiritual conference designed to help me discover who I was meant to serve on this planet, I made the decision to attend.
At the event, surrounded by almost 200 like-minded souls, I felt the freedom to express my spiritual self. In this loving and accepting environment, I experienced my epiphany. My purpose in life was to lead a movement to empower Asian women around the world. When I realized this, I felt my heart sing.
Quite honestly, this seemed like a daunting task at first, but in my heightened state of awareness, it popped into my mind that I should organize a telesummit featuring Asian women who own their power.
Rather serendipitously, at the networking lunch, I was seated at the same table as Marja West, a Finnish-Filipina spiritual teacher who is the wholehearted embodiment of empowerment. I shared my idea with her and she loved it. She said, “Yes!” when I asked if she would speak at the event. Thus, the Lotus Blossoming Telesummit was born.
My heart told me that this event would take place on August 8th and that there would be exactly 12 speakers. That’s all I had to go on.
I didn’t know where to begin. I’d never put together a telesummit before. As a full-time mom to a toddler, I also had just two hours each evening to work on the event (and do laundry, wash dishes, prep meals, exercise, socialize, and find some “me time” too).
There was only one thing to do. Set aside my mind and follow my heart.
And guess what? It worked! Amazingly, in less than 6 weeks, I organized the entire event from scratch–everything from recruiting speakers to building the website. I didn’t have buckets of money to throw at the event or a handy contact list of empowered Asian women.
All I had was a driving passion to inspire and empower women around the world. When I read Mihee’s article on Asian American Teenage Girls and Depression, I knew that I was on the right path, especially when I entered “suicide” in the 8Asians’ search box and dozens, not one or two, but DOZENS of articles came back. In my heart, I knew there was a solution to this problem.
The way to uplift other is to uplift ourselves first. As Asian women, we need to embrace who we are, everything from our cultural roots to our cultural dualities. We need to step into our true brilliance and share our voices with the world. Only by empowering ourselves can we act as role models to today’s youth. Only when we love ourselves can we teach our daughters to love themselves too.
ABOUT HOLLY: Holly Tse is the creator and host of the Lotus Blossoming Telesummit, a free online event created to inspire and empower women around the globe. For more details, please visit: www.lotusblossoming.com.
