Honoring the Fragility of Life with Jimin Han

Today Yuliana is joined by Jimin Han, the author of the novel, A Small Revolution. Born in Seoul, Korea, Jimin grew up in the United States, eventually attending Cornell University and earning an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Her writing can be found in a number of publications, and A Small Revolution, her first novel, has appeared on many ‘Best Fiction’ and ‘Must Reads’ lists. Jimin currently teaches at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College and Pace University, and today she takes us on the journey of how the passing of her mother left her heartbroken but still gave her strength to continue writing.

Jimin begins by delving into the event that redirected the course of her life - her mother’s passing, how that event strongly affected her, and the further strain it put on her relationship with her father. She discusses how she channels rage and becomes more protective of her energy and space as a writer, and describes the way that realizing how fragile life can be makes us slow down to catch our breath. The episode rounds off as Jimin talks about playing the piano, be it Beethoven or ABCs, and how it resonates with her life. Having learned just how very precious each and every day is in our lives, Jimin has gained much wisdom which she shares with listeners here today.

Episode Highlights:

• The event that redirected the course of Jimin’s life - her mother’s passing
• Stepping into our own after a parent’s death
• How rage made Jimin more protective
• The concessions Jimin made
• How a sense of mortality affects our decisions
• Jimin’s second book
• Navigating a strained relationship with a parent
• The preciousness of time and how it makes us slow down
• Getting comfortable in a certain amount of discomfort
• Playing the piano

Quotes:

“As writers, we want to make complex characters, we want to live in the nuances of feeling.”

“As writers, we need to be more protective of our time and our sort of emotional and mental space.”

“I feel that a lot of the lessons that she was able to teach me, I feel that I still carry her with me.”

“What...I want my children to learn from me, and what I wanted them to be able to say is ‘Yes, my mother did write the book she wanted to write.’”

“I wish I'd recorded her. I wish I had been able to stay up and listen to everything else she wanted to say. I look back and I wish I'd been able to spend those moments.”

“Every day is so precious.”

“How is it that we just assume life is just going to go on? And yet we have to make plans. That’s the best way to live is to make those plans.”

“I didn't give myself that breathing space and now, I try to schedule a few big things a week, as opposed to, in a day. Maybe a few things in a month as opposed to a week...just not forcing yourself.”

“I've just learned that if I wait a little longer, then the answer comes."

“I think what it taught me ...that... for many years...and I will just speak for myself that I had made a lot of concessions and I feel that after my mother died I was able to see more clearly how I should be more protective. As writers we become more protective of our time, sort of emotional and mental space. All of that has become more clear to me.“

Links:

Phoenix Tales Homepage

Phoenix Tales on Instagram

Phoenix Tales on Spotify

Welcome to the Phoenix Tales Podcast

Show Notes: 

Welcome to the premier podcast episode of Phoenix Tales, a show about women overcoming challenges in their lives, and, like the Phoenix, being reborn with their lives reimagined. Joining our host, Yuliana Kim-Grant, this week is Ginger McKnight-Chavers, author of In the Heart of Texas. A graduate of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and Harvard Law School, Ginger was a practicing lawyer when challenges in her personal life inspired her to pursue another course, resulting in her own Phoenix Tale which she shares with listeners here today.

Ginger begins the conversation by describing those challenges which she faced, the traits she possessed which kept her moving forward through them, and how she came to possess them. She goes on to describe the insecurities she faced in her career as a woman of color, her feelings of being an imposter and the impact this had, her advice for empty nesters on re-engaging with the world, and giving yourself permission to pursue your passion. The episode concludes with Ginger sharing the song that she feels best describes her life. Eloquent, insightful, engaging, and thoroughly inspirational, Ginger and her tale of remaking her life provide the perfect foundation and springboard for what you can expect to hear in upcoming episodes of the Phoenix Tales podcast.

Episode Highlights:

• The challenges that redirected the course of Ginger’s life
• The traits that kept Ginger moving forward through her challenges and how she came to possess them
• The insecurities she faced in her career as a woman of color
• Her feelings of being an imposter and the impact upon her
• Ginger’s advice for empty nesting listeners to re-engage with the world
• Giving yourself permission to pursue or reignite a passion
• The one song that describes Ginger’s life

Quotes:

“I stopped seeing myself as an attorney who just liked to write in my spare time to taking writing seriously, and it transformed my life.”

“I'm the kind of person that thinks about things and analyzes them before I react for better and for worse.”

“I just became this sort of serial kind of multitask or tunnel vision kind of machine.”                                                                                             

“As a writer, you know, I think most of us feel like an imposter.”

“You belong there, but there's just a little something going on underneath the surface.”

“You're watching the world in order to navigate it because you feel like you're not one of those people that just waltzes down the red carpet.”

“You're always on the lookout for a situation that could be harmful or dangerous.”

“Am I at the in-law's house or in my family home? Just that undercurrent of you're never sure when someone's going to push you out the door.”

“It is a blessing to have really supportive and grounded parents and grandparents that were very active in your life.”

“Black women are the biggest demographic of readers in America.”

“I went with a small press, I hired my own publicist. I had already plotted out what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to...

Expressing the Fullness of Who You Are with Kim Thai

Joining our host, Yuliana Kim-Grant, this week is Kim Thai, an Emmy-award-winning producer, writer, activist, and mindfulness teacher. She is the founder of GaneshSpace, a community organization dedicated to creating spaces to dismantle internalized oppression and explore identity through the lens of intersectionality. Kim shares her Phoenix Tale today of how she rediscovered herself after her divorce.

Kim begins the conversation by sharing the event that redirected the course of her life: her divorce. She talks about experiencing heartbreak and turning to yoga at the time and how this event set her on a path of discovering her life and finding independence. In this self-discovery, Kim found herself exploring her sexuality and embracing her queerness. She discusses the challenges of being the only person of color in a room and how her life experiences have made her create impacts geared towards encouraging diversity. She also talks about unlearning the generational trauma passed on to her from her parents’ experiences as refugees. The episode concludes with Kim talking about Ganesh and sharing the one song that describes her life- a song about acceptance and stepping into the world and knowing you’re enough.

Episode Highlights:

• The event that redirected the course of Kim’s life
• Experiencing heartbreak in divorce
• Finding yoga in a time of need
• How Kim embarked on a journey of independence and self-discovery
• Kim’s exploration of her sexuality
• What does queer mean now? - Kim’s piece
• The challenges of growing up as an Asian American in Texas
• Observing from a distance as one different from others
• Generational trauma- staying in survival mode
• Migrating to Texas
• Kim talks about Ganesh
• The one song that describes Kim’s life.

Quotes:

“It was a very interesting time for me in the next couple years to be able to really kind of find myself and find the parts of me that still needed to be woken up when to be discovered.”

“We both had that sort of mindset that we were each other's person.”

“We kind of grew into different people than we were when we first met at 17. ”

“It was a lot of deep diving of getting reacquainted to the core of who I was.”

“I didn't have to necessarily completely understand who or why I was attracted to someone and or have to identify, but it was more just me being open to it. And that was really the practice for me at that point.”

“I don't want to be put into a box, I don't like want to have to restrain my identity in any way, whether it's my sexual identity, or my racial identity, my gender, whenever in order to fit a system that may or may not be able to really let me express the fullness of who I am.”

“My boundary has become a lot more clear. And I'm a lot more strong at holding it with when it comes to discussions about race”

“I’m Asian all the time!”

Links:

Phoenix Tales Homepage

Phoenix Tales on Instagram

Phoenix Tales on Spotify

Phoenix Tales on Facebook

Kim's Homepage

GaneshSpace...