i woke up with the sun this morning. it was an interesting change from going to sleep when the sun has already come up. maybe it had to do with going to bed at 7:30 last night. i didn't really get to sleep until hours later though--woman problems =P

i have discovered the secret to doing laundry: do it at 6 am and no one will be competing for machines.

i went to bed so early last night because i was dead tired from spending the whole day at the women's conference and carrying tables and junk. i have to say that we did an awesome job at the women's conference. =) vickie nam and phoebe eng were incredible speakers--so inspiring. i wish i had more time to talk to them, but i had my workshop to lead, things to clean up, yaddayadda. my mental health workshop was really interesting too. i had no idea that depression was so widespread in the asian american community. young asian american women have the highest rate of depressive symptoms out of all other ethnic gender groups, and asian american females between the ages of 15-24 have the second highest suicide rate behind native americans. asian american women over 65 have the highest female suicide rate among women across all ethnic groups, yet asian americans as a whole have the lowest utilization for mental health services. no one ever hears about these figures though because these are things you just don't talk about. no one wants anyone else to find out that their daughter killed herself or should see a psychologist--everyone will think she's "crazy". there is such a huge stigma in the asian american community on getting help--you are expected to "be strong," internalize all your problems, and never tell outsiders about your problems, but this results in so many more problems. the high expectations placed on asian american females by parents and themselves and from being a member of the "model minority" and trying not to bring shame upon the family greatly increase stress levels. a common thread heard throughout a study performed by the national asian women's health organization (NAWHO) was that many female asian american college students said they felt they lacked control in life decisions. there were many other posible reasons for these figures, but i don't really need to make this any more of a lecture. i'd just like to say it's okay to get help. and please rant and rave to people about your problems--you can say it's for your mental health. =)