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Back in the fall, before the snow fell, Boy 12, Boy 7 and their 7-year-old cousin hiked up into the hills near our home. (It’s a mountain range, really, not just a hill. But since they weren’t going far, “hill” gives a truer impression.) Their destination was “the tree house,” which is not a tree house at all, but a pair of rope swings—how the spot got its name I’ll never know. Kids are liars, all.

There are two rope swings tied to a large Cottonwood tree. You sit or hang on the stick tied to the end of the rope and then swing out over the steep trail you just hiked to get there. The tree is on a relatively level spot on an otherwise steep hill, so when you swing out, you’re a good 10 meters from the ground at the apex. Boys, being boys, love it. Even I love it, and I get scared on a Ferris wheel. So the rope swing is a true test of my outer limits. This cheap thrill can be yours for the cost of a steep 20-minute hike up the mountain.

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Anyone ever feels like they’re having an identity crisis after becoming a parent? It has crossed my mind on several occasions so I’m just going to talk about t openly.. nothing to be ashamed of here, just pure honest feelings about life.

There comes a time in many mothers’ and fathers’ lives when they sit there and think to themselves, what happened to the person I used to be? Granted, you have a child(or children) now so obviously you’re a different person but do you ever find that you don’t do the things you used to enjoy?

What happens when you come to realize that you are an entirely different person. For instance, I was always a full-time college student and full-time worker in retail. I loved taking road trips, nature, hiking, playing cello (for 13 years), going to classical music concerts, NYC and every now and then I’d read a book if I put the time into it. Once I got married and had children, I became a wife, a mother and a homemaker. That’s it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love being a mother. I get no greater joy than watching my children grow and learn new things each day, but it gets exhausting when you have no sense of self! I guess this blog is all me, but sometimes it’s a chore to even find time to do it. Everything is husband-this, baby-that, dog-this, housework-that.

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The unique implication for Chinese social media
Social media in China is considered a place for a user of the Internet to speak their minds and generally feel free. This is very different compared to the West, where liberation on the internet does not appear distinct compared to everyday interaction. Of course, the big difference in with Social Media in China comes from political constraints created by the government.

As Chinese a user of the Internet are looking for ways to express and describe their freedom on the internet, social media campaigns should cater for this by placing opinions and ideas at the heart of their message. Whether this means having a user of the Internet as ‘Brand Ambassadors’ or whether you employ a reward scheme that favors expression and creativity, or broadcasts a netizen’s idea to the community- it has to promote freedom.

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