How are you? Have you started a good new week?

I started this letter at 2:23am Monday morning. I went to sleep at about 0:00. But, I could not get sleepy for a long time. Then, instead of wasting time on the bed, I got up to write the letter to you.

It was for many years, I got sleepy as soon as I had time to sleep. Why I couldn’t get sleepy this time?

I got a too big lesson on Sunday, May 27, 2012.
Last Wednesday to this Monday, May 23 - 28, almost all my school followers went to the Grand Canyon of Yellow River to have the lesson of painting from the nature. For my health problem and for the reason that I would like to take part in an important reunion -- Missouri State University’s Alumni Event on May 27, in Beijing, I did not go with the team together.

Anyway, when the day really came, I missed it totally -- when my taxi reached the Jianguo Hotel Beijing, everything was finished, except 5 former classmates with our first American professor and the Associate Dean ? Dr. David Meinert were waiting for me specially, most of people had left.

Since I came back with my degree of MBA and the certificate of my first art exhibition from USA, 2009, I have been appreciating Missouri State University, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Springfield Regional Art Council, just for their good education, directions and help, I completed my study that seemed like impossible to complete while kept my art learning, my long-term art dream was true there. The study life in Missouri State University has really changed the latter part of my life, helped me find my future development direction and life road ? continue to study, think, explore and create my own comprehensive art, to help non-Chinese speakers to learn Chinese culture.

With this idea, I re-stood up after 6 surgeries, I came to China Central Academy of Fine Arts and Chinese National Academy of Arts to study Chinese painting while to fight with the sicknesses in Beijing.

With a grateful heart, since March, 2012, I started to prepare for the event ? I have painted 6 paintings specially for the University, College of Business Administration, Library, Alumni Association, C of C of Springfield and the organizations in the delegation to organize and attend the event in Beijing, to express my endless appreciated heart to all of the organizations that have helped me… to thank the event has offered the alumni a wonderful opportunity to have a reunion ? 10 of my former 22 classmates came to the event from Yantai, Shandong province, Shanghai City, Shijiazhuang Hebei Province by airplane of train… most of these paintings I painted twice and some of them I painted 3 times or 4 times. Then I found the best shop that was service for the professors and professional artists of Chinese National Academy of Arts to decorate them with a high price, matched the boxes, tied flowers with riband that were brought to me by my brother from Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province since these was no any big supermarket around of my place, every thing is inconvenient, even, I could not buy 10 same greeting cards once, so that just for buying greeting cards, I went to a little shop 3 times. Also, I prepared the recorder pen, videocorder, printed new business cards… hoped to record the good time, visit the president, officers and the professors from MSU and C of C, while to know some new friends...

However, after going for 1.5 hours by a taxi, I missed whole of the event.

After I came back from the Jianguo Hotel Beijing, the more I thought, the more I felt bad, so that I did want to weep. Anyway, I knew, tears were useless. The key was to think Why and to learn something from it:

-- Firstly, I should not pay more attention to the details and surface in the limited time, so that I missed the most important thing. As a “ completist - many people say I am ”, always I pursue the perfection, even though I know the time was too tight, I could not allow any detail bad and to check up whether the flowers beautiful? Whether the packs good enough? Until the time has too later, I was still checking every box since I found I wrote the word Alumna to be Alumni in one card, therefore, I tried to find it out and to correct the wrong word. Just like 16 years ago, I was punished much of my salary by the newspaper office, for my pages were 30 or 40 minutes later than the normal publish time (we must send out of our electronic pages by the secondary planet before 10:30pm, then the newspaper would be printed at 28 pointes in China and in Hong Kong before 4:00am next morning at that time.) ? I pursued every thing perfect in my pages, but whole of the newspaper could not be printed in time, then the perfection in several pages were useless.

I focused my limited time and energy on something surface and details too much, so that I forgot what was the most important, just like Dr. Meinert said, you could come to see us, that was just the best gift.

-- Secondly, I should not do my work too casually, rely on my interesting too much, I should make a rigorous plan and schedule. In my classroom, there was a big Ancient Chinese Gongbi Painting on the frame for more than 3 months already; I did not want to touch it for I was not interested in the flowers and the birds that my tutor asked me to paint. I enjoy painting something I have feeling suddenly, and I do not want to paint according to a plan or rule. Especially, I did not like to paint something appointed in a prescriptive time. I feel it limits the freedom of my feelings and hands.

Anyway, now I realize that art can work without a plan and rely on interesting; a business cannot be done this way. Since I did, then I was failed.

Yes, my feeling about the time using is a thing; the actual job is another thing. I felt no problem to catch the time, the actual situation was different. Because I had no a detail plan on the time using, when something suddenly happened, all of the things were changed. For example, when I went to do my hair, the hairdresser I had made an appointment last day went to the church for her remembered a wrong day. When I wanted to check an English name, the computer could not connect the Internet, and when I wanted to type a name list in a shop, there were no people there.

So, if I made a plan and thought of the suddenly situation ahead, and left time enough for the possible sudden thing, things would be done better.

Thirdly, I should not immoderate on something I am enjoyable. Even though I enjoy painting, I should remember something else I must do. So, if I did not paint too later every night and gave myself a little bit time to look after the other things, then I should not miss the alumni event?

After making the self-examination and writing down my thoughts here, I did feel much better indeed.

I am going to remember the big lesson of Penny Wise and Pound Foolish, and try to grow up and get mature as soon as possible -- I am old enough, I am not mature on many things yet. : -)

How about you? Do you have anything to share in the last week?
I am just a student on Art of Painting, Music, English and Management, to work on the web site in my free time. I would really like to do a few things with what I have learned to make this little web site to be an Electronic Bridge of Inter-Art & Cross - Culture Exchange, Chinese Language Learning & Friendship Making. To help the others while to improve myself.

I would like to appreciate you for your understanding, directions, supports and help.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, you are welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn or leave your message on Message Board.

Shirley Yiping Zhang
May 28, 2012