Can ideals and reality really compromise? Interview with Sylvie, we see that many of the choices she has made have never been "sacrifice" but "prosperity", and how has she moved on to her ideal path in different identity transitions?
Have you ever thought that polar tourism can become a profession? If you also have a vision of polar tourism, you may wonder what qualities are right for the job, and what is the lifestyle of polar tourism?
"Polar tourism is like a wave life, " said Sylvie, Taiwan's first female polar tourism explorer, without thinking, with her enthusiasm for polar life.
Sylvie, who loved to travel from an early age, had long aspired to the development of related industries, and family and friends had said, "You are like a floating ping, really good?" Sylvie thought, trying to find out. After graduation, she introduced herself and stepped into the tourism industry.
In one opportunity, Sylvie had the opportunity to practice in the polar regions, in the tourism industry at that time, is little experience, but also let her later career and polar close links, to undertake many related work, such as tourism promotion, tourism business, and even join the tourism expedition.
Special career experience also allows Sylvie to face a lot of outside questioning. The more conservative passenger once asked her, "How can you work here when you are a little girl?" It's hard, it's so cold outside, is your family OK? She said she was not weak and not afraid of the cold. In this job, inevitably there are some stereotypes, that polar work is not suitable for women, otherwise it is engaged in the industry of women's personality, more impulsive.
The impression is that polar tourism expeditions are made up of more men and even polar scientists. In such a workplace environment, however, Anya, a German captain, has upended the stereotype that is different from the past.
"She's kind and warm, but when someone crosses the line, she lets you know no. It's not murderous, it's firm. Sylvie sees from Anya the influence of female leaders, who don't need to be tough, but through rational communication, with Jockgang, to explain decisions clearly and to persuade others with action. Such qualities also make men who have questioned her put aside stereotypes.
When you can't change others, adjust yourself
Sylvie notes that the biggest challenge of polar travel expeditions is not really from extreme environmental climates, but mainly from coordinated human communication.
She said that once due to climate, itinerary and other factors, the ship could not sail smoothly to the Antarctic Circle, the passengers on board, there are lawyers, judges, think they have been deceived, angry. Sylvie served as a bridge of communication in a situation where the passengers were almost Chinese. "The polar explorer's job is not only to sail, explain, but also to communicate with the passengers, " Sylvie said, amid the censel of criticism, as she re-emerged to draw up a new itinerary, under pressure but also to hone Sylvie's ability.
Polar explorers in the voyage, need to face the same group of people for a long time, although it is tourism, to distinguish the guests, but the external conditions of the polar regions will change at any time, but also as soon as possible with the passengers to produce a new consensus. In such a process, inevitably some partners can not bear, Sylvie mentioned that the captain will ask partners to deal with their negative emotions and then start, because once on the boat, can not escape arbitrarily, only by their own adjustment.
When you can't change others, adjust yourself.
However, not every adjustment, so smooth, on the way to work, there is no inevitable frustration for Sylvie. One of the biggest setbacks, she laughs, is being promoted in her first job.
In Taiwan, management positions are often handed over to competent workers for incentive promotions. But management is very different from independent work, no longer single-handed, but needs to drive the whole team, so that everyone is willing to pay for team goals, but also need to communicate within and outside the department. Not only do things well, but you also have to spend more time as a person.
After 3-4 years of executive experience, Sylvie gradually finds herself losing her passion for work, especially when the goals of my partners in different departments are difficult to agree on, "and I can also work together and make myself less like I like." But life is your own, and it has been entangled, turn around, on the sea wide sky. She decided to leave before she hated the job.
Perhaps such a relaxed character, travel this profession is the best antidote to Sylvie, perhaps some people are difficult, but every trip is to face different new people, new things, job burnout also never comes from the tour itself.
The way to fix yourself is to travel again. Sylvie's favorite is to be alone in East Greenland. It's different from the crowded Antarctic, where there aren't many animals, surrounded by nourdiosaurs, icebergs and aurora. At the moment, Sylvie immerses herself in the sound of the iceberg peeling off, calming her heart.
(Extended reading: Peng Shujun essay| meditation is close to their own process, see the innermost flower in that )
Being a mother can also be without giving up travel
Tourism, ravaged by Covid-19, gives Sylvie and her partners a different rhythm from the past. "Before, the explorer's life was to go after the sun, " Sylvie says with a laugh, all of which is a local summer, and when the trip to the South Pole is over, a month later to the North Pole, Sylvie has her own promotional work.
But in this outbreak, Sylvie and her husband decided to move on to the next stage of their lives, a very different change from her previous life : becoming mothers.
"I'm kidding right now, I'm a swashmoury mom." It would be said that Sylvie's desire for a new identity is more of a enrichment of her original life than a sacrifice. Although it is true that because of the children, coupled with the outbreak, it is not possible to say how to go for the time being, but Sylvie and Mr. will still arrange an outing to find the maximum number of three people, to create a sense of ritual for life.
Sylvie has always felt very self-made, but when it comes to "being yourself" she laughs that she still has a burden, even though the family education is enlightened, but under the influence of mainstream society, there are still some values that bind her, for example, her age, in Taiwan's social context is considered to be late marriage, marriage will be asked when she wants to have children, become a mother, and then be asked to be a mother, Sylvie admitted that she still cares about this statement.
"I suspect I have postpartum depression. During the period of pro-feeding, others have no intention: how do you feed the child is not familiar with you, the child is not not fed, milk is not enough, let me suffer a blow, frustration is very heavy. These remarks made her blame herself for the lack of maternal love, but fortunately, in the process of God's teammates and growing affection with the children, gradually regained self-confidence, not long ago Sylvie and said, "We can have a second child!" Even she was surprised by the idea, but in her new identity, Sylvie feels happy and happy, "Now that I have children I am very happy and hope I can be her role model and be proud of my mother!"
This transition of identity, in different experiences, she constantly explores how to "be yourself", for Sylvie, "becoming yourself" is anytime, anywhere feel relaxed, no pressure state.
"Everyone is different, different people become mothers, they are different mothers. " This is why women fans want to expand the public's imagination and definition of mother through interviews with different women' stories, and also let people who are about to become this identity know that they can also live out of themselves, between the family and themselves, not only wronged sacrifice, everyone can become their ideal appearance.
(Recommended reading: There is no ideal mother in the world!) With the most authentic self and child link, parent-child relationship can also be intimate )
Create a sense of ritual and enjoy everyday life
In the face of a change in identity and experience, coupled with the impact of the outbreak, it is not possible to go abroad as freely as in the past, yet Sylvie has not interrupted her life experience. She says she likes to stay in restaurants and settle into cafes, and occasionally pretends to be abroad or pretends to be a business person.
Sylvie through the small rituals of life, to give themselves a role-playing, enjoy the daily, not only in life through the smell, temperature, recall happy memories, but also deliberately create fun, immersion in it.
During this time, Sylvie also had one less experience in the past - chasing drama. In the past, she had less time to watch film and television productions, and in the meantime, she was empatheted with two plays. The first is the Korean drama "Postpartum Conditioning Institute", about the heroine's career has been quite successful, but because of pregnancy, stay in the moon center, began to have a different life experience, which made Sylvie, who suffered from postpartum depression at that time, have a voice. The other is "Find My Agent" through the fast pace of work in the plot, so that Sylvie can feel the intensity of the past work, but also let the momentum of the past.
Finally, Sylvie mentions that everyone has to give themselves a period of time every day, not sleep, not slip on a cell phone, can be exercise, listen to music, drink coffee, let oneself slow down, even if in the coffee shop is purely dazed to look at others, wholeheartedly get along with themselves. "Don't feel uncomfortable not being able to take time, or not doing anything, just doing nothing and leaving a period of time for yourself." Never mind what others think, do something you find happy and fun.