Elaine Lui

We’ve been gossiping forever. Thousands of years ago, people gossiped about empresses and pharaohs. The hieroglyphics proved that. A few decades ago, they gossiped about politicians – and we still do. When we gossip, we are communicating. We are sharing with each other our social expectations, our boundaries, our moral limits. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

All the time. Celebrities can be shockingly self-indulgent, narcissistic, and badly behaved. Which is great. Otherwise we’d be bored.

I read a lot and I read a lot of everything so I’m not sure I can narrow it down to one book. But I did write a memoir called Listen to the Squawking Chicken about my mother. And my favourite memoir is The Tender Bar by JR Moehringer about growing up in Long Island without a father, and how the people at the bar filled that role for him. The book is beautiful and honest and I wanted mine to be the same.

Keep working. And work hard. Hard work is always achievable.

Everyone has moments when they feel inadequate or frustrated or impotent. I try not to get too myopic about my own petty problems though, especially since part of my job is to call out celebrities on their bullshit first world problems. On days when I’m not at my best though, I treat myself to a very, very good dinner, my favourite foods, and a lot of it. Eating makes me happy, always.

“Keep working. And work hard. Hard work is always achievable.” This was already an answer above, but my ma told me that even if I couldn’t be the smartest or the fastest or the funniest, I could always be the best at working hard.

My ma was tough on me. She was always my first and worst critic. But this helped me. Because she was preparing me for how cruel the world can be and she wanted me to arm myself, she prepared me for attacks by setting expectations. She believed that if I was informed and educated, I would build confidence. And she encouraged me to work on learning more, thinking faster – she was training my mind. Because your mind is all you have. No one can take that from you. Your mind is your protector and your weapon. If you believe in your mind, you’ll start to believe in yourself.

I grew up an only child of two loving parents. My parents provided me with everything I would need, physically and emotionally. The sad truth is that not everyone has the luxury of that kind of upbringing. The youth we serve at Covenant House Vancouver are running from abuse and neglect. No one CHOOSES to live on the streets. They’re there because that’s the only option they felt they had. At Covenant House, we’re not just trying to help young people, we’re also trying to change attitudes. My attitude certainly changed. And I hope I can assist others with the perception around homeless and at-risk youth.

The treatment of women in the media won’t change until we change the treatment of women in society. Why are women paid less than men? Why do women still have to justify what they want to do with their own bodies? Why are women, most often the victims of domestic violence, increasingly less willing to report the crimes? Why are we still fighting for equality? Why is equality so elusive? It’s infuriating.