Emulating Queen Manduhai the wise

Over here, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, located in the Good Old U.S. of A, it is late at night.  I am exhausted, but I am also down to my last dime, so I have to pull out all the stops and hustle like hell, no holding back.  That being said, I stumbled upon a passage in "The Secret History of the Mongol Queens" regarding Queen Manduhai the Wise that could not have come at a better time.

"More than two centuries after Genghis Khan's death, Queen Manduhai revived the dying dynasty and made it vibrant and new.  When she could not defeat her enemies, Manduhai eluded them, learned from her losses, and prepared for the next battle...If she did not win the first seven times, she would win on the 8th.  Manduhai defiantly survived every tragedy, obstacle, and horror that befell her.  Just as she gave control of her life to no man, she surrendered her army to no enemy, and she relinquished her people to no foreign nation.  Heaven did not grant her a great destiny, instead, in the words of the Mongol chronicle, it allowed her to shape 'the destiny of her own choosing.' In history, those individuals who refuse the options presented by circumstances of life usually end up broken.  Those few who reject what life offers and still find their own path are rightfully called heroes." -Jack Weatherford "The Secret History of the Mongol Queens"

As an entrepreneur, this is a passage that I've chosen to read over and over as this path gets tougher and tougher, due to the powerful agents of society realizing that I'm not backing down from my dreams, and I have no intention of being an obedient wife and mother, and giving up and getting a job.  People often criticize South Korea over the phrase "Know Your Place."  We actually have that same issue in the United States, but instead of having such a straight forward phrase, we are very covert and insidious in making sure that the people in their appropriate social classes and races "stay in their lane."  We reinforce that by making it very expensive to be poor.  Barriers are in place to keep low income people from making meaningful financial investments.  Health insurance is priced out of range if you do not have a job, and Medicaid is only available to the extremely poor.  If you apply for it, thorough research on your household composition by the powers that be is very strongly encouraged, so don't even think of leaving anyone off the application, as such a maneuver is at the mercy of whoever the ruling party happens to be that year.  If it's a democrat, you're good.  Republican or Libertarian? Watch your back. From watching the 사극, however, especially 기황후, I have learned there are tricks in getting past that, but they are not easy, they take a lot of practice, and you will get hurt a few times in the process.

What I am doing is challenging, since many of the 사극 I like are the older ones that I can tell weren't designed for the American viewer, and as the people behind BTS know, selling to the American Audience can be a walk through hell.  Not that I'm bad mouthing my potential customers, it can at times be frustrating when many of us in the United States sincerely believe we are open minded, but we have a very long way to go when it comes to fully embracing other cultures.  We still have to view them with a very heavy American filter.  When it comes to the older 사극, I think there are so many lessons that many American people could benefit from learning.  I have been significantly happier because of these lessons, and learning to not be so self aware to the point that it makes me self absorbed.  Watching these shows made me learn fully, that yes, other people do indeed exist.  So, selling anime fan art, where much of it is based on the older 사극 is very challenging in the US due to people not being familiar, and selling it in Korea is challenging due to International issues, and because I'm sure there are similar things that are much easier to purchase domestically.

I'm also dealing with the challenge of probably being the only White American in the United States who makes and designs 한복.  Too many people in my country are profoundly afraid of being accused of "Cultural Appropriation," but I have learned that it's mainly Koreans who love my clothes, and it's Non-Asians who get really agitated about me wearing them.

And so, I have to stay strong and proactive.  Some days, I'm full of energy, and I'm doing well. Other days, I'm out of energy, and it seems like I'm reaching no one.  So, like Queen Mundahai the Wise, if I lose 7 battles, I must make every effort I can to win the 8th.  I do feel like I am making progress, but I've learned the hard way to never coast, even if I'm succeeding, I have to keep working.