Candles and Ducks (31/365)

31/365

I’ve been having lots of conversations about identity lately. Mostly with regards to my Jewish identity vs. my Korean identity. It’s no secret that one of them outweighs the other in my life. It’s funny because I took these two shots rather arbitrarily. Afterwards Andrew and I were looking at them as I was trying to decide which one I wanted to be the picture of the day and Andrew said, “Well, which part of your identity do you want to emphasize today?”

The candles in these pictures are Shabbat candles. It’s been a while since we’ve had Shabbat dinner, but it’s a lovely tradition that I really enjoy doing when we can. The ducks are Korean wedding ducks. They were given to us by my mom at for our wedding. She’s had wedding ducks since I was little and I waited my entire life to get them. When they face each other it means we’re happy. If they are facing away from each other, it means we’re fighting. Thankfully they’ve stayed facing each other. 

I love the juxtaposition of these two objects just as I love the two sides of my identity. I’m constantly learning more about both of them and bringing the culture and traditions into our lives. Andrew has taken all of this in stride and with an open mind which quite frankly one big reason why I married him. Having support like this isn’t something to be taken for granted and I’m thankful for that every day.