Guilt

"She is so motivated by guilt...."

It's a descriptor that I have often heard other people say. They are describing one woman or another, and explaining why she is going to amazing lengths, to do some amazing feat, that no one else thinks is really necessary.

I often get questions about the book. People ask if there is something that I wish we could change. There isn't much I would change at this point. But I do wish that we were able to write one more chapter on guilt.

Guilt seems somehow different from shame. Many books have addressed the especially potent shame factor in Asian contexts. However, guilt seems to be a particularly strong emotion. And it also seems to rest heavy on Asian women. I've seen women who are almost oppressed by it--guilt makes the act and takes their joy from them. Sometimes guilt is directed towards the family. Other times it is directed towards anyone in general. Somehow, it seems to me that that is not how God intended us to live.

If you have any thoughts about guilt, and how it uniquely plays out in the Asian female experience, I would be particularly interested.