Under the Queen’s Umbrella Review

Under the Queen’s Umbrella is about Queen Hwaryeong who is supposed to act with dignity and grace as she raises her troublemakers aka sons. She needs to raise them with proper education and correct values. However, there seems to be tons of challenges.

This is the official poster. (Photo is not mine.)

This Korean Drama is one of the best Korean Historical Fiction that I have watched after Scarlet Heart Ryeo. This series presented strong female characters and the way they carry themselves inside the palace.

The past historical dramas that I’ve watched mostly depicts patriarchy, and the competition to the throne. However, this series highlighted the role of the women in the society.

From giving birth, to raising the child, to handling their responsibilities, a queen definitely needs to always strive for excellence. This is what the protagonist has been doing throughout the story.

Queen Hwaryeong showed how she stood up agains the norm concerning their people and her sons. She has shown proper judgment in every situations. She acts accordingly and always does everything with a plan.

Here are the most notable characters in the series. (Photo is not mine.)

She also demonstrated great power in protecting her sons. She pushed them to be the best grand princes that they can be no matter what situation they are in.

There are other female antagonists, such as Queen Dowager, the first Concubine, and the deposed Queen. I like how each character was differentiated from one another. They have one common denominator (which is being related to the King), but this just complemented the uniqueness of each female character.

This series ended on its highest rating. I am looking forward for Season 2 if there’s any.

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7 Things I’ve Learned from #Girlboss

I added Girlboss Series in my watch list last year. But, it was only last August 18 that I got to finish it. This series opened my mind, heart, and soul about being a persistent, goal-driven, and hardworking person. I just loved every detail about this series.

Here are seven things I’ve learned from this series.

1. Know your purpose. If you do not know it yet, you will figure it out soon. Sophia, in this story, was able to figure it out slowly. She applied as sales clerk in a store. Eventually, she just did not feel happy and enthusiastic about it. Eventually, she applied for a job which gave her a good boss and a fitting schedule.
2. Research, research. While working as a staff in an art school, she slowly built her eBay shop. Here, she does not know the technicalities yet. So what she did was to research about setting up a business online. She succeeded on doing this all by herself.
3. Know and maximize your connections. As she started expanding her shop, she worked and collaborated with a number of people in her circle. She got a model. Her best friend was in charge of the PR and Marketing.
4. Failures are normal. All businesses failed once. But, Sophia did not let this failure stop her from striving and building her shop. I think it’s an attitude that we all should have. That no matter how many times we fail, we stand up again.
5. Delegate tasks. Her best friend, Annie, who just helped her run her shop, felt that Sophia had to pay her service already. At first, Sophia disapproved. She was not welcome to hiring people. She believed that the Nasty Gal, her shop, is her passion only. Later on, Sophia realized that she had to hire people. There goes Annie, the PR department and the IT who created their website when eBay banned her from joining.
6. Deal with your critics. Every business will have critics, and a business owner must know how to deal with it. There should be proper customer service that would handle problematic buyers.
7. Dream big. This is my favorite lesson in the story. As an adult, I stopped dreaming big. By watching this series, I realized that I have to dream bigger other than this. I just have to.

My life-long goal is to make a living out of my passion–writing. I have started running my small shop here.

After watching this series, I listed again what are my dreams, what is my ideal life, and what are the things that really matter for me. 🙂

Right now, I appreciate where I am while working on my big dreams. 🙂

This is highly recommended if you feel lost and unsure of your life. Watch it when you have time!

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