This Instagram post made me thoughtful and nostalgic at the same time:
Why does it feel like that layout made us more productive?
Maybe it’s because it felt more personal and inspiring. There were still a lot of analogue elements to interact with. These days, technology is more minimalist. Plus, work is result oriented and less fun oriented.
What are your thoughts?
We’re getting closer and closer to the end of 2022. Where did the time go? Funny how time flies when you’re having fun.
Here’s a list of things that made my year:
Grateful for all the lessons learned. Grateful for the wonderful people who walked with me every step of the way. Grateful for all discoveries. Looking forward to 2023!
Thoughts on slowing down have led me to consider the meaning of a balanced life.
What does that exactly mean? It looks different to each one of us.
This poem by Kenneth Koch, though, is a game changer at least for me.
What’s true is of these three you may have two and two can pay you dividends but never may have three. These are the strongest verses in my opinion. It’s a hard pill to swallow, and if you think about it, there’s truth in it. You can’t have it all at the same time.
Continue reading “Seeking a balanced life: you can’t have it all at once”
As days go by, and as we feel that it’s a little safer to go outside, the post-pandemic world brings a few questions to mind. What’s really going to change for us? What if we’re more comfortable in my personal space than in a public one? What if some of us don’t want to return to the office and share a desk with others?
New realities require changes, but every person and every company is going to take a different approach. And that’s fine. However, we’re free to choose our own way according to new priorities.
Continue reading “Post-pandemic world: readjusting priorities”
Lately, the idea of thinking in decades has been resonating more than ever. More thoughts have triggered after finding this quote:
Days are long, but decades are short.
I haven’t stopped reflecting on this ever since I read it in this article. I’ve been thinking what it means to me, and if this is going to change the way I live my life.
On the other hand, perception of time also enters the equation. Sometimes, days feel too short, and we wish we had more than 24 hours to do all the things we want to do.
In a different scenario, we wished certain days ended faster. Headaches and other issues that pop up make us beg for less hours so that the struggle goes away. Some days are really difficult.
Time is relative, but it’s one of the resources that doesn’t renovate itself. The way we spend our days determine the things we accomplish in decades.
An unforgettable year is ending. In spite of all the terrible events that took place around the world, I found value in highlighting 20 things that made my 2020 interesting in my personal life.
This exercise gives me a sense of accomplishment, and it’s also a great way to practise self-reflection. From now on, I’ll do it every year to see where my focus has been and celebrate my own efforts.
Here’s the 20 things that made my 2020 interesting:
What’s the sound of 2020? I recently discovered a fantastic online time capsule of music. It’s called “2020 IS A SONG“, and it has a simple objective: sharing with the world the one song that got you through this crazy year.
While it’s hard to choose only one song, for this time capsule I decided that mine had to be Sleeptalking by Friendly Fires.
I’ve written about the importance of noticing the world around. In an attempt to explain to myself why certain songs helped me more than others, I’m sharing a list of the tunes that brought me solace, peace or joy and why. Here’s the sound of 2020 for me.
Continue reading “The sound of 2020: tunes that helped me get through the year”
What else can we say about 2020?
It’s going to be an unforgettable year. It’s hard to visualize what 2021 has in store for humanity, but all we have is the present. This moment.
There’s still a lot to do to reshape our mindsets and move forward and navigate turbulent waters.
One of the sources that kept me grounded was the Orange Book on Twitter. The person who owns this account is brilliant and mysterious at the same time. No one knows who he or she is, but every thought that he/she posts is deep and meaningful.
I want to share how these posts helped me know myself better.
Continue reading “Life lessons from the mysterious Orange Book”
We all need to be on learning mode at any stage of our lives.
It doesn’t matter how experienced we are in our professions. It doesn’t matter if we aren’t going to school anymore.
As snow falls outside and confinement remains the same, I’ve been thinking about my days as a university student. I look back and see myself sitting near the lecturer’s desk to avoid any distractions. I see my notebook ready for notes along with a black pen and a red pen to scribble as much as possible.
I was receptive to learning.
For the real world, I believe that same formula is worth implementing. Our lives and professions nowadays are demanding us to adapt to new forms of operating. The transition turns difficult when there’s resistance; however, in learning mode, it is possible to approach challenges with new eyes.
At the same time, learning means being willing to accept that there’s a whole world inside of ourselves that we know little about. We need to stay curious to unblock our own minds.
Learning is discovery, the discovery of the cause of our ignorance. However, the best way of learning is not the computation of information. Learning is discovering, uncovering what is there in us. When we discover, we are uncovering our own ability, our own eyes, in order to find our potential, to see what is going on, to discover how we can enlarge our lives, to find means at our disposal that will let us cope with a difficult situation.
(…)
Learning is definitely not mere imitation or the ability to accumulate and conform to fixed knowledge. Learning is a constant process of discovery and never a concluding one.
bruce lee
Quotes taken from brainpickings.org
What are you learning about yourself nowadays?
Sometimes, I don’t want to talk.
I don’t want to share
what you won’t understand.
We shouldn’t waste our time.
Playing devil’s advocate
doesn’t cheer me up
on a day I want to give up.
You don’t know, but I suffocate.
I just want to be okay again.
Life should be simpler than this.
So listen to my truth and believe me.
Pain does exist.
Do you know what that means?