A new post after nearly 5 years of silence on the space...
So many things have happened in the intervening years..it feels superfluous to give any attempt at summarizing all that has transpired. And so, I shall start off in the best way I know how, which is to the present.
I've been brainstorming with Junhan on embarking on a writing project and kickstart a neglected muscle. Most of the writing I do nowadays is restricted to typing out emails, project plans, and presentations. Whilst I like to think that my finely crafted emails are sublime in their own right, it's very far from the literary pursuits that come with poetry and prose.
Nonetheless, I'm keen to re-start this dormant habit and start writing again, even if the topics of my writing might now skew away from a more literary tone.
Things I'm interested in writing about:
So many things have happened in the intervening years..it feels superfluous to give any attempt at summarizing all that has transpired. And so, I shall start off in the best way I know how, which is to the present.
I've been brainstorming with Junhan on embarking on a writing project and kickstart a neglected muscle. Most of the writing I do nowadays is restricted to typing out emails, project plans, and presentations. Whilst I like to think that my finely crafted emails are sublime in their own right, it's very far from the literary pursuits that come with poetry and prose.
Nonetheless, I'm keen to re-start this dormant habit and start writing again, even if the topics of my writing might now skew away from a more literary tone.
Things I'm interested in writing about:
- communicating effectively at work
- navigating the tech workplace as a young, junior female
- managing difficult work relationships
- the importance of meditation and taking a moment to be mindful
- finding time outside of work to pursue an interest
- investing
- property hunting
- maintaining friendships in your late twenties
- importance of continued learning
To kickstart this revival, I've decided to spend some time thinking and reflecting upon a topic that is close to my heart - mediation and mindfulness.
I know that this topic has come under the spotlight and is at risk of being over-exposed these days, particularly amongst the hippie-quadrant in the tech world.
This habit for me has its roots in my upbringing in church. We were always encouraged to be reflective and thoughtful about our lives, and this attitude manifests itself in many habits. On a daily basis, 'quiet time' refers to the period when you are supposed to be in reflection and in pursuit of your relationship with God. On a weekly basis every Sunday, we would take pause for 10 mins or so at the start of our service to reflect upon the meaning of the cross and how our lives have reflected that symbolism over the last week (in a good or bad way). A few years ago, I started learning more about meditation from a more secular standpoint. I have to credit Tan Chade Meng for sparking this interest after I first read 'Search Inside Yourself' - his bestseller on mindful mediation.
There has been lots written about the benefits of this practice, so I won't rehash that whole she bang here. If you are interested, here's a resource to help you find out more. Instead, I want to talk about a recent experience in being more mindful.
I was grateful to have an opportunity to attend a tea tasting session from 'Hush', a non-profit organization that enlists the deaf community to conduct a meditative session through the act of drinking tea in silence.
I've never spent a lot of time with the deaf community. But just this few hours on an afternoon with them made me more contemplative of things around me. As I am typing this, there is lush greenary outside the window. A mix of birds and ciccadas chirping away on an otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon.
Just soaking in the luxury of this fills me with a sense of calm and gratitude.
I've been reading this book 'Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking'. I'm about two thirds through and defninitely think that I can relate to a lot of what the author is saying about how introverts are perceived in today's society, all the coping strategies that one can use to be in that sweet spot of staying true to one's personality, yet succeeding in a world that prizes more extraverted traits like chattiness, 'socialible-ness'.
Would definitely recommend it to everyone across the spectrum of intraversion and extraversion. For those who identify as being introverted, this tells you that you are not somehow 'wrong' or 'lesser'; For those who identify more on the extraversion end of the spectrum, this helps you to understand the people in your life who are more introverted, and also highlights some of the benefits that come with being more introverted and possible habits to cultivate and adopt (eg being a better observer and listener, being more contemplative about things etc...the caveat here is that despite the piles of reserach to back these claims, these can still come across as generalizations that introverts tend to be better at some of these things. Nonetheless, there is some truth and lessons to learn from this.)
For those who have 19 mins to spare, I shall leave you with this:
