People see you, and yet they don’t. Instead of looking your way, they are looking way past you. Someone asks you a question, but oddly doesn’t tune in to your response. They make polite conversation with no intent to go beyond scratching the surface. They nod, they linger a little, but they neither see nor… Continue reading Being underestimated is a gift in disguise
Let’s rephrase this question, “What do you want to be?” into “What are the many things you want to be?” We are privileged to live in a time where reinvention is a necessity. When we reflect on our fast-changing world, it goes beyond the insane speed with which technology is taking over our lives; rather,… Continue reading We are all in the process of becoming
It’s 8 o’clock and my baby has been sleeping soundly since I nursed him a little past 6. In a couple of hours, he will squirm and cry in his sleep and I will be running and panting my way up the stairs to comfort him. The rest of the night will be a blur.… Continue reading The Fallacy of Postpartum Bliss
The most powerful thing my body has ever done is to grow a life inside of it. No personal miracle that I have ever experienced comes close to discovering the scale of my body’s capacity: to create, transform, and nurture another life. It is a physical and emotional journey so incredibly overwhelming that I still… Continue reading What I really think about pregnancy
Millennials (born from 1980 to 2000) have acquired a bad name. I am not alone in shunning this category to the point of disowning it. Insisting that I’m way older than my age, I pushed back from this purportedly lazy and entitled generation. Some realizations hit me as of late. Fifteen years ago, we had mobile phones… Continue reading This is how millennials are changing the world
A few weeks from now, I’ll pack my life in boxes to live overseas for the first time. I’m leaving with my husband carrying the role that I’m still slowly coming to terms with: a trailing spouse. Although we have known of the move for five months now, the spiralling emotions take over as the… Continue reading Thoughts of an Imminent Trailing Spouse
One of the most difficult Lenten sacrifices I ever had to make was the abstinence from gossip. Many years ago, leaving an all-girls’ school was a step, I hoped, to finally be rid of petty talk about others. Moving to a bigger university for me meant social groups that engaged in deeper and philosophical discussions—ideally… Continue reading Gossip and the Negativity Contagion
I put a Miles Davis record on, make my second cup of coffee, and look at a handwritten To Do list peeping at me from our home work desk. There is an absence of movement and noise other than the slight hum of the A/C and jazz music filling the entire apartment. A rare realization hit… Continue reading Workplace stress is real, and rising.
The rules for business writing have evolved over time. As I face a mixed-age audience for a training session, I experience a little conflict in making the rules relevant (and important) for millennials. Millennials cannot be exclusively blamed for our confusion. Language becomes the collateral damage as the new online media distort the norms. Admittedly, the limited… Continue reading An old-fashioned millennial’s guide to better emails
This one is controversial—and writing this is a bold step that I feel compelled to do. I understand what many people know. Yes, I have seen old white men holding hands with Asian girls--girls who seem like they should still be in school. I’ve read about the incredulous reality of Asian mail-order brides, and I… Continue reading That Asian Wife with a White Man
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