The tea spilled in the plastic bag as I rode back home. I wonder why it’s brown, “Oh it was mocha, not matcha tea!” It was supposedly tea. I told them matcha (not mocha, whatever). The cashier even confirmed it was matcha tea before I made the order. How come they made that mistake? Crap. I …
The Regular Guy: In Defense of Being a Regular Person
My boss startled as I said, “I’m Jade. I’m just a regular guy,” while introducing myself in front of my coworkers. She interrupted. Everyone laughed. But I was unstoppable. I continued my introduction. “I’m the new writer here and… uh, just a regular guy.” She frowned and whispered, “What you say is what your mind says.” …
Life in 3 Hours (Everyone is Trying to Survive)
They lost the key of their trolley case. My younger sisters were worried. But I wanted to comfort them, so I said father can find a way to unlock the case without the key. They were relieved. Then they bid goodbye. Thanks for spending time with me, ladies. The Aspiring Psychometrician After escorting my sisters …
You May Think You’re Stuck, But the World Keeps Moving
Most of us feel stuck at some point in life. But I wonder, are we really stuck? We can all agree that even though we feel stuck, the world keeps moving. Life goes on for everyone. So here’s my hypothesis: We are not actually stuck — but moving towards a direction not aligned with our …
For Content Creators: What Are We Doing?
At Medium, everyone has an opinion of good vs. evil, big picture vs. small picture, perspective 1 vs. perspective 2, and on and on. Read the comment section here. It’s interesting, I must say. I love that kind of commotion. Brains clashing together. But what saddens me is the fact that we spend a lot …
Lurking on Social Media isn’t the Solution if you Want to Make Things Happen
Meet Tony. Tony earns a pretty good salary. He’s 28, married and has two little kids. Tony wants to start a business. But it seems that he doesn’t have time and energy to make that happen. He’s busy with work and family. Every night he logs in on Facebook sharing his plans on starting a …
The Pursuit of Status: Why We Keep Doing Things to Be Liked and Accepted
Almost everything we do stems from our need to be liked and accepted by others. Here are a few examples: We pursue a career our parents chose for us (even though we hate it). We buy cars or gadgets or stuff we don’t actually need to impress our peers or people we don’t even know. We …
Some People Say They’re Rich and Financially Free, The Next Thing They Do is Start a Cult — And That Sucks
It’s interesting how these so-called successful people market themselves to the mass. They say that they have the answers to financial freedom, and all we need to do is attend their conferences and buy their books and courses, follow them on social media, and join their tribe. I thought about it for a while. But …
A Reminder to People Planning to Start a Creative Project
I can’t imagine life without a creative project — an art or anything that requires creating. If you don’t have one, I suggest you start your own. I believe it’s something we should experience at some point in life. As the poet Dejan Stojanovic once said, “Creating means living.” I love that. But let’s say you already …
Should We Tell Them Everything? Some People Want Easy to Understand Answers
I play in two bands: Jonah and Remnants of Catacombs (ROC). The interesting part is when people — strangers or relatives — ask what my band name is. What should I say? In most cases though, my answer is Jonah. When they asked about the meaning of Jonah, I said it’s a bible character because …
Consuming Mainstream Media: The Side Effect and Why It Makes Me Feel Like Shit
For the past 3 years, these are the things I intentionally consume on a regular basis: Content from my favorite writers/thinkers (they are my heroes) Point of views from different people (during conversations) Podcasts or interviews from people I admire TED talks or any didactic videos Books/Blogs Documentaries Movies with superb storytelling (or anything that …
30 Important Questions to Ask Yourself if You Want to Live a Good Life
I have a habit of asking myself questions every now and then. Why? Because I want to know whether I’m living the life I want to live. And funny it works. There are three things that happen every time I ask myself questions: I think deeply. I explore different point of views. I try to …
How Can We Add More Years to our Lives? Maybe 5 Years More
The best way to add more years to our lives is to stop spending time on trivial matters or things that don’t give us purpose and meaning. And instead, focus more on things that truly matter to us. Now, don’t get me wrong. I understand how hard it is to focus on the things that …
Your Happiness Or Other People’s Happiness? (Try The Middle Path)
When making big decisions in life, we often end up with two paths to choose: For our happiness For others’ happiness But it’s confusing. If we choose our own happiness, people may think we’re self-centered. And if we choose the other way, ah, who knows what’s gonna happen. And because we are so confused, we …
You Have a Power, And That is to Take Full Responsibility
You can argue all day about who ought to rule our nation. Or how people should treat you. Or who ought to give you opportunities. Or how your parents should raise you. But in the end, nothing will have changed. You’re still jobless. You’re still in debt. You’re still brokenhearted and lonely and confused. Rather …