There’s a type of tree that’s planted all over Singapore. It’s known as the rain tree because of its iconic umbrella shape. Not only is it incredibly striking to look at, the sprawling canopy provides the perfect respite from the oppressive heat we experience here year-round. It’s planted extensively throughout Singapore for this reason. It has fast become one of my favourite trees. Not just … Continue reading Nurturing Our Roots
Karma is one of the most known concepts of Buddhism and Hinduism. At the same time, it is also one of the least understood. You may hear people speaking about having a good or a bad Karma without really knowing what it is about. Those two main Eastern religions define Karma in the same way despite having developed their own concept of “Karman”, which can … Continue reading The True Meaning of Karma, How It Works and How It Helps You Improving Your Life
In a comment on a recent post about learning, a person asked my opinion about new technologies called Open AI (artificial intelligence) and ChatGPT. This software is causing quite a stir in academic realms and has even made CNN and Wall Street Journal. Douglas Rushkoff, a supporter of humanity and critic of modern technologies, discussed some of the real dangers of the software, as opposed to many surface-level … Continue reading Why Write in the Age of AI?
Nearing Christmas, we are usually getting ready for family traditions. Perhaps you have a religious ritual you perform or a meal you prepare. These traditions add to the ambiance of the experience. Sometimes, though, they create a sense of sacredness, which can be harmful if it limits our ability to adapt, change, and grow. At a family gathering, a young woman was asked why she … Continue reading Family Traditions: A Recipe For Realization
“Finish him,” was the famous phrase heard on Mortal Kombat 3 when it came time to obliterate your opponent. You might remember the drunken wobble Raiden does just before Sub-Zero uppercuts him into oblivion. Good times. As a kid, another part of the game always stood out: the opening credits. The phrase flashing across the screen read, “There is no knowledge that is not power.” … Continue reading Knowledge is Power: Philosophy from a video game
One night after class, I had a conversation with a student who rarely misses. I mentioned to him about having to cut back on his training in the future if he gets married and has kids. His reply was, “I won’t get married if she won’t let me train three or four times a week.” While this sentiment displays his determination and passion for our … Continue reading Prepare for Days That Kick You in the Face
If you think back to the Middle Ages and compare what we know now to what we thought we knew then, you’ll probably come to the conclusion that we weren’t terribly smart. That most of what we thought we knew about the world was patently wrong. It seems obvious to us now that the earth revolves around the sun (and not the other way around), … Continue reading Why Being Wrong Is Right
If I could start all over again, I’d only focus on my body being strong. The hell with the numbers. If I could start all over again, I’d go into meetings with confidence. I have a right to be here. If I could start all over again, I’d make more time for reading. For crafting. For being in bed. If I could start all over … Continue reading SnapDragon Speaks: On Starting Over.
Hi everyone! Let’s talk about challenging ourselves today. We constantly hear that we need to challenge ourselves for personal growth. Our workout should be such that it is not too easy, nor just the level throughout. Rather, it must challenge us a bit. This will lead to bigger strength. If we are afraid of something, say of traveling alone, we should start with places we … Continue reading Challenge: Lack of Safety?
First of all, I’d like to apologize for not publishing on here for the last three weeks or so… I had a rough couple of days and needed a little break. But I’m back, so let’s get to it! 🙂 It was someday during this week that I had started a 15 thread long LinkedIn argument with a leadership expert that was all on respect, … Continue reading That One Thing We Have To Get Straight
One of my most interested fields in psychology is that of dating and understanding how to find and interact with our romantic partner. There is no doubt that if you are in a relationship or married, that you haven’t been through some sort of emotional or mental rollercoaster with your partner. That’s just part of the process, and more often than not, we resolve whatever … Continue reading The Most Important Thing(s) To Understand About Your Relationship
Hello Pointless Overthinkers. It’s me, Kalliope! Did you miss me? Hmm, don’t answer that, I’d rather you save your answers for the following morsels of munchable musings… you know they’re a real treat, coming from the chief muse herself. LOL I want to you to define ‘growing up.’ Is it just submitting your inner self to fit the expectations and standards which society term ‘acceptable’? … Continue reading Questions about growing up and society
We are often told to act in alignment to what we feel. How we feel. For whom we feel. This notion of acting in alignment with our feelings can be a dangerous mindset. In fact, allow me to tell you that your feelings are completley overrated. They are unimportant. Look, there are only 2 reasons to do things in life. Because it feels good Because … Continue reading Your Feelings Are Overrated.
Let’s be honest. We are living in the age of the internet where everyone and their dog consider themselves an expert at something. Whether that is advising your nephew on how to deal with the school bullies or critiquing some dudes starcraft theory on a nerd forum. And because we all consider ourselves to be sooo goddamn right all the time, I put together some … Continue reading How To Give Advice Without Being an Asshole
We’ve all read countless articles on many well-known websites, blogs, and guru-platforms that we shall NEVER compare ourselves to other people. In fact, we’re told to only compare ourselves to the person whom we were ‘yesterday’. The problem is that looking back to ‘who you were yesterday’ actually inhibits your development more than improving it. Research has confirmed that for the most part, we tend … Continue reading A Little Thought For Your Day 🙂
The other day, I wrote a longer comment on a ‘Question of the Day’ post, all about confidence. So I thought I’d say a couple of more words about this… We are all familiar with classic situations where we know we MUST ‘be’ or ‘act’ confident (usually because we’re told so). Job interviews, dates, presentations blah blah blah Even though we rationally know that we’re … Continue reading The Confidence Problem.
But does it really Uncle Ben? Let’s consider the following… We have all been through some tough shit in our lives. But you know who also went through some pretty tough times? William James. (Let’s call him William for the sake of his story) Many of you may have heard of William before. If you ever came across some pioneers in psychology or philosophy, you … Continue reading ‘With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility’
We all know that improvement comes from many, MANY tiny failures. In fact, the more we fail, the greater our chances of success (not always, but most of the time). I mean, let’s face it. If someone is worse at anything than you, then it’s probably because they haven’t been through all of the learning experiences you’ve been through. Let’s a take a common example … Continue reading Failure Is The Way Forward
