A Quick Update It’s been a hectic time in my life. As some of you know, I got offered a job in and out of Fiji. In preparation for this job, I spent the last few months reminding myself how to fly an aeroplane. That included returning to Hong Kong for a simulator check to renew my license. What was the result of all this hard work? Well, … Continue reading I Took a Break From Writing and I Didn’t Miss It
There’s nothing like a funeral to make us aware of the passing of time and the shortness of life. Listening to the tributes at my brother-in-law’s memorial service, I recalled a poem called The Dash that I heard years ago. It was a reminder of the importance of making the right choices about how we spend our time. Are you making the most of your dash? Continue reading A Life Well Lived – How Are You Spending Your Dash?
Once upon a time, I knew a man.
I met him at a writing course which he was teaching at Bøler Library.
Today I found out that he has crossed over to the other side.
I felt a strong desire to honour him by sharing a poem he had written.
Continue reading RIP Mr Nils
My friends, family, and former colleagues often ask me whether or not I miss flying. It’s been a year since I handed in my resignation letter and decided to divorce from a 12-year career. I’m incredibly fortunate to have had the time to decompress following all the political upheaval I was caught up in Hong Kong. When people ask me if I miss it, my honest … Continue reading Why I Miss My Job but Don’t Regret Leaving It
It would be illusory to think that we leave our personal culture, beliefs and values in the locker room of our workplace and work mechanically. It would be also boring, I think. Therefore, some questions about work popped up. I believe that most of us hope to have the opportunity, through work, to gain recognition of our personal worth, of our uniqueness, in short of … Continue reading Why Some Questions about Work Popped up on My Mind
“Time doesn’t heal emotional pain, you need to learn how to let go.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart During my adolescence, I was bullied relentlessly for over two years. It was one of the most challenging periods of my life. I was at boarding school at the time. Halfway across the world from my parents. I felt isolated and alone. So, … Continue reading Regaining Lift: A Stall Recovery Guide for Life
“The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed. Proficiency and results come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity.” – Aldous Huxley Drown-Proofing When it comes to our psychology what’s happened is this. Our hands and arms have been bound together, and we’ve been thrown … Continue reading Stalling: Why Letting Go Is the Key to Regaining Lift
It is easy to be dismissive of mythology in our modern-day secular culture. With the tools of logic, science and reason at our disposal, we arrive at our ideas of truth through rigorously testing our hypothesis with hard evidence and data. It was around the time when I was completing my undergraduate coursework in philosophy when I started to look at the world through a … Continue reading Diving into the Mythopoetic: A Personal Story
If you are losing your leisure, look out! –It may be you are losing your soul Virginia Woolf In modern society, work has come to dominate almost all aspects of our lives. One’s identity becomes subsumed by their job title. Days become filled with endless tasks and checklists. Ever increasing productivity seems to be our guiding principle. In a highly competitive global economy, efficiency trumps … Continue reading Rethinking Leisure in the Age of Total Work
“What does nihilism mean? That the highest values devaluate themselves. The aim is lacking; “why?” finds no answer. — FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE The Elephant in the Universe Now, the elephant in the existential room known as the universe here is God. It’s not uncommon to hear atheists deride the idea of God while failing to see the very real psychological security faith provides. It does. Religious … Continue reading Stalling: The Death of God
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
Imagine the following terrifying scenario. You’re on a flight that is out of control and destined to end in a fatal crash. There is nothing you can do about it. The engines have flamed out. The pilots are incapacitated. No one else knows how to fly. Now for some devastating news. This is you in real life. This is all of us, in fact. We … Continue reading Stalling: The Paradox of Meaning
The other night my brother, Jay, and I were out to dinner with his wife and another friend. Jay and I were sitting next to each other and my friend said it was funny to watch us with our synchronized big smiles, expressiveness, and gesticulating. We were talking about writing, something neither of us do professionally. My brother is a marketing guru and I’m an … Continue reading Is Being A Writer an Inherited Trait?
So I hit a roadblock with my writing recently. I stalled. Ironically while writing a book about stalling and the need to let go to regain lift in life. Instead of doing that, I kept smacking my head against a brick wall. I am the master of not following my own advice. Eventually, I ceded defeat, downed tools, and went on the first holiday I’d … Continue reading Writer’s Roadblock
The Paradox of Progress The story of Buddha is well known. He was born into a palace and given every indulgence he could wish for. At the same time, he was shielded from the outside world. And yet, it wasn’t enough. He knew something was off. (Sound familiar?) One day he went against his father’s wishes and ventured out of the palace. It was then … Continue reading Stalling: Why We Lose Lift (2)
Last week I said the reason we stall in life is because we lose meaning. Of course meaning, lift, purpose (whatever you want to call it) is the reason we do anything. The meaning we give our life is the reason we get out of bed in the morning. Otherwise, why bother? In its deepest sense this means depression. Depression is a loss of lift. … Continue reading Stalling: Why We Lose Lift
The Four Forces of Flight There’s an analogy I want to imprint on your mind today. It’s one I intend to come back to repeatedly as I go about writing my high-flying book. It concerns something known in aviation as the four forces of flight. To give you a quick lesson in aerodynamics, those are thrust, lift, weight and drag. Thrust counteracts drag, whereas lift … Continue reading Stalling: The Aerodynamics of Life
With Black Friday in recent memory and Christmas shopping right around the corner, what better time to look at the issues of consumerism in our society. Modern advertising is rather peculiar. If you pay close attention, you’ll realize that many of the commercials you come across don’t actually tell you much about the product that is being sold. The advertisement doesn’t present reasons or rational … Continue reading The Empty Promises of Consumerism
O’ Modern Man, Modern Man, how you stand up tall with your undeserved pride. You hold infinite knowledge in the palm of your hand, Control nature, much more than it can withstand. Is there anything you can not know? No place where you can not go? Why are you so serious modern man? Don’t you see life is a great mystery. Is there still wonder … Continue reading The Ignorance of the Modern Man
In search of meaning in life Continue reading The Horizons of Meaning
