Be transient, be a passer-by, don’t stay put

Peter Thoeny - Quality HDR Photography - Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel

I like this article a lot: fiţi trecători  – JURNAℓ SCOȚIAN.

How do I interpret it ? You should be transient, be a passer-by, don’t stay put.

If you do something wrong, don’t stay in that state.

If something upsets you, don’t keep being upset.

If you love, love with all of your heart, but if you hate, don’t let the hate build a nest in your mind.

Also, change.

Don’t be the same person, stubborn in their sins, stubborn in their bad habits, stubborn in doing wrong.

Give some room to change.

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On unpopular opinions

Susan Jane Golding - The Listeners

Sometimes, people say “Look, here’s an unpopular opinion – “.

And they continue saying something which might or might not be true.

But because they started with “I admit, you might not like this”, they are somehow favored.

People might enjoy listening to what they have to say, because they were honest, right from the start.

I find the comment “Here’s an unpopular opinion” rather manipulative.

You say this upfront, just so that then you are allowed to say anything.

It’s like saying “I’m going to say something, but you might not like it”.

Well, in that case, take a leap and either not tell it, or tell it without this game.

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Consumi conținutul pe care îl produci?

Julie Jablonski - Be Content

La o conferința cu muuult timp în urmă, Bobby Voicu (sper că nu mă înșel) a zis ceva în genul – ar trebui să îți placă să consumi conținutul pe care îl consumi. Chiar dacă nu îl consumi, să îți placă să faci asta, ipotetic vorbind.

Dacă scrii pe blog, ar fi bine să scrii în așa fel încât să citești și tu ce scrii, să fie ceva util ție.

Mă simt vinovat, pe partea aceasta.

Rareori recitesc ce am scris.

Și mai flagrant e însă partea legată de video.

Aproape niciodată nu revăd un video filmat de mine.

Am colaborat o dată cu cineva, între 2015 și 2016, a filmat conferințe pe canalul meu de YouTube.

Habar n-am ce e acolo.

Sigur, văd titlul, am idee despre ce e vorba, dar în orele respective (sunt câteva zeci), pot fi multe lucruri.

Aproape un an de filmat conferințe, s-au strâns ceva date.

Și la multe conferințe la care am fost prin anii trecuți, habar n-am ce mai e acolo.

Am o vagă idee ce este pe canalele mele de YouTube, dar nu știu 100% exact.

Pe partea de evenimente ortodoxe, nu consum ce filmez, ci ma uit la Bishop Robert Barron. Îmi place mult stilul lui.

Poate că și în România sunt vorbitori fermecători, pentru mine însă mai degrabă prefer să mă uit la episcopul din State.

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Răspunsuri la întrebări

Christopher Langmuir - Why So Serious?

Uneori, oamenii când sunt întrebați nu răspund fix la întrebarea pusă.

Te întreabă X, zici Y.

Fac asta în special politicienii, dar nu numai.

Uneori, stau și mă întreb dacă persoanelor care li se pun întrebări își dau seama că răspund la cu totul altceva.

Uneori, jurnaliștii sau intervievatorii insistă – “Stai, că eu te-am întrebat altceva”.

Dar se întâmplă deseori ca răspunsul să fie “good enough”, să fie o variantă mulțumitoare, chiar dacă nu e optimă.

Exemplu de la Netflix România:

Ne cerem scuze pentru discuțiile iscate la mesele de Crăciun referitoare la Don’t Look Up.
Răspunsul corect la întrebarea “Dacă Don’t Look Up e un film bun sau prost?” este DA.
Aici e evident vorba de o glumă, dar tipicul rămâne – te întreabă cineva ceva, răspunzi la altceva.

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Careers and travel

Naval S - Traveling over Cappadocia

Once, a friend told me right after I bragged for being admitted at one of the most prestigious Colleges in Romania: “OK, that’s fine, you got in. Let’s see which of us, you or me, will get a job faster after graduation”.

He did a College on travelling the world as a working person on a ship. The job can be boring at times, but you work for international companies + it’s considered a difficult job + you are qualified for this position. All three criteria make the job well paid.

He continued with his career in the field, and got to a good level of job satisfaction.

I once heard the story, at a conference, about an entrepreneur who started in the advertising industry, but it was a very crowded market, so he thought he would launch in the car rental business, a more profitable business.

Great success!

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. – Soren Kierkegaard

Looking backward, I like my life, I did some things.

Financially speaking, I know some people who had fewer talents with school, but worked hard, got to combos similar to my friend, above, and are much better than I am.

I remember a time in school, when one teacher came to the class, just for one hour, and that’s it (it was a substitute teacher, filling in for a colleague), and told us – “I think persons A, B, C, from the three areas in which the benches are split in your classroom, will succeed”.

All three colleagues have made it with a good career, and are much better professionally than I am.

I was one of the best kids in my classroom, and this wasn’t enough. It’s not enough to know some Math, and Literature, to succeed in life it takes more things.

I’m amazed by that teacher’s prediction, looking backwards.

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Explaining yourself

Catherine Mommsen Scott - Artist Trading Card

I gave a link to someone at some point.

I was criticized for not explaining what the link was about.

About this question: Should Artists Have to Talk About Their Work? – I think the answer is “No, you don’t need to explain your work”.

If I give a link to you, you should try and wonder why did I gave the link to you.

If you don’t find an answer, ask me.

But I don’t start with the assumption that each time I give a link I have to comment on it, just to make sure the person gets the message.

Sometimes, a bit of obscurity is fine.

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Some aspects about life

0soulis0 - Soulis: On the Boardwalk
  • Some people want next-day delivery. To me, this is questionable. Yes, I do prefer a product is delivered as quickly as possible, yes I do worry about the state of the product, yes I do worry that the order might actually never reach me, but it’s not that problematic.
  • Some social networks and online platforms are more popular in some countries than others.
  • Although I don’t like them that much, I see that:
    • WhatsApp, as a communication platform, is really a thing. To me, the fact that it’s rather difficult to copy & paste a chat makes the communication rather unpleasant.
    • Facebook Groups have a good audience. It’s always a question to me – why do people prefer it to blogs, where you can search old messages much easier?
    • On Instagram a lot of posts seem perishable. You post something, and if you have a good activity in there, after a few months it’s gone. In two years, it’s almost for sure disappeared.
  • I don’t like bureaucracy, at all.
  • Some people feel they are entitled.
  • It’s difficult to prove someone wrong if they won’t accept a mistake.
  • I think that there aren’t enough procedures in a lot of systems I meet, from school, to private organizations. Even if bureaucracy is not to be wished, procedures actually might help reduce it.
  • It’s better to plan something, solve it, then it is to leave it up until the last moment.
  • If you do postpone things until the last moment, don’t do them in a hurry. Take your time.
  • I see some organizations where people aren’t motivated to work unless carefully supervised.
  • At times, I see people caring about the close circle of acquaintances around them/family, but not about the society, as a whole.
  • It’s so easy and nice to be lazy. One of the most pleasant things.
  • If you get bored, it’s better for the productivity to just “lose” one minute or two not doing anything than to “gain” time on social networks for 3 minutes.
  • Ice cream and chemical compounds. I see some people worrying that their ice cream contains additives. While, surely, a natural ice cream is better than a chemical one, it’s still a product with lots of sugar.
  • I’ve met some people loving their work. Not because they are paid a lot, but because they love their job. This happened quite a lot in London.

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Oameni mari

Thomas Hawk - Doctor Banksy

Am căutat mult, de-a lungul vieții, modele.

Am căutat să mă axez pe lucruri noi (conferințe, locuit în diferite locuri, voluntariat și teatru, expunere la lucruri noi).

Ca o concluzie – nu contează atât de mult prietenii, ci ce fac ei din tine.

Poți avea și prieteni care să nu te marcheze cum te marchează un doctor faimos (Alexandru Pesamosca) sau un om mare pentru tine, pe alte criterii.

După cum poți avea prieteni cu care te întâlnești, și care nu lasă urme.

Nu e o afirmație plăcută, nu e o soluție universală.

Însă, consider că e important ce lași să facă viața din tine, mai mult decât viața în sine, ca factor.

Adică același eveniment se poate reflecta diferit în tine.

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Lucruri mărunte, importanță mare

Overseas Development Institute - Girl doing her school work in Kamuli, Eastern Uganda

M-am bucurat mult când am intrat la programul de masterat în 2018.

Ulterior, m-am bucurat, în 2021, când am intrat la facultate.

Ulterior, când am avut rezultate cu un plan de afaceri.

Luate separat, sunt lucruri mici.

Am făcut în carieră lucruri mai importante decât atât, admiterea nu e atât de mare, și planul de afaceri suferea îmbunătățiri.

Cu toate acestea, m-am bucurat la fiecare din ele.

Nu e atât rezultatul, cât efortul și investiția de emoții.

Toate cele de mai sus sunt o formă de educație, mai formală sau nu.

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