On Work and Spirituality

Before enlightenment, you chop wood and carry water.

After enlightenment, you chop wood and carry water.

Think and Grow Rich

I cannot escape this book.

It changes me.

Chicken Ramen

Two food titled entries in a row. Dang this ramen is good. This lunch spot -- or rather, this small food court makes a killing. They got everything!

Feeling so much better than two days ago. Being intentionally positive and owning up to my faults help a lot.

So does good sleep and good food. Wanna try making veggie lasagna tonight. It's nice to have roommates who are curious about your cooking. I hope I don't disappoint!

mcrib

It's past 3am, my second sleepless night in a row. Got hungry and mcd is the only thing open. Not bad for a bad night.

I can't sleep because I'm bored. I'm bored of work, bored of the same ol work-related bs, bored of what I've been doing for the last 8 years. Ugh.

I have a plan, though. Must stick to the plan, no matter how hard it gets. Perhaps this newfound boredom will help expedite my plan.

Must stay positive and passionate.

IRWIWU is BACK!

Finally, I got around to mapping the domain to Blogger. Just got tired of Wordpress's endless customizationalistism. Blogger is much simpler, and simplicity is what I need for a blogging tool. Complexity, however, arrives within the content here. I'm excited.

Several ideas and concepts have been jogging around in my head lately, and honestly I've been kind of lost. I need to write. Perhaps so I can have balance? No, I've always been peeved by that word, "balance." It's pointless, you'll never achieve true balance in your life, and even if you could, how long can you sustain it?

Direction is better than balance. It doesn't really matter if you don't have everything together -- like balance implies you should -- as long as you're going somewhere, to a certain direction. Keep moving, not just doing.

Here's to moving and sleepless nights! Roar!

Surrender

it's past one, saturday morning. i was supposed to go out with my buddy, but i guess he passed out. he works hard during the week, i bet. hell, we all do. i suppose i shouldn't be so determined on going out on weekend nights.

almost seven months at my new job. well, it's not so new anymore. it's now a slow moving journey, a daily battle with the devil you know. no, it's not my boss or anyone particular who interferes with my work or annoys me. it's work, just that. sometimes you get victories, sometimes defeat, sometimes the ultimate defeat in the form of a boot (which eventually works it's way as a parachute). but mostly you get the usual stuff. and the usual stuff can get boring.

tony hsieh, the ceo of zappos, said that he started his own business mainly out of boredom. perhaps boredom is a good thing. i've been trying to brainstorm and research my own product line, but i've done embarrassingly little. perhaps i'm not bored enough.

what's worse than boredom? comfort. ugh.

the knee jerk reaction here would be motivation, but i'm not a fan of that. to hell with motivation. i want to take it fifteen steps further. the best reaction here would be damning the excuses, cutting off exit routes, allowing no room for failure due to lack of self-motivation. that's why i fail in the first place, because it's self-motivation. no, i need a path, singular and urgent. i need surrender. i have no place to go but forward.

surrender sounds so sweet right now.

so does sleep. good night.

Deviance as a Lifestyle Principle

Oscar Wilde said, "Everything popular is wrong." Of course, that can't be taken literally and absolutely, because forfeiting popular activities such as eating and working would be difficult to overcome.

But there's something about deviance that holds value. Being unique, atypical, unconventional, rebellious, specialized, opinionated and weird are all connected with deviance. Perhaps all these traits can even fall under the umbrella of deviance.

So how can deviance enhance your life?  Why should you make it a cornerstone in your lifestyle?

1) You stand out. This is only natural. When I started looking for jobs earlier this year, I did what no one else did -- I inserted a photo of myself on the top right corner of my resume.  Why would you need to know how an accountant -- that's what I do -- looked like before you hire him? You don't, but it helps, and it did for me. Once you catch onto doing things differently and standing out, it's hard to do things conventionally from there on. It's very gratifying.

2) You get more creative.  Creativity is such an undervalued trait, probably the most.  When you do things atypically, you tend to be more creative, your problem-solving skills increase, and the bland stuff gets more fun.

3) You have a story to tell. When you do things differently, people are drawn to it. They want to know who you are, what you do, why you do it.  Essentially they want your story, because everyone loves a good story. That reminds me-- I should work on my story more often!

4) You belong to a community. It's surprising that even though you march to your own drumbeat, you'll still be marching with others. That's because no matter how specialized and unconventional you become, you'll still find like-minded people with similar goals and tastes. It's a bit contradicting, but deviance builds community. Actually, that makes sense, because when you hold onto convention, you actually don't have much a community. Try building a club for Starbucks lovers -- that won't be easy, because TOO MANY will be qualified to join.

5) You become a leader. Refer to all the reasons listed above. When you're unique, people will follow. They'll look to you for answers and direction. Not all leadership positions are good, but it's sure better than being a very generic follower all the time.

So go on. Embrace deviance. Don't use the same words repetitively in your emails. Create your own atypical introduction when you're socializing. Try a new, slightly weird hobby. While you're at it, try a new, slightly weird job or even a business. You have so much offer and earn when you do things differently than everyone.

Robert Frost would be so proud of you.