Umami of the earth Lately, I have been following the Uncle Roger YouTube channel (patok sa akin ang humor niya, haha!). One of his running memes is how MSG is the “king of flavor”, the one providing that umami taste to Asian dishes. What I like about umami (versus the salty flavor) is that it […]
Rethinking and interacting with structures When I first read blue ocean strategy, creative thinking, and facilitating insights, what struck me the most is the importance of paying attention to structures (e.g., industries, business models, creative thinking matrices) and asking meta-cognitive questions (e.g., eliminating or removing things taken for granted; challenging conventions; abstracting what works in […]
Thirst When I did intermittent fasting, one of the things that stood out to me was how we could take control of our hunger and thirst. It’s easy to mistake our cravings for hunger, or hunger for thirst. There are times when we think we want snacks, but what our body really needs is just […]
Finding peace in any context Context can refer to any set of events, past and present (and potentially future), that the knower deems relevant to the entity being studied. When I was younger and more naive, I thought that I could search for silver bullets or universal solutions I can use or apply in any […]
Our uniqueness means that the love we give or receive is unique to us What does it mean to be ‘beloved’? Since Jesus identified Peter as the rock of the disciples and John as the ‘beloved’, does that mean that other disciples are loved less? I recall the thesis of one of my undergraduate student […]
To stand on the shoulders of giants When we provide authentic care and nourishment, we allow a person to flourish – to somehow become more or be better than he was before. In a way, the one providing care plays the role of a “giant”, and the one being cared for is the humble little […]
Creations as manifestations of love How beautiful is it that couples can love their child even before the child is actually conceived in the womb of the mother? How beautiful is it that musician-songwriters put manifest love through the lyrics, melodies, and harmonies that decorate time? How beautiful would it be if companies create products […]
Maybe our job is not to pass on truths but to develop seekers of truth There are many times I find myself feeling like an impostor when I claim to my students or even my peers that I know about something. After all, the facts I may be teaching now may become obsolete the moment […]
Completing our belief Oftentimes, social media platforms incentivize us to perform snap judgements and snap actions; to act on impulses. I’ve reflected before that not being aware of our feelings and thoughts can make us trolls ourselves without us knowing it. Thus, we need to be courageous in our inquiry, even if what we’re trying […]
Developing courage and conviction in a world of appearances Both the personal and professional world incentivizes the management of perceptions and appearances. We filter our social media profiles to hide our blemishes, curate our highlight reels (are they even “real”?), and bloat our resumes and CVs. The Enron scandal showed how the company abused mark-to-market […]