Monthly Archives: October 2010

All in the Mind

On The Serious Side, Uncategorized

A couple of days ago I learned a new (to me) Japanese proverb (kotowaza) which goes:

案ずるより産むが易し

(anzuru yori umu ga yasushi)

According to Jim Breen’s dictionary, this proverb means:

The anxiety that comes from doing nothing is worse than any danger you might face.

Wow, that’s a mouthful. Interestingly, when I did a Google search on this I stumbled upon this Amazon link, where it appears that another simpler translation would be:

Things are easier than you think.

Right now, I’m at this point where I’ve no choice but to face head-on this so-called 二重壁　(nijuu kabe, or double-barrier wall) in my career. The double-barrier referring to being a foreigner and a woman in the workplace, in a male-dominated field, and where there are very few role models around. Why would anyone care if I succeed or not?

On the other hand, being different somehow has its merits – one of these is that people pay more attention (perhaps more than necessary), which could force you to rise up to the occasion and perform your best. I for one know that I really perform well under pressure. But it could also backfire in a way, because it could lead to unnecessary pressure and ultimately, lead to failure. I hate failure as much as anyone else, and this adds to more anxiety.

You see, it’s not enough to be “as good as” the others. You just have to be the better than everyone else to justify your mere presence. And yet, I’m willing to bet, that being better does not even entail 100% acceptance. There will always be some form of resistance just because you’re different. This is the reality of the world we live in.

If it is true, that things are indeed easier than one thinks, then perhaps there is a way to overcome all these obstacles, real or imagined.

If i could find a way to surmount all these obstacles in my mind, then perhaps the rest will follow.

Time for a paradigm shift.

On Facebook

Blogging, Random Thoughts

I’m quite sure of one thing: being “addicted” to Facebook somehow managed to kill any desire to blog recently. Why blog when you can just post some of your thoughts directly to your contacts, your so-called “friends” online? Why even bother to post photos in your blog, where you can’t control who sees them? In Facebook, at least you have some illusion of control on who sees your shared content. As with any website or blog, valid readers and spammers alike all have full access to whatever content you post.

Well, who else isn’t on Facebook anyway? I heard on CNN today that if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world! But in a way, Facebook is becoming monotonous as of late. It’s also becoming really annoying, especially when your contact list is populated by people who are only intent on self-promotion, those who don’t have the discipline to keep away from Facebook while they are supposedly at work (shame on you, shame on you), and those who seem to think that their lifestyles/material things/looks are worth shouting to the world about, and damn you if you don’t pay proper attention! Well, I could go on and on. As in real life, there are people who are just plain annoying, and it’s no wonder that their online personas would be just as equally annoying.

Well, I’m keeping my connections open, so my Facebook account stays the way it is, for now. I really just want to keep in touch with dear friends and families, those whom I really care about. I just don’t want to spend that much time with it anymore, the way I have done so in the past. There are more important things to do. It’s ironic that people would say that they are busy, only to find them posting one thing after another in Facebook. Ha ha ha.

There’s at least one good thing that came out of this resolution, and that is a renewed desire to revive my blog. Let’s see if I could manage to post more regularly from now on. 🙂