wanderingintofocus

On the aforementioned subject, that may or may not have been inspired by real-life events, implied rejection through absent reciprocation, as a reminder to myself, and the self-defeating nature of putting people on a pedestal _ Once in a while, I get the privilege of meeting some new people from whom I come to learn a lot in the very short span of a first meeting. Perhaps in the interests of self-improvement and character development, I might be keen to interact with them again or regularly, especially if I begin to find myself enjoying their company, or resonate with their principles as inferred through their work ethic and observed behaviour. I reckon that for at least once in our lives, all of us might have the familiar experience of wanting to be closer friends with someone, only to find that this desire is not reciprocated. Previously, I've written about the compatibility (or lack thereof) of cognitive, behavioural, and emotional needs , that predisposes different people to st...

I came across this on my LinkedIn feed today. LinkedIn is no Reddit, but the comments seem largely supportive. In principle, I am fully in favour of the "health and wellness first" approach to employee management. It hurts to see my sister being expected to periodically feign optimal performance whilst being essentially functionally incapacitated. Therefore, by the standard of only this metric, a "2-day menstrual leave policy" (hereafter, "MLP") may sound like a good idea. However, since equity and equality are necessarily dichotomous, it may be possible that these distinctions engendered by such "progressive" policies may conversely entrench the very attitudes that they seek to dispel. This may be a problem because the pursuit of equity undermines the equality of opportunity, if employers with productivity-maximising objectives must decide between "menstruating people [sic]" and not, ceteris paribus. It won't be difficult to see h...

A brief discussion on identity, and considering what it means to love or be loyal to someone, even as people change with experience and time _ When we love someone or are loyal to someone, where do the bounds of this commitment lie? Do we always give our unwavering support to their causes even if we disagree with them? To what ends do their personhood reach? Does their personhood comprise only their physical being, or also their mental state? Do we still love them or owe them our allegiance should they unfortunately come to be incapacitated or are "no longer themselves"? I have no definitive answers to the above questions. This piece serves to present some possible perspectives on the topic, but is by no means a model response or completely representative of what I may fully opine. The discussion of loyalty is complex in its own right. We may first consider the following claim: Loyalty is usually given to a cause or a set of values, more so than to the person representing the...

On stagnation, self-esteem, social media, and selection bias, briefly _____ "How have you been working on yourself?" is the new question that I hope to be able to answer favourably, when queried. I recall first realising my magnitude of stagnation, when catching up with a friend with whom I try to meet every half-yearly, and nothing had fundamentally changed in the past six months, save some new experiences from my interaction with the circumstances beyond my control. I recognise, however, that it may be possible that any change happens so gradually as to be indiscernible to me, but is more evident to the periodic external observer. In my celebration, however, I have indeed observed improvement in some aspects that have far-reaching and outsized positive impacts across my life, which wasn’t the case before, such as now enjoying the company of myself to even frequently seek it after forced social activities. So I have become better, but perhaps not in a way that I can demonstr...

A personal word on social media and content creation _ Though hypocritically I sometimes fall into the same trap when I am not interested in a discussed topic at hand, I feel like a lot of "sharings" and "discussions" today only feature the restatement of common platitudes and the prevailing "acceptable opinions". This may be a problem because most difficult questions don't have simple answers, but much of new media today so seeks categorical conclusions that we often forget that an exchange of ideas and perspectives is in itself a worthy outcome of conversation. As with most modern technologies, I remain conflicted at the effects of social media on my life.  I think social media makes it easier to maintain "passive friendships" and acquaintanceships by providing reasons for engagement; when you put out a Post or a Story, you are essentially creating Content to which your Viewers can respond. Comments and Replies facilitate "out of the b...