Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Monday, September 28, 2009

Non Proprius: Cloud Sustenance Doesn't Sound Right

Feeling not dissimilar as when this photo was taken.

I'm used to not treating weekends as rest days and last Saturday was no different. Begrudgingly, I had to devote an entire morning clearing up flooded backyard premises because the drainage was too small to let the rainwater pass. After using bare hands to claw muck and unidentifiable debris through a sewage with a small opening and spending more than an hour drenched outside the house, I thought to myself, how lousy this day is as I stood alone on the street.

Spending a few more hours innovating on a makeshift down spout, I finally was able to solve and prevent flooding within the premise. It was already 2 hours past noon, that I felt my body longing for some rest. [I'm convinced I deserved one.] But the succeeding hours and events proved me wrong.

After two days, thankful as we are that our bodies could enjoy some sleep, our minds and hearts, unfortunately could not.

It's not just because the flooding left a trail of devastation; entire life-savings of friends, families and strangers poured on homes, belongings and furniture, all unrecognizable wreck,

Nor for the worries and uncertainty staring over an entire week or month of labor intensive rehabilitation while for cities and industries, a year at least,

And not even the pain of ordinary Filipino folks, made even more difficult, as the economy is bound to take a severe hit and so will be the rarity of earning that daily wage, nope.

We, Filipinos are used to dealing with these things, have accepted calamities and/or government ineptitude and often, indifference as part of our lots in life. We've learned to live with these.

But not the loss of one life or worse, lives, particularly the sight of lifeless, innocent children and the families they've left behind. Not that we can't accept death, it's just that with every passing, you can feel spirits of people around, especially the ones they've spent their time with, made less and rendered un-whole.

To try to make sense of this, we often say a deep prayer and look to the sky. The way this has happened, it would be better if we just close our eyes and imagine that the next time we open them, the sun would be there to greet us, a bit longer, instead.

-----
Most of today, I felt sad yet quite optimistic. But having seen this, can't help but feel gutted and angry.

On TV, a man told the crew that he lost a son and another child. The fact that their house is located on the side of a mountain is simply a tragedy in waiting with the coming of typhoon Ondoy/Ketsana [and now had been buried in mud].

As he sat there, pondering on what has happened, there was, on his mind, something that he cannot reconcile.

He recalled that the just the day before, he and his children were full of excitement putting up string lights around the house - their own simple way to welcome the coming Christmas.

Sadly, for him, this one, and probably the next, won't be merry.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Starting to Connect the Life Dots



I really don't know where to start but Dan Pink was right on the money, intrinsic motivation and self-direction are the things that really move us.

I can't emphasize it more but you will just need to watch this. Now, I'm thinking how brilliant Montessori really is, with future generation, with children. Otherwise, we still can implement a lot of things everywhere, in our homes and even in the workplace where you can find a lot of lost adults.

Too busy to watch. OK, go to Garr Reynolds.

Multi-taskers: Suckers for irrelevancy, according to research. Fail.

Education's finally seeing the light.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Innovation Obsession

All this reading about innovation, tinkering and self-improvement does indeed make for a healthy obsession. Creativity.

I hate driving. If I were to choose between being a public commuter and having to drive around by myself in Manila, I'd definitely be happier going with the former. Of course, Metro Manila traffic is one factor in the equation but truthfully, I love walking and the combined sense of adventure as well as solitude, public commute affords me. Getting the accompanying physical exercise from it- like the 3-story climb up the MRT or navigating between people traffic, is icing on the cake.

Recently, however, both my feet haven't been feeling all too comfortable with this, especially my heels. But unless I'd be wearing Crocs or running shoes to go with my daily shirt and jeans outfit, it would be better to just stay home or drive car to work. None of which seems appealing.

So, after some investigating, I found that there's one solution to this, the use of insoles [actually there's two - but losing weight can't be instantaneous].

Problem solved except that heel insoles, aside from being pricey here can be quite bulky for a shoe that isn't one size bigger. But then, there might be a way around this - one I'd have to make by my own.

There is no end in this story yet as I'm still trying to find one to customize to my needs. I'm cutting and joining insoles, measuring the arch contours and testing my walking patterns looking for that perfectly comfortable fit [or feet].

Somewhat related:
Power empowerment and control issues Unshackling employees.
Negative space illuminates.
Design driven innovation and Design Thinking, of course.
Shoe-less is more?
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