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Injured

I suffered an acute ligament injury last week and now cannot walk without pain on my left leg. The doctor said it would take a month to a month and a half to heal. In the meantime, I have to wear a knee brace. I don’t have a knee brace yet and walking even a ten-foot distance makes me tear up from the pain/unsteadiness. Like every step is unsure and scares me. I led a very active lifestyle for the past year. For the past 6 or so months, I’ve been doing 3-4 HIIT workouts in a week, with brisk walking for the other days. I almost always close my exercise and activity rings on my Apple watch. I work out first thing in the morning and enjoy the day after. It’s like a safety ritual for me — I’ve worked out so it’s going to be a good day. The injury happened after my HIIT workout on Tuesday morning last week. It was a new move, like a duck walk but not just a duck walk, we were doing deep lunges while in a squat position. I felt strange then but also had the sense that it’s doable. Afterward...
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Bonjour à Tous!

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Image from CBC.ca Well hello! I hope that you have had a great past two weeks.  Speaking of which, in case I haven’t said it yet, this site reflects purely personal views and thoughts of yours truly, and should not be attributed to any of the companies that I am or was affiliated with. This is a fully independent, non-profit site and none of these posts or the products in these posts are sponsored. Okay that’s done! Here are my notes for the past two weeks: (Image from Amazon.com) 1. Pronouns are important.   Late to the game but here’s why it's important to always indicate your pronouns (i.e. she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/their). Indicating your pronouns is a helpful way of being inclusive to trans people and the LGBTQ+ community. If everyone says what their pronouns are, trans people would have an easier time communicating theirs. Like living out your authentic self proudly — it makes it easier for everyone around you to live out theirs. (Image from reviewed.com) 2. F...
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Corporate Athleticism

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Image from Sports Illustrated I’ve never gotten into the world of sports (aside from must-watch high profile games/competitions like the Olympics) but athletes have always been fascinating to me. The way they train every day with such discipline, the way they push themselves and then take care of themselves when they recover after a game. The way they arrive at the game dressed so well and then on the court or on the field in their headphones, getting into their mental space to perform. The way they have pre-game and post-game rituals. The way they hire and rely on sports psychologists. They know the secrets to peak physical performance and peak rest. Makes one think — should we train like athletes for the daily things that we have to perform well, i.e. our corporate jobs? Glad to have stumbled across these articles today: Headspace’s Mindfulness and the Corporate Athlete of Today and Harvard Business Review’s The Making of a Corporate Athlete .  Sharing some of my notes so that I...
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Tweets and Heavyweights

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Hello! Haven’t gotten to write for the past two weeks because of a couple of major things to attend to which have been throwing my daily/weekly routines off-center. This is not even the weekend, yet here is an essay. It’s been a couple of months since I got my iPad Air 4, Apple Pencil 2, and Smart Keyboard Folio set-up. The verdict: best tech set-up ever. I now understand why so many software engineers/tech people declared the 11-inch Macbook Air “best computer ever” when it came out. It’s like a small laptop, but you can rip out the keyboard easily and it’s a tablet. So portable, so nice to type on, a true companion for your thoughts and daily personal operations. Like how Steve Jobs originally wanted to name Apple “Bicycle” instead because he envisioned the computer to be a bicycle for the mind. Easy to bring everywhere because of the 10.9 inch size and light weight. It’s been indispensable. Currently geeking out over putting together my home office. I’ll share when it’s ready. Inves...
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Digitalholics Anonymous

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  Image from Apple Once upon a time, a friend of mine, let’s call her Rachel, felt miserable because she got realized that she got sucked back into being hooked on social media for the past few days. She had been on a social media break for months. It felt liberating not feeling that strange and persistent impulse to reach for her phone and mindlessly scroll. It felt like she got a God-given time refund of a couple of free hours each day. It was peaceful. It was peak contentment.  Then she had her last day with her company, and, feeling a little sad she couldn’t say goodbye to her work friends in person, decided to add them on social media so that they could maybe keep a digital connection alive while they wait out delta before having drinks in person. She posted a picture to commemorate her last day too, her first post in almost a year. It had likes. Interesting. The feeling of wanting to check likes came back. People kept adding her. Pretty soon she found herself reaching fo...
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Headspace and the Cutest Thing

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Image from Headspace In the middle of mentally trying to survive the pandemic, a couple of big, probably lasting, realizations occurred: (a) kindness to yourself is a real thing to be done every day; and (b) “setting your intention” can be as straightforward as “still being okay at the end of the day”. Kindness to self was previously an alien subject to me. And silly. Why does one have to be intentional about being kind to yourself? It sounded like pure fluff and something that’s already automatic anyway, didn’t Nietzsche or somebody say that we are subconsciously acting out of self-interest underneath it all? What does this even mean, in practice? After months and months of being bombarded with the subject on Headspace, I realized that this means being self-aware enough to intentionally take care of yourself like how you would take care of a beloved parent, friend, partner. Making decisions about myself as if I’m another person I care about. Take a nap when I’m tired, not push myself ...
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Simple and Sinister: Sustainable Strength

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All you need for a home gym For general health, doctors tell us that one needs: (a) 30 minutes of cardio at least 5 times a week and (b) 2 to 3 times of strength training in a week. I wanted to establish a mindless, frictionless routine of getting the requisite cardio and strength sessions done in a week. My fitness goal will always and forever just be general health - no “gains” targets, no gimmicks, no fitness cults (though I would love to go back to group workouts with friends just for fun, like spinning and Lagree, when the circumstances allow). The 30-minute cardio requirement is a no-brainer thanks to my Apple watch (my best exercise motivator!). I just run for exactly 30 minutes when I wake up in the morning. Another thing already in my system is that most afternoons, I take a yoga class  from my favorite yoga teacher which helps with stress and anxiety and physical symmetry. The challenge for me is getting a consistent strength training regimen in. I think it’s essential in...
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