Doing the Right Thing!

I feel like little Charlie in Scent of a Woman. Exhausted of doing the right thing, traveling the right path as I know it. Al Pacino said it best why some people do not take this path: because it is too damn hard!

"[Lt. Col. Frank Slade is speaking in defense of Charlie Simms at meeting at the Baird School] Now I have come to the cross-roads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew, but I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard. Now here's Charlie. He's come to the cross-roads. He has chosen a path. It's the right path. It's a path made of principle that leads to character. Let him continue on his journey. ", Scent of a Woman.

Let me continue on my journey. I am tired.

Really Dreamy

She dreamed the sweetest dream.
Surprisingly, she did not get sad,
Realizing it was a dream,
That she was back to the reality,
Wishing the dream lingered a bit more.
This time, it was not just a dream.
It was also reality.
A dreamy reality,
A real dream.

Ending friendships

Here is an interesting article about the importance of acknowledging problems in friendships and relationships. Reading this made me realize what a long way I have traveled through out the years. I now not only dare to ask my friends "what is wrong", when I sense something is wrong, I also initiate and tell them whatever the hell I feel is wrong. I think they deserve to know and provide an explanation if there is any, just like I deserve to know if my friend thinks I did something wrong. How one chooses to address and respond to the complains, determines the future of that relationship, for better or worse.

Sunset with tea

Only the one who knows you, and the meaning of tea,
Can get you such a cute beautiful gift.
Wishing to enjoy more of these sunsets,
Over a cup of tea.

Welcome 2012!

I started the new year, in a new way.
Our resolution: to be happy,
And innovative!

Freedom vs Commitment

It is not even mid December, and we are planning for the upcoming summer interns, and I am already panicking about how I am supposed to supervise six of them together this time!   We have six months to go, and I think I do not have enough time to define their projects, find them lab space, ....  Something is wrong in this bureaucratic system, or maybe perfectly fine.  Everything is accounted for and taken care of in advance.  Maybe it is just time's fault flying so fast, wrapping winters and summers around each other so quickly.  Can you imagine how hard it is for me to adjust from this world of rules and plans to the one that is not sure what time one would meet for dinner on a daily basis!?  It drives me crazy, pulls me to two opposite directions, and it never gets old.  Extreme rigidity and extreme flexibility do not mesh well together.  Not for me at least, and I am afraid my nature always leans towards the rigid planned world.  Even though commitment phobia people think planning steals their freedom, ties them to a certain plan and place for a certain time,  I find it liberating.  If I know when exactly I am doing a certain task, say 3-5 pm on Wednesday, it means I can do anything else the rest of the time.  If I do not know it, that 2-hour task is floating all over my thoughts and schedule, assigning a probability to every time slot, claiming them all and none, distracting me from focusing on other tasks.  I am happier, more productive, and energetic if I know what I am doing when, but that is just me.

Talk, Ask!

It is never too early to start talking.

There is no such thing as too much communication.

Just as you think you might be bothering your teammate, colleague, or partner, going over all the details of a task, how to go about it, when to get it done, what the mutual expectations are,..., just as you think you are mastering the task and handling it very well, there comes the surprise, some fact you did not know about, because you just never asked about it and they just never talked about it.