Today was a good day!

When you say Yes to your dreams, life, and universe, surround yourself with people you like and admire, do things you like and enjoy, and more importantly when you say No to everyone and everything that annoys you and drain you, things just flow and fall into place and you roll and roll and roll, to the point that it is hard to stop. Today, everything turned out nicely, where I love the most and where I am at my best.

Let's fight

When you prepare yourself for a big fight, you think you are all ready and pumped up, and then you just cannot pull it together because you both cannot stop laughing and you both do your best to pretend you are having a fight, you know you are stuck with each other.

Vulnerability

It is not who does or does not make you cry;
It is who you trust to share your tears with.

دستان تو...

آشیان تهی دست مرا

مرغ دستان تو پر می سازند

آه مگذار که دستان من آن
اعتمادی که به دستان تو دارد به فراموشی ها بسپارد.

 آه مگذار که مرغان سپید دستت

 دست پر مهر مرا سرد و تهی بگذارد. 

حمید مصدق

Looking out there!

I did talk to a recruiter that had reached out to me today. Just to see what is out there in the world, how I compare against it, and if I could make a greater impact there. Just to go through the exercise (last time I had interviewed extensively was when I got my B.S. for God's sake! ). Just not to close the doors to potential growth opportunities before seeing what is behind them. Just to practice being open minded, curious, and also give a boost to my self-esteem and confidence. It feels good to be wanted, and you have the advantage of not having to be wanted! I was also wondering about their hiring process. Were they searching for a specific qualification, trying to fill a specific position, that made them think I am a good match for them? Turned out no. They look for strong intelligent (...whatever other good adjective you like to put here to boost your ego) candidates and then they try to match you with best positions they have available for you. Sounded good. So I delivered my wish list of what I thought would be good areas and positions for me. After all, I am happily living my life now! No? ;-)

He proudly announced that their organization is very different from ours: we do not have any structure! That is supposed to encourage the employees' creativity and innovation I guess. I kind of like organizations and structures though, while being trusted with some freedom. I also know how miserable I feel when around people with no structure, organization, discipline, and plan! I know that about myself. In writing this, I realize I can think of a role I can play that can match my personality and their company's philosophy at the same time (Yay...I am a genius!). He claimed their office in my area has technical positions of interest to me and he is going to have them provide me more information. Their website suggests otherwise! But hey, they probably know better. He also sent me a follow-up email: "Thank you for taking the time to speech to me"! Really? You have a misspelling in an email that you probably send several times everyday as a recruiter? I feel like I interviewed and graded him. Oh well,... Yes, I am an old fashioned structured formal bureaucrat and I like it! My organization is very different from yours! How about that!? :-) Still, let's hear it from their technical people!

You know what?

I work at a place, where people take their vacation time, spend money on air fare and hotel, to go to another site of their work to say see a shuttle launch or landing, or just see it on its last flight! The employer does not have to gather employees with free lunches and events and T-shirts (nor can they do it). We even have to pay for our cup of coffee or expect to be on national news about how we are wasting tax payers' money. Projects and missions are lifetime and generational contributions to science. They take many years, require a lot of patience and perseverance through out different political and financial climates, and a whole lot more of dreaming and believing in those dreams. Bureaucracy is a very small price for living so many childhood dreams and making so many of them come true. I do not think I can find such cool/wow factor, such dedication and happiness, at any other place. At least, it would be really hard for me.

Unlived lives!

Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on children than the unlived lives of their parents.

- Carl Jung