I still have not enrolled in the writer’s classes that are scheduled in February. I have been busy catching up on my reading and watching movies borrowed from the library. I am also in transition, mainly at the office where my team completed a project in December, resolved several major issues on the warehouse system I was working on the past 3 years and continuing on another major project regarding inventory levels. The last project on inventory has been taking a lot of my time, involving technical skills which I need to brush up especially on the Oracle database, batch jobs and other highly technical stuff; work that I am engaged in as an analyst. But since last year I am moving towards a project management role and 2013 will be no different when I assume another position managing small program changes – sort of like a mini-project manager. This is a management role as compared to an analyst role, something that I had been doing four years ago in Singapore although I had both management and analyst roles combined.
As part of my training, I have been reading many emails and attending meetings to get acquainted with the actors in the new job. Overall it’s not difficult but requires a lot of personal interactions which I like. In fact the task is heavy on administrative and management with only brief requirements on specific functional expertise and analysis. This brings back memories of the support function I used to do with the boss man in Singapore but without the aggravation. The assignment requires organizing meetings and following up deliverables so this means I must be more organized and efficient to be able to do my vocation well. In fact, the job will be a combination of analyst role and management with me juggling 2 separate chores. But I look forward to the challenge because it removes boredom and requires a move away from the internal thinking that marks the work of analysis. This is a true role of a manager although at a lesser scale. It is also a subtly powerful one if done correctly.
Other challenges in 2013 are my Toastmaster experience where I am nominated for Area Governor, another role that requires interpersonal relations and communication. I am working on my DTM award which is the highest level that one can achieve. I have been fairly active in Toastmaster, doing speeches and helping out in the registration last Saturday in the district leadership training seminar, driving to the conference after a day of sleet and ice in the road. The news reported 500 automobile mishaps last Friday which I avoided by working from home, evading any accidents the next day when I drove to the conference late in the morning. I stayed until noon, whereupon I went to the gym and swam for 30 minutes, did some shopping in the Asian store, coming home by 3:00 pm to watch ‘Warm Springs’ - an inspiring movie about FDR. I realized during the weekend one’s loneliness without the kids, studying in college. In these poignant moments, I think of my parent who I hope can travel this year to see me and my brother’s families.
One achieves a certain grace through experience and achievement, plus detachment from the events at work; but still my mind cannot avoid being empty which is the best state to write. Instead delves into churning thought, keeping itself busy. Last Thursday, I attended a short seminar called ‘Transform Your Life’, inspiring me to write a speech for Toastmaster. Still, despite my reading of Werner Erhard, Joseph Campbell and Eckhart Tolle, I am not successful in being a serious writer, preferring procrastination to actual work. FDR was an inspiration, rising above polio to be president, as I watched the movie last weekend, thinking that his physical ailment forced a change, similar to a writer who turned to writing after losing her job, her circumstances pushed her to blogging and eventually becoming a published author. Perhaps an external event is needed to push me that I realized I had been lucky, escaping numerous auto mishaps in the Philippines and enjoying a relatively easy life, travelling, reading and indulging in my passions. But age and the loneliness of life can move one forward; I am like the character in the graphic novel ‘Day tripper’ who needs to understand that death maybe in the corner for one to truly live.
As part of my training, I have been reading many emails and attending meetings to get acquainted with the actors in the new job. Overall it’s not difficult but requires a lot of personal interactions which I like. In fact the task is heavy on administrative and management with only brief requirements on specific functional expertise and analysis. This brings back memories of the support function I used to do with the boss man in Singapore but without the aggravation. The assignment requires organizing meetings and following up deliverables so this means I must be more organized and efficient to be able to do my vocation well. In fact, the job will be a combination of analyst role and management with me juggling 2 separate chores. But I look forward to the challenge because it removes boredom and requires a move away from the internal thinking that marks the work of analysis. This is a true role of a manager although at a lesser scale. It is also a subtly powerful one if done correctly.
Other challenges in 2013 are my Toastmaster experience where I am nominated for Area Governor, another role that requires interpersonal relations and communication. I am working on my DTM award which is the highest level that one can achieve. I have been fairly active in Toastmaster, doing speeches and helping out in the registration last Saturday in the district leadership training seminar, driving to the conference after a day of sleet and ice in the road. The news reported 500 automobile mishaps last Friday which I avoided by working from home, evading any accidents the next day when I drove to the conference late in the morning. I stayed until noon, whereupon I went to the gym and swam for 30 minutes, did some shopping in the Asian store, coming home by 3:00 pm to watch ‘Warm Springs’ - an inspiring movie about FDR. I realized during the weekend one’s loneliness without the kids, studying in college. In these poignant moments, I think of my parent who I hope can travel this year to see me and my brother’s families.
One achieves a certain grace through experience and achievement, plus detachment from the events at work; but still my mind cannot avoid being empty which is the best state to write. Instead delves into churning thought, keeping itself busy. Last Thursday, I attended a short seminar called ‘Transform Your Life’, inspiring me to write a speech for Toastmaster. Still, despite my reading of Werner Erhard, Joseph Campbell and Eckhart Tolle, I am not successful in being a serious writer, preferring procrastination to actual work. FDR was an inspiration, rising above polio to be president, as I watched the movie last weekend, thinking that his physical ailment forced a change, similar to a writer who turned to writing after losing her job, her circumstances pushed her to blogging and eventually becoming a published author. Perhaps an external event is needed to push me that I realized I had been lucky, escaping numerous auto mishaps in the Philippines and enjoying a relatively easy life, travelling, reading and indulging in my passions. But age and the loneliness of life can move one forward; I am like the character in the graphic novel ‘Day tripper’ who needs to understand that death maybe in the corner for one to truly live.
1 comment:
Have you attended any programs designed or inspired by Werner Erhard? These days it would be The Landmark Forum.
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