Great welcome for a Saturday

I woke up to the smell of pancakes!  What a great way to welcome our weekend!
This morning, my daughter decided to prepare breakfast for us - not sure what triggered it, but we don't need reasons for acts of love.  I am so Thankful for her willingness to wake up early, get into the kitchen and start smelling like the kitchen just so we can have a change for breakfast!

Our usual breakfast is healthy - fruits and some biscuits, of course along with our coffee, but nothing beats a change.

This also reminds me of the many days and months from yonder years when my mother would rise early to prepare breakfast for us - those were the days when domestic help was less prevalent, and when mommies were home makers.  Fast forward a generation, and many of us who are mothers, hold down a job, and domestic helpers are features for our families.

Hence for rare occasions such as this morning, they are very much treasured.  Now heading down for my pancakes!

Blank...

Despite my attempt to keep up with my blog, I realised that I had missed my appointment with my blog post - yet again... it's only now, when my work day is over that it dawn on me that I had activity after activity ...

Now as I sit, and try to recollect the key things that struck me today, I realised it's a ___BLANK___...  Despite meeting so many people and having one thing after another, nothing significant stood out.  Yes, there were minor irritations that peeved me, but they were not significant enough to spoil my day.  At the same time, the connections made with different folks were also related to work and opportunity, and again, they did not strike me as something so significant to be penned down.

At the end of the day, what really matters?  

As I recall the book - It all goes back to the box, I can't help but think of the times and days where I am not with my kids - mentally, physically and emotionally...   While I enjoy my work, and the interactions and stimulation they bring to my mental capacity, these things won't count when I am about to 'migrate' to THE box.  Yet, these are the distractions that take up many of my waking moments.

Well, it's April and I guess it is never too late to recalibrate.  It's always better slightly late than never...  time to reweigh the things and relations that matter more than transient things (that are important - don't get me wrong), but are temporary regardless.

It's in their blood!

Over the last half year or so, I noticed new big touch screens at McDonalds.  These are deemed 'productivity' tools to enable diners to customize their menu and also to take orders which will be sent to the kitchen.  

Diners can choose to pay via different modes - for cash, they will then have to queue up, pay before the order is dispatched.  For other payment mode, the orders are routed to the kitchen immediately, and diners only have to wait for their order numbers to flash before picking up their orders.

On this day, I was waiting for my son as he was having class.  Sitting in McDonald's I noticed the stream of young children and teenagers who walk in, head straight to the touch screens and intuitively place their orders!  Wow!  It's so in their blood!  They grow up in a touch screen society, where pinching and tapping as well as payment via all means but cash are languages they understand.

Sometimes, I marvel at how technology has progressed so quickly over 2 generations - with me, sitting as the sandwiched generation, experiencing life when a phone at home is a rarity, to now where we have more phones than people in the household.  What a transformation.  In the process, we will have to be deliberate in helping our children to cultivate values such as staying in touch (human touch) and not be impatient as things move and happen so quickly for them - at a swipe or a touch of the screen....

What Heaven will sound like

How  many hands do we see here?

They belong to a group of 14-year old boys who decided to jam on a piano after Sunday worship.  A few observations that brought a smile to my face when I watch them jam.

1. It's a healthy group activity to jam together.  If they don't jam, there could be a possibility of them communicating with their handphones! To that extent this is a very good alternative

2. Friendships that last.  There is a large number of kids in church who are 14 years old this year.  I hope their friendship will extend beyond their teenage years, and into their adulthood and as they change their stations in life... May this friendship continue. .

3. Possible candidates for worship ministry! These boys can be potential musicians for the children worship and for adult worship too.  In fact some of them play more than the piano...

Other than musicians, must truly ground them in the Word, so that they can be discipled and in turn, to disciple the next generation of children.

A Chance to the newbie

I decided that I needed to get a haircut as my mane was getting too long for my liking.  This being a weekend is actually a horrible day to even try to get a walk in appointment with any hairstylist.  Have often been asked to make appointments prior to turning up.

As I have a 30-min window between my errands, I decided to pop by my hairstylist and try and get a quick snip.  Interestingly, as I neared her shop, I noticed a new face - a new staff - sipping coffee and starring into the space outside the shop.  When I approached her and asked for Lydia - the business owner and my hairstylist, I was told she is off for a short holiday.

What a state to be caught in - a new hand and a desire to get my hair done, and as there were no clients in the shop, I could possibly get my hair cut in 30 min! Quick thinking has it that, I ought to also give this new hand a chance... Someone has to... Else she will never get a break in her new job.

We spoke briefly and at 19 years of age, she has already done a fair bit of hairstyling jobs.  Her hope is to undertake a professional course some time in the future.  After she has done her job, I left the shop.  While it was not as great as if Lydia had done the cut, I would say, I am glad an intentional decision was made to give her a chance to work in the absence of her boss.  To me, this is a test of confidence, and trust - whether Lydia will be able to entrust her to operate the shop with integrity.  My parting words to our new hairstylist was to treasure the opportunity to work here, and work hard!

Made me smile as I reflect on it as I am reminded of the many chances that people had granted me... If not for them, I probably would not be where I am today..,, so in some ways, this is like passing it forward :)

Copywriting - next item to check off in bucket list

As usual, my evenings are spent reading things that I want to - as far as possible, they should not be related to work.  Since I was listening to a podcast on the way home on StoryBrand by Donald Miller, I decided to google more to learn about marketing and such.

Strangely though, I came across topics on CopyWriting.  This started a chain of linking from one writer to another writer.  All of them professed that copywriting was about the best thing that happened to them as it gave them freedom of time and financial independence.  Of course, they were also quick to point out the need for hardwork, and strategies to adopt.  As expected though, towards the end of their story, and actually, along the way, the articles were peppered with different 'call-to-action' links.  These are usually links to online courses or books or materials where readers are given opportunities to invest to learn.

Interesting though that some time last year, I was also planning to learn how to be a copywriter - this was more for building an economic skill and interest than for a living - though I will not rule out the possibility of the latter.  However, my day job got the better of me, and it was only now that I realised I had left my copywriting agenda aside ... and a year has since passed since.  Sigh...

I would like to think that this plan of writing on a daily basis will be the beginning of a discovery process of finding that I, too, can be a great copywriter!  Look forward to consuming the readings that the various writers have suggested - including PennyThomas - what could one do when we become sitting ducks due to corporate restructuring... Rather than mope around and wait for things to happen, we could do what Penny did - learn a skill, spend serious time on honing the skill and moving on.  For Penny, I will say, based on her article, it's sheer determination/ perseverance and keeping an eye on opportunity that got her where she is.  This survival skill is definitely something our next generation can learn from.

In the universe of copywriting, I have probably just taken the first baby step - there are still tonnes of things I have to learn, but I look forward to the day when I get my first copywriting assignment!  :)

Great Opportunities

My daughter's internship is coming to an end later this month.  This is her second internship experience, and I am sure at the next term break, she will be doing her third stint at yet another startup.

As i reflected on the 'jobs' she has, I felt that things were so different a generation ago.  Many of us were probably taking on holiday jobs to supplement our pocket money.  In the process we learn some things and we probably don't plan to go back to these school holiday jobs as a career possibility.  There were fewer startups - in fact the term was also coined perhaps 10 odd years ago for us.

Yet this generation, they have the privilege to be attached to internship opportunities where the aim of exposure, discovery and to learn. In fact, I hope my daughter will eventually start something on her own some time in the future! So it is like, startup of her choice rather than out of necessity.

What a change in just one generation! This is also a generation that witnessed massive technological advancement - from gameboys to handphones (you can't leave home without it).  What will the next technology breakthroughs be...