I finally watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi. I was moved and inspired by the film. I had wanted to write an extensive blog post about it but I am at loss for words. Instead, here's an insight on leadership which was reinforced by the movie: "Lead by example." I have heard it and read it many times and I believe in it but never have I seen it so succinctly displayed as by sushi master Jiro Ono. He is disciplined, dedicated, and committed that even his suppliers don't care about gaining profit and selling, they just want to be part of his success. He shows up for work everyday, ready and committed to elevating his craft. No matter how successful he is, he sticks to his routine and never loses the thirst for excellence. He competes not with others but with himself. He shows his apprentices and his sons the kind of discipline and passion that would make them succeed. You could say he's strict or rigorous, but his apprentices and his sons yearn for nothing more than to be as good as him because they see that Jiro is most strict and demanding of himself more than he is…
Month: January 2014
Tonight I Can Write by Pablo Neruda
This is one of my favorite poems. Yes, it's a poem about heartbreak and letting go but it's also a poem about love and how it can move people. Tonight I can write the saddest lines Tonight I can write the saddest lines. Write, for example,'The night is shattered and the blue stars shiver in the distance.' The night wind revolves in the sky and sings. Tonight I can write the saddest lines. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. Through nights like this one I held her in my arms I kissed her again and again under the endless sky. She loved me sometimes, and I loved her too. How could one not have loved her great still eyes. Tonight I can write the saddest lines. To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her. To hear the immense night, still more immense without her. And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture. What does it matter that my love could not keep her. The night is shattered and she is not with me. This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance. My…
Life can be Disappointing
As kids, most of us were told that when we're good, we get good things in return. "Be kind to others and others will be kind to you." "Study hard to get good grades." "Treat others well and they'll treat you well." "Be good and the world will be good to you." "Work hard to get rewards." These are all lies. The world does not operate in a quid pro quo manner. People are not always fair. LIFE IS NOT FAIR. Shit happens all the time. The sooner you accept this, the happier you'll be. Life can be one f*cked up pile of sh*t. And the best way to deal with it is to accept it as such. Smile. Learn a lesson. And move on. Disappointments and failures come and go. No matter how hard you work, some things just don't work the way you hope it would. Don't fret... greater and better things MAY come your way. Or it won't. Just deal with it. Take comfort in knowing that everybody else deals with the same sh*t. Yes, even those who seem to have it all. Everybody experiences disappointments, frustrations, failures, heartbreaks. It's just that some people deal with life…
A Letter to 41 Year Old Ria
Dear 41 Year Old Ria, You didn't really know what to write today. You were thinking of maybe sharing a song or maybe just skipping today but then you found this gem: "After The Death Of Their 12-Year-Old Daughter, Parents Find The Letter She Wrote To Her Future Self." And of course you thought, hmmm... maybe I should write one of those. I'm writing this on January 11, 2014. You were 31 and you've been blogging for 10 years already. You're supposed to read this when you're 41. It's probably 2024 or 2025 now and here are some things I'd like to tell you. First off, how are you? I hope you're doing well. Having menopausal symptoms already? If so, bear and grin it. Whatever is stressing you out, stop bitching about it. If necessary, break a few plates. Shout at that stupid gadget that's so hard to figure out or scream at an annoying character of any movie or tv series. But I think what would work best would be to bake or cook. Or maybe just sleep it off. I wonder... how much does a domain name cost nowadays? Is the internet still on Web 2.0, social media…
31 and Single
Nobody really asked for this topic but I'm a bit intoxicated and I can't sleep so what the hell, right? After all, love and relationships are the easiest and hardest things to talk about. Easy because we can all relate to it somehow. Or at least, the lack of it. And hard because it all really doesn't make sense. So here I am. 31 and single. One of things I often get asked (luckily, not so much by my relatives) is why I'm single. The answer? I don't know. I'd like to think there's really nothing wrong with me. So let's examine my past relationships, instead. My first boyfriend (who was not my first love, by the way) was one huge mistake. I'd rather not talk about the guy since we're friends but let's just say I went into the relationship just because. It was a long distance relationship and I felt like it was really not a big investment. While I did mourn the breaking up part, the relationship and the break up didn't really take much of my time or emotions. Our usual nights would go like this... BF: What you doing? Ria: Playing DotA. DND. or this...…
Finding My Voice
"Every child, woman and man should possess licence to speak or sing in his or her true voice."- Joyce Maynard, At Home in the World (Picador USA) Today is my 10th Anniversary as a blogger. And that quote is the one I shared from my first blog post. Here's a screen capture: and here's the link. And here's the full resolution copy of the screen capture: LINK. Then and now, blogging has been a fulfillment of my dream to write... attempts at getting my thoughts, feelings, and ideas out into the world. Not because I think people can learn from me or that I have something profound to share but because I really just want to write, to speak, to share. In the 10 years I have been blogging, I have published a lot of posts, started a lot of blogs, met a lot of new people, started a lot of projects, and had countless experiences. One thing remains constant, though, I blog because I want to blog. Yes, I do blog for causes, partners, clients, and sponsors. I blog when people invite me to events or when companies ask me to but only when I like what I am…