Relationships
-
Letter no. 50
Dear reader from the future, How do you celebrate birthdays? Is buying stuff for gifts still a thing? Maybe after listening to many episodes of The Minimalists and reading The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here, I think about all the stuff I have accumulated over Read more
-
A frightening degree of corruption
Something shifted in me when I came of age. Probably because my interest in current affairs has grown, the blatant corruption in the Philippines now troubles me beyond belief in a way it never did before. Watching the Katakot-takot na Kurakot (Alarming Corruption) documentary series made greed and human evil all too real to me because they are my experienced Read more
-
We are travelers here
I like being in the airport because all the people here have a place to go. Everyone is moving. Everyone is active. And even when we are waiting on uncomfortable benches, on cold floors, and in busy shops, we are waiting only for a season. We all wait with purpose—a departure time, a gate number, Read more
-
Why trust works
The best leadership lesson I’ve learned? It starts with trust. When you trust that your team can deliver their responsibilities, they will learn to trust themselves to do what they can, and even more by demonstrating accountability and initiative. They’ll surprise you. They’ll surprise themselves. Micromanagement only stifles creativity because it calls for a rigid Read more
-
Stories in the ordinary
As someone who makes time to read books, at least six a year, I am always on the lookout for titles that I find relevant to whatever I am going through or what I want to become and improve at. So when a friend—who knows what kind of reader I am—recommends a title that’s not Read more
-
Kindness as a tool
As a child looking up to adults, I recall how kindness was consistently taught within the family, at church, and even in school. Always be kind. It sounds simple, almost banal. But somewhere in my early thirties, I encountered people who shattered this simple worldview. They were charming, generous with compliments, always ready to listen. Read more
-
Letter no. 49
Dear reader from the future, Whenever provinces and cities get flooded in the Philippines, I always think about anthropogenic climate change. But there’s another problem that originates from human activity: greed. As the government poured out billions for adaptation efforts, bad actors found ways to steal what should have protected us from rising waters. But Read more
jessa 