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jessa

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Everyday Stories, Lived

Work

  • 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

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  • 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

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  • My life in pieces

    I started my year standing by the shore, with my weight shifting beneath me as the water dug deep between my soles while my toes curled onto the sand. Like the shifting sand beneath my feet, everything in my life felt unstable, uncertain. It was a slow work of making sense. While in the mess,… Read more

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  • Five years ago, I started this blog

    Five years ago, I told the voices in my head, the naysayers, that shipping the work precedes building an audience. I was able to blog daily for two years and have tried to stick to it (but failed) in the years that followed. I could list all my reasons (or excuses) but I would rather… Read more

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  • Becoming an author

    I used to dream about getting published, and what was once unimaginable now became routine. When I was in grade school, I sought to learn how to write pieces that people would read. In high school, I dreamed about becoming an author and finding a publisher willing to expand my reach. However, I didn’t have… Read more

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  • Can you tell me what I should do next?

    I was so accustomed to being told what to do that I’ve forgotten how to make decisions on my own. It’s not that I do this intentionally. Waiting for instructions about what to do next always feels comfortable and familiar, and my mind keeps going back to this default setting. When other people inadvertently make… Read more

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  • Steady drumbeat

    Writing here daily, at least that’s what I intended since I started this blog, requires a conscious decision to be here every day. To type in the words I would have instead kept in my head, pile up, and become waste the next day. Writing here daily can get mundane and boring, at least when… Read more

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