Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large. 

Hanging out with friends again

This past Saturday was a super special occasion: my friends and I got together - indoors, unmasked - for the very first time since the the COVID-19 pandemic began. Going back to this normal part of our pre-pandemic life was weirdly surreal. Throughout the evening I paused to amaze at that we are indeed hanging out together without any safety precautions whatsoever. There were many hugs.

Well, aside from the fact that everyone in the group is fully vaccinated (so calm down, people). With the good mRNA stuff too, and not the Johnson & Johnson single-dose with an infinitesimal potential side effect of blood clots. It is nothing short of a miracle that we were able to effectively eliminate the worse of the coronavirus symptoms less than a year since the outbreak. And it’s also nothing short of a miracle that the Unites States is able to rollout the vaccines so proficiently.

It is thanks to the tireless work of countless others, from medical researchers to volunteers, that I was able to hang out with my friends so freely once again. I shall never take for granted the social joy of sitting around a dinner table, breaking bread (literally: we had sandwiches) with the people dear to me. As last Thanksgiving proved, socially-distanced gatherings and taking food back to our respective homes just cannot offer the same magic and merry. Even an ardent introvert like myself needs some proper social interactions every now and then.

There were lots to celebrate as well. Firstly, we are tremendously grateful that we’ve made it through the pandemic relatively okay. We and the people around us are healthy and employed. As for the rest: one friend just closed on a home, another is starting a new job, and another’s second child has his third birthday soon (it’s today, actually). That’s what these gatherings are all about: celebrating the milestones and turning points of our lives.

Once again, thank you to those that made it possible.

Lone visitor.

Thankfulness 2020

The emotion I want to convey right now is that of gratitude.

With everything that’s going on with the coronavirus, it’s easy to be caught up in the moment, become always reactive to things changing rapidly all around us. Days start blending in together, and you’re simply doing your best to find some semblance of normalcy, especially so in the earlier days of the current crisis, when you have no idea what new paradigm shift the next hour will bring. When you’re so busy trying to stay afloat, there’s no time to take a step back and look.

It was not until I start detaching from the situation and started to view things from on a macro level that I realize how lucky me and my family have been during this period of shelter-in-place. First and most important we are healthy and doing well physically, which is worth absolutely everything in these hazardous times. Secondly, our financial situation have remained very solid: my job allows me to work from home, and my dad who does general contracting hasn’t skipped a beat, because construction projects never really took a break.

Even the least fortunate of us - my brother - was lucky to get a month’s salary for March, and then filed for unemployment. Thanks to the generosity of the federal government in expanding the amount of unemployment insurance, it means he’ll be quite okay during this quarantine as well.

Indeed we are extremely lucky; there’s no other way to put it. Obviously I’m incredibly grateful that it turned out this way for us; I only need to go on twitter for a few moments to get a reminder that countless others haven’t got it so easy in this era of COVID-19. I hope to never take this for granted.

I am thankful for this little bugger too.

Be thankful for the food

One of my worst habits is I eat food too quickly - especially when I am hungry or the food is extra delicious. Both my father and brother wolfs down food with much speed too so I guess it runs in the family. I've no doubt it contributes to my chronic stomach acid problems (it remains disappointing that I can't drink coffee), and more importantly I am not taking the time to savor the plate. 

Sure saves a lot of time, though. 

A mechanism I've gotten into to combat the ingestion haste is to be thankful for the food before commence eating. Not dissimilar to what Christians do in saying grace before a meal, when I give thanks for the food, I give myself a reminder what a blessing it is to have the opportunity to eat the particular meal - no matter how extravagant (or not) it is. In that mindset of gratitude, I find myself deliberately slowing down to enjoy each bite, and it's been highly beneficial. 

In concurrence I also acknowledge having the good fortune to not have to rush through a meal: there are no deadlines or work pressures that would otherwise require me to eat fast to return to what I am doing. For sure there are others that don't have such luxury. 

Lastly, when I eat slowly, I also end up eating less - those satiation signals after 20 minutes or whatever, which isn't so bad now that I'm on this side of the 30 divide. 

 

Perspective

I woke up today in a first-world country, with a roof over my head, food on the table, and a healthy disposition. 

Nope, it isn't so bad at all. So many other has got it so much worse. 

I'm thankful. I'm lucky.