Getting Right Back At It—30DBC Day 11

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Yukari

I have no idea if anybody ever noticed, but yes I didn’t update the blog for the last four days. During that time my sites went down as well, so I could have just blamed it on my hosting company, but I’m coming clean. My head is not that big to think everybody is waiting for my post, but I have a feeling my supportive friend Ben might have noticed and chances are, didn’t say anything.

I’ve been hearing the word serendipity more often than usual last couple of weeks. Call me flaky, but I like the idea, and believe in it. I got my new job in a way, serendipitously, and many of the team was recruited in a similar way. Very cool.

Last few days it was all about Social Media Camp and TicTalking, I couldn’t spare time to write here. Now I’m back to reality and getting back at it. And I see this in from Chris Brogan in my RSS reader:

Work The Plan

I was actually thinking of Jacq‘s12in12 and also The Front Nine by one and only Mike Vardy when I was thinking of my own falling. I’m not beating myself up for not doing the 30 consecutive days. No drama. When you stop, take the time, and just start writing again. No biggie.

It was great to see Chris again, this time right here in Victoria, but I never told him about my blog, so I found this quite serendipitous. Thank you for the post Chris.

Don’t Balance it, Turn it On/Off—30DBC Day 9

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Yukari

My online friend Jitsuko—who has turned me on to do this 30- day blogging challenge, wrote a great post that really spoke to me. Of course, she wrote in Japanese (If you understand Japanese you can read it here.), so I am going to explain her post in English.

We often talk about Work-Life Balance in North America. It’s the same issue in Japan, too. Not just for parents. Basically if you have a life, everyone is struggling with Work-Life Balance. Perhaps more so in Japan where many work long hours.

But Jitsuko says she’d rather think in a different way. Instead of trying to balance everything, in her mind, it works like a switch. You have to turn each one on/off.

-Mom button, Work button, Private button, Wife button…

She says she used to try having multiple buttons on at the same time, but realized only one switch can be flipped on at a time.

So when Mom button is on, she can focus on being a mom, work when Work switch is turned on, Private one (Me time) is particularly important…

and if she can use all the buttons(or maybe you can call them channels) effectively, that is a great day. But if you end up using only one or some of the buttons, things could go a little crazy.

*****

I always said myself there is no such thing as Work-Life Balance. It just does not exist, so don’t look for it. In my opinion, you just have to do what is most appropriate at the time. If the kids need attention, that is important, and sometimes work really needs to be taken care of. And I know it’s not easy.

Jitsuko’s “switch button” theory kind of makes me want to gamify my busy life. Next time I have my kids, let’s see if I can use all the switches effectively, shall we? Suddenly, this sounds much more fun than trying to achieve a perfect Work-Life Balance. Thank you, Jitsuko-san!

[Film] All About Eve—30DBC Day 8

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Yukari

I caught last half of All About Eve the other day on TV and recorded it. I finally had the time to watch it last night. Last time I’ve seen this film was when I was still in Japan…so that means at least 13 years ago. Wow!

It’s a story about Eve(Anne Baxter), a young fan of Margo(Bette Davis) who is a broadway star. One day, Margo meets Eve, who was waiting in the back alley of her stage door. Eve confesses to Margo how much of a fan she is and soon Margo takes her in as her assistant. Eve is humble, grateful and bright, but soon she starts to manipulate the people around Margo and eventually plans to take over her career.

This used to be my favourite movie. Probably because [Spoiler Alert] Eve doesn’t really gets her way in the end. We watch her charm people around her and see how cunning she is…and we feel agitated that majority of people don’t see her true colors. Eventually, theatre critic Addison finds out about Eve’s past and how everything she said to Margo was a lie. Eve starts crying. Well, serves her right!

I like these movies that makes me feel like being cunning and manipulating doesn’t go far, and only deserving people will succeed. Like Legally Blond or…Pretty Woman (I know, these are chick flicks, but I like them, OK?)

I know life is not always fair. That’s why films are great to at least makes us believe that it is.

I used to watch a lot of old classic films. My all time favourite is Roman Holiday. What is yours?