It’s been a while since my last update. This proves that life happens. And once I procrastinate and not making time to do it, it’s easier to slip off. I was thinking it’s only been a few weeks. but apparently, it has been a few years. Many things have happened since then. And it has distracted my mind from this update and learning. Anyway, How are you? We are all in this very odd situation now. this pandemic has taken the best of us. Many places have been closed down for safety and traveling is not really encouraged. So we are stuck in wherever we are. But is that true? Has this pandemic taken the best of us? Or Has this pandemic shows the best of or for us? During this time, there are many things that we can learn and do. I also see the two sides of the coin from what has happened and still happening. I want to highlight in a few areas: Study and work from home, essential things, and what next

In the subject of learning. This has shown how adaptive all the schools in the world towards this limitation. Since we are being encouraged (or maybe forced) to stay at home, I can spend some time to see how my kids study. Usually, I won’t know what’s happening in school or what they have learned. but during this time, I can see and join together with the activity. It is amazing how technology has evolved and with this incident/pandemic, we are learning about new ways of teaching. on one hand, It is hard to listen to your kids’ school session while you are working at home too. But on the other hand, it’s an eye-opening for the parents to spend time together with the kids. Of course, there always two sides to this situation. Those who love to do everything from home and those who can’t take it anymore of doing things from home. Which one are you? I would encourage you to find what’s best for you. You might have a different situation that makes you love or hate the condition. But I can assure you, let’s make the best of the situation. We can’t change the situation. But we can change our perspective and attitude. I know it’s not easy. and there will be a time when you become frustrated with what’s happening. That’s normal. Don’t forget to reach out to other friends and families too. You might be surprised and relieved that what you experience is normal. and you’ll be able to learn how to cope with the current situation from other people. 

This pandemic has shown the different perspectives of essential things. One story (or joke) that I heard revolving in the topic of the essentials. For example, in Singapore, we have something called Circuit Breaker.  which means that only essential services can operate (of course with some limitation).  And we realize one thing, that schools, colleges, universities and all types of education is missing from the essential list. I wonder how many years of our life had been “wasted” on non-essential activities. Jokes aside, don’t get me wrong. I believe education is important. And this situation shows us that we can learn from anywhere. With the advancement of technology, we, including our kids, can learn many things at any time. We just need some limits on the duration and the information that we can learn. But other than that, whatever you want to learn, it’s there out there. you can search through the internet and find it. the question is, What do or did you learn? What’s essential in your life? As I mentioned earlier, we can’t change the situation, but we can change ourselves. I also know that it’s hard. It’s easier to have a binge of Netflix series or those other fun things. But remember this. This situation will be here for some time. I don’t know in a matter of weeks or months. So let’s start something. remember to enjoy your time together with your loved ones. And improve our life in the process. There are many things that you can’t do (or rather not encouraged to do) thing of some things that you can do so that it’s memorable. During my early years, I don’t think I have spent time with my parents a lot. but looking at my kids, I feel blessed to be able to spend time with them. Of course, there is also time when I’m frustrated because of them. But yeah, let’s remind ourselves of the good things and increase the good things. 

So what next? As much as we want to skip all this pandemic, we still need to go through this. It took me some time to ponder what happened. It’s hard to think through and to see the opportunity when there is a lot of negative news and fear being spread in this period. A positive message that was shared with me recently is that this time is the best time ever to live. Regardless of what happening, we have a lot of choices we can make for our lives. Imagine if we live 80 years ago or during our grandfather era and having this situation. What would happen? From what I learned, It would be a lot worse than today. a lot of things you can’t do or get. But now, we have a lot of options. We might be locked down” in our home, but we can call our friends or family where ever they are in an instant. We also have the option to see their faces if we want to. technology that we have has enabled us to be better. So what will we do about this? There are a lot of things that we might have not explore. I would love to record down what I’ve encountered and what I want to encounter. I would think most of them is about technology, but let me explore more and see how I can be of your assistance.

I hope I will still be able to get your attention. If you let me, let me try to explore and document what I found. Hope It can be beneficial for you too. If there’s a topic that you want to find out, let me know. I’ll try my best to get it. It might be useful for me and you too. For a closing note, I read a quote that is true for me. hope it’s true for you too. “we are in the same storm, but not in the same boat” We all have different challenges but we still have to face the storm. let’s use what we have, and learn from others so that we can proceed and even thrive even in this current situation.