When reality falls short of the ideal — Every few months, my partner and I would have this recurring conversation about Facebook: is it worth staying on to be connected with friends, or is it too much of a time sink. …

Here’s mine and how I got there. — I’ve never asked myself what my purpose in life is, and I don’t know if it’s strange that I haven’t. Apparently it’s a question that drives many people, but it’s not one that has ever come up in my many conversations with myself.¹ The question I do tend to ask…

And It’s about time I realised that. — I’ve always been good at most things I do. …

Useful data or organised self-deception? — If you’ve been reading this newsletter for some time, you’ll know I’m a fan of tracking. I track my time usage, my spending, my exercises — and gain immense pleasure from it. A few years back, I was introduced to the Mood Meter app. I was fascinated by this newly-discovered…

To what extent do our cultures define us? — Some time back, a friend made an observation about me which, unable to phrase it better myself, I shall reproduce in full: You grew up in a country where cultural values and traditions are quite strong, yet you seem to have formed your own sense of identity and values not…

Must it be wasted on the young? — I’ve never been much for mourning or thinking about the past, but whenever I listen to this song, an OST to a Korean drama I watched while a much younger version of myself, I think of my grandfather who passed away suddenly¹ in 2017. It’s a strange association. I…

Not a rhetorical question — On my list of things (I suspect) people do without really knowing why, weddings are up there in the top three.¹ To be clear, I’m not talking about getting legally married or religious wedding ceremonies. I’m talking about wedding celebrations where you bring together an unnecessarily large crowd of people…

What makes it work? — I am a serial café worker. I’m not sure when this obsession with working in cafés started, but it’s lasted for years and survived several moves, one of which across country. So yes, I’d say I’m a veritable café worker.¹ Searching “laptop” in my Google Photos brings up images of…

Is it the birth or death of relationships? — Last month I joined a writer programme at Substack aimed at “supercharging your publishing efforts.” As part of this programme, we’re connected to a small group of fellow Substack writers to have brainstorming sessions and offer feedback on one another’s newsletter. I was in Tolstoy 11. And in the introductions…