I love Cesar Millan's show, Dog Whisperer. I watch this show tirelessly even though we don't own a dog. Cesar always re-trains the owners to treat their dogs as dogs instead of as their children or family members and encourages owners to provide discipline before affection. His principle is "species, breed, then name", meaning treating the pet as a species (dog) first, then its breed (Dalmatian), and then its name (Smokey). Understanding that by treating Smokey as Smokey first, you inevitably allow and tolerate unwanted behavior and miss out on the opportunity to fulfill on the needs of the dog such as exercising. This is often where the behavioral problem of the pet originates. By treating Smokey as a dog and applying appropriate discipline, not only will the owner have less trouble handling the dog, Smokey will become calmer and happier.
Although Smokey's happiness is hard to measure or judge, the owners usually rave about the improvement of their pets' behavior after applying Cesar's principle. The principle is so simple and effective that it amazes me every time that I watch his show. It is clear that by romanticizing our pets as children or family members, it harms the very relationship that we desire. Other than with our pets, our efforts to enjoy great relationships with other human beings also seems to be sabotaged by the romantic notion of "name" first, "breed" second, and then "species" last.
In our day-to-day relationships, are we honoring people as people or are we interacting with others as their race, gender, education, political affiliation, or "breed"? With the people whom we love so dearly and sometimes believe that we "own", are we treating them as people or are we relating to them as "husband and wife", "colleagues", and "best-friend"? What are the consequences to our relationships by treating those that we care and love as "roles", "responsibilities", and "characters" rather than just another human being? The unfulfilled expectations of a wife or husband only arise when there are expectations of the role of husbands and wives instead of a human being to the other. An unappreciative daughter can only exist when the standard of an appreciative daughter gets established by demanding parents. Demanding parents are suffocating when their affection comes across not just as love from other human beings. Racism, sexism, homophobia, wars and a slew of human problems can probably be eradicated if we just apply Cesar's dog training principle to people: Treating people as people first. Who's ready to be a human whisperer?
Risky Business
If you had a crystal ball and you only get a peak at one moment in your future, what would you like to see? Do you want to know who you'll be married to? Do you want to know what kind of retirement you'll get to have? Do you want to see what your kids would be like as adults? Do you want to know if long-term investment will pay off? Do you want to know who will be at your funeral? Do you want to see if you'll live a long healthy life? Looking at a snapshot of your future will definitely provide more certainty and a lot of people will probably trade or pay a handsome price to get a glimpse of what is to come, right?
Life is volatile, risky, and unpredictable. We get butterflies when we contemplate switching jobs for a higher pay but with a different boss, we suffer when we choose between the person that loves us and the person that we love, and we fight with our partners trying to figure out what's best for our children. Life is full of uncertainties but our tendencies to seek out certainties in life, makes life even more mysterious.
What if instead of a peak of the crystal ball, a session with the psychic, or a ride on the time machine, you actually know your future? You know that you should study music instead of engineering, you'll meet the love of your life at age 30 even though you thought John was the one for a split second. You will own your own business at age 40 and you'll have 3 children and have a beautiful house in Florida. Before you die, you will have 10 grandchildren and you'll be surrounded by people that you love and treasure. Or, forget about school and retirement, life will end abruptly for you so you better start enjoying it now!
If you know your future, will it take the fun out of living? Isn't life meant to be uncertain so that we get to experience, feel, and think in ways that we wouldn't be able to if we had all the answers? Life is risky business! Next time, if you get a bad hand dealt to you, remember that we earthlings are simply here to expand our capacities otherwise we'd all come equipped with a crystal ball. Don't you think?
Life is volatile, risky, and unpredictable. We get butterflies when we contemplate switching jobs for a higher pay but with a different boss, we suffer when we choose between the person that loves us and the person that we love, and we fight with our partners trying to figure out what's best for our children. Life is full of uncertainties but our tendencies to seek out certainties in life, makes life even more mysterious.
What if instead of a peak of the crystal ball, a session with the psychic, or a ride on the time machine, you actually know your future? You know that you should study music instead of engineering, you'll meet the love of your life at age 30 even though you thought John was the one for a split second. You will own your own business at age 40 and you'll have 3 children and have a beautiful house in Florida. Before you die, you will have 10 grandchildren and you'll be surrounded by people that you love and treasure. Or, forget about school and retirement, life will end abruptly for you so you better start enjoying it now!
If you know your future, will it take the fun out of living? Isn't life meant to be uncertain so that we get to experience, feel, and think in ways that we wouldn't be able to if we had all the answers? Life is risky business! Next time, if you get a bad hand dealt to you, remember that we earthlings are simply here to expand our capacities otherwise we'd all come equipped with a crystal ball. Don't you think?
Ignorance is bliss?
Most of the time when we say "ignorance is bliss", we don't really think not knowing something is good, we just mean that people that don't know or are not interested in knowing maybe exempt from the frustration or consequence of knowing. Therefore, it's not that being ignorant translates into happiness or contentment, but it just avoids the possibility of unhappiness... But is it true that ignorance is bliss? Does knowledge bring us the never ending pursuit of better and more at the expense of our happiness? Or does knowledge simply expand the range of the happiness scale?
Before we moved to California, I had tried wine but didn't know much about it. I have had red and white wine from bottles, glasses, and boxes, but none of that made a difference to me. Wines were just another type of alcoholic beverage and as long as that's the case, they all tasted pretty good to me. After 10 years of living in California, it's hard not to have gone to wine tasting events, listened to professional wine makers and tasters about their experiences, and drink and share wine with wine enthusiasts, connoisseurs, and inevitably wine snobs. Since I am interested in the subject, I also learned a few things about wine making, wine tasting, and the characteristics of good tasting wine. These days, the same glass, bottle, or box wine just do not taste the same as the past. There are definitely good wines, bad wines, excellent and unforgettable wines, and downright offensive and disgusting wines!
Knowledge in this case reset the standard of my pallet which allowed me to differentiate amongst wines. The good news is that I am able to enjoy the good wines more than I used to, but the bad news is I will never be able to enjoy an "average" or "bad" glass of wine the same way I did before just because it was an alcoholic drink.
The standards established through acquired knowledge not only allowed me to enjoy wine, but also fresh sashimi, garden-grown tomatoes, a well-performed piece of music, and an interesting conversation with a friend at a level that's deeper and more meaningful. However, on the flip side, because of the new standards, some sushi restaurant and the non-vine ripened tomatoes just do not taste the same! If you were given a choice to enjoy wines without being able to differentiate the excellent from the average but always enjoy that glass of fermented grape alcoholic drink, which one will you choose? If the choice was not just wine, cuisine, and art but love, partner, and life itself, what will your choice be? Live blissfully or know these subjects inside and out and risk expanding the range of your happiness and experience the highs and lows of life?
Before we moved to California, I had tried wine but didn't know much about it. I have had red and white wine from bottles, glasses, and boxes, but none of that made a difference to me. Wines were just another type of alcoholic beverage and as long as that's the case, they all tasted pretty good to me. After 10 years of living in California, it's hard not to have gone to wine tasting events, listened to professional wine makers and tasters about their experiences, and drink and share wine with wine enthusiasts, connoisseurs, and inevitably wine snobs. Since I am interested in the subject, I also learned a few things about wine making, wine tasting, and the characteristics of good tasting wine. These days, the same glass, bottle, or box wine just do not taste the same as the past. There are definitely good wines, bad wines, excellent and unforgettable wines, and downright offensive and disgusting wines!
Knowledge in this case reset the standard of my pallet which allowed me to differentiate amongst wines. The good news is that I am able to enjoy the good wines more than I used to, but the bad news is I will never be able to enjoy an "average" or "bad" glass of wine the same way I did before just because it was an alcoholic drink.
The standards established through acquired knowledge not only allowed me to enjoy wine, but also fresh sashimi, garden-grown tomatoes, a well-performed piece of music, and an interesting conversation with a friend at a level that's deeper and more meaningful. However, on the flip side, because of the new standards, some sushi restaurant and the non-vine ripened tomatoes just do not taste the same! If you were given a choice to enjoy wines without being able to differentiate the excellent from the average but always enjoy that glass of fermented grape alcoholic drink, which one will you choose? If the choice was not just wine, cuisine, and art but love, partner, and life itself, what will your choice be? Live blissfully or know these subjects inside and out and risk expanding the range of your happiness and experience the highs and lows of life?
The Constant Gardener
Last May, I posted Gardening for Dummies wondering if I should get one of the Dummy book series to start my planter garden. Instead of the book, I asked for suggestions and tips from friends, colleagues, and gardeners, and paid close attention to all gardening related TV shows, radio segments, and internet articles. Since last summer, I have not only successfully grown tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, and various herbs, I have also had delicious planter box vegetables and countless servings of organic pesto dishes! This year, in addition to the planter boxes, I got really fancy and expanded our gardening space! As part of our backyard landscaping project, we ripped out most of the shrubs and gained a lot of real estate for gardening. Before executing phase II of our landscaping plan in September, we have one growing season so we went absolutely wild! After reaping the fruits of my labor from last year, Jim decided that he's going to plant 9 tomato plants and 15 various peppers. With the gardening confidence that I gained from last year's crops, I bought 24 heads of various lettuce varietals, cantaloupes, honeydews, parsley, oreganos, thyme, and of course, sweet basils. The most fancy gardening thing that I incorporated this year was to release ladybirds (ladybugs) to fight off aphids!
It's time to let the ladybirds work their magic and for us to head to bed. Tomorrow will be another gardening day and we will be one day closer to having those fruits and vegetables in our plates!
Maximizing Shareholder Value
If I sound a little too passionate about this subject, it's because I am.
Maximizing shareholder value has been taught in virtually all investment and finance related courses in school. The notion of maximizing shareholder value by cutting cost, reducing head count, increasing revenue, etc have been practiced and awarded in the corporate world. Manager bonuses are based on it, worker productivity is driven by it, and investor selection is reliant on it... However, is this the right thing to do for us as human beings? Has it become a sickness and maybe an obsession for us as managers, workers, and investors to maximize shareholder value?
The West Virginia mine that recently killed 29 people was operated by Massey Energy company. The company violated safety standards and was cited repeatedly by regulators due to safety concerns. Instead of spending money to correct the safety violations, the company fought the citations and ignored the high injury rate of the mineworkers. This kind of attitude eventually led to 29 deaths in 2010. Due to lack of safety precautions, in 2005, BP's accident at the refinery in Texas killed 15 people and injured 170. The oil spill today not only caused tremendous environmental damage, it also killed 11 workers. These are preventable 'accidents' that killed not just workers, but humans, one of us.
You and I will never hold a gun to someone's head and pull the trigger. If we did, we'd be arrested as murderers. We will never detonate an explosive to kill or injure anyone. If we did, we'd be hunted as terrorists. So, why is it acceptable for us as managers, workers, and investors to take others' lives in the name of maximizing shareholder value?
Maximizing shareholder value has been taught in virtually all investment and finance related courses in school. The notion of maximizing shareholder value by cutting cost, reducing head count, increasing revenue, etc have been practiced and awarded in the corporate world. Manager bonuses are based on it, worker productivity is driven by it, and investor selection is reliant on it... However, is this the right thing to do for us as human beings? Has it become a sickness and maybe an obsession for us as managers, workers, and investors to maximize shareholder value?
The West Virginia mine that recently killed 29 people was operated by Massey Energy company. The company violated safety standards and was cited repeatedly by regulators due to safety concerns. Instead of spending money to correct the safety violations, the company fought the citations and ignored the high injury rate of the mineworkers. This kind of attitude eventually led to 29 deaths in 2010. Due to lack of safety precautions, in 2005, BP's accident at the refinery in Texas killed 15 people and injured 170. The oil spill today not only caused tremendous environmental damage, it also killed 11 workers. These are preventable 'accidents' that killed not just workers, but humans, one of us.
You and I will never hold a gun to someone's head and pull the trigger. If we did, we'd be arrested as murderers. We will never detonate an explosive to kill or injure anyone. If we did, we'd be hunted as terrorists. So, why is it acceptable for us as managers, workers, and investors to take others' lives in the name of maximizing shareholder value?
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