In the dunes, I touched this hairy caterpillar for the first time. It was an experience so profound in a time when touch is so limited.
Lucie Langston in I Am Stuck Between Two Lives During This Pandemic
We are all affected by this crisis. Some of us have been laid off and some of us have experienced even more difficulty in looking for work — whether it’s freelance or corporate.
For us who have tried to leap and transition from one organization to another — during the crisis — it was such a dilemma and a leap of faith, so to speak. Because for those who were not fortunate enough, they fell through the cracks when promises by the receiving organizations were really empty.
Indeed, in life there are no guarantees. We, as people, must improve our resilience and adaptability. And it is no different for designers.
Whichever case you may be in — whether you’ve just gotten your hands on your diploma or in the middle of your design career — I’m extending my helping hand as a way of giving back to the design community.
Now, more than ever, we must band together and help each other until, at least, we’re in a better place again.
As they say, we only improve what we measure. But we don’t measure what we don’t know. We don’t talk about empathy because it’s not a variable or a metric in any of our systems. So how can we make space for empathy in our programs as they continue to eat the world?
PC Maffey in How Programming Shapes the Mind
They don’t know I’m dead and my ghost is holding on.
Nina Simone
First heard of Nina Simone in her song “Don’t You Pay Them No Mind.” Then watched the documentary “What Happened, Miss Simone?“
It’s now complete — all of the objectives I’ve gotten onto my notes. Now comes the challenging part of putting it together — connecting the dots — making sense of it all.
I’ll probably start making outlines and bullet points and eventually some framework for my first six months and beyond at Avaloq.
After four long days, I’ve finally met with the team exclusively. It’s surprising to even recognize some of the musical artists and bands that they like. Whew! I’m not too far off. So in a Venn diagram, you could see our circles nudged a bit together in this regard. I consider myself to be a kuya millennial both in age and role, anyway.
📻 🎸 🤘
They are a tight-knit group. As one of them said, “Gel naman kami.” I understood it as “they are already gelled together as a solid team”. In my mind I could imagine the gooey green mutagen ooze (sans Ninja Turtles) binding them together. It’s a good thing that it’s not Elmer’s Glue because if it were, where could I snugly fit in?
Next week, I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty!
Today, the team and I had a smaller group of meet and greet along with our chapter lead who was directly leading the team before I came along. It was funny that suddenly, everyone’s device camera started malfunctioning when it was one’s turn to speak. Glad I took a bath today that I was able to show myself!
Relax. Have fun at work. Really enjoy the work that you do.
Oh yes. That’s what the head of design said to me during our one-on-one. But that was the last thing that he said. Prior that were all his good-natured wishes for the Manila design team.
I feel great about this new journey!
