Yearend Reflections

Dec. 29, 2006

(Last day on the job. Marella - a good friend and confidante, is flying off to DC)

One of my dad's favorite quotable quotes is how people are like mango trees... and how we don't bear fruit unless we are pruned, trimmed, hacked and burned... pushed to our knees.

After several consecutive years of breakneck growth, achievement and fulfilment, 2006 was a year when I got pruned/hacked. It's been a humbling experience to go through a virtual reset of my life.

From being a college senior, to a corporate salt mine freshman.

To come from a small design firm (where I was at least relevant to things), to a large real-estate corporation (where I am merely a replacable automaton in the large machine)...

To make hard decisions and to have them backfire on you and not get the result you've been aiming for...

To see many of your good friends and peers move and get opportunities abroad, while I prioritize my local internship...

To be an idealistic kid in the middle of a sea of people, just making a living... and to realize the luxury of believing in something in the midst of the harsh realities of life...

To be an idealistic kid, eager to make a change... and to be pushed down by the circumstances...

To hold people/organizations in such high regard, and get betrayed by the system.

To realize that you don't have the leverage...

To see your old man- and by extension, yourself get shunned by big corporate clients...

To want something, work for it, and not get it.

To love and let go... and to long in your solitude...

To find God, and stumble so many times because of your weakness...


If you're one of the rare multiply netizens who'd drop by to read my blog, you've probably noticed the waves of angst in the links.

I learned a lot. I've been humbled. And I hope this makes me a better person.

Cheers to 2006. Thank God its over. It has woven steel into my nerves, and strengthened my resolve.


2007 will be a pivotal year. I hope that 2006 has prepared me well for it.