Essays on becoming by Chris Barclay
My wife and I have this game we play called, “What day is today?” Throughout the week, we periodically ask each other and then challenge the other’s response. So Nam will ask me and I’ll say, “Tuesday?” to which she will reply, “I thought it was Wednesday” and then I’ll second-guess myself and offer, “I’m […]
Continue ReadingAfter our baby’s recent Kasai procedure (liver duct bypass surgery), my wife and I are optimistic about her chances of full recovery. While we love seeing Nat as her active and cheerful self these days, we also know that there’s a strong likelihood that she will soon need a liver transplant. While most people would […]
Continue ReadingI love sleep. If I am allowed to sleep undisturbed, I’ll snooze for at least 10 hours straight. I’m a night owl and have been since I was a little kid. Sleep experts have been telling us for years that to be more productive, we should be sleeping no more than 8 hours and getting […]
Continue ReadingWhen most of us think of success, it’s about the things we have accumulated; knowledge, money, seniority and achievements. We derive our satisfaction and happiness from these things based on how favorably they compare to cultural measures. I think about success in terms of who I am becoming, and for me to become the person […]
Continue ReadingPhysics dictates that we do not feel speed. It is only our perception of acceleration and deceleration that give us any indication of our relative velocity. Here we all are, hurtling through the universe but we feel as if we’re standing still. So it’s not at all strange that as our lives gain a certain […]
Continue ReadingI recently wrapped up a personal leadership seminar with an American corporate client in Beijing, and during a conversation about values, one of my students asked me, what did I value the most? Before I could think about it, I said, “Mobility.” Like the old SAT strategy, your first answer is usually your best answer, […]
Continue ReadingThere’s a voice calling you. It’s usually inaudible; drowned out by the television, the buzz of florescent lighting in the office, the quiet roar of tires on the freeway. Sometimes it’s a far away whisper, other times, the voice is present and urgent. It conjures up visions that tug at your mental sleeves. This is […]
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