Author: Han NaGil

We leave Manhattan to pay you a visit. I don’t see any tourists here. Yay.

I enter a Vevo recording venue, courtesy of a concierge that also doubles as thoughtful sister. A free venue with free booze. Brooklyn, you’re too kind.

The band of four women enters the stage. Their excitement is contagious and the crowd is kind. The bassist wears thick black eyeliners with grey t-shirt tucked into her tight blue jeans. The Lead Singer wears her fringe with effortless style. Maybe not. A lot of effort to look that way.

The drummer bangs away in the back, hidden from the crowd.

The lead singer steps to the edge of the stage to pat a spectator’s head.

Another guitarist wears a loose, checkered shirt. She looks out of place. She stands out from the rest.

Their spirits are high despite London jetlag combined with booze.

They’re out here making their dream come true. I applaud them for pursuing their music despite likely resistance from parents and society. Well done, ladies.

I enter the World Trade Center Mall and am confused with heavy security detail. One of them greets me and asks how my day is going. I smile. He smiles too. He makes my day.

I walk another 15 steps.

A tiny lady stops me and asks, “Donde esta el departomento de edificio”?

My mind tries to search for the meaning of edificio… City Hall? I am not sure. I am not from here. She looks confused. She is late to her appointment.

She has the address written down on top of an envelope with the direction, “última parada”

I speak a bit of Spanish. I have nowhere specific to go. I stop a man in reflective vest to ask for help. He tells me the directions in English. I translate into Spanish.

We talk. We walk. Her name is Julia. We eventually figure out how to get to 280 Broadway.

Random encounters are the best gifts of our present. I intend to talk to at least one stranger during my ten days in New York.

I look up to admire your buildings carved out of marble, granite, glass and material I can’t name. Your skyline is unique as your inhabitants. Sunshine razzle and dazzle on the surface. Wind tunnels between them provide much-needed space to let the air lift up our spirits and take away the heaviness.

I look ahead and see tourists, hustlers, street performers, and average New Yorkers. Some can’t wait for the walk signal to change before they cross. Some won’t cross until the lights turn green with no sign of cars. Everyone moves as if they’re late to a fabulous destination. They move as if their life depended on speed walking. I can taste the rush in the air. Not everyone is moving of course. Some are sleeping and some are holding up their cardboard signs with a catchy phrase to get your attention. To beg for money. To be seen. To feel like a member of the society.

I want to ask everyone. Where are you going? Why do you look like you’re late? You look really young… how did you become homeless? Aren’t you cold? Can I stop you to talk to you for few minutes?

I look down. Vibrant, healthy and full of life tulips have been planted with care. They are red. They are yellow. They are pink. Some are closed while most are open to bask in the gift of sunshine from above. Every stem and petal is filled with the elixir of life.

You are full of energy. Full of life. Full of possibilities.

I walk around in awe and smile at everyone I see. I am happy to be here. I feel happy to be alive.

To find meaning, we need time to think. To think without interruption. To dig deep. To understand ourselves. Where do we find time? How do we stop doing the things we’ve been programmed to do? If we can’t prioritize the things we do, perhaps it’d be best to stop doing everything.

Don’t read this. Turn off the TV. Close your laptop. Turn your phone over.. Don’t go outside. Don’t see your friends. Don’t go to work. Don’t buy stuff. Don’t go to amazon.com.

Stop doing the things that steal our time.

Do you feel uncomfortable? It’s okay. Give it a while. Let silence fill your body and the room you inhabit.

Do you hear what I hear? Beautiful silence lets the mind dance without interruptions.

Let’s make time. Let’s do something before time runs away from us.

People are trying their luck at dictatorship in the first world. The third world. The middle earth. Before we lay blame, let’s take a hard look at ourselves.

We voted them into power. Worst yet, some of us didn’t even care to vote.
We didn’t unite. We did not put up a fight before it was too late to rein them in.
Their reign too great; their army grows strong.

There is Korean fable that goes something like this:

A group of frogs grew tired of their kind of leadership. They wanted a leader who was different from them. Who looked better and knew more.

And so, they asked a swan to join them in their swamp. They forged an expensive crown and laid it atop of her glamorous head.

The swan happily accepted. The swan ate its subjects. The swan devoured them all.

Is it ever too late to resist?

Without resistance, you’ll be plucked and consumed by the one you trusted.

How will we fill the weekend with nothing but joy and happiness? How will we take a break from the world that has gone mad?

How about a birthday party to welcome the newborn into this crazy and wild, wild world?

Today is the day of your existence. Appreciation for who you are as you are. Look around you!  You’ve got love. You’ve got family! You’ve got talents you don’t even know about! You’ve got guts to change the world for the better. But not right now. Now is the time to enjoy being little.

No need to grow up in a hurry. No need to figure out what you should be when you’re older.

Be who you are. Be the best baby now. Be the best toddler and little sibling. Enjoy your time as a child. Rejoice the simplicity of your new life.

Let us worry about the now and the future. Let us set the world for your success. Let us guarantee a safe future for you and your generation.

Happy birthday monkey.

Welcome to America. The land of the free. Land of opportunities.
Unless of course, you’re not welcome.
In that case, do an about face, and crawl back to where you’re from.

But if you are welcome, you’ll be very welcome. We’ll embrace you with open arms and let you taste sweetness of free press, entrepreneurial spirit, and drive for continuous improvement.

Go ahead. Take a bite out of the big apple. The lady in green will light the path across the Hudson River.

With no consideration for others, those in power are shuffling things up, down, sideways and all the way around. Decisions serving personal interests and short-term incentives. They want more money. They want more power. The earth rumbles and shakes in anger.

They are perched up high, shielded from the masses.

Except, this mentality is no different from littering or not picking up after one’s dog. No different from turning a blind eye, telling ourselves to “mind our business”

Because when we need someone to lean on or dislodge something stuck on our throat…  We will fall and choke. Those who we failed to protect will look on with glassy eyes. They have been infected with apathy of our own inactions.

The world may end up looking like “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. We become zombies as the world burns. The blue, green and everything in between turns black and grey.

Or, perhaps… we can change our course of action right now. Stand up for someone weaker than us. Stand up for ourselves. Stand up to a bully.

Stand up. Be the face of integrity.

Preserving the gifts of past’s sweat, tears and perseverance. Acting today. Safeguarding tomorrow for all living things, especially for those too small to be heard or seen.

We were once small. We started out smaller than a speckle of dust.

Go short, says the brain.
Go long, says the heart.

The brain wins.

A great team complements and leverages individual strengths while minimizing weaknesses. The collective value-add is greater than the sum of individual outputs. There are no weak links. The team works and wins as one entity.

How do you create a winning team? By paying attention.

People tend to be bad at things they don’t like doing.
They excel when excited.
They’re good at the things they care about.
Be on the look-out for people with sparkles escaping beneath the surface.

They’re hungry for more.
They’re often overlooked.
They’re likely to be bored

If you look hard enough, you’ll find hidden gems everywhere.

They’re ready to step up to the challenge.
They must just be given the opportunity to step up to take a leap.
They must be pushed a little but not too much.
They don’t think they’re ready, but once they leap, there is no stopping them.