A Clean Slate (#MY Eng 72)

This is part of a running series about English idioms - less about language, more about life itself. Previously, we covered 'missing the woods for the trees', 'the elephant in the room', 'practising what you preach', blowing hot and cold', 'no smoke without fire', 'one swallow does not make a summer', 'apples and oranges', 'cut to the chase', 'leave no stone unturned', 'that's the way the cookie crumbles', 'can't have your cake and eat it too', 'old is gold', 'putting the cart before the horse', 'mountain out of a molehill', 'pot calling the kettle black', 'bite the bullet', 'go the extra mile', 'silence is golden', 'the devil is in the details', 'sink or swim', 'once bitten twice shy', 'don't count your chickens before they hatch', 'don't put all your eggs into one basket', 'chicken and egg', 'walking on eggshells', 'flogging a dead horse', 'better late than never', 'storm in a teacup', 'between a rock and a hard place', 'darkest before dawn', 'empty vessels make the most noise', 'birds of a feather flock together', 'separate the wheat from the chaff', 'let sleeping dogs lie', 'open a can of worms', 'light at the end of the tunnel', 'trial and error', 'look before you leap', 'lightning in a bottle', 'on the same page', don't judge a book its cover', 'reinvent the wheel', 'shifting gears', 'throwing in the towel', 'jump on the bandwagon', 'passing the buck', 'breaking the ice', 'cracking the code', 'when it rains it pours', 'bigger fish to fry', 'ball is in your court', 'back to the drawing board', 'square peg in a round hole', 'don't rock the boat', 'a whole new ball game', 'burning the midnight oil', 'never say never', 'get all your ducks in a row', 'make the hay while the sun shines', 'tick all the boxes', 'a leopard cannot change its spots', 'fools rush in', 'final straw that broke the camel's back', 'tip of iceberg', 'hold the fort', 'draw a line in the sand', 'sour grapes', 'missing the mark', 'a walk in the park', 'seat at the table' and 'trust your gut'.

A year comes to a close, and a new one begins.

A milestone. A time reset. A moment of reflection.

How did we perform at work or school in the past year? Has life been good? All goals achieved?

A post-mortem. A KPI review. An honest assessment of our hits and missess, weaknesses and strengths, successes and failures, peaks of happiness and depths of despair.

* * *

Truth be told, I'm usually not big on making New Year's resolution.

For me, the passing from 31 December to 1 January every year is just like any other stroke of midnight. The sun sets in the west and rises in the east. The cycle continues every day. The number assigned to days, months and years are merely artificial constructs of humanity for the sake of societal order.

And yet, the year 2022 has somewhat been special in many ways. Never have I experienced so many highs and lows in the space of 365 days. The year will definitely go down in memory as one of the turning points of my lifetime.

I won't list down all the milestones here. I've de-personalised this blog (for want of a better word) a long time ago. Actually, it's never been that personal to begin with. Yes, there are many personal anecdotes shared. But I've taken intricate care to anonymise the characters and refrained from sharing too many details that will allow for indirect identification. For the sake of protecting the privacy of myself and others.

Now that a new year has begun, I find myself rather uncharacteristically thinking about what changes should I make to my life and public persona in the year to come.

* * *

Why the change in policy from not making resolutions? Maybe it's due to aging. I'm not getting any younger. My time on Earth is running out. No time to live someone else's life (and hopefully, no time to die?). Time to live each day with a greater sense of purpose and direction.

Time to set annual goals, or even quarterly ones? Maybe. I already have an ikigai, and have a habit of setting very detailed time-sensitive milestones for work and personal projects. It's just a matter of filling in more details - and perhaps, setting even loftier ambitions.

I haven't quite figured out what those goals are just yet. But I should get things firmed up by the end of January. And the goals needs to be publicised - to turn up the pressure to perform and ensure greater self-accountability. Not here, of course - but in the right channels.

Goodbye, 2022. The last 365 days had been a tumultous back-and-forth journey from heaven to hell. Hopefully, in 2023, I'll be chilling more on Cloud Nine rather than languishing in the Nine Circles of Hell...

Trust Your Gut (#MY Eng 71)

This is part of a running series about English idioms - less about language, more about life itself. Previously, we covered 'missing the woods for the trees', 'the elephant in the room', 'practising what you preach', blowing hot and cold', 'no smoke without fire', 'one swallow does not make a summer', 'apples and oranges', 'cut to the chase', 'leave no stone unturned', 'that's the way the cookie crumbles', 'can't have your cake and eat it too', 'old is gold', 'putting the cart before the horse', 'mountain out of a molehill', 'pot calling the kettle black', 'bite the bullet', 'go the extra mile', 'silence is golden', 'the devil is in the details', 'sink or swim', 'once bitten twice shy', 'don't count your chickens before they hatch', 'don't put all your eggs into one basket', 'chicken and egg', 'walking on eggshells', 'flogging a dead horse', 'better late than never', 'storm in a teacup', 'between a rock and a hard place', 'darkest before dawn', 'empty vessels make the most noise', 'birds of a feather flock together', 'separate the wheat from the chaff', 'let sleeping dogs lie', 'open a can of worms', 'light at the end of the tunnel', 'trial and error', 'look before you leap', 'lightning in a bottle', 'on the same page', don't judge a book its cover', 'reinvent the wheel', 'shifting gears', 'throwing in the towel', 'jump on the bandwagon', 'passing the buck', 'breaking the ice', 'cracking the code', 'when it rains it pours', 'bigger fish to fry', 'ball is in your court', 'back to the drawing board', 'square peg in a round hole', 'don't rock the boat', 'a whole new ball game', 'burning the midnight oil', 'never say never', 'get all your ducks in a row', 'make the hay while the sun shines', 'tick all the boxes', 'a leopard cannot change its spots', 'fools rush in', 'final straw that broke the camel's back', 'tip of iceberg', 'hold the fort', 'draw a line in the sand', 'sour grapes', 'missing the mark', 'a walk in the park' and 'seat at the table'.

Ever walked down a dark alley and had a tingling feeling run down your spine? Or woke up in cold sweat from a terrifying nightmare in the morning only to later encounter a really bad day at work or school?

The French has a word for such omens and premonitions: déjà vu (which has now become part of English vocabulary). It's the feeling of dread before something bad is about to happen.

Worse still, you won't even how know how bad it is until it hits you straight in the face. There's not much you can do to avoid or lessen the impact. You just can't prepare against the inevitable.

Or can you? Sometimes, the signs are obvious and manifest far in advance. You can sense a change in the air. People behaving rather differently. Nothing discernible, but you just know something's coming...

* * *

What you can't wrap around your head, sometimes you can feel in the gut. And you've got to learn to listen and trust to that wrenching feeling in the gut.

Instincts. Intuition.

It's not some kind of hocus-pocus magic, mind you. Strong instincts often manifest from the subconscious. Your muscle memory. Your depth of knowledge. Your years of experience. Something just clicks in your mind. Warning you of imminent danger. Your inner mind is one step ahead of your conscious thoughts.

Your thoughts haven't quite processed all the details yet. Information is still lacking and yet to be fully analysed. But the conclusion is already flashing in red. Do you trust it? Or do you wait for more verification?

Of course, sometimes the warning is a false positive. Nothing bad actually happens. You're just jumping at shadows. You just overwhelm yourselves with a great deal of stress for nothing.

* * *

Your instincts aren't exactly perfect. Sometimes your inner radar just goes bonkers. Deprivation of sleep. Too much alcohol. A lot of lifestyle indulgences can mess with our mind.

Still, it's wise to pay heed to that inner voice. More often that not, your intuition will steer you toward the right path and save you from great grief.

Seat At The Table (#MY Eng 70)

This is part of a running series about English idioms - less about language, more about life itself. Previously, we covered 'missing the woods for the trees', 'the elephant in the room', 'practising what you preach', blowing hot and cold', 'no smoke without fire', 'one swallow does not make a summer', 'apples and oranges', 'cut to the chase', 'leave no stone unturned', 'that's the way the cookie crumbles', 'can't have your cake and eat it too', 'old is gold', 'putting the cart before the horse', 'mountain out of a molehill', 'pot calling the kettle black', 'bite the bullet', 'go the extra mile', 'silence is golden', 'the devil is in the details', 'sink or swim', 'once bitten twice shy', 'don't count your chickens before they hatch', 'don't put all your eggs into one basket', 'chicken and egg', 'walking on eggshells', 'flogging a dead horse', 'better late than never', 'storm in a teacup', 'between a rock and a hard place', 'darkest before dawn', 'empty vessels make the most noise', 'birds of a feather flock together', 'separate the wheat from the chaff', 'let sleeping dogs lie', 'open a can of worms', 'light at the end of the tunnel', 'trial and error', 'look before you leap', 'lightning in a bottle', 'on the same page', don't judge a book its cover', 'reinvent the wheel', 'shifting gears', 'throwing in the towel', 'jump on the bandwagon', 'passing the buck', 'breaking the ice', 'cracking the code', 'when it rains it pours', 'bigger fish to fry', 'ball is in your court', 'back to the drawing board', 'square peg in a round hole', 'don't rock the boat', 'a whole new ball game', 'burning the midnight oil', 'never say never', 'get all your ducks in a row', 'make the hay while the sun shines', 'tick all the boxes', 'a leopard cannot change its spots', 'fools rush in', 'final straw that broke the camel's back', 'tip of iceberg', 'hold the fort', 'draw a line in the sand', 'sour grapes', 'missing the mark' and 'a walk in the park'.

Nowadays, the younger generation are becoming more aware and assertive of their individual rights.

Not happy with the grades on your latest assignment? Lodge an appeal for the assignment to be re-graded or even a complaint against the teacher.

Concerned about your company's choice of a new business partner from a part of the world with dubious track record in environmental protection? Send a mass email voicing your displeasure and demanding for an avenue for lowly underlings like yourselve to have a vote on the deal.

Can't stand a monument honouring a historical figure with a chequered past in your town? Round up a demolition crew to erase the monument from the face of earth.

* * *

It's normal for everyone to have strong opinions about matters close to their heart, no matter how young or old. But to what extent should each of voices be heard? In theory, democracy is the way to go. But in practice, is there a big enough room and table to fit chairs for each and every one of us?

Total democracy would lead to chaos, or even unfairness. Does a fresh employee have an equal say on a company's management compared to say, the CEO or a senior manager who's been working there for the last 10 years? Even a voting at shareholders' meeting typically go by number of shares - the more stake you have in a company, the more say you have on its direction. Outside of political elections, democracy is seldom based on "one person, one vote" principle.

In school, high-level decisions are made by a small group of stakeholders, consisting of teachers, parents, donors, and representatives from the governmental education department. The students themselves don't have much of a vote on whether the new injection of funds should be spent on renovating the library, sports facilities, or the staff room.

But nowadays, calls for youth empowerment is growing. Discussions can't be limited to 'adults in the room'. The younger generation should be given the chance to speak their minds.

Still, there's only limited space at the table. There must be some minimum requirements and conditions attached to the right of audience. Every seat must be earned.

* * *

There's a certain set of decorum to be respected. The host at the head of table still sets the agenda and controls proceedings.

Having a seat at the table doesn't mean you can stand and shout at other guests seated at the table. Or that you're entitled to upturn the table if duscussions and decisions don't go according to your liking.

When invited to have a seat at the table, always remember that the seat comes along with rights as well as responsibilities.