📌 7 Years in Seoul

At age 15, I left my parents' nest to study in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the most rapidly developed countries in modern history, and it has been never the same as yesterday. Its capital, Seoul, hosts the government that has led the Miracle on the Han River, the skyscrapers of multinational corporations, cutting-edge tech startups, and hundreds of embassies and consulates that endorse one of the most powerful passports in the world.

Using Hourglasses for Meditation

For meditation, I used to open up an app from my smartphone, sometimes just to time, and sometimes to listen to the guidance of online gurus. It was nice as I could also see my friends' activity, which streamed healthy peer pressure for me. But the smartphone itself was so distractive that I ended up doing something else with it easily. Instead, I’m continuing the journey with new company–hourglasses of 30 (left), 5 (right), and 10 (not shown) minutes each.

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

We often think “happiness is merely the result of success, not the precursor to success.” The author, the pioneer of positive psychology, suggests to think in the other way around: when we’re happier, we will become more successful. When I was playing Civilization V, I had to keep my citizens “happy” in order to keep up their productivity. But how come I failed to think I had to do the same thing for myself, even playing it several hours a day?