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Archetypes

As I think about my life experiences, I am not always certain of all the details associated with any specific memory. After all, we fill in the blanks in everything that we recall. The actual reality that took place may be somewhat different than what we remember. Memories lie and recollections are never perfect. Not only we tend to forget names of people, but we may change the events as well to fit a certain narrative. This is not intentional, and I do not intent to write fiction. However, I realize that in my mind, I am seeking to find some meaning to my life and therefore unconsciously tend to create a narrative that fits to my gestalt. As an existentialist I do not believe that anything has any meaning fundamentally. We create meaning to everything ourselves. We perceive reality in a way that we are conditioned to perceive it. We make sense out of it based on our existing frameworks. We have our own schemata. At the same time, these schemata are organized around archetypes. They ar
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Detachment

A lot of things have frustrated me lately. Some of them have to do with the current political environment as well as the condition of our natural environment. Sometimes it is hard to walk with eyes open and not to notice the decline of our society. It seems to me that in many ways we have lost the sense of humanity. We work as extensions of machines that we have created, and we are constantly brainwashed to the point that we do not even know what we really want and need anymore. We are detached from the nature and surrounded by technology. I sometimes wonder how long we can sustain this way of life. Educational quality has decreased to the point that there is no real critical thinking and transformation occurring anymore. We learn like machines these days. It sort of feels like garbage in garbage out. Our healthcare system is no different. We look at our bodies as mechanisms and treat them accordingly. We rely extensively on pharmaceutical solutions and fail to understand ourselves as
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Legacy

I have been thinking about legacy lately. Our actions matter and what we choose to do builds our legacy. When we focus on our legacy and doing good for humanity, wealth and success will follow. However, to be true to one's legacy one has to stay authentic and true to oneself. This takes assertiveness. After half a century on this earth, I feel that I have finally earned my right to speak out and stand up. I feel that I have something to say and am no longer concerned about optics and image. I want to be heard and make a difference. I am angry about a lot of problems we have in our society and can no longer stand by silently. I have no choice other than to lead the change effort and build my legacy. I do not want people to perceive me as being angry for the sake of being angry because that is not the truth. I am not Don Quixote. However, even Buddha was angry about the suffering of others. Even Buddha got angry when he was hit three times. I have been hit many times in my life and I
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Frustrations

I have been feeling quite frustrated lately for a lot of different reasons. I have been frankly sort of disappointed in the humanity as a whole. I have been faced with a couple of different situations during the past couple of weeks that have angered me. First, a friend of mine called me about a situation at work feeling that she had been betrayed by her manager. She felt used and unappreciated. Second, I was trying to help someone who ended up acting without integrity and breached an agreement. These two situations resonated with me and caused me to reflect on the importance of some basic human values. We all work with other humans and must find ways to collaborate. We should not use people and we should always seek to help people. Nothing is worth doing if it is not done with integrity. As a professor I feel that it is my absolute responsibility to teach about these values in my classroom. I teach MBA courses and feel that managers and leaders have to operate with trust, integrity, a
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Authenticity

I have been thinking about leadership and authenticity a lot lately. Leadership requires authenticity. It is impossible for a leader to pretend through leading people. Leadership is too complex and difficult to act through. Therefore, every leader must find his or her own way. Reading books about the journeys of other leaders does not help a lot because every leader must travel their own journey through individuation. Copying others is only going to lead to wrong places. What do you think?
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