Category: Uncategorized
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Eight Lessons from the Bosses
I’ve been extremely fortunate for the bosses I’ve had in my career. Here are seven ways they have changed my life.
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4th July, 2020
Today is 4th July, 2020. It’s Independence Day for Americans, and also happens to be Independence Day for me. In 2007, 17-year-old me signed a contract with the Thai government: 6 years of sponsored education in the UK in exchange for 6 years living in Thailand upon my return. When you’re 17 years old and…
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Mankindness
In recent weeks, I’ve been going through what a dear friend calls a “humbling experience”. I’ve been job hunting. The desire for external validation being one of my strongest weaknesses, I find job hunting particularly draining. Leads gone cold, e-mails not responded to, applications gently yet firmly rejected. It all fuels this mild panic, an…
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A new tutor
Last month I had the idea to re-package my English tutoring service and sell it as a premium product. I gave it the title: Val’s Bespoke English Lessons (which I think is quite snazzy – but of course I would, I came up with it!). Here it is on Facebook – in case you’re curious.…
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Harshest critic for two
The past 2 years brought 2 realisations that have revolutionised how I see myself, and others: not only are we our harshest critics, but also we project that harshness onto others. The maxims in themselves are not revolutionary, but these past 2 years I’ve experienced – first unconsciously, then consciously – the forms these maxims…
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Socially distant?
On 21st March, last Saturday, the Thai authorities announced a semi-lockdown. Closed malls, no sit-ins at restaurants (takeouts and deliveries only) – you know the drill. All in a “social distancing” effort to flatten the ever-steepening curve of COVID-19 infections in Thailand which, in the space of a week (14th to 21st), increased more than…
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And the nominees are…
The Oscars nominees are out as of yesterday, and I am over the moon! For the first time in many, many years, I actually want to watch the show. Here’s an excerpt from my Oscars Red Carpet Challenge post in 2014: I am a fan of the Oscars. I used to watch it every year…
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Back to the Past
I’ve had this blog since November 2013, which makes it just over six years old. I started it as a final-year university student, while recovering from a particularly bad depressive episode. I had “interrupted” my studies (a strange term that I’ll probably never get used to) and postponed my final exams by a year as…
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On the topic of hugs
Hugs are a fascinating thing. Like, really. It’s fascinating. First reason: a hug can communicate so much. It can be an expression of love, of care, of comfort, of camaraderie, of anything you want it to be really. Second reason: it’s fascinating seeing how different people hug. For a reason which I’ll not go into…
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Times are a-Changin’*
*Spoiler alert: this article is in development and will grow, shape-shift and hopefully mature in due course. Getting this post started is doing my head in. It’s one of those posts where you know you’ve got something worth writing about, but you’re not quite sure what it is. I don’t know if you get this…
Val Saksornchai 