I have noticed I am more consistent with my commitment to write every day when I take the trolley, wait for a bus, or drive in the passenger seat. It is the only time of most of my days where it feels so frictionless to tap on a screen and start translating thoughts into digital words. There is something about sitting idle that puts me in reflective mode. These moments of idleness make me wonder if there are other times during the day that offer similar opportunities.

Thoughts flow best when walking, swimming, or showering, but it is hard to catch them in the air and jot them down. I guess the mobile device has reduced the friction, but still many ideas and connections are lost in the mist of the mind. I wonder if any form of meditation or mental exercise helps in creating a safety net that catches those gems while walking, swimming, or showering. In the meantime, good to always carry a notebook and pen.

In Latin America, your middle name usually is more important than your first name. Back in México, my family always called me “Carlos”, or when they were angry at me, they would call me by my full name, “José Carlos.”

In high school, the personal trainers at my local gym referred to me as “Charlie”, a playful and endearing act that revealed their belief in my potential to become a fit person.

When I emigrated to London for college, and then to the United States, I went about by my first name, “José”, for two reasons: one ideological and one practical. It was my way to reinvent myself and distance from the old family dynamics and values inherited up until then. It also served a practical purpose: in the UK and the US, your first name was more important than your middle name. So I went by José. It was liberating.

Now in my 30s, with formal education over (at least in the foreseable future) and a new job down the road as a lecturer, I am reconsidering many things about who I am and what do I stand for, among them the name that people use to recognize you. It has become clear to me for the last few years a need to separate your work-life from your social-life. I have the need to go back to my origins and embrace Carlos —albeit not entirely. Hence why I prefer “Charlie”: a playful, less serious equivalent to Carlos. It has the side-benefit of further assimilation with the Anglo-Saxon world (not that I am eager to), where I have spent for most of the last decade.

José will remain how I am known by colleagues and students —the professional world.

Charlie is how I will introduce myself to new and existing friends, to the public online, to the social world.

This duality can co-exist.

So be it.

I have started feeding my cat classical music when I’m away from home. He seems calmer, friendlier, and more sociable. He gets very comfortable with me. There must be something going on in the neurochemistry of his brain that is affected by the rhythmic sound waves hitting his ears. If music has such an effect on cats, I wonder its implications with humans. How much of an effect does music have on your mood? Why does classical music, or any other relaxing sound, seem to have a soothing effect on your mood? What is the connection between your daily soundscape and psychological well-being? Why does ASMR have such a soothing effect on your neurological pathways?

Sometimes doing nothing is the most productive thing to do. Quiet reflection and wandering around feeds the soul.

It’s graduation season. I remember the day I graduated from NYU. My dad was still alive. My family traveled from México to be present with me. I was heading to Penn. A friend took a photo of me that captured everything I felt that day: Is this it? Is this what success feels like? Why do I not feel the abundance of joy and meaning everyone else seems to express? Perhaps I knew then that the journey is what really brings true meaning. The joy felt from graduating from college is similar to that of crossing the finishing line of a marathon, getting your first car, buying your own home, or any other major life landmark. They all seem short-lived. Why is that?

Missing one is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit.
— James Clear

I think the trick to daily blogging is to have a mindset not to miss a day. Even if it is a single paragraph. The habit forces you to be more attentive and responsive to the world as it develops in front of you. Ideas for a blogpost usually flow from walking. So the habit of blogging reinforces the habit of walking.

Walking reveals the landscape of ideas . And writing those ideas helps to crystallizes them.

So there it is. I am back on track.

I am having a hard time thinking of a point in history where academia experienced a revolutionary change as profound as AI will have in the next few years. Besides the printing press, it is hard to tell.

Academia is about to experience a profound change not seen since Plato founded the Academy. The role of the professor will be less about transmitting bodies of knowledge and more about igniting the curiosity and drive in their students; less about testing mastery of knowledge and more about teaching how to focus your attention. In the era of information, the ability to learn new skills, to focus attention, to cultivate inner-motivation, and to nourish enthusiasm will become ever more valuable.
I wonder what Plato would have done.

Improvisation is more than an ability. It is a skill. It demands a willingness to experiment, a proclivity for creativity, and a deep understanding of principles.

Today I improvised in painting my bedroom. I was not happy with a color I purchased for the background walls. Commercially known by Sherwin-Williams as “Ice Blue,” the tone is a bluish off-white that looked more white than expected. It blended with the pure-white trim boards. Metamerism! Natural light works in mysterious ways. Shall I dispose of this gallon of paint and purchase a warmer color?

Until today, it didn’t occur to me that you can mix different latex-based paints to create new colors. The vastness of the commercial naming of tones — “Ice Cube”, “Slate Blue”, “Hunter Green”— can make you to believe these specific colors are only achieved with precise quantities of pigments.

So I mixed the “Ice Blue” with the “Sandy Beach”, a peachy cream color I used for the hallway walls, to achieve a warmer off-white, similar to the background of this blog, if only a bit lighter. I hence-ford name this new creation “Travertine”.

In the office lingo of American English, there is an expression for the act of protecting your reputation from bad actors or circumstances: to “cover your ass.” There is a missing equivalent for protecting who you are as a person, your ethical commitments, and your vibe. I hence-ford propose a new expression: to “cover your soul”.

To cover your soul means to shield yourself from people whom you do not share their values, behaviors, and perspectives. After all, we all become the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with. It is an act of self-respect and compassion to cut ties with whom we do not share the same values.

Sometimes the secret to get out of trouble and carry out the mission, one must play the dumb card. In certain cases, to be perceived as sharp makes people go up in arms. To speak your mind only hurts feelings. To play dumb prevents confrontations, judgements, and friction. It protects the boss’ ego when a psychological safety net is not provided. It makes the team members like you better. When everyone gets along, the mission is carried out. I guess that is what tact sometimes means in practice.