September

A sound man is good at salvage, at seeing nothing is lost.

Laozi

Every time I start a project, I always forget how difficult and onerous the process can get.  Like a school kid, I get excited at the prospect and began to fantasize about all the possibilities, sort of like dating, I guess.  Then life happens - absolutely nothing turns out the way you anticipate and hope for, sort of like marriage (not that I would know personally but I do have friends and siblings who are married and many times, it ain’t pretty).  It can get quite demoralizing.  Ever since I tried to implement the YouthPlatform Social Justice Warrior leadership training program, it has been one wrong turn after another.  Not everything has been bad; I’ve had a few pleasant surprises. I definitely enjoy exploring the ideas and am looking forward to talking with the guest speakers. I wouldn’t have asked them to be a speaker if I was not intrigued by their potential contribution.  But getting the audience, the students, has been tricky.  And let’s face it, they are the reason why I developed the program. 

So what next? Well, I must admit that I thought about scrapping everything and returning to enjoy my weekends again (I did for a month before the project).  But divorce has never been an option in the Joo clan.  We are not allowed to divorce (per MOM) even if you are absolutely, positively miserable and want to jump off a plane without a parachute or fake your own death and live on a deserted island alone forever.  So it is not a real option, just a fantasy of what life would be like without a project gone awry.  Then how does one salvage something that is not going as planned?  I mean, how do you work through a marriage that just isn’t what you even remotely imagined?  If you follow along in the training program, you will know how I think people should deal with such obstacles.  Whether I follow my own advice or not, of course, is another story.

Without question, I will continue since divorce is off the table.  I will develop a better program based on the feedback from the think tank.  I will continue with the conversations with guest speakers.  And I will try to connect with whoever may be interested in the program. So the project will continue, not as planned but as in life and marriage, I will just need to adjust and make the best of what we do have.  It is all about modifying our attitude after a bout of anger, temper tantrum, and a pint, no, make that a bucket of ice cream.  Who knows, maybe the project, like a long marriage, turns out better than anyone EVER expected?  And we need effective leadership now so that our future is not as abysmal as the present.

Sam Joo

Founder and Director of Platform

September 1, 2020