Diversity has been the hype-word of the decade; use the word, throw a punch line or two about the need for ‘difference’ in the workplace & voila! You are now a credible diversity-first company culture that seeks authenticity and inclusion. Unfortunately, that alone isn’t enough to create diversity at the core of its mission and values.

The Parks Legacy

It’s been 78 years since Rosa Parks refused to leave her bus seat, and yes, black people have gone a long way since then to gain fundamental human rights — but that all is still not enough. …

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” — Buddha

I’ve been living with my apartment mate for six years now — basically since college. We left each other for seven years; then, when she moved to my city, I had to ask her to join me again.

One of our never-changing habits is comparing our daily stories and getting feedback.

Having someone who knows you since your old days — before you’ve grown older, wiser, and a bit bitter -in my…

The other day, I spent the night listening to my friend’s updates on her life over the past three months. My friend lives in the States, and she happened to be Black.

She shared stories of feeling threatened while walking the streets those days. Streets have always been the same; unsafe and unwelcoming. Yet, lately, the streets seemed to be more color-unfriendly.

I kept my mouth shut as her furious rage poured in all shapes and forms from her mouth. …

In 2012, the greatest chess player in the world, Magnus Carlsen, plaid in one of the world’s biggest championships in Mexico City, the Mexican capital, against Judit Bolgar, the strongest female chess player we know. The game ended with a massive win for Bolgar with a smart strategy Carlsen was oblivious to.

Bolgar, whose name you probably have never heard before, won the eighth place among the chess tycoons in the world, and we are talking about a list headed by Kasparov, Anand, and Topalov. Despite this, this list included only two women in its history. …

Many companies have taken serious steps in the last 4 years to be more inclusive; be it women-inclusive for the sake of #MeToo, LatinX for the continuous clashes and the mayhem that was created by building the #SeperationWall, to Black Lives that always mattered but mattered the most when a precious soul was murdered brutally, the name #GeorgeFloyd became anonymous to injustice. Exactly 8 minutes and 46 seconds became now the record time you need to transfer from being a human being into an animal.

in each one of those cases, you will see a pattern of two main points:

…

We came to this world as different creatures: we look different, our tastes are far apart in times, we have different physics & looks -normally, I take this as an excuse to mention my big nose!-, and we have different lifestyles.

One aspect of a lifestyle is your sleeping routine. Some people love to wake up the earliest, some enjoy a later morning routine, and some are like me; night owls that thrive at night and love to explore the quietness, peacefulness, and endless possibilities the night brings.

That was how I lived my life so far. I never recall…

In my early twenties, the most important thing in life was to have more fun & more friends.

In my late twenties, the most important thing in life was money & getting more of it.

Right now, I truly believe the most important thing in life is to have options to choose from, being able to decide the route you want to follow, not following a path that was decided for you by someone/society/circumstances.

Options are the power you need to make your life meaningful and to get a higher purpose.

Let me explain it to you:

Fun & Friends Come & Go

Don’t get me…

The other day I felt like traveling again. I swear I could sense the sands under my feet, the smell of the blue sea was vivid in my nose, and I needed my sunblock to minimize the sunburns on my skin.

When a yearning feeling like this hits, I turn to my therapist;

movies.

This time, I picked “Eat, Pray, Love”. This is the 5th time I watch the movie. But this time, I noticed something different.

As Liz was in Italy, she entered the Constantine Cathedral. …