Just Reflections Podcast

Today, on the way to church, I saw two men walking on the side of the road. They weren’t rushing. They didn’t look like they were heading somewhere urgent. They were just walking together, slowly, like they were taking a stroll. It hit me harder than I expected. It was just two men walking. But the image felt strangely rare, almost foreign. And as I watched them I found myself asking: when was the...

I thought I understood love before I became a father. I’d loved deeply; my wife, my friends, my siblings, my parents. I’d read about it, prayed about it, written about it. Love was something I knew well, or so I believed. But there are levels to understanding something as complex as love. And my understanding before had missing elements. The love I have for my wife began the way most romantic love...

Before my wife traveled to Zimbabwe recently, we sat at the dinner table one night chatting, and she said she felt some type of way about going home. Not dread exactly. Not simple excitement either. Something more tangled. Love and distance sitting next to each other, both equally true, both equally present. I understood exactly what she meant. That mix of longing and apprehension. Wanting to go a...

When faced with the task of writing, many of us are quick to admit, "I have a wealth of ideas, but I struggle to find the right words to express them," or "I'm well-versed in my subject, but I can't organise my thoughts in a clear and interesting way." If you resonate with this, you’ve come to the right place. My consistent writing journey over the past two years has taught me that writing isn't a...

Today’s piece was inspired by (and borrows from) Erik Davtyan’s insightful medium post . His is specifically for Software Engineers so I figured I’d expand it for a more general audience. Without further ado, let’s go. In the realm of career advice, we often encounter a ton of tips and tricks on how to land the perfect job. But what if we flipped the script? What if, instead, we explored the art o...

Art is a curious thing. Have you ever wondered why people continue to flock to art exhibitions, lining up just to catch a glimpse of artworks like the Mona Lisa, which they've seen many times in books or online? It's the same reason we love to rewatch our favorite movies or reread cherished books. It's not that the artwork, film, or book changes, but rather our interaction with it does. Consider t...

This weekend, I went to a movie with my wife and some friends. We arrived a little early and, having secured our tickets, we decided to wait in the lobby. As we waited, a discussion started about an upcoming film I'm eagerly anticipating: Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse. If you know me, you're aware that I can become quite passionate when discussing movies like this. We were all talking animated...

You all probably know by now that I'm super passionate about relationships and understanding people. There's just something about diving into the minds of others, learning about their likes, dislikes, dreams, and everything in between that just hooks me. And when it comes to the connections we forge with others, like friendships and romantic relationships, my curiosity just skyrockets. As an intro...

In early 2022, I was introduced to the captivating world of storytelling through a TED talk by Matthew Dicks. His mesmerizing presence led me to explore his work further and eventually discover his book, Storyworthy. It was there that I first learned about The Moth , a storytelling platform that showcases ordinary people sharing extraordinary stories. The Moth's powerful ability to forge connectio...

As we grow closer to our partners, we might expect that having tough conversations becomes easier, but unfortunately, the opposite is often true. The longer we’re together, the more guarded we become. We fear each other’s judgement and become less open, making assumptions about each other, and finding it harder to discuss important topics. Interestingly, many of us were more open when we started d...

One of my friends had their birthday this week and that got me thinking about one of my favourite subjects lately; adult friendships. This coincided with me listening to a really insightful compilation of ideas about adult friendships on Blinkist called Finding and Nurturing Adult Friendships. So while my mind’s on this, let’s talk about friendships. Psychologist Marisa Franco, author of “Platonic...

In the past, I've often avoided confrontational situations because of my introverted nature. The thought of confrontation makes me anxious, and I just want the conflict to be over as soon as possible. This often leads me to make concessions I shouldn't make and ultimately not stand up for what I believe in. I realize that avoiding discomfort at the moment only sets me up for even greater discomfor...

Would you like to change your career but feel like it’s too risky given how much you’ve invested in it? Back in 2014, I was a fresh graduate in a career that I knew wasn’t really my thing. I was a civil and water engineer, but I really wanted to work with computers. My job involved going out to site and I really don’t enjoy working outdoors, my sight is also not great in strong sunlight so it made...

Do you set New Year’s resolutions and then give up on them by March? If your answer is yes then you’re not alone. When January comes around many people get a huge burst of motivation to make sweeping changes in their lives. But this motivation is fleeting and fails to stand up against the torrential wind that is our indiscipline. So does this mean we should quit making new year’s resolutions? I do...

Start writing today. Use the button below to create your Substack and connect your publication with Just Reflections As we enter the new year, some of the loud messages you’ll hear online are, “love yourself”, “choose yourself”, and “prioritise yourself”. The implication here is that many of the bad things that happen to us are because we don’t think about ourselves enough when we make decisions....

This weekend has been pretty phenomenal. First, I just watched the best world cup final of my life and I’m only now getting enough composure to sit down and write. Second, and this is what we’re talking about today. After a very mediocre year for movies yesterday, I experienced absolute cinematic bliss. I’m glad this is the movie we’re closing the year with. I’m talking about Avatar: The Way of Wa...

Read till the end. There’s a delightful surprise. Introduction. "Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change," - Brené Brown. In today's society, we often associate vulnerability with weakness and shy away from showing our true selves. However, research has shown that vulnerability can actually be a powerful tool for personal growth and development. According to a study c...

When you assess yourself do you think you’re good at love? When your loved ones think about you, do you think they get visions of rainbows and unicorns or blood and toil? If it’s somewhere in between which side is it leaning? Whether you’re good or not, where did you learn to love? Where do any of us learn to give and to receive love and why is there so much variation? We all have different perspe...

My wife and I are home in Zimbabwe and for the last couple of weeks, we’ve been living with our parents. One reality that dawns on you when you live with your parents as an adult is that they’re also doing their best to figure out life one day at a time. Our parents raised us based on the reality they lived in, but by the time we mature, reality has changed a lot. Your parents can no longer help y...

Contrary to popular belief, money can actually buy happiness. It’s just that many people don’t know how to spend it right. There’s research to back up this claim. “The correlation between income and happiness is positive but modest, and this fact should puzzle us more than it does. After all, money allows people to do what they please, so shouldn’t they be pleased when they spend it? Why doesn’t a...

I am an introvert and I love it! I also know many other introverts. In fact, I really love meeting other introverts and learning about all the uniquely introverted experiences they have. Despite how it might initially appear, introverts are everywhere, about 25% - 40% of the population . Our quiet approach to life and our need for solitary time aren’t flaws, they’re gifts. However, as an introvert...

Do you feel you don’t have enough time in the day to do everything you want to do? Have you looked at all the productivity junkies out there and wondered how they do everything they do? While I don’t consider myself a productivity junkie, I do many things. I’m married and I’m a full-time senior software engineer, which on its own is a very demanding and sometimes stressful job. I’m also a co-found...

This week I announced on LinkedIn that I started a new job as a Senior Software Engineer at Contentful . As expected, this was followed by many congratulations messages. Besides the congratulations, there were messages asking about how I switched from Civil Engineering to Software Engineering. I expect these messages whenever I talk about my software engineering career. What I didn’t expect was pe...

Many of us believe luck to be a binary non-deterministic thing; by no doing of our own, there are people who are lucky and other people who are not lucky. In another variation, we believe people’s luck to be situational; for example, when it comes to business, she’s very lucky. What if I told you that none of that is true? That there are things you can do to create your own luck. This is an idea t...

You, dear reader, probably don’t come from a rich family. You probably didn’t have a trust fund waiting for you when you turned 18 (that’s how trust funds work, right?). And there’s no long line of generational wealth threading itself through your family history. And now that you’re an adult, it’s your turn to take a stab at starting the generational wealth in your family. How’s that going? Many o...