As we begin a new month, I also felt that for the first time in a truly long time, it is my turn to really turn a page in my journey & my life. After thinking a lot about everything that’s been happening in the last 48 hours of my life, that suddenly, but maybe not so surprising rise to the top of the industry, and all the personal revelations that have been popping up during the least unexpected moments of each day; I finally feel like I’ve just graduated from a stage of my life and now I’m beginning to enter into a new one. In fact, this new change has been so wonderful that it has been giving me some new headaches. The good kind. 😅 I know, it sounds so wierd as those words roll out of my mouth, but they are also true.

Twenty Years of Trials and Tribulations

When I finally took a moment to sit down and look back on everything that I had to endure and overcome to make it to this very point of success, as much as I have many people to give thanks to, I could not help but also remember a lot of those that have treated me badly, mean, sometimes even plain rude. The one image that kept coming back to me was this image of myself meeting with two slightly more experienced designers during the earlier years as a freelancer. They had a project idea and they were interested to hear what my suggestion would be on how to go about implementing it.

So, I will never forget that we met at the old Jurong Entertainment Centre (back when it was still called that), and we sat down at KFC to discuss. And as soon as I was done sharing my idea and proposal, these two guys simply shook their heads, and without saying a single word, got up and left. They just left.

Of all the rejections and nastiness I have experienced and received from the design industry over the years, this was probably the one experience that stung the most. I will always remember sitting there, stunned and feeling totally dejected. Like…I was thinking, “Wait…was there something wrong with my idea 💡??”

Oh man, I honestly cannot tell you how many nights after that that I didn’t sleep. I kept replaying that scene over and over again in my head, wondering if I could’ve said anything or done anything differently so that they would give me the project or agree to collaborate with me on it. But I kept coming back to one conclusion, “I know my idea will work. It’s untested, sure. But I know it is the kind of solution that their project needs.”

Truth be told, I never heard from them ever again. But in my next freelance project, I took the opportunity to try proposing the idea again. The client wasn’t a technical person, but she trusted that I know what I am doing. Honestly, I knew I was also taking a risk to attempt an untested idea/solution. It has all the possibility of backfiring on me. But here’s what really happened, it worked out better than any one of us could’ve expected.

That insane, crazy, radical idea I had proposed and pitched to those two designers, it worked. And over time, I didn’t just replicate the idea once, I did it again and again and again and again. Why? Because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just luck. Today, I see my idea everywhere on the web. It’s literally everywhere! Yes, I am talking about using breadcrumbs, form wizards, anything that uses those steps to help end users visualize where they are.

I proposed that design idea back in 2006 because I understand that even with the latest Sony Ericsson phones with their nice color screens, it can’t display too much information, so using those form wizards could make a view appear properly within the screen and the user doesn’t have to keep scrolling for eternity.

I have been Right All Along

When I look back now on all the things that I have done, the ideas and solutions I have proposed and got rejected because it was too “out of this world”, or “nobody is going to want to do it this way”, I see everything we are doing today and now I realized one simple truth, “I was right all along. I was RIGHT. Period.”

But this really isn’t about me sitting here finally folding my arms and telling the rest of the design industry, “See I told you so.” This is really more about me finally understanding that my ideas (as crazy and radical as they were once), wasn’t really crazy at all, I was just…”ahead of our time.”

Honestly, I am just happy and glad that the world as a whole has finally caught up with it. At least now, I no longer have to feel alone with my “crazy ideas 🤪” anymore. 😜

Time to Let It Go. Time to Forgive.

As I take this moment, while I’m sitting here in Koufu, in my sacred space and sanctuary, I want to take this moment to just address the people (in general) that have said all those nasty things to me, all the words of rejections and telling me that I didn’t belong, those that have shut me down, not once, not twice, sometimes multiple times…yeah, I want to speak directly to you.

I FORGIVE YOU.

Look, what is in the past is in the past. I am choosing not to hang on to those hurtful, dejected feelings anymore. I believe this is my time to finally move on. I’m not angry, I’m not resentful about it either. And if any of you ever want to sit down to ask me questions about my perspectives and insights on the UX industry, you are certainly welcomed to reach out to me and I’m happy to sit down with you over coffee to discuss it. No hard feelings guys. And if not, that’s alright too. I genuinely pray that you will continue to prosper and that you and your families will be safe and live a good, full and happy life.

Feelings of Restoration (In-Progress)

As I continue to sit here, finally feeling the awesome effects of that spicy 🔥 salonpas doing it’s work on my shoulders (both of them), I am also sitting here spiritually, experiencing those full effects of God’s restoration powers. I honestly have no clue what is waiting for me after this. But I am done chasing after something that I wanted to be, because I know that it is finally all I am now. This is me choosing to live at my best in this very moment, not with luxury meals or expensive lifestyles, or fancy hardware and gadgets (although I won’t say no if someone decides to sponsor me with some upgrades 😆). But no. It is not about any of those things. Me living my best in each moment of everyday is really about just simply BEING the best version of myself, every single day for the rest of my life. This isn’t about who I want to be tomorrow, or next week, or next month. This is about me BEING who I am in the here and now.

And thank You God. Thank You for finally showing me and helping me to understand why I had to go through all those trials and tribulations. I know I’ve cursed at you a million times, I’ve blamed You in situations even when it wasn’t Your doing. I understand now that You have allowed me to experience these pains and struggles so that now, I can finally understand and see the pain and struggles of those around me. And now, maybe it is my turn to help them.