Muayyad Al-Chalabi

A little while ago, Larry Bissonette came to Cincinnati for a visit. Larry was the subject of a film “Wretches and Jabberers,” following some of his global travels. He is both autistic and uses typing as a way of expressing his thoughts. In the first few scenes of the movie, he flaps his hands and paces around rooms and repeats phrases that seemed typically “autistic” to me. But soon though, he began typing, sharing profound, insightful and relevant thoughts. 

Last week, I defied one of my self-portrait edicts of not letting disappointment linger. I was humbled by a two-dose disappointment case, disappointment in work and people. The definition of disappointment is “Sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one's hopes or expectations.” Were my hopes so high that guaranteed disappointment? I poured my heart and soul into the work, so why it was not received as I expected? And why my friend who I trusted as an ally turned out to be an antagonist? Lingering questions!

Every year during performance reviews or interviews, we get asked and ask others questions like this “what are the areas of improvement?”, “what are the strengths and weaknesses?” As if it is a predictive exercise that may foretell what I am good or suck at.

As a human, I recognize that I am not complete, and the areas of improvement are far more numerous than there are strengths. However, I think I should be able to dynamically assess the strengths and weaknesses as the situation arises - identify it and work on it or seek help to fill the void.