Shiny, Colourful Plans for 2025 and Beyond

In the upcoming year, I plan to re-enter the gemstone world in earnest.

I’m looking to get into the following things:

1) Revive my long-dormant @loupinjewels Instagram account, also so that I can put up items for sale on my account. I did think about creating a separate account to do this, but it seems like an unnecessary bother to do so. There is quite a lot to sell - especially fluorites - which I’m no longer collecting.

2) Keep building contacts, especially gem cutters and jewellers, so that I can get my rough stones cut, and my cut stones set.

3) Learn to cut my own stones - exploring the possibility of a 2-week course.

4) Study gemmology at AIGS in Bangkok - this will require something in the region of 3 - 4 months.

5) Finally set up my gems and minerals display(s) at home - Looking to give it a generally softer atmosphere, so not just glass and stands and shelves, but also some ambient display elements, preferably to do with the natural world - perhaps something like a terrarium, but only as a sort of background. The main focus should still be the gems and minerals.

6) Invite fellow gem / mineral enthusiasts for small gatherings - not sure how this will go, but it’ll be nice to have like-minded friends come together to talk and hang out.

I don’t know if being in the gemstone world will be able to replace my current income anytime soon, but I believe that it’s worth a shot. After all, I’ve been talking about leaving the peripheries of the formal education system for a long time.

2025 is as good a year as any to kickstart that process.

Happy to have you along for the ride!

Time-based Planning vs Event-based Planning. Is One Better Than The Other?

Timelines don't make a whole lot of sense to me.

I get that planning for the future usually requires some sort of base to build the plan on.

And the default seems to be a linear view of time dotted with sequential milestones.

I, like most people I know, grew up with this understanding and use of timelines.

Time-based linear schedules while in school, when you go on overseas travel tours ("We'll meet here in 1 hour!"), or when you try to plan your days / weeks out.

And they are easy to use both because they are ubiquitous, understood by most people, and straightforward (note the use of 'straight' and 'forward').

The issue I've always had with timelines is that, once they project a certain distance into the future, there are practically no guarantees that any of it will pan out "as planned".

Perhaps it's my disposition towards going with the flow or my preference to observe that leads me to plan my life around events as opposed to time.

And I know that it's not an easy concept to "get" for people who've always planned around time.

I suppose I'll have to dig a bit deeper and elaborate on this some time in the near future, because it isn't something I've explored that much yet.

If you have any thoughts on this, I'd love to hear from you.

What Have You Been Doing With Your Life?

Every 1st day of the month, at 12 noon, the Public Warning System in Singapore plays a chime reminiscent of church bells.

When I was much younger, I wondered which church it was that was able to do that so loudly and so close by.

These days, I refer to it as the "What have you been doing with your life?" bell.

And, in the past year, I can't say I have a very good answer.

It's been quite a roller-coaster ride, and I'm not a fan of roller-coasters.

Some day soon, though, I will have a great answer to that question.

And I look forward to it.

Even in Terrible Situations, There Are Some Who Shine Brightly

When a market unfairly stacks the deck against sellers, you're certain to end up with sub-standard products and services, all to compete in a race to the bottom.

When the sellers actually play along and, in turn, plays the same game with their contractors / sub-contractors, you know you have a really problematic industry.

And then you take a step back and realise that this is tried in almost every industry, but there are sellers and providers out there who fight back.

These are the ones to learn and take inspiration from.

Thank you for showing us that we don't have to take unfair treatment, even if they are policies, and even if they seem like unsurmountable obstacles.