Hi, I’ve been working with a large client from Asia for a few years now and it’s caused a few changes in my life. Today I wanted to tell you about a few of those changes. Achieving a work-life balance is becoming more and more crucial for me. In general, the concept of “work-life balance” is a subject of intense discussion as people try to reconcile professional demands with personal passions, family and time for relaxation. So I wanted to describe a bit of my perspective, which has changed recently. You will read about how much in the rest of the article.
Cooperation with an Asian Client: Learning from Culture and Business
Cooperation with Asian clients requires understanding a different culture and approach to business. There is no denying that it is completely different than cooperation with clients from Europe. I won’t write too much about work here, but I’ll try to focus on a few things that caught my attention and that I decided to implement into my life.
Bonsai Care and Creating a Zen Garden
In their search for peace and harmony in everyday life, many people reach for practices borrowed from Asian culture, such as Bonsai Tree care and creating a Zen Garden. Caring for these miniature trees and arranging small gardens creates an opportunity for relaxation and contemplation.
After a few years of working together, I decided that in a world full of rush and stress, finding balance is the key to well-being and I started with bonsai.
Bonsai is a symbol of strength, harmony and longevity in Japanese culture, it requires patience and understanding the cycle of life. By taking care of these small trees, we learn humility towards nature and the need for sustainable development. And besides, the tree nicely decorates my private space.
I listened to many guides and instructional videos before I decided on my first tree. You could say that pruning branches is a metaphor for our actions in life. Sometimes we have to remove certain elements to maintain balance. You can’t do everything, sometimes you have to give up something.
Below I’ve included a YouTube SHORT of my tree. If you’re curious about what it looks like, you can find out from the video below.
The tree has been with me for over a year and so far it’s doing well, so I guess I’m not doing too badly.
Creating a mini Zen garden, with its simple, harmoniously arranged elements, is something a bit different. I don’t know how it started, but it allows me to find solace in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It’s my place of peace, where I can break away from everyday tasks for a while. It sounds strange, but playing in a garden like this really relaxes me. Maybe I’ll make a bigger version of it in the garden behind the house someday? If that happens I’ll let you know, but for now you can see what my home zen garden looks like.
Making the garden was easy. I ordered a wooden box on a popular auction site because it was cheap, and unfortunately I don’t have the tools yet to do it nicely myself. Besides, as we know, some jobs are better to be done by others. I borrowed the sand from my children’s sandbox, although I think a bit finer would be better. Maybe I’ll bring a small bag of fine sand as a souvenir for my seaside vacation? And I made the rake myself from sushi chopsticks and toothpicks.
The Ritual of Tea
Drinking tea in Asian culture is not just a simple activity, but a real ritual that teaches you to enjoy small moments. Preparing tea, its smell and taste, are a time for reflection and peace.
Preparing such tea takes some time, but for me it is a time to step away from the computer. I work mainly remotely from my home. As we know, we should take breaks at work, so I use them to prepare a delicious tea from time to time. I got so into it that I decided to buy a special tea set. Currently, my tea collection is constantly growing. Luckily, these days it’s not a problem to order tea literally from all over the world, so I often use it.
By the way, good tea prepared in the right way tastes really delicious.
Summary
Work-life balance is an important element in my life, and Asian culture has provided me with valuable tips. Working with Asian clients requires understanding their values and approach to business, while practices such as Bonsai care, creating a Zen Garden, and Tea Ritual can be effective ways to find peace and harmony in everyday life. That’s why it’s worth being inspired by them and including them in your everyday life.
I have to admit that the things I wrote about have become a permanent part of my life, but for how long I don’t know. My mini Zen garden sometimes doesn’t get touched for a month, and then I have a few days when I look into it several times a day and make new marks in the sand. The same goes for tea. I drink coffee every day, and tea whenever I feel like it. I can drink it several times a day or not drink it for a few days.
I’m not trying to convince anyone to change their life or drink tea instead of coffee. I’ve just described the influence of this culture on my life. I’m very happy about it. Working in an international team brings many benefits, not only financial ones. Thanks for sticking around to the end. If you liked the article, share it online and leave a comment, I will be very happy and maybe I will start writing more such non-technical articles soon. See you soon in another article or video.