Tteokguk & Strawberries

20210213 #breakfastdiary 2, clear skies On this Lunar New Year, one of the two we mark each year, I have a hearty bowl of tteokguk (rice cake and dumpling soup), then wash the prettiest strawberries in the world and drizzle them with rosemary and balsamic. "If you apply a consistent principle rigidly, the principle itself becomes a kind of violence; if you allow flexibility depending on the situation, you get the chaos of having no principle at all. In the end, what matters is balance and understanding." As someone who runs a system, this is a problem I'm always wrestling with. At the same time, it's not one that gets solved by the pretty phrase 'just keep the balance.' I find myself thinking about restrained language and keeping a consistent tone in everyday life. A captain's announcement exists to reassure passengers that the aircraft is safely under control. No matter how urgent the situation, a captain is meant to speak calmly and deliberately. What would happen if a captain's announcement, in a crisis, only added to the anxiety of passengers and crew — unless, of course, that anxiety was the intended, unspoken goal all along.