Reflections

Untranslatable expressions: the elephant in the room

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Today I´d like to talk to you about elephants and metaphors, though this time they´re not the same as the elephant and metaphor in this other article (which, by the way, I highly recommend that you read, if you haven´t done so yet).

There´s an expression in English that´s very widely used, the elephant in the room (which literally translates into Spanish as "el elefante en la sala") to refer to a difficult and problematic topic, something that nobody wants to talk about, but that´s at the same time impossible to ignore.

One such topic is mental health, which is fortunately being discussed a little more openly nowadays, although there´s still a lot more that needs to be done in that area. For a few years now, here in Ireland, there´s a movement called exactly that, Elephant in the Room, which promotes conversations about mental health in the workplace, with the aim of normalising them. And the way they give visibility to this problem is literally by placing an elephant in the room: so far, they´ve delivered almost two hundred artistic baby elephant sculptures to all kinds of companies, institutions and education centres, in Ireland and abroad. Here are pictures of two of them:

Elephant sculptures seen some time ago in Blanchardstown Town Centre (left) and Maynooth University (right).

These elephants are a reminder that, behind a facade of apparent normality, anyone could be suffering. And if we don´t go beyond the customary "hi, how are you?" and superficial conversation before hurrying to do something else, we´re never going to find out who´s dying to have the opportunity to let something off their chest. It´s up to us to dedicate time and effort to connecting with others and truly listening to them, and be part of a support network where we can be there for each other.

Because, in this day and age, who wouldn´t benefit from a little more support and understanding? We are living a historical period in which we´re both more connected and more disconnected than ever. And we´re also most certainly more disoriented than ever, with everything moving at breakneck speed...

There´s one more elephant that comes to mind that we can talk about, one that I personally avoid as much as I can, although it´s becoming harder and harder to ignore, having become almost omnipresent. A technology so radical and disruptive that nobody has any idea where it can take us. Can you guess what it is?

Of course, I´m referring to the the astonishing and terrifying artificial intelligence: a entity (or rather, the sum of millions of entities) with the ability to both produce the most incredible advancements for Humanity and cause more havoc than a bull in a china shop (another very graphic metaphor starring an animal, and in Spanish, the equivalent is actually an elephant in a glassware shop).

I have been resisting the idea of talking about AI in this blog, and to be honest, I still don´t feel like writing about it. For the moment, it´s enough to say that I´m finding it a source of a lot of uncertainty, as I´m sure it is for many others as well, and when there´s uncertainty, there´s always discomfort and restlessness. Interestingly, what I noticed that helps me personally is talking about this topic with others; not specifically about AI as such, but about my reluctance and my worries, my uncertainty and fears. I think it´s because it opens the door for others to also open up, and get to speak more honestly and openly about what worries them.

Which brings me back to the initial idea with the elephants and mental health: sometimes we don´t realise when tension and worry start building up, and one day we suddenly find that we´re carrying a heavy burden and we don´t even know where it came from. An open and honest conversation with someone we trust can be really beneficial, as well as dedicating time to take care of ourselves, in whichever way we need, without guilt, so that we can make sure we´re OK and have physical, mental and emotional energy to keep going.

What about you, have you seen any of the elephants? Which one is your favourite? And what´s your "elephant in the room" at this particular moment?

Five years of BinaryWords

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Today, May 18th 2026, marks the fifth anniversary of my starting to write this blog..

Five years, a lustrum! I remember that, when I was little, I didn´t know how long a lustrum was, but I did know it was a measure of time, and in my mind it was something huge, like a century maybe, an eternity...

(It seems that the word "lustrum" is not very widely used in English; I suspect its equivalent in Spanish, "lustro", is not too widely used either, but I thought it would be nice to use it today. Both words come from the Latin lustrum)

This picture of Killiney beach is also almost five years old; it´s the image I initially used as a header for the blog:

Many things have happened since May 2021, around the world and within each one of us. I remember I was going through some soul-searching back then; I wasn´t sure what to do with my life, but I knew I wanted to do something different. So I decided to start walking, to get moving, trusting that the path would appear before me. And I did it by resuming a hobby I had found very fulfilling in the past but that I had abandoned for several years: writing. Or more specifically, blogging.

Even today, if I stop to think about it, I find it strange: every week I sit down to synthesise my thoughts and learnings in a few paragraphs, and then I send them out to the world, a bit blindly, without knowing who will receive them or whether they will resonate with them. Deep down, my hope is that whoever stumbles upon these lines finds one or two ideas that cheer them up, help them or inspire them in some way.

But I have to say that the person who benefits most, without a doubt, is me. On the one hand, for being able to use this creative outlet and contribute something I can be proud of, even if it´s small, and on the other hand, because I know these weekly reflections have opened the door to many other interesting (and challenging) things in my life.

For, as I had hoped, the path did appear before me; it keeps appearing with every step I take. Piece by piece, my project continues to take shape, although it´s still under construction, which is exactly the point: to continuously grow and to support others in their own growth. Both of those are tasks that last for life.

The blog now comprises over 250 articles; you can find them all in the archive. And if you´re starting to get tired of just reading, and you´re ready to step into action, have a look at the services page (recently updated) and let me know what change you want to make in your life.

One foot in front of the other

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It´s the beginning of another week, and I imagine it like a blank sheet of paper to fill in day by day, if possible, in nice and neat handwriting.

Sometimes, we go through stages where there´s barely time for anything else but whatever is indispensable each day. And that´s OK, it´s what needs to be done.

But be careful, or you might get stuck there for much longer than you need to...

I found this quote in a book I keep at home; I haven´t been able to identify the author:

Don´t spend so long concentrating
on putting one foot in front of the other
that you forget to look where you are going.

(Photo taken approximately a year ago, walking down from the Alhambra towards Granada´s city centre.)

In other words: take your eyes off the path every now and then, look up, and check whether you´re really going in the direction that you want.

Setting a destination will help you to take firmer and better-aimed steps. And stopping to sharpen the saw every now and then will give you the clarity and tools that you need to keep making progress.

So, tell me, where are you going? And what steps are you taking this week to get closer to your destination?

(Almost) untranslatable words: workout

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As you already know, every once in a while, I like to write on this blog about a word or expression I find particularly accurate in English (or Spanish) and which I think loses strength and meaning when translated into Spanish (or English, depending on the case).

Today, we´re adding one more word to our list of untranslatables ; an English word that´s very widely used, and I´d say not only among English-speaking folks: workout. The dictionary translates it as "ejercicio" (exercise) or "entrenamiento" (training), but those two words, in my opinion, are a bit vague and generic, while workout conveys something a lot more tangible: each specific training session, each period of time dedicated to exercising. And that involves a certain amount of work, which is implicit in the word itself, as it derives from the verb -to work.

(Photo of a sign in my office building, encouraging people to take the stairs instead of the elevator: "Burn calories, not electricity. Take the stairs.")

Indeed, exercising takes effort, and not only in the sense of being physically tiring (which, once you show up and get started, is probably not that big of a deal). The hardest part is staying consistent, and keeping up the progress without waiting to feel like doing it, because, let´s be realistic, you´re almost never going to feel like doing it... (By the way, in case you didn´t know, that´s completely normal; elite athletes don´t feel like going out for a run every day either, and they do it anyway. That´s why it´s so important to create routines to make things easier for ourselves and help us achieve our goals).

The good news is that all that work done over the weeks, months, and years finally has its rewards: when we work out regularly, we keep ourselves in better shape, we feel better, and are able do more things. In other words, our quality of life improves.

So, what if we could apply the same reasoning to other types of exercise, not only physical?

This all came up because I heard a phrase the other day that I believe is worth sharing. I´m not sure whether it´s original from the person I heard it from, a coach called Alexias Anderson; it was part of a talk on Adaptive Intelligence (a key topic given the times we´re living in, accelerated and ever changing, so I´m I´ll be posting more about this for sure):

Every unfamiliar experience is a workout.

I really like the parallel this lady draws here: in the same way exercise is uncomfortable and tiring for your body, but beneficial in the long term, having to figure things out in an unfamiliar environment is uncomfortable and tiring for our brain, but also beneficial in the longt term. It allows the brain to learn to adapt to different situations, become more flexible, and develop a wider repertoire of strategies, responses, and actions depending on the scenario.

And, as it is the case with physical exercise, the key is to do it often, even if it´s in small doses. There´s no need to do anything too radical, the idea is to progressively get exposed to experiencies and activities where our auto-pilot is of no use, so we need to figure things out in order to keep going. It may be something as simple as using a different route to get back home (with no Google Maps!), starting a new hobby or learning a new skill that has very little to do with what we´re naturally good at.

A silly example I can think of is related to the songs we sing in our workplace choir: I´m usually in the soprano group, but lately we´ve been having very low attendance, so for some of the songs, I´ve had to move to the Alto line... It´s astounding how much extra energy it takes me to learn these new versions of the songs; I find it super hard.

But as we said before, the good news is that all this extra energy expense has its rewards, and in my opinion, the reward is twofold. On the one hand, by intentionally putting ourselves in situations that are somewhat uncomfortable, we progressively increase our tolerance to discomfort, and this can give us a lot of freedom, and also open up options in our daily life. And on the other hand, when life inevitably brings us big moments of change with the capacity to shake our world and knock us out of place, we will be a lot better prepared, with resources to better weather the storm and even take advantage of the circumstances.

What do you think of this idea? In which ways do you give your body, and your mind, a workout?

Making life wider

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Happy Easter to all of those celebrating!

(I´m afraid I´m not very original, every year I open with this very same sentence... If you feel like reading my thoughts on Easter from previous years, you will find them here, here and here.)

This week, I´ve had the luxury of being on holidays, enjoying family time and the opportunity to do things at my own pace (or at least, less hurriedly than usual).

(Photo of the interior of Galway Cathedral, which we visited a few days ago. The outside is quite simple, but the inside is really beautiful in my opinion, and it came in very handy on this trip as a temporary shelter from the rain.)

In these accelerated times we live in, having the power to slow down for a few days is indeed a true luxury... A luxury that´s absolutely necessary, I dare say, even though we´re not always able to see it. Creating space to recover our strength, to refocus on what´s truly important, to enjoy the little (and the big) things that life brings to us.

Today, I´m inviting you to do a bit of reflection; let´s see what you think of this quote:

Everyone tries to make life longer,
when what we should really do is make it wider!

Luciano de Crescenzo

What are those things that make your life "wider"? How do you feel when you dedicate time and attention to them? And how much time and attention are they actually getting from you?

Visitors

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How well do you cope with visitors at home? Do you stress out a bit (or a lot) over preparations?

This is what I was thinking about this morning, before driving to the airport to pick up my sister Cristina and my nephews Pablo and Andrés (welcome guys!). I used to get suuuuper stressed out when someone was coming to visit us at home, and then, as years went by, I was able to relax a little bit, thankfully!

(Photo of an arts and crafts heart Eva made in school a couple of years ago, permanently displayed on the kitchen´s whiteboard)

I think part of the problem, at least in my case, was the belief that my house had to be perfectly clean and tidy for me to be able to properly receive visitors. Now I realise that this was a reflection, on the one hand, of certain habits from my family in particular, and on the other hand, of the societal norms that ruled generations prior to ours.

In the old days, many houses had a room specifically dedicated to visitors (a place where children were generally not allowed to enter, just in case they dirtied or broke anything), and "the good tableware" was used to serve tea, coffee, and/or refreshments. It was unthinkable to have visitors venturing as far as the kitchen, or the family rooms... Unless the hostess decided to show them the whole house, as my mother did every now and then (ah, the memories, getting into panic mode and rushing to tidy up our bedroom in record time so that it could be shown to whoever was visiting).

Thankfully, nowadays things have changed. Houses have more open layouts; a lot of daily life happens in the kitchen, and social relationships tend to be much less formal. Or maybe it´s just me: years ago, I decided I didn´t want any "visitors" in my house, or rather, I didn´t want anybody coming to see us to feel like they were a visitor (defining visitors in the old way, as in "stay in your designated area"). The meeting point in our current house is definitely the kitchen, which is a simple space, nothing luxurious, but very cosy and welcoming, and I no longer feel (so) bad about the house not being perfect, although I, of course, like to keep it reasonably clean and tidy.

At the end of the day, what really matters is us being able to get together and have a good time. And I have learned that being more flexible and simplifying certain things allows me to enjoy the moment a lot more, and of course, to enjoy the company.

What´s your take on this? Are you in favour of entertaining visitors, or would you rather have "non-visitors"?

Embrace everything you are

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The other day, while I was looking for something else on the internet, I bumped into an ad campaign launched by Netflix Spain in 2024, and I absolutely loved their slogan: "embrace everything you are".

I was only able to find the video in Spanish; I hope it´s understandable for those reading me in English. It´s about a woman who feels confused because she likes many different types of movies and TV series, which makes her wonder who she really is.

The truth is, I find the topic of identity extremely interesting, I´ve already touched on it a couple of times on this blog (for example, here and here). It´s important to remind ourselves often of the fact that we humans are extremely complex, and on top of that, contradictory (I´ve also been looking for another Spanish ad from years ago, with the slogan "live your contradictions", but I haven´t been able to find it).

In fact, a large portion of any personal development work involves a process of accepting and integrating those parts in all of us that are different and even contradictory, in our own personal way.

And, as it usually happens with these things, the work can be hard (sometimes, really hard!), but it´s worth it. First, it helps us to realise that there´s nothing wrong with us, we´re simply human beings, with all that it implies. And once we´re ready to accept everything we are and stop judging ourselves, feeling guilty and beating ourselves up, we can give ourselves permission to move forward and make whatever changes we want in our lives.

These days I´m having the opportunity to switch off from daily life to reconnect with certain things and people in my life, embracing my Spanish side without forgetting the Irish one. Happy St. Patrick´s week!

(Entrada del metro de Gran Vía, en Madrid, vestida de verde para celebrar la «semana de Irlanda», una campaña publicitaria de Turismo de Irlanda).

Mens sana in corpore sano

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This last Saturday, like almost every Saturday, I went to my Pilates class. I´m proud because I´ve been keeping this weekly habit for six months now, since back in August when they opened a reformer studio just around the corner from my house, and I, having wanted to try the reformer machines for many years, ran out of excuses not to start going.

I know a single class a week sounds like very little, but to me, considering that I´m allergic to gyms (mainly because I get really bored in them), and that my motivation when it comes to exercising is generally low, keeping it up for this long and still being excited about it is a great achievement.

I actually love the class, among other reasons, because we exercise not only our bodies but also our minds. The movements almost always change from one week to the next, and very often they´re new, or at least, new to me. So I have no other choice but to concentrate, to get the gist of what´s happening and be able to perform unfamiliar movements with a good degree of control and precision.

And it was precisely during the class that I remembered this well-known quote: mens sana in corpore sano, which is Latin for "a healthy mind in a healthy body". This is a good reminder of how our physical health is very closely related to our mental health, and how we need to look after both, as an investment in quality of life in the short, medium and long term.

The ancient Greeks used their gymnasium to combine physical training with philosophy and other intellectual pursuits. But interestingly, this quote doesn´t come from the Greeks as I thought: according to Wikipedia, it appears for the first time in a Satire from the Roman poet Juvenal, in the times of the Roman Empire. It´s part of a longer poem, and by the way, its original meaning has nothing to do with how we interpret it nowadays: it talks about the necessity of praying in order to have a balanced spirit in a balanced body.

Whatever the case may be, nowadays we know that a balanced spirit and a balanced body (or rather, a healthy mind and a healthy body) are not things that happen overnight, or by chance,, or needless to say, by magic; instead, we have to build them up little by little, one habit at a time.

So we come back to something I´ve probably mentioned several times in this blog already: looking for ways to exercise our bodies and minds that truly align with our lifestyle and work well for us, because otherwise, we´re not going to maintain them. Some people get motivated by team sports, martial arts, or running; in my case, it´s more about going for walks and practising yoga and Pilates. I could do more, but I could also do less, and now that the weather is improving (or at least I hope so!) and there´s more of a stretch in the evenings, I know that going out to "perform photosynthesis", as my friend Juanjo would say, is going to be hugely helpful in keeping my motivation and energy levels high.

(Photo I took yesterday during a walk; it´s the same tree that appears in this other post.)

What´s your favourite way to exercise your body? And your mind?

Life is like a camera

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Ladies and gentlemen, today´s article is number 250 in BinaryWords 🙂

250 reflections on a variety of topics, linked by the same common thread: personal and professional growth, which, in my opinion, always go hand in hand.

I remember that, during the first few months of writing this blog, back in 2021, I used to get inspiration from the pictures and posters I had around the house to write some of the articles (like, for example here, here and here), as well as dusting off some quotes I had found in greeting cards, fridge magnets and even newspaper clippings or publicity leaflets. I realised that, without really noticing, I had been gathering inspiring materials for years, though I had never thought of sharing them until then.

And given that inspiration can be found literally anywhere, over the years, I´ve been developing the habit of staying always alert, with my radar on, and taking photos of interesting things I bump into when I´m out and about. I´ll admit that I´m a total disaster when it comes to taking pictures of people (and even a bigger disaster, if possible, when it comes to appearing in those pictures myself), but if you look at my gallery, you´ll see that it´s full of apparently random photos with the potential of maybe one day helping me to convey an idea.

Today, browsing that gallery, I found this photo of a poster I found in a shop years ago, comparing life to a photo camera. Interestingly, physical cameras are in fashion again nowadays, with their flash and their buttons, as opposed to taking photos with your phone... This new revival of old devices can be a topic for another day.

Well, here you go, I hope the simile is understandable in Spanish, even though some of the word plays get lost in translation:

Life is like a camera.
Focus on what is important.
Capture the good times.
Develop from the negatives.
And if things don´t work out - just take another shot.

Groundhog day... Or anything but

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Today is February 2nd, and this time I did remember it´s Groundhog Day.

The other day, I was talking to my work colleagues oabout the plot of this movie, Groundhog Day, whose title was translated into Spanish "Atrapado en el tiempo", that is, "trapped in time", because that´s precisely what it is about: the protagonist gets stuck on February 2nd, reliving the same day (Groundhog Day) again and again, not knowing how to get out of there.

(Photo of an ordinary bench in an ordinary park.)

And after that conversation, I kept thinking... It´s been a long time since I last heard someone say they feel like they´re living in Groundhog Day, in the sense of being stuck in a rut and wanting to get out of that monotony. Perhaps because life hasn´t felt particularly routine-like in the last while, and not necessarily for reasons we could identify as "good".

Instead, it feels like (or maybe it´s just me who´s feeling it) that everything is a bit out of control, be it because of inclement weather in the last few weeks, or because of the ever-increasing speed of progress of technology (e. g. AI), or because of so many other events happening in certain parts of the world, with situations reaching the point of becoming surreal.

Maybe we´re at a point where we would prefer our world to be a bit more stable and predictable.

But for the moment, we have what we have.

So, what can we do?

I can´t help but remember the beginning of the pandemic, back in March 2020 (almost six years ago!). At that time, everything was uncertain; we were also in a surreal situation, with no precedents, and we had no idea what the future would bring. But we had to keep going, and that´s what we did: we kept going, we muddled through, and step by step, with higher or lower degrees of suffering, we managed to walk that path and arrive at a new normality.

Maybe that´s what we need to do now as well, because it´s what human beings have had to do since the beginning of time: adapt to new situations, solve new problems.

They say that, in this life, the only constant is change, and we know that that´s true: people change over time, and also our environment and circumstances change. But the thing is, sometimes that change is softer and more gradual, and sometimes it´s a lot stronger and faster, so much so that it can overwhelm us. And that´s when the feeling (or rather, the illusion) of having everything under control crumbles down, only to be replaced by stress and uncertainty.

Our brain does not like uncertainty. It finds it really uncomfortable because it doesn´t know what to do with it, and since it can't solve it using its habitual autopilot, instead, it wastes tons of energy worrying and trying to predict the future. That´s the reason why we often prefer to revert to "the devil we know", to the rut and the monotony, rather than venturing towards what´s yet to be discovered, even though it could turn out better than what we have right now.

So, if you´re currently experiencing uncertainty of any kind, please know that you´re not alone; on the contrary. And even though there are external factors that we clearly can´t control, the good news is that we can use tools and strategies to help us feel better, and recover a certain sense of order and control. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Establishing "good" routines, which add stability, structure and predictability to our days, but keeping certain flexibility as well, so that we can adapt as things change around us.
  • Intentionally dedicating time to taking care of ourselves, physically, mentally and emotionally, including time on our calendars for leisure, rest, and connection (which, I´ve been reminded recently, are not luxuries, but actual needs). We can tackle anything better when our batteries are fully charged, and everything becomes a struggle when we´re feeling tired or in low spirits.
  • Keeping a diary (a physical one) to write (by hand) our thoughts and worries. The mere act of writing helps to bring out whatever we´re holding inside, become aware of it and process it better. Plus, our minds can now rest better, knowing it´s all written down.

What do you think about these three strategies? Which ones do you use when life moves at a faster pace than you would like?