TL;DR: From the tactile art of baking to the logic of LLMs, this month was a lesson in the "final rise" - finding joy in learning and the power of community activation.
Sweet Spot of Learning
This month has been a whirlwind of new. One moment, I was at India Basin Food Pavilion learning the tactile art of baking bread and biscuits with Chef Tara | West Coast Roux & En2Action and enjoying the southern comfort dinner on Sunday.
The next, I was diving into the technical depth of Anthropic Claude and Microsoft 365 Copilot courses to connect the dots for product marketing workflows.
There is a striking similarity between perfecting a dough and prompting an LLM: both require patience, the right ingredients, and a willingness to embrace the messy middle before you see the final rise and result.
And always love the serenity, beauty and impermanence of flowers in bloom - tulips and cherry blossom in San Francisco. Hola spring 🌸
Div on Instagram: "Tulips Queen Wilhelmina Garden San Francis…
And nothing gives us perspective like the vastness of the ocean 🌊
Ocean Beach - San Francisco
And the serendipity of discovery in Japan Town, San Francisco - loving the Sakura theme.
The plants are growing and thriving - loving the color glass sand
Plants & Glass Sand
Community Activation as a Catalyst
Learning doesn’t just happen at a desk. Some of my insights this month came during neighborhood conversations:
Bayview Connection: Volunteering on 3rd Street for our weekly Saturday and monthly Sunday Cleanups reminded me that civic impact is often the result of small, repeated actions. One step at a time.
Civic impact is often the result of small, repeated actions. One step at a time.
Harvard Business School (HBS) Community Partners team did a study on Reimagining Third Street – Bayview.
Third Street is a corridor of untapped potential. The report emphasizes that for Bayview to flourish, development must be resident-led to avoid displacement while attracting sustainable investment.
Action: Cultivate "Third Places" for Small Businesses HBS suggests that Third Street needs more "cultural anchors" to thrive.
NERT:NERT (Neighborhood Emergency Response Team) | CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) is the neighbors and community coming together to help each other in times of need.
Just like neighborhood emergency response training, professional growth is about being prepared for the unexpected.
NERT is a free training program for individuals, neighborhood groups and community-based organizations in San Francisco.
Through this program, individuals learn the basics of personal preparedness and prevention during an emergency.
I learnt about cribbing and the mechanical fulcrum to lift heavy objects, how to stop bleeding with a tourniquet and to have an emergency kit ready. I have 2 classes I missed and plan to graduate next month.
Dogpatch small business stroll: What a beautiful way to bring the neighborhood, small businesses and community together. Thank you SF public library for everything you do. Excited to bring this idea to Bayview.
As we welcome spring, I am grateful to be a part of the Wellbeing Fair in San Francisco and make butterfly origami and practice mindful motivation with my community together.
And I saw this poster: Turn long papers into quick listens by Google Gemini at the San Francisco State University campus and it made me wonder if how we learn is also changing. I know we all learn differently and this is a great way to bring technology to help us learn in our own way.
TL:DR We are all intelligent in our own way, so I am going to focus on the thinking talent aspect here vs collective intelligence.
I was amazed how the Mind Patterns and Thinking Talent map helped me better understand my learning flow - KVA(Kinesthetic, Visual, Auditory). We all assume that everyone must read, write and learn in the same way.
This book, Collaborative Intelligence helps you to understand that is not true. Find out what is your Mind Pattern and unlock your true potential to learn and focus.
KVA - Kinesthetic, Visual, Auditory
Kinesthetic: I noticed that when I teach my classes, I am full of energy when I stand. This is how I focus best - by movement.
Visual: I always took notes when I was a student and now I know why. I am a visual learner. That’s probably also why I love to share my story in visual ways like my picture perfect introduction.
Auditory: This is my last one - I don’t really learn much or focus just by listening. That’s probably why I listen to audiobooks on Alexa and follow the words along in the book/kindle. Or I walk and listen to audiobooks.
Moments of Pause
Amidst the PMM Leadership Accelerator workshop and the AI:ROI Conference, the most vital entry on my calendar was simply: Me Day. We often talk about ROI in business, but we rarely calculate the ROI of a mindful pause. Being in the gardens and parks is my way to reflect and take a moment to be here in the now.
Div on Instagram: "Conservatory of flowers San Francisco"
Taking that Friday to reset wasn’t just a break - it was the fuel needed to be ready for the upcoming week with interviews and workshops - to give my 121% in everything I do. I was intentional to not attend another event as I had planned and take time to wrap up the week.
Find Your “Third Place”: Explore a new neighborhood spot this week - whether it’s a local bakery or a community space, and consider how you can support its “cultural anchor” in the community.
Discover Your Learning Flow: Check out your own Mind Pattern (Kinesthetic, Visual, or Auditory) to see if you can unlock a more joyful way to work and learn.
Collective Wellbeing: If you are in San Francisco, let’s make butterfly origami and practice mindful motivation together. Take a few seconds to pause with the [gem] Mindful Moment Generator. I built this to help us focus and be calm - reply to this email with the mindful moment or reflection that found you today!
