Ricardo J. F. Marques

✍🏼 Storyteller 🇺🇳 Humanist 💍 Husband 🐷 I Like (all) Animals

The Ukulele Effect: How Small Steps Build Confidence

One of my goals for 2025 was to finally learn to play a musical instrument. When I was a young teen, I would pretend to be a big rock star, playing alone in my room, riffing away at the air to System of a Down blasting through my headphones, being

Wander with Intention

When I was younger, "winging it" was my mantra. Planning felt pointless because life rarely unfolded as I expected. Why bother planning when things were going to go wrong anyway, right? So I went where the wind blew, immersing myself in whatever life threw at me. I found

A Return to Rhythm

A few months ago, I never imagined just how dramatically life could shift. One moment, I was comfortably settled in my weekly blogging routine; the next, I found myself navigating a whirlwind of challenges. These months pulled me away from the familiar comfort of writing, but as I sit here

Interlude

As the end of the year draws near, life becomes busier, and I am confronted with a dilemma: a shortage of time to write. Therefore, dear reader, until the demands on my time ease up, I will be publishing a new article every two weeks. This adjusted schedule allows me

Embrace the Storm and Find Your Flow

Anyone who pays attention to their lives will notice a pattern. There's an ebb and flow to the energy of life, akin to the alternation between seasons or the moon's phases. During certain periods of our lives, things are calm and peaceful. There is room to

The Bonsai Principle: A Study in Patience

A few years ago, I attended a bonsai workshop by To Be a Bonsai with my cybersecurity specialist sibling, Rui Miguel, and my wildlife photographer friend, Nolan. We were each given a baby, three-year-old juniper bonsai, barely 20 cm tall. The tree had grown naturally, untrimmed, crowned with a verdant

Embrace Imperfection

A couple of weeks ago, my self-discipline wavered. That week was a whirlwind of relentless work and personal chores, and the weekend became a catch-up marathon. By Sunday evening, I was exhausted, my usual energy siphoned off by the week's demands. When I dragged myself into bed, the

How to Cultivate a Meaningful Life

Have you, dear reader, given much thought to what would make your life meaningful? Many of us wish that a life of meaning would materialise out of the blue. When it inevitably doesn't fall into our laps, we are disappointed. Meaning isn't something we stumble onto

Take Time to Disconnect

Lenja and I gifted our parents a week-long holiday in the Midlands of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province this past week. Our accommodations were unique: a refurbished church built in 1913, an adjacent small cemetery, and endless surrounding fields. The purpose of our trip was to disconnect from work,

An Unexpected Lesson in Humanity

One day, while Lenja and I were enjoying breakfast at a local plant-based restaurant, we noticed a homeless man cradling a pigeon. He strolled up and down the street, having an animated conversation with the bird. His only possession was a black fabric bag into which he occasionally placed the

The Dichotomy of Control

In 2019, I hit rock bottom. I remember the moment as if it was yesterday. I was sitting on my couch, staring at my bank balance, my heart sinking. My business had been failing, and due to insufficient cash flow, I had been paying staff salaries from my credit card.

Interlude

We live in a consumerist world characterized by an unrelenting pursuit of more: more possessions, more entertainment, more consumption. Amidst this frenzy, adopting a simple, minimalist lifestyle is often scorned by a society steeped in wasteful patterns of accumulation. However, it's usually those who distill life down to

5 Strategies to Enhance Your Productivity

When I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey a few years back, I struggled with being productive. The transition from a structured environment with more senior accountability to a world where I was responsible for everything, from task allocation to execution, was a seismic shift for my system. I was constantly

The Currency of Life

If you've been following me for a while, dear reader, you'll know I'm all about time: how I spend it and save it. Money is important, but if we lose that, we can always earn more. Time, on the other hand...we can never

There is Power in Stillness

When was the last time you experienced true stillness? I'm not referring to merely standing still in a long queue or sitting motionless while engrossed in a book. I'm talking about observing, noticing, and truly seeing things as they are rather than what we perceive them

Reflections on an Ageing Fox

Cassidy is 13 years old and is steadily losing her eyesight and hearing. Her youthful bounce has given way to a slower gait and a slight limp, her once vibrant ginger muzzle, like that of a fox, is shaded in with silver. She is old, which is a miracle. To

Trust the Process

When I was growing up, physical activities were anathema to me. While my classmates eagerly anticipated sports like cricket or rugby, I avoided them. I was a geek, and my physical prowess matched my persona. I preferred to flex my mental muscles through cerebral pursuits like creative writing and chess.

Interlude

Well, look at that. It's already Monday, and my article isn't ready. Tsk tsk. I was tempted to publish Draft 2 anyway. I mean, it's good enough, right? But, then I heard Lenja's voice in my head telling me I'm

On the Duality of Life

Life is an intricate web of interconnected opposites. We exist as delicate threads oscillating between light and dark moments, yin and yang. Existence is beautifully multifaceted. It is an expansive flow of love and magic, but it can also be harsh, laced with sadness and pain. Nature is unpredictable, with

Master Your Craft Using Deliberate Practice

When I finished the first draft of my first blog post, I showed it to my wife. I was nervous. It was the first time in years that I was showing her anything of substance. Lenja is my biggest fan and also my biggest critic. I asked her to be

How to Find Inspiration in Our Own Stories

Stories have the power to captivate us and shape our lives, but have you ever wondered why that is? Do you remember the last story you heard? What about the last one you told a friend or colleague? Human beings have been telling each other stories for countless generations. One

Embrace Your Civic Duty

A few weeks ago, I got up one morning to find the neighbourhood's manhole cover out of place, an unsightly mess of waste, wet wipes, and unpleasant odours spilling over, blocking my path. I spent the next hour with gumboots and a spade, controlling my gag reflex while

commitment

You Have to Commit

I recently finished watching the 2016 series, The Night Manager, based on the suspenseful novel by John le Carré. Without revealing spoilers, the story follows Jonathan Pine, a high-end hotel's night manager, who goes to great lengths to avenge a death. At one point in the show, after

Interlude

Life ebbs and flows like the tides: at times it rolls on gently, while at other times, it is turbulent. We can experience lulls in our work, sporadically interspersed with days or weeks of long, intense hours. During these hectic weeks, I rarely have time to do fun things like

From Chaos to Clarity: How to Connect with Your Inner Voice

Growing up in a Portuguese household, I rarely experienced silence. My parents worked from home, so there was always some form of auditory assault around me. The TV would be on, pots clanging in the kitchen, and the loud pshhhhhht and mechanical whirring of my dad's compressed-air paint