Maybe you know this feeling too. When you learn to care so deeply about something, it becomes personal. So personal that it starts to define who you are. It becomes your identity and spills over to other areas of your life. You subconsciously carry the work home. Unfinished tasks infiltrate your weekends and the moments that should just be for yourself. Before you know it, your work-life boundaries have blurred.

Growing up in the Philippines, “island time” was not something I named or questioned. It was simply how life moved. There was waiting, but not impatience. Plans formed loosely. Time to be together unfolded with daylight, weather, and conversation rather than precise start times. When delays happened, people talked, sat, and connected. Respect for time showed up as patience and presence rather than speed.