When I first came into SlideBelts, I came in with the name Sam.

As most of you know, my first name is actually Nery. This name, not the most common in the U.S., became a theme in my life from a young age; almost its character.

The first time I realized my name was different was my first day of Kindergarten. The teacher began class, as most do, by taking roll. She easily made her way through the list when, all of a sudden, her eyes squinted as if the letters suddenly changed into a smaller font. A nasally sound of a long "N" came out of her lips as she struggled to put the rest together, "Nnnnn-eeeee-rrrrrr-yyy??" I had never heard it pronounced that way, so it took a second for me to react. "Here," I said quietly, now embarrassed at the new attention I was receiving.

I began to dread the first day of school; having to explain my name and the long conversation that followed about where I am from and how long I have lived here. I learned to distance myself from my name. I stopped correcting people as much and when I encountered someone that I was not going to know for long, I gave them my middle name, "Sam," because that solicited no questions or sideways looks.

Nery became its own animal that I had to learn to live with, and subsequently, had a good story to tell.

Stay tuned for the next installment...

Writing has always been my safe haven. When I would get in trouble with my parents as a child, I'd always write them a note to apologize and I've carried that form of self-reflection into adulthood. Yes, spoken words generally mean more, but there's something incredible about the ways that you can carefully craft a song, a poem or a heartfelt letter from just a pen and a blank piece of paper.

Here, you can choose your words carefully - you can edit, erase and begin again if it doesn't come out right the first time. The 26 letters of the alphabet are the only tools you need to craft something that could win a Nobel Peace Prize or a Pulitzer, express your deepest love to someone who might not know it, or apologize to your parents for not cleaning your room. 

Alone, those 26 letters aren't much more than a catchy jingle you learn in Kindergarten. But together, the opportunities are truly endless. When it comes down to it, words are really the only thing that can change the world - for better or for worse. With letters as your tools, the pen and pencil are your sword - representative of human progression and the evolution of one of the oldest writing instruments known to humanity. Each has a history of inspiring the greatest minds the world has ever known, creating something extraordinary from nothing.

In a time where iPhones, iPads and computers are the preeminent forms of communication, don't forget the oldest and greatest form of written communication we have. There's no email or text message that can ever take the place of handwritten prose.

I'm very fond of post-it notes. I love that they are vibrant and sticky and I really love that they are small enough that I don’t feel like I’m killing a forest if I use a few throughout the day. If you’ve ever visited my desk, you’ve probably seen at least a few hanging from my computer screen.

But the thing I adore most about sticky notes is tearing them up - which is why I document and then obliterate small, actionable tasks on them to complete throughout the day. The same deep satisfaction as you may find in a flying unicorn streaming across your asana screen (see Gabby if you don’t have that function enabled) is how I feel about making colorful confetti out of sticky notes in my trash can.                                                                                                                                                     

Strange as it may be, moral of the story here is “you do you” today. If it’s listening to your hipster music or making endlessly bulleted lists in your notebook or requesting yoga mats for the break room (find them now by the tv) -- whatever will make this a wonderful and productive Friday for you, do it.

...And if anyone has a problem with that, send them to me..I’ll throw confetti at them.