This is my Bác 6 (Uncle 6th). He’s the 6th son in the family. My dad, his younger brother, is the 10th. I lived with his family from the time I was 16 until I was 21. He supported my education during those important years. Looking back, I now realize he was shaping my wandering-mind much more than just my academic path. He was shaping how I prioritize and how I frame my point of view.
In my early-20s, he once printed out the story of “The Jar of Life”. It started as an English study session, but he also wanted me to reflect on its lesson about priorities. At that time, I didn’t fully understand it. I was still young. Life felt looooong and abstract.
Many years later, in my late-30s, he often ended our calls with the same sentence: “Every small task is a journey”. Cooking lunch is a journey. Watching a movie is a journey. Watering the trees is a journey. Even small routines like brushing your teeth are journeys. In each one, you are not just doing. You are living it. He would then remind me to ask myself, “What are you doing right now?”
Anyhow, I listened to these life lessons for yeaaaaars. I began to understand more in my late-30s, but I still didn’t know how to put them into practice. In my 40s, I finally started practicing them. I know… some lessons take decades to grow.
Somewhere along the way, the word mindfulness became a regular term in our conversations. He began bringing it up more often, not just as a concept, but as something he truly wanted to practice in his daily tasks and small journeys.
Then one day, he surprised me! He told me he had an idea: a watch that could remind him to be mindful instead of simply showing the time. Since he knows I work in digital product design, he asked if I wanted to develop the idea.
Last week – 27th Feb 2026, we had an official call to discuss about mindfulness watch. I was happy. Not because of the watch idea, but because of something-somethings I couldn’t describe. For the first time, he came to me not just as my uncle, but as a user with a real need. I listened. I asked questions. I took notes. I even did a quick market check afterward. And hopfully one day, I may bring his idea to life.