avatarSalvatore Cagliari

Summary

The author shares their personal journey of self-discovery, the importance of knowledge sharing, and their passion for writing, all of which have led to their active participation on the Medium platform.

Abstract

The author, born in Basel, Switzerland in 1970, reflects on their unspectacular childhood, marred by preferential treatment from their Italian-Sicilian parents, which led to personal issues and an initial failed marriage. They credit their current happy marriage and personal growth to introspection and therapy. Professionally, the author transitioned from being an electrician to an IT expert, emphasizing continuous learning and knowledge sharing. They currently work for an IT consulting company, where they contribute as a consultant, trainer, and writer. The author writes on Medium to express important personal views, despite English not being their first language, and balances their professional life with a variety of hobbies, including RC helicopters and astronomy.

Opinions

  • The author acknowledges the negative impact of preferential treatment by their parents and has worked diligently to overcome it.
  • They value the role of therapy in their personal development and acknowledge the importance of self-awareness in overcoming educational background.
  • The author emphasizes the significance of continuous learning and knowledge sharing, considering it the most valuable asset in their professional life.
  • They have a passion for writing on Medium, viewing it as a platform for sharing thoughts, knowledge, and ideas, despite the challenges of not being a native English speaker.
  • The author's hobbies, such as RC helicopters and astronomy, are pursued with passion and are considered an important part of their life.
  • They appreciate feedback and engagement from followers on Medium and other social media platforms, seeing it as appreciation for their work.

Why I write — My introduction to ILLUMINATION

I was born in December 1970 in Basel, Switzerland.

Myself at around 12 years

I lived there until I was seven years old. Then we moved outside Basel in a village with around 2500 inhabitants.

My childhood was unspectacular. My parents pampered me, which caused some issues in my life. More on this, in a moment.

My parents are from Italy (Sicily to be precise) and they considered a boy to be better than a girl. They treated me differently to my five years older sister. But we had an excellent relationship. When I was sixteen years old, my sister fled from home to go to live with her boyfriend and future husband in Italy. This event was a major blow to me, as I had an excellent relationship with my sister since I was a little boy. I was furious at her because she didn’t tell me anything about her plans.

It needed a long time to repair our relation to what it is now. I must give her big kudos to never blamed for my issues, as she was aware of the different treatments my parents gave to us.

In the meantime, I fully understand why she acted like that, and it was a struggle to keep the relation to my parent intact as I learned about their share of responsibility.

The rest of my childhood was regular without significant events. I had friends which I lost over time. I had girlfriends, which I lost over time as well.

I married with 21 for the first time, which was a big mistake. We divorced four years later.

I married my wife in 1997, and we are still happy together. We have two daughters, who are 21 and 13 years old now.

It’s not easy to overcome education, but it’s possible with dedication and self-awareness.

But my childhood caused me to be very egoist. This fact was one of the reasons why my first marriage failed.

My second wife forced me to find different ways of thinking and acting. But only after I nearly destroyed our marriage as well.

It was around 2007. I went to a psychotherapist for six months to clear up my mind and to realize what I’m doing wrong. I still work hard every day to live these lessons. It’s not easy to overcome education, but it’s possible with dedication and self-awareness.

Since then, my life improved massively, and I learned a lot of things about myself and how to handle other people.

My professional life wasn’t straightforward, as well.

After middle school, I failed to qualify for the higher classes. I went on to do a four-year apprenticeship as an electrician. At the beginning of the third year, I realized that I would not do this job forever. I started learning electronics and microelectronics at home, and I completed a remote class, which needed 1 ½ year.

During this course, I learned about digital technology and programming and knew that this would be my future.

Immediately after completing my apprenticeship, I started working in IT, which I still do to this day.

My first job was to repair printers. At that time, matrix- and printwheel-printers. Laser printers where very new at that time.

I worked at that company for seven months. But I had to leave because of massive personal issues.

I went on to work in the IT department of a big swiss retailer. I left because, after four years, I didn’t see enough space for improvement.

The next job was as a sales representative, in which I failed miserably. Next big lesson in my life: I have to learn a lot about my social competency. Unfortunately, at that time, I wasn’t aware of this yet.

The next step was a job at an IT service company, which I had for 13 years. During that time, I developed my IT skills in no small degree. I started as a PC deliverer and developed my skills over time to do more qualified work. Then I had the opportunity to work for a big client as a server administrator.

Knowledge is not worth anything if you do not pass your knowledge to others.

I went on to be a teacher to my colleagues. I did this for two years. I spend the following years at different customers as a highly qualified technical consultant.

Photo by Matthew Feeney on Unsplash

It was at that time (around 2000) when I realized which is the most significant asset in my professional life: knowledge.

I started learning as much as possible and collecting knowledge on as many topics possible.

But, I didn’t keep my knowledge for me. Knowledge and skills are not worth anything if you do not pass your knowledge to others.

I had several more customer projects at that company. But I never forget that it’s essential to collect and document knowledge.

In April 2008, I left that company to start working for my actual employer. A mid-sized IT-Consulting company based in Switzerland.

As a consultant, it is our job to continually evolve and learn new things, as our customer expects that we’re at the very front of the line when it comes to skills and knowledge.

I wrote articles for internal use, standardization documents for my customers, and training material for our courses.

I’m a trainer for four years now. I spend around 10% of my time giving courses to internal and external participants.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Over time I was recognized more and more as very knowledgeable in my fields of knowledge, which are Business Intelligence, Data Analytics, and Reporting.

I want to write to express myself when I have a topic that is important to me.

I discovered Medium in December 2018, and I wrote my first article in September 2019. Since then, I published a total of ten articles.

I’m not a professional writer. I want to write to express myself when I have a topic that is important to me.

Further on, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. Because of this, I need a lot of time to write an article. Especially as English is not my native language, this slows down my speed of writing.

The most important thing in my life is to be happy with my family. The second is to do well in my professional life. After that I take time for my hobbies, which are:

  • RC helicopters
  • Filming and create videos around RC stuff
  • Reading all sort of things (From Sci-Fi & Fantasy novels to Medium articles)
  • Writing content for Medium
  • Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Physics
My fleet of RC helicopters

I do not have a specific preference. I do what I want when I’m ready to do it. But I must be passionate when I do something creative, like create videos or writing articles. I will not do something half-hearted, as it will not be good enough when my heart is not involved.

I’m happy when I get an additional follower here on Medium or social media platforms. I consider each new follower as a type of appreciation of my work.

I appreciate Medium as a platform to create content and to share thoughts, knowledge, and ideas. For me, this is a unique platform with unique possibilities, and I love to continue to share my thoughts with you.

Illumination
Introduction
About Me
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