My Messy Utopia

Messy living area, cluttered bedroom, untidy bathroom, grimy kitchen --- that’s how I described the usual scenario inside our small house. It’s like there’s always a storm that slammed inside our dwelling place. Commonly, stuff scattered around, clothes are not organized and the sink is filled with used kitchen utensils. That’s the usual picture of our house and seeing it clean at its best is a once in a blue moon opportunity.

            My mother is not that into the habit of cleaning our house because she’s always busy with our small business and she’s not the type of mother who is keen when it comes to the house cleanliness. More so, my three younger sisters are all lazy and are not that diligent in doing household chores. Of course, I wouldn’t expect my father to do the thing because he is working.

            Since I lived in Manila to study, I didn’t do the task of cleaning the entire house anymore that’s why every time I went home every two weeks, its messy surrounding is not a surprise anymore. Actually, to see it clean will be very surprising instead.

            Despite the situation inside our home, I would consider it as my favorite place among others. This is the place where I am raised as well as my sisters, the place where I first learned all the virtues in life and the avenue where I feel the love. This is a home that unified our family wherein we have shared memories, laughter and even problems. This is the only place that I feel really comfortable and I can show my true self.

            As what the saying goes, “there’s no place like home”. And indeed, nothing can compare to our home despite the fact that it is often messy, I still love the four corners of it and the overall structure of it even it’s not fully furnished yet. I am fond of every part of our home because each of these witnessed the bonding moments I have created with my family. ­

            Certainly, I consider my home as a utopia wherein everything is in harmony except for the mess and dirt that cluttered around.

            

Positivity Mode

There’s no such thing as perfect life. Though we celebrate our blissful and victorious moments, let’s admit it that life is still a constant battle against different uncertainties and the things that hinder us on our quest for happiness.

In chasing our dreams, failures and mistakes might get along our way. There are also people that might bring us down and there are various constraints that keep us from holding back. But for all these things that seem to be the antagonist in my life story, all I can say is that I won’t let them beat me, I won’t let them defeat my faith and I won’t let them take away my dreams. I will stand on my own facing this challenging world. I will keep strongly standing no matter what storms come along my journey.

When I fall, I will rise again and keep moving. I believe that failures are just my ticket in entering to the world of sweet success. Because life is like a staircase, you have to go up each stair to reach the top.

In this battle, I am armed with faith, fortified with good heart, and upheld with virtues and morals, that’s why I am confident that I will be unbeatable by all these life traps. I always keep in mind that God doesn’t give his toughest battles to his strongest soldier.

 Though I can’t change the direction of the wind nor the stroke of the sea waves, but I can just my sails to reach my destination because I am the master of my ship, the captain of my soul.

Past is past: Moving On 101

A wise man once sat in the audience and cracked a joke. All laughed like crazy. After a moment he cracked the same joke again and a little less people laughed this time. He cracked the same joke again and again, and there’s no laughter in the crowd at all. He smiled and said, “When you can’t laugh on the same joke again and again, then why you keep crying over the same thing over and over again.”

          Past is a nice place to visit but certainly not the good place to stay. Memories from the past are not all blissful. Some of them have remnants of pain, angst and grievances that made up the dark shadows of the past that make us feel nostalgic most of the time. Many people are still living with these shadows overhead and cannot bury all those negative memoirs and burdens they had before.

          Well, it’s really not that easy to vanish instantly all the pain and sorrow. The ghost of the past seems to follow all the time and there’s a feeling that you want to escape from this nostalgia but you can’t.

But of course, we cannot live forever with those heavy baggage from the past because it will definitely affect our life in the present as well as the future. So the best approach --- moving on.

Moving on is such a heavy word, indeed it’s so easy to advise someone to do the thing but doing this in action is far tougher than as you think. But at the end of the day, no one can help you to erase these shadows, only yourself.

 Speak to yourself and ask if it is worth the effort to be sentimental over the things from the past? Is it worth the tears? Do I deserve all of these agonies and emotional tortures? Definitely, all the answers should be a big “NO!”

So stand and put into trash all the bitterness and pain from the past. Treat all of these as lessons and face the present with courage and faith.

Life is not about looking back and wishing that today is the same with the past. Life is about moving on, accepting changes and looking forward to what makes you stronger & more complete. Because it's never too late to have a life and never too late to change one.

Just like the old sayings goes, “past is past” and “let bygones be bygones”.  More so, as what the song tells, “So let’s not bring the past back anymore.” Because all you have to do is let go of the past and the past will let go of you.

  

When Internet was not yet born..

Undeniably, now that we are in the modern era --- the stage with so many technological advancements, life of the people is seemingly more progressive and easy. With just one click, we can reach the world and connect with other people even from miles away. Through Internet, everything is now accessible such as all the information, communication, products, services, entertainment, learning and many more. Indeed, it’s too far from the life of our grandparents and ancestors way back then.

Many years ago, life is too simple. “Apple” and “Blackberry” were just simply known as fruits. The term “Yahoo” was just a joyful expression and there’s no such thing as “Facebook” only people facing books. There’s no Twitter at all, just tweeting birds. And “virus” was just a cause of common colds.

Long ago, the term “friend” is actually denoted as someone who personally knows you and someone who is always your buddy but now, your friend list might include people whom you really don’t know, more so, gaining of friends is so instant and to remove friends can be done in just a snap. In fact, Brene Brown said that social media has given us this idea that we should all have a posse of friends when in reality, if we have one or two really good friends, we are lucky.

During the old times, encyclopedias, books, libraries are very in-demand for people seeking for information but nowadays, the answers are right in the tip of your hand through Google and other search engines.

Before, our ancestors and grandparents were just happy and contented sharing their life experiences and stories with their family and their neighbors but now “everything” is being shared online. From the food they eat, their drinks, the restaurant that they are in at the moment, their outfit of the day, to what they are doing, their mood at that time, their feelings, their wrath, agony, secret affections, gifts they received, and so many more, and commonly their posts are associated with pictures.

And speaking of pictures, before, photo albums were just the book or binder with blank pockets for printed pictures but now these photo albums are not that too significant because there are online albums which are available in different social networking sites that doesn’t required printed photos.

Indeed, different concepts of life were changed as we welcomed and embraced these social networking sites. It’s true that it has positive and negative impacts, but at the end of the day, the effects of these sites will definitely depend upon the user. And it is important to take note that before bursting out to the netizens all your aspirations, gratitude and repent through your statuses and tweet, how about trying to tell it first to God? And remember no matter how the world has changed, let us stick to the simplest and most effective mode of communication, the prayer.

Philippine Literature

No question, Philippines is a country rich in diversity and language heritage. That’s why there is no wonder why our country is also well-off when it comes to literature. And eventually, our literature was more enhanced through the influence of different invaders and their cultures as well.

During pre-colonial times, there has been widespread evidence that the ancient Filipinos display a culture rich with traditions. Folk speeches, folk songs and indigenous rituals are part of their daily lives. The blend of such elements represents a lifestyle deeply embedded in the locals. I find this particular idea exciting. Of course, I would really want to get a glimpse of what they call “indigenous Philippine literature” during the pre-colonial period. An understanding on the history of Philippine literature will allow us to appreciate the literary riches of this nation. Taken as a whole, these literature are truly a source of Filipino pride because these interesting stories provide us an overview of the rich literature, folklore and culture of pre-Hispanic Filipinos.

16th Century was the start of the deprivation of the indigenous Philippine literature. Spanish colonial government finally got in the scene. They were able to manipulate literature by monopolizing it under the religious orders.  Literature evolves mainly on the themes of Spanish/ European culture and of course, the Roman Catholic religion. The colonization by Spain did not subject literature development to a halt. Rather, it breathed a different kind of life into the local literary works.

Much later, Spain brought about liberal ideas and a sense of internationalism to the people of Philippines. Similar to the period of renaissance, it has substantial influence on local intellectuals. They start to question and portray the meanings of "liberty and freedom" in their works. I think this stage is a notable era in the history of Philippines literature because it is the awakening stage of the Filipino writers to fight for the freedom through literature. Thus, literature became the catalyst for the achievement of the aspired freedom. This realization brought about a reformation movement which eventually led to the downfall of the Spanish colonial.

The history of Philippine literature was once again marked by a change when English was introduced. The introduction of English language led to the slow demise of Spanish, and subsequently literature written in Spanish. The sustaining use of English language birthed some of the well known English poems, short stories and once again enriched the local literature in a unique way.

Philippine literature is a uniting element among its people, and will continue to evolve as enriched by modern changes. And now, we are in the modern time, and I believe that Philippine literature is also in the stage of modernity whereas the themes and topics are centered to timely and contemporary issues nowadays. The advancement of technology today also gives way to the innovations in our literature. The Internet also became an avenue among writers to spread their works. The homogenization effect that globalization poses is the biggest challenge not only in the Philippines but in other countries as well: the preservation of literature which is the precursor of culture, making it relevant and significant in our present age of postmodernism.

The literature of the Philippines is just one of the many aspects that will prove how rich our country is.  Indeed, this beautiful country unified by more than 7000 islands is a home of many intellectual people. I may not be one of those writers creating names through their writings, but I believe that I can show my support on our own literature by reading their works as well as sharing these to other people.

“Literature, is definitely, much more than its literary meaning, which defines it as 'an acquaintance to letters'. It, in fact, lays the foundation of an enriched life; it adds 'life' to 'living'… “                                  

-Anonymous

Judge Me Not…

We live in an imperfect world and apparently, we are not perfect either. But most people keep on judging anyone else and looking for their flaws. It seems like it’s a traditional notion among people to judge someone and seek for their negativities. They tend to be self-centered and forget the flaws within themselves.

As what the old saying wanted to imply, we should eye upon ourselves first before looking to someone else because we also have imperfections and most importantly, we don’t know what their situations are and what are the real stories behind other people.

Let me share you a story that I read. A story of two fathers which might enlighten us to be open minded and care about others’ position.

A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call as soon as possible, changed his clothes & went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy’s father pacing in the hall waiting for the doctor.

On seeing him, the dad yelled, “Why did you take all this time to come? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger? Don’t you have any sense of responsibility? ”

The doctor smiled &and said, “I am sorry, I wasn’t in the hospital & I came as fast as I could after receiving the call…… And now, I wish you’d calm down so that I can do my work.”

“Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son dies now what will you do??” said the father angrily.

The doctor smiled again and replied:, “I will say what Job said in the Holy Book,  ‘From dust we came & to dust we return, blessed be the name of God’. Doctors cannot prolong lives. Go and intercede for your son, we will do our best by God’s grace.”

“Giving advises when we’re not concerned is so easy,” murmured the father. The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy.

“Thank goodness!, Your son is saved!” and without waiting for the father’s reply, he carried on his way running. “If you have any questions, ask the nurse!!”

“Why is he so arrogant? He couldn’t wait some minutes so that I ask about my son’s state,” commented the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left.

The nurse answered, tears coming down her face: “His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was at the burial when we called him for your son’s surgery. And now that he saved your son’s life, he left running to finish his son’s burial.”

            Never judge anyone….. Because you never know how their life is and what they’re going through. And we should keep in mind that no one else except the God has the right to have judgments.

“Switch”

            All couples in the world have their own stories on how their love rekindled. Some stories are worth sharing for but there are also some that are better kept untold because it doesn’t make sense at all.

            Fortunately, my parent’s story is indeed, “a love story made in heaven”, a story that is worth sharing for. They proved that when two people are destined, fate will bring you to each other’s heart. This is a story of two hearts from north and south of the Philippines who found their way to become one.

My father named Joel lived in Nueva Ecija while my mother, Ma. Elena who is a native Bisaya came from General Santos. When he was 18, my father went to Manila along with his friend, Noel to work as construction worker. In nearby place, my mother came all the way from Mindanao with her best friend named Rowena. When they all four met, my mother became close to Noel and my father became close to Rowena. Days passed, their relationships became even closer with the company of each other partner and soon go out for a double date. Everyone and even people around them assumed that Rowena will be my father’s girlfriend and Noel will be my mother’s boyfriend.

But world turns upside down as they found out in the long run that they are in love and more interested with the partners of their friend. It seems like there’s a switch of partners, Rowena becomes Noel’s girlfriend while my Mom becomes my Dad’s girlfriend. Sooner, Rowena and Noel had their marriage, the same with my parents who decided to live in Nueva Ecija.

And now, Rowena and Noel are happily living with their three children. My mother and father are also happy with their marriage life with us, their four daughters.

            Apparently, it is still a question to me if destiny is true but my parents’ sentiments about their love story lean me towards believing in destiny.