Pre-Halloween

The last role I portrayed on stage in high school was Gaea, Greek goddess/Mother Earth for our English class monologue. I still remember that project distinctly because I researched about my role, conceptualized my version of Gaea, wrote my own script, made my own costume (pinning my sheer tela here and there), bought the necessary make-up, collected all these leaves and potpourri as part of my props, and acted in front of our entire batch to represent our class.

Seven years later... I find myself filling up another maternal role.


Presenting the three bears from Goldilocks&The Three Bears!
Cara: Baby Bear, Duckee: Papa Bear, and yours truly as Mama Bear.

This was for the play we had in preschool prior to Trick or Treating! Entertaining the kids by acting on stage was fulfilling on its own so even if we looked funny as bears, we were still game.



If given the choice though, even if these bears look cute for the kids, we'd still like to look like something else for Halloween.

Actually the costumes we choose to wear during Halloween are sometimes reflective of the lives that we want to live. My co-teacher and good friend, Kat, did say she always wanted to be a witch so it wasn't surprising that she dressed up as one.


Kat with her students. :)

As for me, well I looked like this...


Gypsy. Indian Girl. Taekwondo gal.


Back in second year high school, I did my own Trick-or-treating in our village wearing a similarly designed costume with a very very big plastic bag in tow. Who would have thought I'd wear the same "costume" again years after? But now, I have better make-up skills and my hands are no longer stretched out to ask for goodies. I hold my students' hands instead and prod them to say "Trick or Treat", "Thank you", and "Happy Halloween!"




I hope you enjoyed my short pre-Halloween story! For now, I'd have to think of creative ways to look like a gal from the 80's! Can't wait for the 31st :) I love Halloweeeeeens!

Special thanks to Cara and Mommy MR for the photos above!

Better days

...are here to come. And STAY :)

I've paused from blogging and Multiplying primarily because I don't have photos to post. I never got to find my camera and I think it won't come back anytime soon. As *Tien* said though, better things come to those who let go. ;)

Despite the fact that nobody returned it back to me, I actually find people around me kinder. All the mommies in the preschool where I teach offer to take my pics and tell me that they'll just send me photos with my kids. One parent from another class actually gave me a black and white hard copy of my photo with my students. I'll post that soon. I left the photo on the shelf in my classroom and I'll probably be coming back to get it in a few more days...

because...

Sem break is finally here!!! I just emailed an article I wrote for Chalk this afternoon. Let's all wait for it to come out in the future. For the meantime, check out CHALK magazine this October with Bea and John Lloyd on the cover. I contributed an article in that issue about Alessandra Tinio's trip to South India. :) Thank you to Wanggo for believing in my writing ability. I'm actually enjoying the things I'm doing at present, no matter how small the steps I'm taking.

Now that I can stay at home for most of the day, I won't be doing that. I'll actually start going back to research and write that thesis proposal with full speed. It's funny that I have to blog about it so just in case I falter along the way, my blog will remind me to work work WORK!

HALLOWEEN is around the corner and I'm excited to wear another costume! Thanks to Alessa and Patty. I love dressing up for Halloween and grabbing chances to be NOT normally dressed. ;-)

That's all for now. I'm just writing down random thoughts. Isn't this fun? No rules. No fuss. Just plain typing and letting my words take me to where I am now.

It's one of the things I learned for the past weeks. :) To just let things flow...

MY GRADUATION from the 36th run of Tapping the Creative Universe deserves to be the ender of this post. Let's just say better things are really coming. I'm a graduate!






Meet our Teacher, Jim Paredes.

He warmly welcomed us in his home and guided us as we opened our minds to all these possibilities. Those five nights and one afternoon were some of the most memorable moments of my entire October. I went to class like an eager student each time and absorbed everything I could and applied it to my life. In the process, I discovered a lot about myself and others. In the end, I shared a part of me that I didn't even I know I had. I listened to stories that I will forever hold with respect and confidentiality. The journey continues...

Thank you to Adjeng, Mabel, Tess, Audri, Aleli, Dave, Nala, Margaret, and Ed for starting that journey with me.

Special thanks to Rocker Mabel for taking photos and sending them to me. :)

My take on the sixth rule: Live it. Love it. -Philosopher HK

Why I Am Great

I am currently enrolled in a Creativity Class by Jim Paredes. I've been out of touch from different forms of media for the past week but I've been writing endlessly. I just want to share one of the things that I wrote as one of our assignments.

If there's anything I learned from this, it's that WE ARE ALL GREAT. We just have to remind ourselves once in a while the reasons why.

Why I am Great

I balance my life in the best way I know how. I am all the roles I play and I am so much more than all these roles. At the age of 24, I am great.

I am a daughter. I'm not the perfect daughter especially when it comes to curfews. But I know, understand, and practice the core values that my parents taught me. I bring those values with me wherever I go. I enjoy spending time with my parents whenever I can. I don't tell them everything but I tell them the most important things. I tell them about my goals, fears, and dreams which are totally different from theirs. As physicians, they are into science. As for me, I am more inclined towards the arts. I'm grateful to them for all the blessings and direction they have given me all these years. To be grateful is great.

I am a sister. I have an older brother, an older sister, and two younger sisters. I have varying levels of relationships with them. I converse with them about different things. With my brother, I have conversations about ideas – almost always the farfetched ones. With my older sister, I have conversations about relationships, clothes, and the far future. With my younger sister, I have conversations about relationships, music, and the near future. With my youngest sister, I have conversations about relationships, health, and the now. With all four of my siblings, I converse about our childhood days including funny anecdotes and how things were when we were kids. There may be petty fights once in a while but ultimately, I think we are learning to go past those. To be able to relate in different personal levels with persons I grow up with is great.

I am a teacher. I teach preschool students in the morning. I teach whoever asks me to teach about anything that I know very well. I'd like to teach students in the university soon. Teaching is sharing. Teaching is learning at the same time. To teach is great.

I am a student. I'm currently writing my thesis to earn a Master's degree in Developmental Psychology. I encounter moments where I find myself feeling lazy to do research but I strive to fight laziness. In those moments where I act and move, I learn more. To learn is great.

I am a friend. I give quality time to my old friends and I also welcome interesting persons whom I meet along the way. When I open myself to them, I find them opening themselves to me. To remove boundaries is great.

I am a writer. I write when I want to, when I feel I have to, and when I need to. I write whatever whenever. I write shallow things. I write deep realizations. I write insights, ideas, and thoughts. I write on paper. I write on air. I write on paper that I stick on walls. When I appreciate my own writings, they come to life. I am my own fan. To appreciate one's work is great.

I am a dreamer. I dream every night and I remember my dreams in the morning. I dream in the morning and I think about these dreams at night. I dream of small dreams and I dream of great ones. To dream is great.

I am a dancer. I dance with music during my own quiet time. I dance with music surrounded by other dance enthusiasts. My energy together with theirs fills the room. I am not the best dancer but I give my best when I dance. Mostly when I am alone, I am the dance and I am the dancer. That is great.

I am my past including all the changes I underwent from then until now. I was a very shy and timid girl who barely spoke a syllable in preschool. I often didn't want to go to school until grade 3. I became part of the Student Council in high school. I once sang on stage with a band with an impromptu number and ended up being cheered on by strangers. I was part of my university's Arnis varsity team and once won a bronze medal in sparring. I taught scholars of Ateneo Tulong Dunong for a summer workshop and helped a student win first place with her oratorical speech. I taught pre-kindergarten kids who are now in grade school. I climbed the Great Wall of China once. I tried out for GamePlan, a local show about sports and adventure, and became one of their female host search finalists without any training in hosting. I learned how to zip and how to take risks while enjoying by spinning fire. I started contributing articles to magazines. I toured Athens and all its archaeological sites earlier this year. All these opportunities came from ordinary things – an e-mail, a question, or a call. All I did was say yes to them. To say yes amidst all the no's in the world is great.

I am my future. I will teach young adults. I will keep on writing. I will finish my novels. I will host my own travel show. I will travel more. I will learn more languages. I will fly to Paris, France because someone told me to just "Go for it!" I will put up my own children's clothes business. I will write children's stories and make their illustrations. My future is filled with goals. To hit those goals is great.

I am committed and in love. I am doing the things I do and I will be doing the things I want to do with someone who have been sharing my dreams and goals with me for the past 4 and a half years. I am entirely different from him and yet we share the same values. I am complete without him and he is complete without me but we choose to be together. With him, I laugh, cry, learn, live, and love. And that is great.

My greatness comes from various aspects of my life and yet my greatness is more than all of them. I am its unifying whole.

And because I am great today, I can be greater tomorrow.

* * *

Now, it's your turn. :)

Why are you great?