Sharing the video entitled “Paghihintay at Paghahanap | Pagtitiwala at Pag ibig” from Sabins Studio:
“Loneliness is God’s way of leading us to Him.”
Why Sleep Matters
Sharing the video from Harvard Medical School:
Goodbye, My Planners
Today I bid goodbye to my planners. I have many of those for more than 10 yrs of writing my daily musing and adventures. I must say that they are very dear to me. The pages from these planners became my journals, which contained my hopes, dreams, and even heartaches. The transition from my teenage years to being an adult was inscribed in there too. Those are a lot of days, and yes, equivalent to many pages.
My father decided to bring old papers, newspapers, books, and other items to our friendly junk shop neighbor. We became pretty diligent in making sure that we collect those instead of throwing them away to recycle. However, they became an eyesore and are consuming too much space already.
I was holding on to these planners for a very long time. I thought that I might keep them as long as I am alive. Unfortunately, they were already consuming too much space since I have 1-2 planners per year, 1 for personal and 1 for work stuff. My friends knew that I like jotting down things to organize my thoughts, so they gave me the planners as gifts. So often, I ended up having 1-2 planners per year, sometimes more. Each page reminded me of each day. Some are blank (I’m just too lazy to write), and some were full of memories. Some planners are very colorful with charming illustrations and stickers, some as I grow older, were cleaner and more simple. Looking through the pages made me remember the past years, and though I like planners, I realized that I am not very diligent in writing. I started writing eagerly from January to March and sometimes until June or July but most often, not making it by August to December. I rarely have December entries. It is like a New Year’s Resolution cycle. Still, every year, I repeated the same sequence.
Through minimalism, I realized that I have to part ways with the physical object and take a picture of them to remember them. They contain my memories for so many years, and though parting with it became easy now, it is still a bittersweet moment. It is nice to look back, but my mind is at peace, knowing that I have let go of a significant chapter of my life and move on for a more intentional life.
More Than A Year of No TV
Many of the people I know don’t know that one fact, we don’t have TV at home. Not because we cant afford it but we don’t really need it. My sister and I grew up in a generation where TV is a pacifier for energetic kids with busy parents. It was an escape of teenagers when things are unsure and emotions are like roller-coaster rides. It then was an escape for adults to be adults and face reality.
We liked watching everything from sun up to sun down. We ate breakfast, get ready to school and work while watching morning TV shows. We enjoyed lunch with entertaining noontime shows and siesta with afternoon drama. Our dinner consists of evening news and prime time drama. And extending supper or having midnight snack with late night TV shows or movie marathons. Our lives revolved with the lives of other people in the television. We were so busy with what’s happening in that big box that we forgot to live outside the box.
When my father was going back and forth to the hospital and we needed to moved homes, our jouney of life without television began. We started focusing on each other and tried to understand how to cope with everything that is going on. Day and night, our worries were endless. We needed more quiet time to recharge and fight a new day. Old-fashioned radios helped a lot in the beginning, we can listen to it for early morning news or music when needed. Most of time however, we don’t. With today’s technology as well, almost every information we needed is available. We started learning how to filter what we need to consume. Slowly, day by day, we learned to let go and survived the day without that big box.
The silence without television is liberating. We began to appreciate other sounds around us more, the birds chirping, the laughter, the kids playing and shouting, the rustling leaves, the wind blowing, the drops of rain and sometimes, the quiet sobs at night. We had more time to do other things and focus on each other. We had more time to go to the park, workout, sleep, cook, study, read books, laugh at each others jokes, sing, play, go to other places, explore, write and listen to each other’s story.
For some, the quietness is deafening and lonely. But for us, life without television is tranquility.
Movie Review: Unstoppable (2010)
My Rating: 4.5 stars
I think this movie is engaging, and you will be hooked to it. It is a suspense action movie that stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. I was all eyes on this and can’t do anything because I don’t want to miss a split second.
The 1st attempt to stop the train is really dangerous and killed a veteran. I find it sad. Luckily the 2nd attempt was successful, thanks to Frank and Will. You have to commend their determination to stop the crewless train. I think that it is the noble feeling of saving the day because not everyone got that chance or made it out alive.
It is also lovely to see how different theories can be used to prove different scenarios and as a viewer, you would want to wish to be able to use what you’ve learned in Physics. But hey, this is a severe scenario, and if you are in that position, you better be sure you know what you are doing. A simple mistake would cost a lot.
“You quit too easy.”
I like that line from Frank. It made me realized that we have to be determined enough to go after what we want no matter how difficult it is because it will be worth it. Every single second of it is worth it.
Finding My Way Back to Minimalism
A lot happened this year, and I thought that closing a long chapter of my life would give me more time than I needed. However, life happens, and I aimlessly filled up my day with activities that suck my life. I thought I would have more time to enjoy sipping my morning coffee, listening to songs that make me happy, reading excellent books, traveling, writing, and enjoying seeing sunsets and sunrise. I expected a lot.
It is Q4 now, and realizing that the year is in its last quarter made me rethink what I did or what happened. First, 2017 is a year of goodbyes for me. It is saying goodbye to comfort, security, stability, seeing good friends regularly, my book collection, travel collection, sleep, good health, and peace of mind. My parents were constantly in the hospital, and having checkups and operations made our schedule full and our pockets empty which led us to debt. Comfort, stability, and financial freedom are now on vacation after leaving the corporate world. Second, graduate study is always a challenge for me and would require me a tremendous amount of time to keep up. Giving up a lot of sleep and made me constantly question my worthiness. I often wonder if this is the right road to take. I wanted it a lot before, and now I am asking myself WHY? I could only travel this semester’s break and went to 2 provinces with my sister and nephew. Those two trips are long overdue and very short. I seem to be doing lots of things, and I asked why I need to do all these things until recently.
I started Minimalism last year when my parents got sick, and I always thought I was forced into it and that I don’t enjoy what I am doing. I am not a minimalist but instead being frugal. This weekend was a recharging weekend for me and gave me a lot of time to think, and I realized that I badly need to find my way back to Minimalism. So today, during my daily commute, I listened to the podcasts of The Minimalists. I enjoyed it, and I wonder why I haven’t thought of it before to add value to my life while stuck in traffic. I already uninstalled several time-wasting apps while listening, so that’s a good thing.
Hopefully, I can keep this up, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this. Wish me luck 🙂
In Chaos
There is always chaos around us, sometimes it appears very simple, yet it slowly grows in your mind and explodes until you became this angry, irritable, unsociable person that everyone hated. It is frustrating. I encountered one last night, and it bothered me until this morning. I am furious.
I kept quiet, but deep inside my mind, I wanted to shout and fight back. I wanted to share this agony with the person who brought it. Then I remembered this:
“You have no right to hurt a person just because they hurt you.”
It is like a wake-up call. I could have fought and said terrible things that I might regret. I could have caused enormous pain, but I chose not to. I kept quiet. I started to discard negative thoughts and simplify what’s inside my mind, removing the clutter. I kept quiet and listened to calming music. I read motivation quotes until I felt better. I felt better
I felt better, and hopefully, I can do this every time chaos decided to show up again.
Because I’m Letting You Go
This year seems to be a year for letting go. Most would think that this is about love, the painful kind of love that we all go crazy. Yes, this is about love, but this is a different kind of love. It is called Friendship.
I’ve met many people in this place, and it hurts to know that they are moving on. They may have accepted it already, but most of the time, I haven’t. I probably learned about it too late that I have not enjoyed much of your company or appreciate it because you are always around or let you know how amazing you are. Because I’m letting you go, I would still see you when someone smiles at me. When I log in to our messaging tool, I will wait for you to chat with me, but I would feel bad because of the hours/days when your last login would remind me that you have moved on. When I hear laughter, I remember our happy moments together—even those low points when we shared tears. When I’m sad, I will look at your empty seat. When I listen to my playlist, I would remember the kind of music we like. Break time would remind me not only about food but our impromptu meetings about everything. Discussions would include the latest news, the events we wanted to organize or attend, our crazy antics, who has a new haircut, who just climbed this and that mountain, the latest celebrity news, politics, and kid’s birthday. Some moments include the sad and sometimes heartbreaking story, the death of our friend, the future, our fears, rejections, and mostly our hopes and dreams. We shared so much.
Because I’m letting you go, please indulge me more time. More time to hug you more, more time to say thank you, and more time to be ready to say, “See you again, my friend.”
Movie Review: Like Stars on Earth
Image Source: IMDB
Have you watched the movie “Like Stars on Earth (Taare Zameen Par)? It’s a 2007 movie and a real tearjerker. I can’t remember how many times I cried because of Ishaan.
The actor Darsheel Safary played his role well. And Aamir Khan looks very nice and caring. The animation is fantastic and very colorful that the kids will surely love. There are lots of songs, and they are enjoyable too.
These are my favorite lines:
“Caring. It’s very important, Mr Awasthi. It has the power to heal. Like a balm that soothes pain. The child feels reassured that someone cared for him. An occasional hug, a loving kiss. Just to show that I really care. ‘My child, I love you. If you have any troubles, come to me. So what if you slipped, messed up? I’m there for you.’ That’s assurance. Caring.”
I can relate to this movie a lot because I know someone close to me who has Dyslexia. It was a shock at first, and we are thankful to have discovered it early on. However, I feel for the kid who went through the struggles alone, and the people around him don’t have any idea. This brings me to the observation that it is crucial to know the kid’s behavior.
It is good to know that there are people like Ram Shankar Nikumbh who can identify with Ishaan and have the guts to explain it to the parents and the teachers. Hopefully, we have that same support system in our kid’s life. That in our eyes, every child is indeed special.
What I Can Do NOW
I’d been thinking about a meaningful and healthier lifestyle lately and come up with a list below of what I should be doing, my baby steps:
1. Less to no coffee
Since I’m acidic, I should avoid it but old habits die hard. I settled to LA coffee for months and now it is Day 2 of no coffee at all. Good luck to me. I settled to more water instead.
2. More fiber
So this means more greens and to watch the calories. I am not a big veggies fan but I like fruits. I can’t eat salad but a smoothie is ok. Thankfully there’s a Go! Salad booth in the office pantry, so I tried the Breakfast Smoothie (Apple, banana, cinnamon, oats, coco sugar, chia seeds, greens, and soy milk P120.00 or $ 2.4). I got an Oster MyBlend Personal Blender from my boss as a Christmas gift two years ago, which helps me a lot with my smoothie craving.
3. Have enough sleep
I’m a night owl, and my brain functions well at night. Needless to say that I can stay all night, especially during days when I have to meet a deadline or just binge-watching stuff. But that’s not healthy, and I try to sleep at least 6-7 hours a day. I know it should be more that is why I am keeping track of it.
4. Exercise
This is my weakness. I am probably too lazy and think of many things to do instead as an excuse to exercise. However, as we age, I realized that I should focus more on this. I could start on adding more minutes of walking, then later on, probably jogging then running. I wish! We live near a newly developed concert ground, and people run/jog there every morning, so that should be a great start. Baby steps.
5. Read more books
I love books, and reading more books is part of “My What I Wanted to Do List”—specifically reading books from different parts of the world, or at least the English translation of it. So I checked my Goodread’s list, and as of today, I have 138 books in my Read Bookshelf: 1 (JP), 1(US – probably more, but I haven’t updated it yet), 1 (BR), 7(UK), 1 (SG), 1 (IN), 1 (FR), 1 (PH – most likely more).
6. Learn/Relearn something each day
I try to check Pinterest and Quora to learn or relearn something each day, mostly about minimalism, technology, literature, and everyday living.
7. Be positive
This is hard, I know. But we all need to try 🙂
I realized while writing this post that these to-do things are part of “My What I Wanted to Do List.” So back to baby steps to achieve what I wanted to do in the future that I can do now.
Simply Jhong 