We are craftsmen

Tags

art, craft, freedom, liberation, museum, ordinary life, salvation, soul, talent

What is your art? It amuses me to hear people say they don’t have any talent or that they’re not good in anything.

“Care of the Soul requires craft.

To live with a high degree of artfulness
means to attend to the small things
that keep the soul engaged in whatever we are doing
And it is the very heart of soul-making.”

Art, as language of the soul, nurtures the soul.
Thus it should be in our every day. 

“The fine arts are elevated and set apart from life,
becoming too precious and therefore irrelevant.
Having banished art to the museum,
we fail to give it a place in ordinary life.”

My art is in people. I like seeing them grow and I’m a believer of change and progress. Seeing through and being seen, that’s when I am most connected to the world, in my very sense of destiny. People when they bloom, for me is the most beautiful that art has ever known.

Art that is not contained in movement, in rhythm, in color, texture and shape, in emotions and still moments — what is your art?

This is what Hey Artist is all about. Focus on your craft, enrich your talent, nurture your soul, and work out your own salvation.

A phenomenon called rain

Tags

aerial, chopper, huey, phenomenon, photo, rain, view

rain, from 2000 ft high

In defense of Samantha Brick

Tags

daddy loves me, daddy told me so, downside to looking pretty, i'm right, narcissistic, samantha brick, the secret, you're wrong

I came across Samantha’s controversial article “There are downsides to looking this pretty” through nepaliaustralian. I was surprised by how people have criticized first, her being average-looking, and second, her supposed arrogance (stuff like true beauty is not on the outside, and she was such a narcissistic bitch).

I will neither defend nor bash her. I’d just like to pose some questions to ponder upon.

Have you never felt insecure in the presence of a lovely-er woman? I have.
Have you never given a handsome man some extra kindness because of his bright eyes and disarming smile? Or a woman simply because she’s nice. I have.

Don’t you just wonder why we have to invalidate the experience Samantha shared — simply that this is how the world has been to her?

On one level, people say that she looks like an average 40 year old. So who’s our standard of a gorgeous 40 year old? J.Lo, Cameron Diaz, Angelina or Catherine Zeta Jones? In my recent trip, there was a pretty lady who caught the attention of men. Yet later on, a guy told me, “I saw her make face when a fat woman got in her way. I was about to help her, but never mind.” A girl from SoleSister shared her experience of being given free breakfast by a hotel receptionist only because she smiled even after knowing that she wasn’t availing any. Whether you believe it or not, there are people who would be interested to meet you, hear your story, consider your business pitch, all because of your adorable smile. Wouldn’t you want to prefer being with someone who radiates sunshine, over someone who’s always on the lookout, preparing his next attack?

On another level, instead of questioning the validity of somebody’s experience, why don’t we take the disposition of seeing what we could learn from it? Why am I not getting the same perks? Am I ugly? Am I just unlucky? Don’t I believe that I am beautiful too? I am reminded of people’s reaction to The Secret and the attestation of people who have been practicing it. That it was crap. Why? Because they don’t experience it. What if there’s something to believing that we deserve the best, because we are beautiful, because we are loved?

That’s what we do, don’t we? When somebody opens us up to a different worldview, we react with defenses. It’s only either I am right or I am wrong – and I better be right. So she must be wrong.

It’s unfair for Tawi-Tawi

Tags

bongao, bongao peak, tawi-tawi

I was surprised by how warm this island province was. Surprisingly warm. We were going down from Bongao Peak that early morning as hordes of people bearing picnic boxes were going up for the Saturday ritual. My Muslim companion was curiously inquiring as this was not typical of a Muslim community. It was a native practice, we were told.

Early morning at Bongao Peak, a day I will never ever forget

Tell me more about Tawi-Tawi…

Tags

cotabato, grand mosque, joser dumbrique, photo

Emotions as fleeting as thoughts

Tags

bipolar, depression, emotions, fleeting, human soul, soul, thoughts

I’ve been avoiding wordpress for a while so as not to spread negative energy. From my previous posts, it’s been over 2 months now that I’ve been really low. Yes there are highs, that don’t last more than a few hours. At the point of wondering why I’m alive while nothing in my white room moves except for the clock, the electric fan, my eyeballs and my breathing, I thought of seeking treatment already. Okay, enough.

Well, writing is therapeutic. So what else works in making me feel momentarily okay ..  That day when I accidentally met TM at McDo, where we used to meet up before taking off to the Enchanted Farm. French interns. The university where I and Trech last talked to a bunch of students (I miss public speaking). Alma mater and it’s usual accommodation and efficiency. I remember when I was broken there, I got fine, now I’m broken so maybe I’ll be fine again. That day when I admitted that I am not a victim of circumstances, and I enjoyed my choices, to the bit. 

And since my “truths” change before I can put them in words, I’ll just say it’s fleeting – must not hold on to it.

During bouts of melancholy, the outer life may look empty; but at the same time, inner work may be taking place at full speed. -freud

Sitting through this, will never have to look back.

Women who bear the curse

Tags

affair, fling, short-lived, summer

Looks like I’m not the only one. Khai has her own version of the “curse” — being left hanging, like 3 in a row (sorry Khai, I hope you don’t mind). Clowns, they never fail to make us ‘laugh’ in this joke of a life.

Sorry mister, I’m still posting. Fortunately, this won’t be as heavy as it first came off. You have an amazing calming effect on me.

To show you the curse-slash-pattern, here’s First Love, Old Man, and Young Boy, for the most part. Because there still are Mr. The Bar and Mr. YinYang.

I’m pretty sure I behaved. I wasn’t playing charming nor was I playing nice. Then a man sat next to me, never thinking that I could find such a one at the borders of the archipelago.

Few stolen moments, from the highest point of the island to the remotest beach. I saw nothing but the stars and passing ships. We spotted Orion, the only constellation I remember from a science camp in grade school (which is also the only one he knows). Few stolen moments, from buying banana for monkeys and grabbing ice cream.

In his coming here, I don’t wanna steal any more moments.. from his girlfriend.

I’m scared. That this unmistakable pattern is turning into an addiction. Nothing lasts longer than summer; as if summer is all made for me. I’m becoming the master of paradise-relationships and my vaccine for attachment rising (I’m bluffing).

I’m sad. That I’m only good for the waiting list. Is this all I could attract?

This quarter alone, 2 dear friends found refuge in my house. 5 years of great relationship, broken in less than a month. So what do I do now?

There’s no point I’m making, just check out that Summer Reminder right there (—>) I’m not the fun girl, by the way.

What’s your pattern? 

My fear of insanity

Tags

facts, insanity, life, love, relationships, simple, truth, unfortunate events

I was smiling on my way home not because of joy, but because my series of unfortunate events have gone from depressing to comical.

I don’t know if I’m merely a victim of circumstances or something really wrong is going on inside my head. And I ought to know.

First, lose P22,000 and accept that people may think you stole it. Focus on getting things done, not knowing that relationships are compromised, and get talked behind your back. Get “bullied” and realize how unprofessional that is after 24 hours. Find out that you’re being investigated for mis-coordination for not knowing better ahead, without being asked of your side. Maybe it was a mis-communication. Story going around with 3 keywords: drunk, 1 am, conflict-affected area. Serve as bad example to your colleagues and be told “it doesn’t matter whether that’s true or not.” Be a pain in the ass for some simple logistical matter. All in 1 month. Good job, kara. 

There may be lapses in my memory, my ability to perceive reality, the root cause of my fear of insanity. We ought to find out the truth, don’t we? Simply ignoring injustice is in itself injustice.

If you don’t know truth, you don’t know love. Where’s the love y’all? 

________________

Note: Hope this doesn’t stem out to more, it may seem exaggerated, but please, i can only handle so much.

WordPress makes innovation happen

Tags

blogging, comments, forum, innovation, notification, suggestion, support, Wordpress

I don’t want to be overjoyed, but I want to recognize WordPress’ efforts in continuously improving (though I’m a bit late on this).

wordpress innovates, wordpress listens

Whether or not WP read my suggestion, I still want to thank them for continuously creating an awesome blogging experience. Now we can even reply through that little notification button!

Other bloggers may also find inspiration to send in their suggestions, because opinions for improvement are always called for. In whatever situation, I hope everyone sees value in participation, dialogue, and accept it as a responsibility, more than a privilege.

Thanks for the replies of lilmaouz and timethief.

Happy blogging to all!

I envy Abel

Tags

abel, envy, friendship, impersonal, personal, relationship, stranger, tao, taoism

As we were waiting for a delayed flight, Abel asked me and Jade if we have games on our laptops. He also asked if he could take a photo of me using “my” camera.

photo by Abel

The previous night I was telling Helen that I particularly requested to be reassigned out of San Carlos (besides reasons of schedule conflict), where I had left quite good relationships. Part of me wants to go back; yet part of me wants to crystallize the perfectness of the whole experience. “You sound traumatized.” “From where?” “From relating to people, in general.”

Whenever I get emotionally invested (in anything), I get scarred. Is that why we ought to be detached so our desires won’t get in the way? If there was anything I found really challenging in Tao, it was

Know the personal, but keep to the impersonal.

I envy Abel and how he could make friends along the way without the fear of falling for or missing a stranger, or getting hurt by her. I envy that he didn’t fear being rejected, abducted, ignored, to be uncomfortable, or to be taken advantage of, or for people to think he’s weird, invasive, annoying, intimidating.

I envy the child, Abel.

kid makes friends with strangers

Kony 2012, just another US plot?

Tags

campaign, Invisible Children, Jason Russell, Kony 2012, Rosebell on Kony 2012, saving humanity, stillsoundlyawake, US propaganda, war crimes

Truth definitely becomes more complicated when we probe into them. You probably have heard about the Kony 2012 video, produced by Invisible Children.

I personally wanted to support the campaign by sharing the video and signing the pledge. I just didn’t get to finish watching so I procrastinated, which may be a good thing as criticisms like this emerge:

There are a lot more intriguing videos, but I think the guy sets the basics. Better if you’d watch Rosebell’s video too. 

And now founder Jason Russell is on the news. What’s going on here? Is he just another passionate soul who got burned with the pursuance of his vision, and who deserves a little more understanding? Or is he on a conspiracy?

What’s your take on the whole thing?