JUST THANK YOU

Date Written: Feb 2024

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

-Thessalonians 5:18

Dear God,

Thank you for everything.

Thank you for every opportunity you have given me to go to wonderful places.

I am always grateful for the safe travel, good health and for providing everything for me.

Your creations are truly appreciated.

I find happiness in the seas, mountains, locals I get to see every time I go out there, to wonder and wander, to experience all Your majestic gifts to humanity.

To feel the bright sun in my skin, to touch the sand with my bare feet along with the waves and to breathe the air that is so fresh, all I can say is thank you but actually, I am running out of words to say what I truly feel. It’s all goodness, gratefulness, happiness and contentment.

And I believe that I will go farther.

But still thank you, for giving me home where I can return to in every trip that I have.

Thank you for the life I have.

You are great!

STARTING EACH DAY WITH A GRATEFUL HEART

February **, 2024

Here’s what I do every morning when I wake up: I simply say, “Thank you”.

As in - Thank you for everything, for me being alive, for breathing, for having a healthy mind, soul and body, for having my family and loved ones around me, for the comfort of my home, for the good night sleep, for a work that is waiting for me and provides for all our needs, any many more.

I talk to Him, I say a little prayer every single day.

And you know what, the whole day becomes a bit lighter and brighter.

Of course, there’ll be challenges ahead, but because of this morning routine, I become less emotional when things heat up and a little bit kinder to people around me whether I know them or not.

It takes a lot of practice and effort to see in a wider perspective.

But start each day with a grateful heart and eventually everything follows.

Being grateful is being faithful.

When we feel that we’re blessed enough, we believe in the Higher being that everything’s gonna be alright as much as we believe in ourselves na, kaya natin ‘to! Kakayanin natin lahat!

We appreciate and treasure things that we already have and yet, we still aim for the better and we believe that we can be better! One step at a time, slowly but surely, one grateful heart a day, we’ll get there wherever we wanted to be.

Masarap gumising nang may pagmamahal sa puso. Nagiging mas madali ang mga pasubok na pagdaraanan natin sa maghapon.

Huwag na huwag tayong makakalimot at magsasawang magpasalamat sa lahat ng biyaya at pagpapala na meron tayo.

As I always say in mind, living to love, loving to live.

Let’s love life because we only have a single of it. And we deserve to make the best out of it.

Diwata Blog 2024

 

Mag-Isa

 

Date Written: February **, 2024

 

May usapan kami ng best friend ko na magkikita.

Dumating ako sa meeting place namin on time.

Take note: On time!

At ang baliw kong kaibigan? Ayon! Kagigising lang!

So, ano nang gagawin ko while waiting?

And instead of stressing myself, I enjoyed today’s solitude.

There’s a nearby park in our meeting place and so I took a short walk. Pandagdag steps for today.

I then bought my favorite food and indulged into it.

I was even happy dancing inside my head.

Just try to imagine, isipin nyo na lang kung paano ko ginagawa ‘yon.

I enjoy every moment that I go out alone and doing something worth it like writing or just spending some quality time with myself.

Masarap magmuni-muni, mag-imagine, makarealize ng mga bagay-bagay, mag-isip isip.

Kagaya nitong thought na ito:

Sana, let’s normalize going out alone.

Huwag tayong judger kapag may nakita tayong kumakain mag-isa. Kahit sa Starbucks pa yan, sa ferris wheel, o sa Samgyup.

Let’s always look at the bigger picture.

Baka kasi kagaya ko, masaya lang sila lumabas mag-isa.

It feels dominating and liberated (in a good way) going out alone.

After all, I believe that we can only realize how brave and strong we are when we already experienced being alone.

I’m not saying though na huwag na tayong lumabas with friends at magpaka-loner forever.

What I’m trying to say is that, sometimes, we can spend with ourselves alone. Date ourself.

Because I also believe that it can help us to be better. Kasi mas nakikilala natin yung sarili natin, mas narerealize natin yung mga thoughts natin.

And it also clear our clouded thoughts.

So ayun lang naman.

Happy date yourself day!

Charot, imbento ko lang yon.

Diwata Blog 2024

Book Review | Book#2: Summer Rain by Sonia Francesca

 

Date Finished Reading: February 2024

As for the second book, Summer Rain.

Grabe ang ibinuhos ng luha ko rito – mostly on the family story of the guy.

Mas marami akong iniyak sa POV ni Third kesa kay Hannah.

 

Kwento ko ba?

Paano ba hindi magiging tunog-spoiler?

Ganito na lang, si Ate Girl, namatayan ng fiancé.

At yung fiancé niya ay may kakambal.

She asked for help of the kakambal for her to move on.

At si Kakambal ay pinagbigyan naman siya.

 

You know what, as I read this book, sobra akong na-e-excite sa mga susunod na kabanata. Excited akong malaman ang mga plot twist ng kwento nila.

Ang dami kong feels!

Tapos, sobrang na-i-imagine ko pa ang mga settings ni Ate Che na para ba’ng nasa loob din ako ng kwento.

Narra flowers are also special for me.

My first memory of it was when I graduated from elementary. Umuulan noon ng Narra flowers as we marched for our graduation. Tapos yung Valedictorian namin, as she gave her speech, she was crying and the whole quadrangle was filled with falling Narra flowers. Parang may snow ng bulaklak on a fine sunny afternoon. Share ko lang ulit! He-he!

 

I can describe Hannah as a fragile, tough girl – medyo sa last part ko na ‘to na-realize nung may shooting scene na. Hehe!

Para siyang langgam. Hard on the outside but super soft and tender on the inside.

And I can describe Third as a lost young child who’s longing for people who would want him in their lives.

There’s also one thing I learned from Third’s parents.

Forgiving someone whom we loved so much is really hard. The deeper our love, the deeper the wounds it can cause us.

And yet, time can really heal all wounds. As they say, we’ll get there soon.

 

The ending was simple. Pero may kurot pa rin sa puso. At for the last time, naiyak pa rin ako.

 

These books are highly recommended.

Kung gusto mong ngumiti at umiyak, grab a copy and read it.

 

Thank you, Ate Che aka Sonia Francesca for letting me read your masterpieces.

I will be one of your fans forever. <3

Ayun lang.

 

Book Review | Book#1: Still With You by Sonia Francesca

 

Done reading: January 2024

Date Written: January 14, 2024

A little story first about the author of this book.

Sonia Francesca is one of my favorite Filipino authors.

I call her Ate Che.

And I am very fortunate to meet her in person since 2014, every now and then. I try my best to go or to attend whenever she has book signing events.  

We met again last December 2023 for a book signing event of Lovers of Pages. I am so happy and honored to see her again and to sit beside her.

I’ve got to secure two of her recent released books and made her sign it.

Yey! Thank you, Ate Che! It was nice seeing you again! One of the best Christmas gifts I’ve received last year!

 

Back to our short book review or reaction about this first book I’m done reading.

(Warning: Spoiler Alert because I’m not good in making reviews. More on reaction lang talaga.)

Still With You is a story about a traumatic childhood/puppy love – well for me.

She had her heart broken during her elementary days and since then she never had anyone before.

Ito yung literal na first love never dies.

Ang tagal maka-move on ni Ante mo!

In which I can’t relate. Ha-ha-ha!

Ang sarap kayang magmahal nang paulit-ulit kahit sa paiba-ibang tao pa yan.

Ewan ko pero it gives me a nice feeling knowing that there’s someone who makes me feel special.

 

Okay.

So, ngayong taon ay nakatapos akong magbasa ng dalawang libro!

Yey!

And they were both written by my favorite author, Sonica Francesca.

I usually call her Ate Che.

We already met several times and those times are special for me.

Most of the time that we met were because of her book signing or MIBF.

Kinikilig pa rin ako kapag nakikita ko siya. She’s very humble and approachable. Napaka-down to earth pa niya at lagi akong naiinspire kapag nagkakadaupang palad kami. She always encourages me to write more and better stories.

Lagi rin akong nag-papa-sign ng books sa kanya and through her sweet little dedications, you can truly feel how genuine she is as a person.

Shout out to you, Ate Che! Hope to see you soon again!

Excited na ako sa mga story pa na ilalabas at isusulat mo.

Okay, back to our main topic which was book reaction, the titles we’ll be talking about are, “Still With You” and “Summer Rain”.

These were published under Lovers of Pages.

And as usual, her books made me laugh and cry.

Laging may kurot at kiliti sa puso ang mga akda niya.

 

Still With You was about a traumatic childhood love, well for me, ganyan ko siya i-define.

Geena Jean fell in love with Zion at grade school, then he broke his heart and she never got over it. Dahil sa naging karanasan niyang ito sa pag-ibig ay natakot na siyang magmahal ulit.

 

Then here comes the guy, who after so many years of being missing in action in her life, ay muling nagbabalik upang tumira sa bahay niya.

Hanggang doon na lang ang ikukwento ko. Ayoko namang maging sobrang spoiler.

Sabi ko nga sa title ng blog na ito, this is not a book review but a reaction. Also, because I suck at creating sensible book reviews.

So, ikukwento ko lang talaga yung mga feels ko about sa mga librong nababasa ko.

 

At grade six, Geena Jean had her first boyfriend and also had her heart broken and then never recovered from it.

Well, just to relate, I had a huge crush when I was in fifth grade. Kahit hindi niya ako na-crush back that time, that young love lasted until I was in fourth year high school.

Parang nawala na lang yung feelings ko for him when I had my first boyfriend – that only lasted for two months! Ha-ha!

Parang ito ang naging motto ko sa buhay noon, as childish as it might be: Para maka-move on from your past love, you need to have a new love. Share ko lang!

I also believed na kaya hindi nakalimutan ni Geena si Zion was because it was the first time she fell in love (even at such a young age) and it was the most memorable experience for her – both wonderful and heartbreaking.

Sobrang gusto ko ng ending nito. Sa dream destination ko ang setting. Huhu, sana makapunta na ako doon soon! Manifesting… claiming it to the Universe!

Ayun lang.

 

 

Panibagong Simula 2024

Date Written: Jan. 8, 2024

 

Salamat sa nagdaang taon 2023.

Maraming bagay ang dapat ipagpasalamat at patuloy na pinapasalamatan.

Marami din ang mga natutuhan.

 

Pagkakaroon ng pamilya na may maayos na kalusugan at kaligtasan ang isa sa mga higit na ipinagpapasalamat sa nakaraang taon.

Pati na rin ang pagkakaroon ng pagkakataon na maka-byahe sa mga bagong lugar na hindi ko pa napupuntahan.