I'm a natural homebody so I want our house to be as comfortable as possible, every room, if I can help it! I remember during one of our evening conversations I told my husband that our bed is probably my most favorite thing in the house, just because I look forward to sleeping in it every night, although I sleep alone for most of the year (*sniff sniff*). Needless to say, I've always believed that home should be a sanctuary, and that bedrooms should be a place to sleep, not to work or to study. I need to do both so I think I've unconsciously been looking for a way to have a permanent office in the house so I can avoid bringing my laptop, phone or tablet to bed with me. 

It's a good thing that we have a spare room which we use for guests. After some huffing and puffing, moving furniture and the spare bed around, I managed to carve out a small space that I could turn into an office. And voila, I got myself an office where I can park the laptop, tablet and other things that tend to keep us all awake at night. 

Carving Spaces and Relationships 

It also got me thinking about the importance of carving spaces for the important things in our lives, from friendships to work to self-improvement. Multi-tasking is over-hyped and when we grow older, we usually gravitate towards paring down activities to the essentials. I don't know if this happens to all, but I see this happening to myself and my friends, especially friends who have kids. Suddenly, quality time becomes more important, making home a safe and warm place becomes a priority, and meaningful conversations take precedence over hangouts where everybody's there but nobody's talking. I've noticed that my conversations with friends are deeper now, more meaningful, filled with questions and revelations and moments of enlightenment that comes from sharing experiences. This is the beauty of growing older I guess. We recognize what's important, learn to take away the frills and enjoy the essentials because  they're the things that really matter.

Now, I know that "stuff" doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. However, having your own personal space, whether it's for work, rest, or reflection and meditation, does matter a lot, so here's a take on the personal space/office that I managed to carve for myself last Saturday. And, (happy surprise!!!) making a space like this is not that hard. If you have a spare room or unused space,  you just have to do a bit of pulling and pushing, and maybe get few storage boxes to store the clutter that you cannot throw out, in order to achieve something similar to what I did here. 

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. 

Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” 

― Groucho Marx

The Essential Groucho: Writings For By And About Groucho Marx

This quote sums up everything that I think about dogs, books and humor. Been back living at the 'rent's home while making our first ever house livable so I've been spending some quality time with my three furry best friends. I cannot believe I lived 6 whole months not waking up to wet, sloppy kisses and the soft thud thud of furry feet on the bed. 

There's nothing better than living with a dog. 

Living with three dogs? 

Heaven. 

“The greatest step towards a life of simplicity is to learn to let go.” 

― Steve Maraboli,

Life, the Truth, and Being Free

I admire people who can live with just the basics, people who are not tied to anything and can let go of stuff at a moment's notice. Simplicity is wonderful and having less things prevents you from worrying about anything but the basics--like air, food, the right amount of clothes, shelter. In today's world it is so easy to become preoccupied with the next best thing and how to get it, that we overlook the things that we already have. I had to part ways with something that was so precious to me this week, and it was  tough. But giving it up also gave me that sense of relief, of having one less thing to worry about, one less thing to occupy my mind. I read this poem from The Joy of Less by Francine Jay:

The small butterfly moves

as though unburdened by

the world of desire. 

(The Spring of My Life by Kobayashi Issa)

and it is so true. A simple life is life unburdened by unnecessary things. I let go with one small plea to the receiver to please, take care of that thing that you just received, because at one point it meant the world to me. And I guess that was all I needed to allow myself to finally let go. 

 Taken with my Olympus e510

“Make a pact with yourself today to not be defined by your past.

Sometimes the greatest thing to come out of all your hard work isn't what you get for it, 

but what you become for it. 

Shake things up today! 

Be You...

Be Free...

Share.” 

― Steve Maraboli

 Life, the Truth, and Being Free

I have been thinking about how amazing the Internet is, because it fosters creativity and sharing, friendships bridged by fiber optic cables and cultivated through instant messages, hour-long conversations over chatboxes, and encouragement in the form of blog comments and social network "Likes". No matter what they say about how impersonal communication is becoming in the day and age of the Internet, there is also a lot to be said about how the Internet is fostering a new kind of friendship and meaningful communication between people who have not even met in person.

I consider a lot of bloggers and writers online as personal mentors, whether I communicate with them personally or not, and without the Internet, I would not have these influences (will definitely be doing a post on my top inspirations and am pretty excited about it!) Nor would  these things be possible had these people been too selfish to answer questions or write about things that inspire them, which also inspires me. The world is bursting at the seams with creativity, it's just a matter of knowing what draws you in, what makes your heart skip a beat, and immersing yourself totally in it.

Creativity is free online and there are so many sources of inspiration out there, but without  people willing to share the results of their creativity and without those who readily give encouragement to others who need it, none of these will be available for inspiration-starved people like myself. So a big Thank you to the people who invented the Internet, the people who share in it, and the people who spread positivity and inspiration with each of their posts. 

Happy Labor Day! 

Then you hold life like a face

between your palms, a plain face,

no charming smile, no violet eyes,

and you say, yes, I will take you

I will love you, again.” 

― Ellen Bass

I've been struggling with the deepest sense of insecurity in the past few months.  I don't know why, I've never considered myself to be the painfully insecure type, I've always considered myself for be (thankfully) the dense type, the one who is blissfully unaware of how the rest of the world thinks or if that's not the case, I was able to dismiss any negative vibes before they can bother me. 

However, a deeper sense of insecurity hit me a few months before graduating law school, which could be attributed to the fact that I was nearing the end of a stage in my life and entering another stage which is new and uncertain. The insecurity is still there, although going through it made me reflect on the importance of being thankful for who I am. I Googled this phrase and the more popular search result is "being thankful for what you have' which is not surprising I guess, but it also makes a bit of sense to be thankful for what we are, as opposed to what we have. 

I am at an age when I am starting to accept that this is what I am, that this is the result of the loves and hurts and all the experiences that make up the years of my life, and I am actually learning to be OK with it. I've seen those movies where the character says, "This is me, get used to it" but this is actually the first time that I finally understood enough to relate.

Being comfortable in our own skin is probably something we develop and become good at as we grow older. There will still be instances when we may feel the urge to be comfortable in somebody else's, but learning how to love our own skin and learning how to rock our own stories, no matter how boring or mundane or uninspiring it may seem right next to the colorful stories of others, feels surprisingly better, probably because we are giving ourselves the permission to follow our own path, on our own pace. 

And there it is, another week almost over.

Happy Saturday, everyone! 

I am back. It feels weird, saying that. I have so much to do, so much to write about! Best take things one at a time though. I've had the most interesting month. Everything was a blur of lessons and challenges and moments of anxiety, introspection, and appreciation of everything that I have. I have emerged learning a few valuable lessons that were crammed into a few weeks of frantic activity, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I've been reading the blog posts of a famous US photog who's had her share of mistakes in the past year, and it has made me realize that screwing up is definitely just a part of being human. We may cringe when we recall the times when we made mistakes and reacted accordingly, but when we step back and assess everything from a new perspective, it becomes clear that things happen not to make us feel insecure but to teach us a lesson (or lessons, whichever fits). My recent brushes with mistakes and failures has made me  realize that indeed, life lessons often come to us as mistakes that frustrate and scare us, and how we react can make a world of difference in how things eventually unfold. Will that mistake make or break us? It really all depends on how we react, how we view each setback. We can choose to be beaten and feel scared or we can see each failed expectation, each stupid blunder as the Universe's way of saying that you are ready for the next challenge, so here you go. 

Wishing you guys a great Friday :)

I don't know why food gives such comfort, even if they can't give you hugs or tell you that things will be OK. During the most stressful times of my life, I unconsciously turned to food as a way of rewarding myself for getting through the day. I packed a few pounds, certainly, which is why I am glad that the usual sources of stress are lying low and for now I am able to breathe. But I thank God for food, glorious food, whether its homemade paksiw or sweet and cheerful cupcakes. Edibles just make my day. 

There are just days when I feel like I've left the major parts of my life behind and I cannot wait to get back. The stress of finals week, the uncertainty brought by things that are out of my control, and the desire to just get back into the fray that is my life outside of law school leaves me itching, and I mean itching, to write! Work and writing have always been my refuge, and frankly, this month has not been pretty, so I  pretty much feel like I want to get away from it all, hide in a cave somewhere, bawl my eyes out if that will make me feel better.

I have returned to working again, although not  really fully into it. I missed my clients, their warm, kind words when they receive work that they like. Stuff like that warms my heart, and they become dear friends, these clients who I've never seen or met in person, as well as clients who are here in Dumaguete. I also miss shooting since I know that I need to practice more. I met a friend for the first time today and although we just talked for less than an hour, he gave me words that encouraged me to shoot more and overcome deep-seated insecurities when it comes to using the camera. He also gave me a precious gift from a close friend of his who's been a real inspiration when it comes to shooting (excited to blog about this meeting more!!!)

Anyway, I am dying to post on a regular basis again. I still have a lot on my plate, responsibilities that need to be checked off before the week is over. I am hoping though, that Saturday next week will see me with a brighter, sunnier face, an even happier disposition, ready to enjoy what this summer has to offer :D

For now, a few photo box shots. I love making these boxes. I decorate them myself and wrap them in twine for an organic effect. I also fold the paper CD case to turn it into something cute and functional without having to use glue or tape (I thank the crafty tutorial gods for stuff like these). Part of me feels like this is the most enjoyable part of shooting, which has nothing to do with shooting at all haha! Simple pleasures--I'll take what I can get ;) 

Slow months leave me out of whack for some reason. I've been a freelancer for 5 years now and I've noticed that projects dip and rise at certain months of the year. January is especially slow and although slow months give me more time to focus on other things like studying and getting other things done, there's still a part of me that itches to write just the right number of pages to make me feel like I've completed my day. It's harder to do that in slow months, which is the reason why I often do not feel like doing anything else. I'm not the only one who feels the pain of slow months, apparently. I was searching for reasons for this when I stumbled on this post and it somehow brought a small amount of comfort knowing that other freelance writers around the world have felt the same thing (it wasn't me after all, LOL!).  The great thing about Jen's post is that she listed things you can do during slow months like: 

 --finish projects

--start new ones 

--STUDY! (added this myself, since midterms are coming and I remember ZERO from my lectures)

--finally do things that you've been putting off during the busier months, and 

--just enjoy the downtime

 I realized that I've been missing the blessing that comes with slow months and needed to stop stressing over the things I couldn't do and instead focus my attention on the things that I could get done. Pretty standard realization but there you go. 

I also used today's downtime to finally take photos of the tea set my aunt lovingly sent from the States. She and I are avid green tea drinkers and she is one of the two people in the world who gives me my supply of green tea.

Thank you Tita Del for such a thoughtful Christmas gift!