A Progression Of Some Sorts

I have always considered doing a series - a progression of some sorts with one common concept or idea.. Yet, I can't seem to decide what particular concept to start with.. My mind is teeming with all sorts of creative ideas that I can't seem to bring myself to pick just one. So, on this note, I am going to make a list of topics that I do want to delve upon, and see where these inspirations take me. So, here goes..

•  All about Taurus - Alright! I'm some kind of a sucker for trivial zodiac articles, emphasis on TRIVIAL. And while I'm aware that a lot of it are meant for entertainment, I'm still very much fascinated by them. So much so, I find myself agreeing to a number of factoids published either on paper or online (I did admit I was a sucker for these!). I especially gravitate to qualities of a Taurus being loyal, very grounded, stubborn, unflinching, and my personal favorite zodiacthing.com Top Reasons Why Taurus Is The Best Zodiac Sign. As I'm not an expert on Zodiac qualities or astrology whatnots, I do aspire to write something as inspired by the numerous articles - only if just to express my opinion about such topic, however frivolous they may be. 😄😜😘

• Memoirs of an introvert - haha.. In an attempt to sound intellectual &/or fascinating, I might attempt to delve into the perks of being an introvert - if there's such perk for being one. I guess I'd be a walking contradiction if I declare myself as an introvert, seeing that I had a lot to say about anything - check my previous posts. Haha.. It may be hard to imagine, but the truth is I'm a very quiet person. I can very much relate to thoughtcatalog.com This is why you should take a chance on the quiet girl - yes, I'm a sucker, alright! I guess I'm adept to the saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything!", hahaha.. Or simply because I'm not keen on having to explain myself to lower life forms (like I said, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything!"). Seriously though, part of the reason why I started an online journal (a.k.a this blog) was because I seem to have a lot of stuff in my mind and I'm in need of a proper outlet to express them. And in an attempt to humor myself, and keep my sanity, I came up with this sorry state of a blog ~ (hey! I think I just had a proper intro to this Memoirs thing!)

• Fashion & Beauty - now this has got to be one of the most ambitious topic, should I even seriously consider dipping a finger & a toe on this matter. I AM NO EXPERT! And I can never emphasize that enough! I do, however, know more than a thing or 2 about skincare & fragrances. You see, I would say I had the privilege of being in charge of the Beauty department for quite a good period of my professional career. I worked for a couple of known brands, where I was exposed to business & marketing side of cosmetic preparations (as what we call it in Pharmacy). My college peepz thought I was well suited for that role, and I do admit I had my share of fun handling the business for the most of my professional career. Do I miss it? Yes, of course! Am I qualified to break into this topic? For beauty, I would say I know enough. But mostly scientific stuff & the business side of the industry ~ which may not suit the humor that I want to inject to my piece (excuses, excuses, excuses!). For fashion, I like fashion, but my brand of fashion might be too classic to be considered remotely interesting.. So, I guess I could only scratch the surface in this one from time to time!

• Advice column(ish) approach on Love, Life & relationships -  I must say, I had plenty of laughs just for thinking about it! Let alone considered enough to include this on the list! hahaha.. Again, I would never remotely attempt to claim to be an expert on this.. It must be really silly of me to even include this here, but what I had in mind was the humorous kind of advice, probably similar to Tita Witty quotes or the likes.. I'm a fan of Tita Witty & Tita's of Manila, and I'm inspired to maybe try to come up with something witty, with a good balance of practical sense.

• Be a (wannabe) Critique -  😄😄😄 hahaha... There was a time when I used to contribute album reviews to a foreign music blog site. I would listen to a new album, then write what I thought/felt about each of the songs in the album (1 cd - usually had 10 or more songs). I've enjoyed that stint a lot, and I'm actually doing the music review free of charge! Just seeing the no. of views go up was satisfying enough for me. And I especially enjoy reading the comments/requests of those who read my reviews. Sadly, though, the site had long been defunct and my articles felt a lot like long lost memories of a different life time. And since I can no longer locate them (I was able to save the old drafts in my files, though), I would like to create a similar venue, where in I will do some sort of a review ~ not as an all-knowing expert of the subject matter, but as an ordinary individual sharing practical thoughts on topics at hand. I might look into other stuff, probably do a book review(?) ~ which was actually requested by a sister in a community who authored a book that I have purchased  some time ago (Ok I guess, I really have to do this one soon!). I’m also thinking of sharing personal views on interesting places I’ve been to, or social events/functions that I have attended.. Nothing judgmental or political, but honest to goodness opinion with a twist. 😁

• MMK-ish Life sharing – this is still a HUGE question mark as of this writing... As the blog title suggests “Reflection”, when I started this (online) journal, my idea was to share life experiences, lay them (literally) in front of me, face to face, and analyze what lessons can be drawn from this experience & whatnots.. The idea was to reveal the different facets of my life as if looking in front of a mirror, thus the term reflection. Yet, I’m afraid I haven’t really achieved this initial purpose. I wouldn’t really say I’ve strayed far from this idea, as the main content of all my blogs reveals what I think of certain topics & exposes my real feelings on the matter at hand. Even the very manner of my writing (or, at times, the lack of any sense), brings to light how I express my inner being, in ways that I can never imagine I could express in person (refer to no# 2 – about being an introvert). However, I do admit I could be rather creative when I conduct any form of communication, and writing is where I can be most creative! So, somewhere along such creativity, people who don’t know me may get lost in the twists & tangles of the rather lengthy narrative, and somehow fail to grasp the idea that I intended to express, and in the process gather a whole different perception altogether. It’s a tricky win-lose situation, but I guess that’s all part of the process!

cr: L'Occitane
En Provence

Putting them down like this, I realized the list simply categorized the number of different topics that I might have thought of or considered discussing in my blog. The beauty & advantage of it all, I realized, is that this is my blog! Ergo, I don’t have to limit myself with just one concept. All these intertwining thoughts would (hopefully!) make sense in the grand scheme of things. For now, I would simply tackle this one crazy idea at a time. Somewhere along this journey, I do hope I’d be able to shed light to the reflections of my earnest existence – or at the very least the existence  of this precautious blog. ~xoxo 😘

Spring Cleaning: Decluttering Your Thoughts

at Dole Kalsangi Club, South Cotabato

Lately, my mind have pre-occupied that renders me to fail to function properly. My mind seemed to be filled with a whole assortment of things that are neither useful not productive – to say the least. I find myself putting off a lot of important tasks – and wallow in some kind of “emotional turmoil”, if you may – wasting away precious time that was supposed to be spent getting a lot of things done (i.e. work & etc..). So, I have to do something to wake myself up from this extended reverie. I have to clear my mind so that the productive juice will flow, ergo the need for “Spring cleaning” ☺

I realized I have amassed quite a volume of clutter from the previous year. Suffice to say that 2016 leap year was nothing short of a roller coaster ride, with all the bumps, twists & turns to complete the entire cycle. I was able to conclude the year fairly well, in fact it was on a rather happy note. But the onset 2017 was an overload of work tasks, that having to finish all in such short notice and an even shorter timeline, rendered me all cluttered - with the overflow from last year and the  sudden impact of the start of this year. So, it took me until now to start uncluttering – start clearing my head to focus on the succeeding endeavors for the rest of the year. Well, of course, the wallowing also added to this being pushed further back. But that has got to stop!

So, I decided to give myself an assignment, something to help me focus on the more important stuff and at the same time keep my mind off things that would make me wallow some more ☺ Here’s a few projects that I wish to undertake for the remaining of the year:

• Re-visit your Blog: which is what I’m doing as of this writing. I had been putting off posting new entries for quite a while now – this actually contributed to the restlessness that I’ve been feeling. Writing have always been an effective outlet for me. It’s such an effective way for me to clear my mind of things that seem to bother me, and writing these things down, or in this case posting them on screen, gives me a different perspective. It’s like laying down the blueprint and analyzing stuff – sorting those that work from those that are just clutter ☺ So, on that note, I would undertake to revive my blog – publish something NEW every other week!

•  Take time to read your books: I’m very keen on reading books. And I must say, my collection have grown… my collection of unread books – that is! I’m very fond of reading. I guess reading and writing goes hand in hand, or at least it works that way for me. Reading is my escape, my safe haven, my sanctuary. It is where I refresh & replenish my mind, reinforce my creative spirit. Last year, I have been so swamped with work that I never had a chance to finish reading any of my books. An impromptu trip to the bookstore most of the time translates to a purchase of at least 2 books – and if it’s a book fair, book sale, or warehouse sale, then my book purchasing power gets multiplied 😎 haha.. So, by the end of 2016, I have more than a shelf full of books waiting to be read. Add to that the books I got on the recent book signing event that I’ve attended (more on that on a separate blog), then I think I have more than 20+ books that I haven’t had the chance to read yet.. For February, at least I know I was able to finish reading 1 of the books that I’ve received as a gift for Christmas (yep, that also added to my pile!) and I’ve already started reading the next book, which is why I haven’t been able to follow any of the current TV series out there… haha.. but I guess that’s ok! Reading my books makes me happy, and it wil also help me accomplish no. #1.

• Take a vacation: This is very important – and not just for some preachy hullabaloo on work-life balance... I have enough of that on social media. I realize, I need to get out of my usual routine and take a much needed and well deserved time away from work, away from the city... away from home(?) hehe.. This is one of the things that I have put off last year due to the time-sensitive demands at work – which became overwhelmingly stressful. My job ate up most of my time, and that persist for the majority of the year. I was able to take a short break and spend an overnight bonding treat with my family, just in time before it became crazy hectic thru the holiday rush.. This year, I have to include planned vacation leaves, and I do say real quality vacation leave, and not just some blink-and-you-missed-it momentary interlude... Undertaking this project would actually give me time to take on no. #2 or no. #1.. or both! So, this is actually a lot of fun!!!

Family bonding / stay-cation 💖

• Open your heart & live a little: This has got to be the trickiest of all the projects that I'm about to face for this year... and probably for the rest of my life (?) 😨 I've got to say, I have been independent and content with my life for quite a long time now, and I've always embraced the idea of "not rocking the boat". Opening your heart would mean widening your horizons and going out of your usual habit and give yourself a chance to grow, to explore new heights, find love ♥ and be courageous enough to sustain that love ♥... I don't have any idea how, but it's a challenge that I must face. I have been putting this off for a long, long time... I have actually convinced myself that I'm perfectly well without it, but if I am to be really truthful, then I've got to admit that it was an all-too-concious effort to actually avoid it... avoid finding LOVE. *deep sigh* I just never had the courage nor the strength to try. So, for this year this undertaking is the kind where I mindlessly stated #challengeaccepted. And I feel foolish & determined at the same time for challenging myself in exploring this option. But hey, I guess you'll never know until you try, right? 

So, there you have it... The list of challenges that I have undertaken to get things done for this year! As far as timeline is concerned, that's still subject to... maybe a different blog entry, perhaps? I think I've dug myself a deep enough grave here, so I'm calling it a day! Hopefully, I'd get to tick these items one by one as the year progresses. Bottom line, I do believe that I really need to give myself a break! And while we're at it, I suggest that you take one for yourself as well. 😘 xoxo