A Very Big, Secure, and Thick Bubble

Seek your own space where you'll find peace of mind. A space that will enable you to run from all the worries surrounding you. A particular place where you are sheltered inside a very big, secure, and thick bubble that no one can easily pop.

Hold onto the idea of a certain sacred space that is all yours. No one can take it from you. Remember that. You are entitled to that space of peace that you have created.

Live and breathe. And when you have all the air you need, and when you've found all the peace that has been lacking so far, open the door of that very big, secure, and thick bubble and go out. Live and breathe. Experience life by living. Learn. Get hurt. Stand up. Smile. Cry.

When you can no longer hold back because of new found fear and pain, look back. The very big, secure, and thick bubble is still there, with the door ajar.

Enter your space of peace when you need it. It doesn't make you weak. It just proves you're human.

Smile. Live. Breathe. Love.

My hair is dreaded. but it's cleaner now (i just don't have a more recent photo). At least people can guess my name easily. No mispronunciations, no misspellings--just a remembrance of the most popular person with dreadlocks..my namesake and uncle :)

Youngblood

Stars in my Palms (Published on the Inquirer last March 31, 2012) So here’s the thing. I was hit by the nostalgia bug after seeing photos of my closest college friends having a get-together because in the not too distant past, I enjoyed being with them in similar gatherings. I don’t feel bad. Not at all. It’s just that I miss them. Not just them, but all the other friends I have who are scattered around the country and overseas. And yes, in essence, they are far from me. It sometimes hits me that I have this reality in me—a passion for adventure and a love for the uncomfortable and the unconventional. My heart takes my feet and my dreams carry me wherever; I don’t know where I’ll settle eventually. Some attribute my carefree ways to my being born under the sign of the horse in the Chinese zodiac. I don’t really know for sure about the zodiac thing, but I am indeed carefree. I am always led by the course of the wind here and there. Mostly because of a purpose, and I’d like to think it is a great purpose. I lived 16 years in a small city in the Visayas. Then I spent four years in Luzon for college. And now, currently, I am in Mindanao doing volunteer work for agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs). I initially thought it would just be a one-year stint here, as indicated in our volunteer program, but somehow circumstances at work led me to extending my stay. Maybe for a little while, maybe for some time, maybe for good—I don’t know exactly. I have always been like a person’s fleeting memory from a childhood past. Sometimes the memory returns like a homing bird to someone’s senses, but most of the time, it’s flying and trying to spread its wings. Funny how recently, a farmer-leader that I work with at my institution told me to hold up my palm. We were attending a market chain seminar for farm products. She was staring at something that seemed quite interesting in the web of my palm lines. She said there were stars formed in the intersections of my palm lines—meaning, according to her research and inquiries, that a lot of people will depend on me and actually need me. Perhaps it’s so. I am working with a confederation of people’s organizations, and the primary group I am assigned to is perhaps the most popular of ARBs in the country. I work as a community organizer and an agro-enterprise facilitator for the farmers’ cooperative. I was assigned to the institution after I applied for a volunteer program. The institution needed a community organizer and an enterprise facilitator for the area, and I was matched with it. Yes, indeed, perhaps I am needed in my work. It manifests in the fact that I was assigned to work here for just a year and yet, because of the “need” and the circumstances, I am very much encouraged to extend my stay. People I work with, farmers mostly, tell me how grateful they are that I am with them and assisting them in their concerns. Some even directly tell me to stay because the cooperative needs someone to continually aid its development. Oh, boy! Isn’t that flattering and pressuring at the same time? Admittedly, I love it here and I love what I do. It may be very stressful and challenging at times but, yes, as a famous Filipino movie line goes, “I care about my job, sir.” I do care about my job, because there are stars in my palms and farmers are depending on me. These are not words of arrogance but an affirmation that I am needed, and in the need, I feel wanted and welcomed and even more challenged to deliver and to fulfill the development concerns of the cooperative. With the feeling of being needed, I discover their potential as farmers and as a cooperative, and I, too, discover myself in more ways than I can ever imagine. It is not a high-paying job. Well, let me correct that. As a volunteer, I don’t get paid at all; instead, I am given a monthly allowance that is just half of what I used to get when I was in college. Some of my college batch mates are working in famous corporations, some also in development work, and others, pursuing postgraduate studies. It is challenging here, yes, but even before entering the volunteer program, I knew what it entailed. Living miles away from home and budgeting a modest allowance—I must say, indeed, I am a fan of the uncomfortable. But I don’t feel bad at all. Instead, if this is any feeling at all, this is truly liberating! I don’t know how long I will stay here or if I will forever be an adventurer treading paths that others would not dare take. But I believe there are two things sure for me: first, that I have been changed forever by the choices I have made, leaving and building new friendships, leaving again and creating new relationships once more; and second, I will always miss the people I love, met and who have changed me in one way or another, because in being quite nomadic and adventurous and passionate to change the world, my physical absence has had its repercussions and consequences. Perhaps I can’t take away from my system my habit of leaving and exploring new things. I don’t leave because it’s comfortable to do so; it usually isn’t. I leave because I dance to the rhythm of my heart and my purpose, and I go wherever God takes me. I know that my purpose is a real purpose in itself because God continually helps shape it. I may miss the friends’ gatherings that I don’t get to attend, and I may miss even more the people who are in those events. But then again I realize that they will always be in my heart. And I’ll continue to go wherever this heart takes my feet, wherever the wind leads my purpose, and wherever God wants me to be. I take with me the people I love and care for as I dance away in loving service. After all, there are stars in the web of my palm lines; I am needed here, and I know the people I left will understand. Leaving has its purposes and I have a purpose to animate. I left, yes. But I left to live—to live for something greater than myself and to be life-giving to others as well. Jemika Kathryn F. Soledad, 21, is a political science graduate of Ateneo de Manila University. She now works in Sumilao, Bukidnon, for Pakisama NW-Mindanao.

Asterism

Careless as the water. Carefree as the Wind.
The Deneb of Cygnus
--the brightest at its tail
The chest of the Archer, a centaur. The ninth.
It took one look at the target, the result an Aldebaran.
A hit. Not a miss.
It was a Cassiopeia to a Polaris.

I want to be somebody like Ms. Vene Rallonza

(PHOTO COURTESY OF VINCE ESCARCHA)

This is Ms. Vene Rallonza, my POS 180.27 professor. And after a semester of politics in alternative spaces, I realized how much I'd want to be like her.

One year and 3 months ago, before I even met Maam Vene, I had a shaved head and it was a statement of my politics and my advocacy. Some people would constantly tell me that I remind them of a Political Science professor in the Ateneo. Being the POS major that I was, I knew that this certain Ms. Rallonza was never encountered by myself in any formal (or even informal) circumstance.

Then I took her Politics in the Margins class. A class that killed all the boredom that is politics. We saw how politics exist and even thrive in marginalized, unusual spaces and how, despite the marginalization of these alternative spaces, we saw as a class that politics can be very fun, exciting and well appreciated.

We had big time speakers for several Thursdays. We had Dr. Bong, Joey Ayala, Auraeus Solito, Jalton of Sugarfree and Dr. Contreras. My personal favorite was Mr. Joey Ayala because I got really starstrucked by his presence.

But what is most striking for me about Maam Vene and her class is her attitude towards her own politics. She is not scared to be unique and that trait is what I appreciate very much. Her attachment and sincere connection with Filipino roots and traditions as manifested by her inked body and her manner by which she shares this with her family make me look up to her even more.

Ang cool ng pamilya nila. HAHAHAHA :)) Kita naman sa picture na 'to. Naikuwento ni Maam Vene ang pagsali ng anak niya sa contest na 'to at sinabi niya sa amin na siya na ata ang pinaka-supportive na nanay na nandoon sa venue, given nga na ang mga contestants na lalaki ng mga nanay na naroon ay nagdamit at nagkilos babae. Sabi ko rin dati nung mas bata pa ako na gusto ko tatawagin akong "Nanay" ng mga anak ko. And nalaman ko nalang sa class ko na si Maam Vene ay "Nanay" kung tawagin ng mga anak niya. Tapos pupunta pa sila next week sa Kalinga Apayao para magpatattoo yung anak niyang nasa picture. Hangcoooooooool talaga at 'di ako ma-over.

-Kalbo
-Nanay ang tawag
-Maraming tattoo
-Theater actress
-Cool mom
-Artist
-Unique and really brave
-Educator
-Funny and loud
-Very supportive

Grabe, katakot pala na karamihan ng ugali ko/hilig ko/gusto ko in the future ay nagmamanifest sa isang being. Pwede pala yun. HAHAHAHA :))

Last night was an awesome night for me and my classmates in POS180.27 -- sa conclusion ng class namin through LUNAN: One Night Only, nakita kong nag-pay off talaga ang galing at passion ni Maam sa pagtuturo. SNAPS FOR HER :>

Idol talaga kita. :)

Scarlet Mill

12012010 - Happy Birthday To Us :D

(I've had) The Time of My Life

Boy: Now I've had the time of my life
No I never felt like this before
Yes I swear it's the truth
and I owe it all to you

Girl: 'Cause I've had the time of my life
and I owe it all to you

Boy: I've been waiting for so long
Now I've finally found someone
To stand by me

Girl: We saw the writing on the wall
As we felt this magical fantasy

Both: Now with passion in our eyes
There's no way we could disguise it secretly
So we take each other's hand
'Cause we seem to understand the urgency

Boy: just remember

Girl: You're the one thing

Boy: I can't get enough of

Girl: So I'll tell you something

Both:This could be love because

(CHORUS)
Both: I've had the time of my life
No I never felt this way before
Yes I swear it's the truth
And I owe it all to you
'Cause I've had the time of my life
And I've searched through every open door
'Til I found the truth
And I owe it all to you

Girl: With my body and soul
I want you more than you'll ever know

Boy: So we'll just let it go
Don't be afraid to lose control

Girl: Yes I know whats on your mind
When you say:
"Stay with me tonight."

Boy: Just remember
You're the one thing

Girl: I can't get enough of

Boy: So I'll tell you something

Both: This could be love because

(CHORUS)
Both: 'Cause I had the time of my life
No I've never felt this way before
Yes I swear it's the truth
And I owe it all to you
'Cause I've had the time of my life
And I've searched through every open door
Till I found the truth
and I owe it all to you

*Instrumental*

Boy: Now I've had the time of my life
No I never felt this way before

(Girl: Never Felt this way)

Boy: Yes I swear it's the truth
and I owe it all to you

Both: 'Cause I had the time of my life
And I've searched through every open door
Till I've found the truth
and I owe it all to you

Both: "cause I've had the time of my life
No I've never felt this way before
Yes I swear it's the truth
And I owe it all to you