Flashback Friday: Concerts, relationships, investments

If there's anything good about the exhausting and time-consuming commute to and from work, it's going to be sharing life stories and lessons with my company. It's always a pleasure having meaningful conversations with substantial people. ✨


Just recently, I had this 3-hour-long conversation with one of my closest colleagues on our way home. We discussed everything from work, life, passion, what lies ahead. We had this similar taste in music - our love for pop punk and OPM - so we didn't run out of stuff to talk about. I shared stories from my different concert experiences when I noticed that I couldn't stop talking. While he was fascinated learning all about it, I was equally amazed at how much I had to share. Obviously, my brain started wandering down memory lane.

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I vividly remember going to the Avril Lavigne Bonez Tour concert in BGC when I was 13. I was with my dad and sister/forever concert buddy and we parked right outside the open air venue along with many others. Large screens were all around us, Simple Plan was the front act (!!!), I was screaming my heart out singing the hits from Under My Skin. I remember thinking, "This is it. This is where I want to be" and I couldn't stop thinking about music since. I just bought my own guitar then where I tirelessly taught my noob ass how to play it. It was a defining moment for me.

Several years and over 20 concerts later, here I am fresh out of the The Story So Far's first show in Manila. (You can view the highlights here) Still, the experience of seeing your favorite artist in the flesh, hearing their songs live while the bass drum beats to your heart, the crowd jumping in unison as you sing your hearts out together - fucking priceless. I once read an advice saying that I should invest on experiences instead of things and they've never been more right.

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As my colleague and I were braving the C5 and SLEX traffic, we got to talk about his long-time relationship. Just a brief profile: They have been together since high school and he's currently 22. I was amazed at this.

He told me about this recent fight they had about this thing his girlfriend did to which I voiced my opinions from a third person's perspective. Not that I know a lot about relationships (lol disclaimer) but it's pretty easy to point out what's right from what isn't, to be rational when you're not involved in a particular situation. One story led to another and I guess I saw a pattern in the behavior behind his stories that I can't help but comment on.

Basically, I told him that it was all normal and that he needs to communicate more. It's never going to work if it's going to remain one-sided. Also that they may have been together for a really long time but they're both still so young (at 22 I was still in college and drowning myself in my thesis???) to be looking at "forever". There's still a lot of growing up to do and that he should learn to just let things happen while not taking anything for granted. So much has already been invested, sure, but it shouldn't limit anyone in making decisions for the future. Nothing should.

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As you can see, it was quite a trip. Long enough to go down memory lane and discuss love lives but I hope I was able to enlighten him as much as he helped me become more appreciative of my own experiences. Since then we've made plans to do song covers (just practiced yesterday!), write a song, and join the upcoming band fest so we'll see. Here's to making more friends, music, and investments. ❤️ X