Ghosting Season

The other day I was in the car listening to this radio station that I don't usually listen to and the DJ was talking about loss—I guess that was the topic given that 'tis the season—and taking in song requests and related stories from their listeners via SMS (yes, they still do that!) when I heard something familiar that instantly grabbed my attention.

Love & heartaches: A semi-deep dive

The universe has been kind enough lately to allow me to spend more time with friends and you know I am not taking that for granted, girl. I know I may seem like a mean, tough person on the outside with my RBF but I will always adore my friends and treasure our usually short but deep conversations and unplanned therapy sessions, like so:

2023, so far

Well, would you look at that. We literally just blinked and I'm done with my Q4 forecasts, Barbenheimer is finally out (I assume you've seen both), and the weather and traffic just keep on getting worse... although there's really nothing new about that last statement now, is there?

Anyway, soon we'll be celebrating the holidays so let me just pause for a bit and mull over some recent events—reunions, milestones, rejections, and the mundane.

The stages I remember

(Circa 2012 - The girl with the neon sign)

As a self-proclaimed introvert, I'm practically hardwired to be overprotective of my own energy which makes it difficult for me to socialize and be surrounded by large groups of people for long periods of time. It's basically exhausting for me but through the years I've learned to reserve this very limited energy for activities that only fully resonate with me. Attending live concerts turns out to be one of them.

Misconceptions: Success vs Reality

Maybe I'm just old or maybe it's the world but I'm not built for that hustle culture/girl-boss type of lifestyle anymore that's so often glamorized on media by celebrity entrepreneurs and hypebeasts. Not that I ever attained that level but I used to equate that stature to ~*success*~ when I was younger and who doesn't want to succeed in life, right? However, as cliché as it may sound, success is subjective and incredibly overrated anyway. Do you want to chase society's definition of it or would you rather work towards your own definition instead?

5 Shows To Watch Outside Of Netflix

Contrary to popular belief, no, not all shows in our favorite streaming service are good and a lot of them unfortunately don't deserve your time. With overflowing content being released everywhere, I think the key is knowing which ones are actually worth watching without being limited to what is only available or trending so I rounded up a few I've seen outside of Netflix that I liked/loved because we all have to expand our horizons at some point, right? I mean, you're going to kill time anyway so might as well spend it on some high-quality content instead.

Ruminating: World issues and personal opinions

I will start this off assuming that you are aware of what's been going on with the world lately. If you're not or if you feel like you just don't know enough yet, I implore you to educate yourself now:

• Junk Terror Bill (which is already a law, btw - that's how long this post has been sitting in my drafts!)
• Hija Ako
• Atin Ang Pinas
• Black Lives Matter
• Stand with Hong Kong

... among a lot of other things. All this while we're still paralyzed by a common enemy that has killed over half a million people worldwide as of this writing.

See, it doesn't take an expert to point out that there's something's seriously wrong with society. While these are movements happening on different parts of the world (some even way before I was born), if you look at it closely they basically tell the same story: That the people have grown tired of the abuse of power, the incompetence/inaction, and the inequality that they have every right to be angry. Going through this global pandemic may have made things worse for most of us but it has certainly opened the eyes of a lot of us too, especially those who've been raised in the digital age.

(READ: The People Are Revolting - the history of protest, from BBC)

Breaking the silence

What, you think I'll let 2018 pass by without saying anything? :)

Here's the thing: Every moment we let something wrong happen without doing anything about it, we contribute to normalizing it. Every single day we choose to shut up about it, somebody else somewhere is being attacked and taken advantage of.

If you are my friend and you happen to know what I'm talking about here, thank you for standing by me through all this. It was probably the most depressing phase of my year and I am beyond grateful that you've stuck with me. If you just happen to stumble on this post for whatever reason, I will try to make as much sense to you as I can.

This is a story about an almost, the one that's both the best and the worst kind, if you know what I mean.

On beauty and double standards

At 24, it still baffles me how society defines beauty.

I understand the importance of physical appearance, but to glorify it to the point of disregarding content? Of overlooking skills and capabilities? Of pushing aside reason to look harder and analyze deeper? I don't think that's justified.