𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓦𝓮𝓮𝓴𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓟𝓪𝓰𝓮𝓼

Patrick asked me over dinner, "How satisfied are you with your life right now, mahal?" As a girly who compartmentalizes everything,  I obviously had to clarify first. I asked, "In general? Or for every aspect of my life?" In general, I am very satisfied.  I'm at a point in my life where I can provide for my loved ones. We can do our groceries without looking at the prices of the things we put in our cart. I'm able to share the overflow with our friends and family. We can buy things we want without feeling guilty about splurging once in a while. Being able to do these things feels really good because I know how much work it took for me to get here.  It's not even really about being able to afford things. It's about the feeling of being able to give without worrying if I'll have enough left for myself. To be in a position where I can say, "go let's get it", without having to overthink it. That kind of abudance is something I'm gen...

We live in a world that is obsessed with presentation. Every day, we scroll through feeds filled with lifestyles and creative projects that look effortless. It is completely natural to see someone doing something beautiful, whether it is painting, baking, or starting a blog, and feel a spark of inspiration. Most of the time, that kind of imitation is just a normal part of life. But there is a sharp line between being inspired by someone and trying to mirror their identity. When we pick up a hobby, a style, or a voice simply because we saw someone else get attention for it, things get complicated. You cannot fake a real connection to a craft. Genuine interest is built over a long time through personal memories, history, and real curiosity. When someone tries to replicate the outer shell of someone else’s creative outlet without having that same internal drive, the project eventually starts to feel empty. That empty feeling is exactly where the trouble starts. When people realize they ca...

Adulthood has a weird way of handing us a scorecard the moment we cross the threshold. We are taught to measure our value by a rigid checklist of ages and titles. If you hit a milestone at nineteen, people call you a prodigy. If you land a specific job by twenty-three, you are labeled a success. We are constantly pressured to compare our speed to everyone else, as if life were a sprint with just one finish line. For a while, I let those external metrics make me question my own direction. Don't get me wrong, if you've achieved all of these early on, I'm happy for you. You got there because of your hardwork. In school, I always knew my potential. I graduated high school as the Valedictorian of my batch and earned a scholarship at MSU-IIT, which is a place that demands a lot from its students. But as life moved forward into my twenties, my timeline started to look different from the people around me. I finished my degree at my own pace at age 26, and in a completely different ...

Out of boredom, I asked AI to generate some writing prompts for me. It has been a while since I wrote anything here, and I really wanted to give my mind a little exercise. The system gave me a lot of suggestions, but one specifically caught my eye: Describe your perfect rainy day. I figured it would be interesting to look at this through different phases of my life When I was a kid, back around 2007 to 2009, a rainy day meant sitting right by our window to watch the pitter-patter on the glass. We were living in a small subdivision at the time. My late mommy Belen absolutely loved flowers and plants, so whenever it rained, I made sure to sit there and watch her garden get watered by the downpour. Looking back, this is probably the reason why I recharge in isolation and love silence. That was basically my childhood. My family was never really sociable, and we kept to ourselves most of the time. Socializing is actually an aspect of my life that I am still actively working on in adulthood....

I honestly don't know where and how to start with this blog entry. I am rambling incomplete thoughts and broken sentences this week in my journal because I can't contain my emotions.  How should I start this? I asked myself. It's 7:30 AM and I am typing away my thoughts at work. Earlier today, I was journaling at 4:20 AM, and I asked God, "Lord, why do I feel this way towards my work? Why do I feel dissatisfied? Why do I feel impatient towards the job that gives me income and is funding my travels, hobbies, my stomach, and munchkin's needs? A job that placed us in a privileged state -- a roof over our heads, 24/7. A spacious apartment for me and my sister to live in. Clothes to wear, gadgets to feel connected to the world, shoes to protect my feet from blisters and calluses, and among other things - this job helped me get my diploma." Then I came across a post on Threads, they quoted Jodi Sta. Maria, a Filipina actress, "I am tired but I have to be gratef...

Listening to Olivia Rodrigo’s Honeybee , I found myself thinking about how rare and fragile human connection really is. It’s not just about being in the same room, or sharing the same silence, it’s about one soul reaching out to another, and being met with recognition. Love, when stripped of its illusions, is presence. It is not ownership, not control, not the attempt to mold another into your image. It’s the way someone sees you, not as a puzzle to solve, but as a whole being to embrace. To be known deeply, and still chosen, is the kind of intimacy that binds two people beyond circumstance. It’s about the invisible thread that ties you to another person, reminding you that you are not alone in this vast, chaotic world. When someone knows your rhythms, your pauses, your unspoken words, that’s when love becomes more than feeling. It becomes understanding. And yet, connection is fragile. It asks for vulnerability, for the courage to be seen without armor. It’s terrifying to let someone w...