I'm Quoting Quotations

Hello Readers :) I created a new blog where I write about my favorite quotations and just random quotes I come across during the day that just trigger some emotions and so make me feel the need to blab about my feelings. I hope you'd like it too. :) Here are my first three posts.

The Wish-Granting Factory

background photo from http://thecassandra.files.wordpress.com

Luckily, the world is not a wish-granting factory.

It is good to know that dreams do not depend on nickels falling down the bottom of a wishing well or meteors crossing in the night sky. If they did, the finish line where happiness awaits would be as distant as the meeting point of two parallel lines… You would never get there.

Read more at http://imquotingquotations.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/wish-granting-factory/

Your Best Self

Have you ever reached the point when you feel like you’re not doing anything right? When your best efforts turn out to be futile attempts leading you nowhere? When the good in you seems to be oblivious even to  yourself? If your answer is yes, then good. You’re on the right track.

Read more at http://imquotingquotations.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/your-best-self/

Feelings and Confessions

It is almost never the right time to confess your feelings for someone. But who cares? Your words and sincerity could make it right, even perfect. How do you trust a moment if timing’s a bitch? You don’t. You shouldn’t. Instead, you trust yourself; you trust your feelings. And you go from there.

Read more at: http://imquotingquotations.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/feelings-and-confessions/

Out of Tune

photo from http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6om11BtLb1rxr79no1_500.jpg

Out of Tune

You could still play a song
Even without the key that's out of tune.
You could still make fanciful melody
By leaving out the single piece of ivory
That screeches when touched,
As if crying, aware of it own brokenness.

As long as all the other keys
Still produce their rightful sounds--
As long as Do is still Do,
Re is still Re, and Fa is still Fa...
As long as Sol is still Sol,
La is still La, and Ti is still Ti,
Who gives a damn about the missing key?
Who cares about the broken "Mi?"

What Love Isn't About

photo from http://www.jasapple.co.za/2011/08/pic-wishing-upon-this.html

LOVE is a word we have long been acquainted to but its meaning remains ever-elusive. I do not really know and understand much of what it is about, but I do have an idea of what it is not about.

Love isn’t about ‘chemistry.’

Love is not a science or a branch of it. Love isn’t simply about two different elements put together to form either a positive or negative reaction.

Oftentimes, you meet a person and you just click. You find someone who loves the same things you love—  someone who wouldn’t get tired of listening to the same song over and over; You find someone who you can share a comfortable banter with— someone  who you can call an ugly flirt or a stupid bastard and can also call you words to that effect, knowing all the mockery is just an expression of love; You find someone who handles your mood swings— someone who manages to bear the world on his/her shoulders when you’re having a crappy day.  Oftentimes you find a person who does all these and know he/she is not “the one.”

Maybe you can have all the other people say “You look good together.” Or “You look happy together,” or the extreme “Why not be together?” And in a spur of the moment, those simple statements seem unfathomable because both of you are aware that what you share is not what others see or what others expect it to be.

On the contrary, some people are like North Pole and South Pole who, after a lot of  argumentations, agreed to meet halfway at the equator, flattening out bulges of differences.  Sometimes, you find someone who seem to be your exact opposite and yet know he/she is your person.  Maybe one prefers ballad while the other prefers rock; Maybe one is too loud and outspoken while the other is shy and oversensitive; Maybe one is too optimistic while the other is very skeptic and pessimistic.  Sometimes you find someone who doesn’t seem to be the type of person you would want to share an eternity with but you vow to stick together forever anyway.

Perhaps people would see no spark.  Perhaps the world guffaws at the idea of you being together. But does that matter? Not as much as what both of you think. Maybe it’s about believing that what you have is right even when others dictate you it’s wrong.

Love isn’t about compatibility.

Love isn’t about the right timing.

There is no perfect magical moment. When you keep on waiting for it, you’ll most probably end up not having any moment at all. As it has been said in the  film Ever After (A Cinderella Story) and I quote: “You cannot leave everything to Fate, boy. She's got a lot to do. Sometimes you must give her a hand.”

You are not the knight in shining armor or damsel in distress in your very own fairy tale who’d surely get a happily ever after in the end. It is important to remember that you are just one of the billion people hoping to find their true love in a messed up world.

In the first place, who’s in the position to say when it’s the right time and when it’s not? Maybe your person is still with the wrong person, just waiting for you to save him/her. Maybe it would be really nice to casually admit feelings in the middle of answering a Math quiz (provided you won’t be accused of cheating). Maybe by the time your person finishes college he/she have shunned the idea of love and you’ll regret not saying  that you’ve always liked him/her since first grade.

Maybe the wrong timing is the perfect timing.

Love isn’t about keeping the object of affection.

Not all love leads to commitment and marriage. But does that make it any less real? Not all who had loved won. But does that really make one a loser?

Love is not about possession or reciprocity of the same and equal affection. As Mr. David Cain said in one of his articles in Thought Catalog:

“Love reveals itself when you release your need to have the object of your affection, and see that there’s no reason to make it yours. That it exists at all is enough. To love something is to disappear in its favor — to die to your own interests so that it can be what it is.”

Love does not obligate.

If I am to be asked what love is, I would say it’s about acceptance and change, courage and fear, bliss and suffering. It isn’t about chemistry or right timing or keeping the object of affection. It is not about any of the three but possibly all of these combined.

Connection

If plagiarism is to be defined as basically the failure to recognize someone for his or her original idea, then perhaps, the whole of life is an act of plagiarism.

Whatever you’ve said, somebody had most probably thought of that too. Maybe that person existed a decade or a century ago. Maybe that person lived in Los Angeles or in France or in Central Africa.  Maybe that somebody expressed the same idea in a different language, in a different tone, and in a different context. But really. Whatever you’ve said, somebody, somewhere had most probably said that too.

I mean, Shakespeare is not the only one who can think of the concept that heart  and  mind are not in the business of being friends. He is not the only person capable of understanding that love is blind. But he’s written about it many times over. And we credit him for that.

Emotions are universal. Nobody owns it. We all know of happiness and grief and love. And we all have reactions towards them. And there are how many billions of people are in the world? It is very much possible in the realm of reality that at two of them have the same perception of one thing.

And it’s just so unfair that you can’t write what you think about and claim it as your own just because another person have already written about it and had it published. Somehow the words become their possession. And now nothing is ever original.  NOTHING.

Whatever you are writing, or saying, or simply thinking about, it’s just a product of all that you’ve encountered. It’s not solely yours.

But come to think of it, it's not really bad  after all. In fact it’s pretty nice to think that we are all connected. It’s kind of amazing to realize that we think alike cause our emotions become bridges to different minds. It's beautiful to arrive at a conclusion that though time and distance separate us, we have a common ground. Somehow in the grand scheme of things, different circles overlap.

You Know How to Shut Me Up

photo from  http://s2.favim.com/orig/35/books-heart-love-photography-pink-Favim.com-282215.jpg

You know how to shut me up.
And because of that,
I want to master the art
Of shutting you up as well.

As much as you cringe
At my futile attempts
to crack a joke
(that wouldn't even pass as a joke),
I wanna rub in your face
the fact that you also sound stupid
whenever you share something
you think is funny.
But I can't.
I'd laugh anyway.

You know how to shut me up.
And because of that,
I want to master the art
Of shutting you up as well.

Every time I talk about
a new guy I'm eyeing on,
you never fail to tell me
how amazed you are
that though I am such a skeptic
in terms of love and romance,
I kinda know attraction and "flirtationship" after all.
And though the words may sound
like clanging cymbals
when they come from other people,
it's music in my ears
when they come from you.

And I hope you know
that every time you tell me
about your new eye candy,
and how you think that the someone you like
is liking you back,
at the back of my mind I'm thinking:
My friend here has a very, very
severe case of erotomania.
I want to tell you  that you have
excessive self-esteem.
But I don't. And I won't.
I'll always prefer saying
"YES, he/she definitely likes you back!"
Cause in the first place,
it's hard not to love you anyway.

You know how to shut me up.
And because of that,
I want to master the art
Of shutting you up as well.

I've always had a knack for denying.
I've got used to people
taking my "No" as a "No."
But then there was you.
And  I hate you. I really do.
I hate it when you sit beside me
and tell me about things I would not admit.
And then I end up blabbing and spazzing,
as if under the influence of alcohol.

You frustrate me.
Oftentimes, I want to tell you to shut up
And just let me be.
But I can't. I feel like I shouldn't
For what are the chances of finding
other kindred souls
who probably know me a lot better
than I could ever know myself?

And even if there are gazillions
who can do the things you do--
from dinosaur times,
to the imagined robot times,
and countless lifetimes in between,
know that you are still one of a kind.

You know how to shut me up,
turning my pursed or puckered lips into a grin.
You know how to shut me up,
And for that reason,
I love you most.

The Man Who Has Loved

photo from http://cdnimg.visualizeus.com

The Man Who Has Loved

by Christine Magpayo

This is a poem--
A poem without a rhyme--
A poem about a man--
About a man who has loved--
Who has loved with all his heart.

This is a story.
Yes, a story never told--
A story never known--
Never known  even to them--
Even to  them who shared the love.

And so once upon a time...
Yes, something happened once upon a time--
Something that ended so quick--
'Twas so quick that it didn't seem real.
It didn't seem real but it was.

Now you ask what happened--
What happened to  the man?
Well all I know of is...
He is still that man--
That man who has loved--
Who has loved with all his heart.

---

The poem represents LOVE.

NATURE OF THE POEM

It had  no rhyme;

It had no measure.

Lines do not match but they do connect.

The poem tells us that there is a story but tells us nothing about the story.

Its brevity immortalizes its existence.

The endless questions stretch out and explore on different possibilities

even when the story itself deals with oblivion.

NATURE OF LOVE

Love does not require a certain degree of similarity and compatibility.

Love isn’t a science; it is immeasurable.

People do not necessarily have to be a perfect match;
what matters is they make both ends  meet.

Love tells us of stories but the profundity is exclusive to the two who are part of the stories.

There’s a kind of love that ends but lasts.

As long as there are what if’s and could have been’s lurking  in the mind,

A love that’s over… isn’t really over yet.

Twenty Days (The Wedding)

            White orchids crowned the golden flower stands poised on each side of the aisle. Music filled the small dome illuminated by natural sunlight passing through the stained glass windows. The people wearing satin dresses and suits started walking on the red carpet leading to the altar where vows were to be made

Marianne, the bride, was fidgeting at the back of the line. She was playing with the silver heart-shaped pendant of her favorite necklace and was slightly but constantly stomping her feet.  Beside her stood her escort, Ryan, a good friend since college. He noticed that she was so restless. He placed his hands on his pockets and motioned his head towards hers.

“You have a very beautiful necklace.” He whispered and stood upright, smirking.
A grin formed in her face. “You mean your birthday gift? Self-righteous.” She chuckled.
Marianne beamed as she fixed her eyes on her groom.
He nudged her elbow with his.  “It could have been me.” He joked.
She looked up and faced him.  “It could have been anyone else.”
He raised his left brow and tilted his head on the side.
She pinched his nose. “Well, it could have been you.”
He forced a smile.
“I could make a scene and stop the wedding.”  He playfully said.
“You won’t.” She sneered. 
“Why not? You know I love you.” Both of them were looking at the altar.
“Exactly the reason I know you won’t.”

To that, he had no response.
She put her hand on his arm and they started walking down the aisle.

Of Wanting and Waiting and Winning

video clip  from HIMYM S04E23

Song by  Michelle  Featherstone  (Careful)

Love is a cliche we never get tired of. Maybe that's because we never really understand it. Or maybe it's ourselves that we don't understand after all. Maybe we are constantly in search of what kind of love we want, of how we plan to get it, and why we plan to keep it. Perhaps some have found the answers through the act of loving or maybe they're like me and a million others: simply hypothesizing. 

Love always deals with well-deserved happily ever afters. Maybe that's where it all gets confusing. Cause love starts not with a couple finding each other, but with an individual finding himself. Love is a good story. And just like every story, it has a prologue-- something that explains and causes the main events. And these two, for me, are of equal importance.

Wanting.

To want something is to realize that you don't have it but you would like to have it. Maybe not now, maybe not soon, but surely one day you would like to take a hold of it and own it. 

To acknowledge that you want something is to be brave enough to accept the fact that you feel  incomplete, that something is missing. And you feel it day after day til a simple want becomes  a necessity. Constantly wanting something leads to needing it. And to need something is to understand that though you might never have it, you still want it.

You can go your whole life convincing yourself you don't want or need love. Or you can risk getting hurt and be open to the idea that maybe, just maybe, love (no matter  how insignificant you think it is), is the missing piece of  jigsaw puzzle that would  complete your life.

Waiting.

To wait is to believe that not everyone is worth the risk. It means being patient for the arrival of someone you deserve. Sure there are a lot of fish in the sea.  But you can't catch them all just because they're there. When you keep on filling your boat, there might be no more room for the right fish when it arrives. I'm not saying believe in the whole "The One" thing.  Some people get it right the first time  around. Maybe you're one of the lucky "some." But if you're not, nothing's bad with the classic trial and error. Just make sure that the wrong ones, though they are not IT, they are a lot like it. 

Secondly, to wait does not only mean to wait for the "right person" but to wait for the "right time" as well. So many people get this concept wrong. By right time, I do not mean wait til you finish college, find a work, invest on some properties (though that would be ideal). What I mean is that before you go and search for your person, make sure you, yourself, is a person worth searching for. Make sure that the person you think you deserve.. deserves you as well.

Winning.

To win is to work hard. And hard work entails sacrifices which adds more value to the thing being desired. The more you work hard for something, the higher your degree of satisfaction is when the thing desired is already at hand.

Nonetheless, it is important to note that to win is not simply to have what you've wanted and waited for. Sure, we all deserve what we've worked hard for,  but the thing is, what we've worked hard for should be worth all our time, efforts, and sacrifices. It should make us happy in the end. 

Love is about wanting it, waiting for it, and winning it. You go from there.

Cheers!

photo from http://1ms.net/change-colors-artistic-posted-120379.html | text by tine magpayo

Cheers

by Christine Magpayo

Cheers for yesterday!
Be happy for all things gone
that somehow stayed
through photographs, or notes,
or occasional trips
down the memory lane.
Good or bad, they had been
and will always be yours.

Cheers for now--
The most overlooked and forgotten
element of time
you use to recall and plan.
Wasted or worthwhile, it is
and will always be part of your destiny.

Cheers for tomorrow--
The place where where good old dreams
have the chance to turn into realities
And where broken promises
would probably come to fulfilment
in another form or so.
Be it grand or not,
It has always been up to you.

Past, Present and Future
Are gifts men often do not know how to handle.
People usually forget
That Past must not only be accepted,
but also respected;
That Present is not only
a bridge between Past and Future,
but also a moment that deserves
to be payed attention to and to be cherished.
May we never forget
That future must not be feared,
Instead, looked forward to.

To what was,what is, and what will be,
Cheers!

Let "child I" live

photo from  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/may/04/le-petit-prince-pages-auction

I have arrived at a frightening conclusion that I just might be a murderer, and that each person around me or even someone far away from me is one, too. Even you.

Don’t get me wrong. One does not need knives, guns, or nuclear bombs to be a murderer. Sometimes, without one knowing it, one has already killed. Sure, we don’t stab people or shoot them, or make their bodies explode. Maybe we are not physically hurting anyone. But we kill hopes and dreams, even our own. Is that so much of a difference?

This realization came to me when, in our creative writing class, we were told to recall our favorite story as a child and try to change its ending. I picked Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince.” I chose to disregard the 27th chapter, the last one, and to replace it with an epilogue.

This is what I wrote:

“I have a confession to make. There was no desert; there was no other planet that was the home of a talking rose; there was no little prince. Better put, I was the little prince.

“Everything existed in my mind. The ‘child I’ was the little prince talking to the lost navigator that is the ‘I now.’ If the theory of the multiverse is indeed true, and if the ‘child I’ would be able to meet the ‘I now,’ he would be disappointed. He would remind me of things I was sure of—things I believed in and things I loved. Faith and feelings are nothing but empty words now. Certainly, I am not what he envisioned himself to be.

“There were times when I let the little prince lead me. It is funny how he seems to know where to go and how to go about things more than I could. Only the children know what they are looking for, right? Somehow, it reassures me to say that I was once a kid. We all were. But growing up is inevitable and in the process, most of us have lost our identities. We let ourselves be defined by people who don’t really matter. We allow ourselves to be consumed by the world that is only concerned with wealth, fame and power. The world is a big poisonous snake—when it bites you, you’re dead. I let the little prince die in the same way you killed the happy child in you. We murder dreams and later on complain about dissatisfaction. Then we blame everything and everyone but ourselves without realizing that this is a choice we’ve made. This is our sad reality and this will be the reality of all people if we let it be this way.

“Do me a favor. Tell and retell this story to every child you know. Tell them to look at themselves carefully so that they will be sure to recognize it even after many years. It might be too late for us but not for them. I am writing this note under the laughing stars and I know somewhere, my star is shining bright. The little prince, the ‘child I,’ is proud of me.”

What made me want to change the ending this way is the symbolism I found in the story. Take, for example, the character of the little prince. He embodies every child—he loves adventures, tries to make sense of everything, and believes that one can find a true friend in a flower or a wild animal, then allows himself to get attached to them. These are obviously non-adult things. A grownup is too busy worrying, is hopelessly agreeing to what others tell him to do, and is pitifully detaching himself from matters of real importance. Such is the attitude of the lost and stranded navigator.

Life’s like a plane; adults are like careless pilots. The pilot takes control and becomes more and more confident as the plane gets higher and higher. He tries to maintain a specific height from the ground. Then he realizes he forgot the map and now he doesn’t know his destination and then he starts to panic. It turns out that the good takeoff was just part of the whole projectile motion. If he’s lucky enough, he’d be alive somewhere he never wanted to be at, with his plane that’s too damaged to be fixed.

Life’s like that. It turns out to be a piece of junk when it crashes. As far as reaching one’s dream is concerned, skill and direction should go together. It is not enough that one knows what one should be doing; it is also important that one knows where one is going. Although here’s the thing: Skill and direction don’t usually come in a complete package. The first is a grownup’s possession, the latter is a kid’s. For this reason, it is highly significant that you let the child in you live.

But why do you choose to leave that dreaming child behind? Why do you prefer to let him die? Maybe it’s this: We don’t want to be reminded of the things we’ve come to believe that we can’t have. Some say dreams are for carefree children who don’t have to pay the monthly bills; they are for people who don’t have many responsibilities. Maybe the truth is, it really hurts us inside to realize that what seemed to be so real and close when we were young are too distant now. Our dreamt realities from yesterday have become the impossibilities of today and tomorrow. We silently mourn the loss, and consciously or unconsciously encourage others to do likewise. We kill dreams; we murder what could have become real.

If you happen to meet the younger you, what can possibly happen? Two things I can think of: He/she will tell you how proud he/she is for you, or he/she will give you a warm, comforting hug and whisper, “Go on. Fix your plane. It’s never too late.”

Are you still preparing for takeoff? Make sure to bring everything that you truly need. Did your plane already crash right before your eyes? Get up and don’t lose hope. If you don’t want to stay where you landed, start figuring out where you’d rather be. If you’re finally sure of where that place is, make a move. Do it now.

article originally published in 

http://opinion.inquirer.net/40680/let-child-i-live

Awake, My Love, Awake

photo from www.fanpop.com/spots/my-dream-is/images/23899892/title/live-dreams-photo

Awake, My Love, Awake

by Christine Magpayo

Awake, my love, awake

Before time devours you.

Before it is too late,

Awake, my love, awake.

My love is beautiful,

But nonetheless asleep.

Bereft of any movement,

She seems to be half-dead.

My love is my dream—

That old forgotten one.

But now that I remember,

I hope she’s not yet gone.

My love, she must not die.

But if she does,

I know I am at fault;

The blame is all on me.

I’ve been a friend of fear,

A slave of stupidity.

If giving up is all I know,

What will I come to be?

Awake, my love, awake

Before time devours you.

Before it is too late,

Awake, my love, awake.

Without my dream, I’d be

Like most people are—

Existing but not living,

Smiling but secretly mourning.

My dream, please forgive me,

For being so unkind,

For knowing that I need you,

Yet leaving you behind.

Now my fear is that you’d be

Like slowly vanishing froth.

My dream, disappearing,

Is such a morbid thought.

Please just stay and don’t elude,

For I’ll be on my way.

This time I’ll be embracing you,

But for now listen to what I’ll say.

Awake, my love, awake

Before time devours you.

Before it is too late,

Awake, my love, awake.

Where Heaven Meets Earth

photo from http://www.visualphotos.com/image/2x3402686/chairs_on_a_sunset_beach

Where Heaven Meets Earth

by Christine Magpayo

I watch the sun kiss the sea;

The waters embrace its fading light.

They seem to come together

Even if they're really far apart.

Illusions...  Oh, how beautiful!

I remember you sharing

Your dreams of being able to fly,

Of wanting to see the world.

And now you can with a bird's eye view.

Realities... Oh, how painful!

What are you doing up there?

Maybe you're jumping from cloud to cloud.

Maybe you're dancing, gliding,

Laughing and playing with the angels.

I guess you're in a better place.

Will you come and visit me?

Will you please let the wind bring you back

To the  place where you said "Yes--"

The place where I had you and lost you?

The grains of sand witnessed it all.

Were you that conservative?

The priest said: "You may now kiss the bride."

I kissed you and you fainted,

Never opening your eyes again.

T'was wonderful, our first and last.

Are you still in your white dress?

And...  were you allowed to keep the ring?

Oh God you looked alluring

Even with a few strands of hair left.

Do they call you Mrs. up there?

Do you know that you're my wife?

Can you remember all that we had--
Courting you, rejecting me,
Not giving up in pursuing you,
And finally accepting me?

Images of me, of us,

Of  worthwhile memories that have passed,
Do you still have them with you?
Do you still hold them close like I do?

Does death require one to forget?

Even if you've forgotten,

I swear that I'll always remember,

Cause though you cry like a kid,

Nag like my mom, demand like my boss,

You are and will always be loved.

Forever can start with loss
But I know ours is perpetuity,
Love that's immeasurable.
For me, our eternity goes on.
The story of us continues.

In my mind you are alive.

That's where I'll love you and you'll love me back.

Love makes Heaven and Earth meet.

That's why even though you're gone,

You're still my lady and I'm your man.

Maybe Today

photo from deviantart.com

Maybe Today

by Christine Magpayo

Maybe today you'll find the one...
Maybe today is the day you'd meet your man.
If so then, what do you do?
Would you rush and tell him:
"Hey! Would you believe me if I say I think we look perfect together?"
"Do you believe in love at first sight? I just did."
"Is it okay if I get your number and we go out? I'm harmless."
Maybe today you'll bump  into a stranger you feel is right for you...
And you'll choose to  keep silent
And end  up not having your long-waited once upon a time.

Maybe today you'll realize that "the one"
has been there all  along--
a  classmate offering you his pen each time you forget yours,
an orgmate bossing you around but ends up  helping you out,
or a friend constantly teasing you how fat and ugly and GC you are.
If so then what do you do?
Would you wait for the right time and say
"Hey! maybe we can go to the next level?"
Or maybe"I would just like to  confirm...
Do you like me? I just might like you too."
Maybe today you'll feel a different feeling for someone..
And you'll choose to ignore it and let things be the way they've always been.
Maybe you're a "once upon a time" person but not a "happily ever after"  type.

Maybe today... maybe until today
You still believe that destiny will work things out for you.
Maybe up until now you're thinking that your man
is finding his way to you.
What if you're wrong?
What if he has arrived and you just haven't recognize him?
What if he's still trapped in the wrong relationship?
What if your man doesn't believe in love?
And you're there waiting for him to perform all  the  "signs."
Say what? Fate is like tooth fairy or Santa Claus...
Doesn't exist!
Sometimes, you really have to work things out for yourself.

Maybe today, you have someone
And you know he's the one...
And you can have him love you until tomorrow...
And the next day... and the next day...
And the day after that... and so on.
Maybe you can't do the same thing for him.
Maybe you'll choose to let him go.
Maybe it's fine; maybe it's not;
maybe it's better that way.

Maybe today you'll realize that love is beautiful
but you don't need it.
Maybe today you'll make it clear that you want love for other people
but not for yourself.
Maybe today you'll watch someone watch over you.
Maybe today you'll feel loved
and part of you will desperately want to love back,
But you can't...
You feel like you shouldn't.
Maybe it's painful; maybe it'll be less painful this way.

Maybe today you'll encounter love
and you'll leave it behind.
And maybe tomorrow you'll feel the loss
and you'll break your heart.

Making Miracles

The 'message in a bottle' was given by my org buddy/friend. This is  one of my
most-valued presents since the letter contains so much. Thank you, buddy.

Who writes what and who finds that? 

Who creates the link between separate beings? 

What can bind people together until the end? 

Do your thing. Do what you think you should do even if you're not sure of what you should be doing. Do nothing if it seems to be the right thing to do. Hide emotions; confess feelings. Do whatever you feel the situation calls for. Hurt and allow yourself to get hurt. Believe that things will get better.  We're all human and we're all subject to feel pain. Love and be loved. Stay when you have to stay and leave when you have to leave. It's cliche but it's still worth saying: Everything a happens for a reason. Let the reason unfold one day. Right now, do your thing.

You have to do your thing because you can't stay still while the whole world moves on. Do anything. Be it something worthwhile, be it something stupid, just do it. By doing something, you're making a miracle for yourself and maybe for other  people as well. All the things you've done in the past and all the things you're doing now will lead you to better places, to better people, and to better perspectives.

Who writes what and who finds that? 

Who creates the link between separate beings? GOD does.

What can bind people together until the end? FAITH.

“There are winds of destiny that blow when we least expect them. Sometimes they gust with the fury of a hurricane, sometimes they barely fan one’s cheek. But the winds cannot be denied, bringing as they often do a future that is impossible to ignore.”

-Nicholas Sparks, Messagein a Bottle

Random Thoughts on a Rainy Day

photo from http://www.unesourisetmoi.info/minimal/index.php?c=home&s=y&id=home__a_marilyn_monroe_gallery

When we were asked to read the biography of Marilyn Monroe which included some of her written works  like poems and diary entries (for Creative Writing class), I came across this line and I must admit that somehow, it hit me.

Love comes in so many contexts. In here she was definitely referring to romantic love. "One cannot love another, ever,  really." This statement deals with love as  something absolute. Either it's perfect or it's not love at all, either it  lasts forever or it is  not love at all. False dichotomies. Life and love involve not only the extremes.

As of the moment I'm not sure if I have or if I ever will love at all.  What if random people come? Shall I keep my eyes and ears closed even when "the moment screams for IT." Maybe. The whole connection thing portrayed in the movies...  I hope it works for me. Or else I'm dead. Well, not really.  I  just want to get it right the first time around...as much as possible. I'm too fragile to take chances. I just want to believe that when he comes, he comes, and I shall know. IF he does come. I'm the waiting type rather than the searching type.

And the whole marriage thing? I can clearly remember what I heard from a TV show (though I forgot the title of the TV show). In marriage, you don't  necessarily have to love each other all the time. I  mean,  you're cooking food and you're loving your passion; You're doing office works and you're loving your job; You're bringing your kids to school and you're loving the family you have. All  these time, you do  not possess the feeling of being in love with your partner YET at the end of the day, you know you love your partner.

I guess the bottom line is, love does not require two people to make their lives revolve around each other. Marriage does not force couples to stay sweet and  in love til they grow white hair. Maybe commitment just asks of one  thing: companionship. Feelings change.  And for this reason, you cannot be forever in love with one person BUT you can truly, unconditionally love a person until you die...  because love is not just an emotion, but a decision as well.

Make the right choice! :)

The Man on the Cross

background photo from www.christianmyspace.com | words by tine magpayo

The Man on the Cross
by Christine Magpayo

What causes me to move is the stillness

of the Man on the cross.

He is the conqueror of death—

the perfect picture of fulfilment.

The stillness of my God on the cross

Causes me to go on and on.

He is peace; He is motivation;

He is hope; He is love; He is strength.

Each part of Him is beautiful:
His restless feet that walked countless miles
and His tired hands that touched and healed

the sick and the suffering

had been nailed to permanence.
His limbs are like tree branches
whipped and broken by the storm winds,
but now appears to be embracing the clear skies.

As a cloud can give out
so much rain, His weary body
had shed so much blood.
Bereft of life,

His body hung low and gray.
Leaning on the wooden cross,

My Savior looks tranquil.
The cold flesh feels no more pain.

Looking at His bowed head,

I see the features of His face:

Eyes (now closed) that looked with compassion
and lips that spoke only of goodness and truth.
Like an infant asleep
After a day of cries and smiles,
Calmness can be traced
from the curves of my Savior’s  face.

Nothing and no one ever compares
to the God of all who died for me.
He served His purpose so I can serve mine.
What is my mission compared to His?
Love will keep me alive
because His love is enough.
Not only it is freely given,
But also more than what I deserve.

Unfailing Hope

background photo from www.lackgrounds.com

           There are times when we feel that we can’t go on anymore. We feel that the trials are too difficult to overcome; we feel that the problems are too painful to bear; we feel like life is merely a series of pitfalls that will continuously pull us down until we decide to give it all up. Nonetheless, the Bible assures us that these trials are God’s gifts to us. It is not that He wants us hurt, rather, He wants us wiser and stronger. If a parent would not allow his one year old child to try to walk across the crib for the first time, will his child be able to walk on its own?  No. Though it will hurt the parent see its child stumble, he lets his child go on with the assurance that every time his child falls, he’d be there to pick him up. The same thing goes with the Father in Heaven. He exposes us to hardships because He is preparing us for the best. If along the process we feel so tired, we just need to call upon Him so that when He hears our call, He may be able to hold our hand and assist us until we finally see the light. And so I boast  when trials come because trials make  me patient; when I am patient I gain  merits, and through this  merits I  learn to hope—to  hope in the Lord who never fails.

The Forgetter and The Forgotten

photo from photography.nationalgeographic.com | words by tine magpayo

People remember and people forget. It hurts to remember when you want to forget; In the same way, it hurts to forget when you want to remember. 

Friendships come and friendships go. It is something that either grows or dies in the passing of time. The challenge of friendship is to be able to look at and take different directions but to once again be able to meet at the final destination. However, there are times  when friendship only goes as far as having the courage to let go. That courage does not usually come with the hope and enthusiasm to find each other again.


When we become separated with the people who matter most to us, we yearn for the feeling of having them around. And since circumstances would not always permit a close bond among friends, people will have a tendency to search for that feeling in the company of strangers-- strangers who are simply "friends waiting to happen." But the sad truth in life is that once we get attached to someone, we unconsciously get detached with someone else. The human heart, figuratively speaking, has some sort of carrying capacity. It cannot cater to everyone and most of the time, the person whom you find assurance to be with in the future is the one  you stick to. How can someone who has  stopped  being in your present give you security of togetherness in the future?

In every situation that required letting go, there would always  be the one who has come to forget and the one who has been forgotten. But why is it that the one has come to forget always appears as the "bad person?" Did he/she wanted the friendship to end? NO. As much as a person recalls and relives past moments in his/her life, memory has its limits. It can only go as far as remembering events but it cannot return the same old feeling and attachment  one used  to feel no matter how much one wants it back. Certainly,  it hurts to be forgotten.  Although sometimes, in forgetting, the one who  has come to forget hurts as much as the one who has been forgotten.