For Karen

Life is a joke, i would usually hear her say whenever we trace the familiar path leading to the church. It used to be her mantra during our prayer-afternoons after class in college. One of that afternoons, when i thought she would make a pivotal change of point of view about what to her is life, she cried hard. It was the first time I saw her cry. And then i thought maybe she realized life after all is not a joke. I was mistaken. In between tears, she would sob and shortly laugh and utter, ‘See, aren’t all these things a joke?’ I could only stare at her, stunned out of confusion or terror. For about a few seconds I thought she was going insane but she assured me she isn’t as if reading my mind. Then and there she shared that while we struggle in our present life, we could sit still and look back at the past. If our seemingly successful or unvictorious present life is a result of the steps we made back then, stop for a while and laugh. It was a healthy idea. Laugh at what brought us in our current situation. Laugh at our attempts, our cowardice, our accidents, our mistakes. Everything is but a joke. The events of our lives are jokes that are cast one by one. They have been laid out even before you could decipher where they lead you to. So carry on, go with the flow, laugh and live a healthy life! And oh, one of my life’s jokes is meeting Karen.

Basahan

Ang basahan mo, maaring damit na ng iba. Biruin mo, sa dami ba naman ng damit na minamanufacture sa mundo bawat taon, bawat season, o bawat nais lang maglabas ng trend ng mga fashion designers pati mga imitators, aba, ndi kaya matabunan na tayo ng damit? Pero bakit marami pa rin ang nakahubo at namamalikarot (thanks for the term sir Mon) sa ginaw dahil walang suot? Tsk, tsk, tsk. May garage sale malapit sa opisina. Hindi pinalagpas ng kasama ko ang pagkakataong ito. Tama nga naman, makakamura ka na, hindi pa kailangan pumila sa counter sa panahong gaya ngayon — Christmas rush. Hindi rin ako nakapagpigil. Sa simula’y patingin-tingin lang ako. Di nagtagal, nakikihalungkat na rin ako ng mga pwedeng bumagay at gamitin ko, but take note, way below the budget. Ukay-ukay ang mas mainam na tawag dun. Bingo! May nakita akong maong na jacket. Hindi na masama. Maganda. May nakuha din kasama ko, isang blouse na ‘cute’. Gusto ko rin sya at di na sya nag-atubiling bilhin. Regalo pala nya sa akin. Magkano? Two items for PhP120. WOOOOWWW!!! Hahaha. Isipin mo. Halos ipamigay na ng iba pero pinapatulan pa rin. Basahan na halos nila pero may presyo pa. Ang iba, hanggang hanga lang sa may bintana. Meron dyan walang saplot. Ang marami, basahan ang suot.

Tiyaga Lang

I remember my professor saying that to me in one of our chat conversations. And it hit me this much to write a blog about it because of my highschool bestfriend’s sentiment about not earning money as she desires. I could feel for her. She’s a wanna-be nurse, and a promising at that. We know nurses COULD earn a lot and i say they are one of the highly-regarded professionals in the developed countries. Unlike here in our country, we could only sympathize for them. No wonder many of them eyes the greener pastures. Our country has the cattle but no green grass to chew. Sigh. Going back to my friend’s sentiment, I guess her loved ones are just in a hurry to gain something from her. There’s much expectations from her. Pity to the likes of her. Pity to me too. It is not easy to be rich (with pretty good excuse from the noveu riche). It’s just much-added pressure to someone like her — someone striving and surviving. So how do we resolve things? Please, dear loved ones, TIYAGA LANG. Whew! Didn’t imagine a plain, single advice could be very useful. So you see, TIYAGA LANG addresses the prob. But I would feel even better if we keep this in mind (quoting my brother): "Work smarter, not harder."