way back into love

i'm listening to the song "way back into love" by drew barrymore and hugh grant right now. and it takes me back to a familiar place and time.

i am not talking about getting back the feelings i had with an ex, but it makes me remember the days when i was still in college. the song was the soundtrack of the movie "Music and Lyrics" shown in 2007 i think. and i found both the music and its lyrics striking. maybe because i missed the times singing songs with my bestfriend as he went on playing his guitar during those times. ah! those were the days.

well, i am not a professional musician myself. i do play the guitar from time to time but i have not had any chance to play in front of a crowd, aside from occasional org parties and jam sessions with friends. i even watched the movie alone. but given a chance, i could have watched the movie with my bestfriend. this could have been our song together.

aside from the fact that we both are artists by heart, we really enjoy acoustic songs. he plays the guitar so well he could have been a musician by profession. and in watching movies as such, he would always be the best choice for a good companion. for one, we both love playing songs in his guitar and we both love meaningful lyrics or lyrics that somehow tells a story, or somewhat like that.

and i am glad i did not watch the movie with my boyfriend then. well, it was a good thing we broke up by the time i was able to watch the movie. i had to admit i wouldn't have enjoyed the movie as much as i've enjoyed watching it alone. it's because he might not have the same appreciation of the movie as i did. one reason is, the movie involved songwriting and musicians. second, well, it was a bit of a sappy movie most guys don't wanna watch, 'cept for some romantics who are either artists or musicians. and in some way, it was a love story. and who wants to watch movies like that? girls, of course!

and though my bestfriend is some kind of a 'chickboy,' he has never been a guy's guy who prefers watching movies with a lot of bed scenes. he is a romantic artist who, somehow, relates to other romantic girls out there.

yeah. modesty aside, some guys like him still exist. however, there's only a few of them left. and to tell you honestly, i have always been dreaming of a guy like him. but perhaps, some things are not meant to be. so we are still bestfriends up to this day.

it doesn't matter though. i'm happy the way we are. and the fact that he can still make me smile even though at times i feel down is a very positive thing to talk about. but the wonder of our relationship being bestfriends remains. we both share this "connection" we could never understand. we just both know that there is something between us, like we are kind of related by blood. i can't explain it myself. it's like we are likeminded, something like that, that we do think in almost the same way and we look at things in the same perspective, too.

oh, well. i guess i'm not making myself clear by trying to explain further. but i do believe that most people out there who do have a bestfriend, be it a girl or a guy, pretty much feel the same way, too.

and what else do i have to say? i guess i really need to find my way back to love now. :))

how to make good impressions

the way we look matters a lot. and whether we like it or not, we are being remembered either by how we dress or how we talk, or even with whom we go out with. and thus, it is very important to always make a good impression. one that usually lasts or makes anyone remember you.

so the first thing to ask yourself each time you go out for a job interview is what impression are you going to make with that dress you chose to wear? are you gonna be remembered as smart, girly, feminine or creative even? or it's just going to ruin the image you want to project for a good impression.

well, it all depends on how you carry yourself around with the suit or dress of your choice. most people believe that someone is real smart with crisp suits that come with a pair of glasses and black shiny shoes. creative ones are known to have a unique fashion sense and those girly are usually known to be donning girly dresses that flows.

well, it seems to be depending much on your fashion sense. but without your skill in carrying out a good conversation, then you're not making a good impression in there. it helps to look yourselves in the mirror, do some talking like how you usually do in interviews, turn around, or even walk to see how are you doing when it comes to projections. however, make sure that you are having the character of the person you're trying to project in you. or else, everything will turn out to be just a show.

so, remember to always let confidence ooze from within naturally. it gives out the impression that you believe in yourself and you are not afraid to really go out there and interact with other people. Choose clothes that feel comfortable but make you presentable as well. Always maintain a clean or neat look that suggests you are an organized and well-coordinated individual. Small things as such usually make the impression that you are concerned with small details, perfect for a person who orients himself to be sharp at all times and one who doesn't take even small things for granted.

music in my ears

listening to taylor swift songs right now and i can't keep falling in love with her voice. this girl's really got talent she sings so well and even plays the guitar. she's cool and she rocks.

kris lawrence, the one who revived the song "i will take you forever" is doing a great job as well with denise laurel. the song's really good to hear especially if your energy is at a low level during lazy Sunday afternoons.

music is real upper. :)

headache

i feel kind of ill today. my head aches and i feel nauseated. it must have been the sleepless nights i had the past few days. i guess stress is slowly getting on my nerves.

looking back, i had a very busy week behind me. job interview, subject change, 6-9 p.m. class, workloads. argh. toxic.

sometimes i long for hours of break, or even a month of bumming around, getting sleepovers and stuffing my face with popcorn as i turn into a couch potato for a while. the truth is, i want a year-long vacation.

yeah. that long. i need that long to be able to recharge my batteries. i just wanna finish my associate degree in ID and my MBA. i wanna get over with this post-diploma thingy and just jumped into the bandwagon of career shifting.

wala lang. it's probably PMS (post-menstrual syndrome).

how to encourage people to become better the right way

everybody wants to become better. who doesn't right? but the wrong way of doing it can ruin just about every chance you have with somebody you want to get better. so here are some points on how to make it work.

1. don't criticize. you can point out one's weaknesses without criticisms. first, you have to praise somebody's good points, and work your way from there to identify his or her strengths and weaknesses. then suggest how she or he can turn her weaknesses into strengths to allow room for growth, improvement and development.

2. don't compare her or him to anyone out there. everybody is unique. each one has her or his own talent to boast about. so don't even bother comparing him or her to anyone, lest you want to be shut out of her or his life for good.

3. develop her or his potentials. if you have seen something so unique about her or something he is really good at, try egging him on so she or he can fine-tune her or his craft.

4. give your full support. anything you can offer can push someone further on what she or he does. just don't overdo it so she or he won't get misled by false praises.

5. brag about her or his accomplishments to people close to you. this would always make her or him feel good and it gives her or him the confidence to even get better.


so there. just a few of the good points in encouraging someone to become better in anything that she or he does. next time you try encouraging someone, try those tips above and you will never fail.

change

tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis. i'd never forget this ever.

it was one line that changed my perspective as a person somehow. In the english language, it means "seasons change and we all change with them."

change. the only constant thing in this world. and what good it does to us?

well, a lot, i guess.

from a timid shy girl who grew up in the province, i became a changed woman. life has been simple and boring for a time, but as soon as i got into college and then stepped out into the real world four years later, a lot of things changed my perspective.

conflict. it was one thing that did it. i was once an idealist, a believer of the "almost impossible" thing that can happen in one's life. meeting her soulmate, or someone she's destined to be with for the rest of her life.

until one day, i saw a lot of things i could not believe they exist. i could not talk about them here, but to give you a glimpse of it, consider a same-sex relationship, casual sex between friends, sex between a straight guy and a gay..name it. and most of them shocked me. i was even a hesitant believer.

when i was 18, i just thought of my future, of better things to come, not knowing that a lot of "different things" happen out there. yeah. i was naive, ignorant even. so unaware that human frailties lead others to be doing things i never thought exist.

when i started working for the Inquirer, my eyes were opened to the ugly truths of life. reality. and it bites.

then, the thing that never crossed my mind happened to my family. just months into my job after graduation, rumors went around that my father was having an affair with another woman. well, i did not believe it. but i saw how it changed my father. it was then i had to shed my ideals, and start believing that there is no such thing as close-to-perfect.

i almost believed my family was one of the close-to-perfect families back in the province. we are not affluent. and we are not even always together. but we are happy, just like many of the close-to-perfect families everywhere else.

but that little change in my father led me to accept reality, though it is ugly. and when i came back to Manila, i became a changed woman, looking through things this time in a different perspective.

that we as people are meant to be here not to enjoy life, but to live it. and life is not as beautiful as we expect it to be. it is a matter of perspective, a matter of seeing things.

at the end of one of my MBA subjects last semester, a brilliant teacher left us the story of an egg, a carrot and coffee.

she went on saying that eggs are delicate but becomes hard after getting soaked in a boiling water. on the other hand, hard carrots become soft after an hour or less of boiling, while coffee just perfectly blends with the boiling water.

she asked us which one we do want to become. do we like to be toughened after a lot of problems just like the hard-boiled egg? do we turn soft after getting battered by the "storm" that comes every now and then, just like the carrots? or do we just ride along with the struggles of life just like the blending of coffee with the hot water?

of course, every one wants to be coffee in this case. and now what am i saying?

well, i have just been through a lot of confusion, both job- and relationship-related. but i emerge stronger and more capable of a quality decision each time i get to face heart-breaking or mind-boggling distractions.

change allows us to make adjustments, to study what has been happening around us, and even allows us room to slip into our best selves and continue living to the fullest. it allows us to step back from it all to see a different yet better perspective. something that suits the situation or something that perfectly fits who we are.

i had become bitter for a time after knowing that my family is going to be listed down as part of the statistics of broken homes. but you know what? a lot of better things came in lieu of that.

my brother is a successful lawyer now; another brother, younger than i am, has just taken the bar exam, too, last September; and my sister who took the licensure exam for pharmacists last year landed the sixth spot and is now working in one of the top companies along Ayala Avenue.

Well, as for me, i have discovered how lucky i am being with the Inquirer recently, and i would soon be an interior designer, too, and hopefully i'd be able to put up a little business of my own after graduating from an MBA program at the UST grad school.

see? change can make us better. and if i had not changed my perspective about my present job now, i might have still been looking out for another job.

but now that i am looking through a different perspective, i would say i'd stick it out with the Inquirer till a better job or a career chance comes along.

so, stay happy and at least like, if you can't love, your job. :)

realizations

we tend to realize the value of what we have when they are taken away. and we start to really know what we are missing if there is an element of comparison involved.

i realized that just yesterday.

well, i have been whining quite a lot about the monotony in my job. and as they say, you would never know how lucky you are if you keep on looking out instead of looking in. and indeed, i came upon a great realization yesterday.

i was wishing hard to land another writing job that comes with the same compensation as my salary at the moment. if you feel you have been staying in one company for too long, all you do is look out for another one.

i thought i was right. but i was wrong.

all along, i have not realized how lucky i am getting paid for doing something not quite hard as other workloads in the corporate world.

to give you a better understanding on this, let me just breeze through what happened yesterday.

i applied for a writing position in a startup company located at the Global City in Taguig. The compensation offered for a blogger or content writer is almost the same as my compensation in my present job.

Well, in my excitement, i missed the part where it was written there that the setting would be like a call center, in which writers, the unlucky ones, would be having a graveyard shift while the lucky ones would be writing during the day, like a 9-6 work schedule.

so there. i applied for the position. and a day after submitting my resume, i got a call for an interview right away. it was good news, right? Wrong!

so i went there, too hopeful to even realize the disadvantage of working in a place a bit far from where you live. i slipped into my best suit, hailed a cab and cheerily greeted the people at the reception area upon arriving.

i answered some questions, filled in a bio-data form and waited for about 15 minutes. then i was given 2 writing exams later. well, it was like writing a press release for the netizens. the article must be concise and it should be written in a way that grabs and retains the attention of readers. and it must be informative and must take a conversational form to create more connection between the author and the reader.

there were at least 8 of us who aspired for the position. and they were as impatient as me as we waited for about 25 more minutes after finishing the writing test. after 5 minutes, i was called for the initial interview. the girl who was not even in an office suit did the interview. she must have been the HR head, or someone like that. so since when did people in the HR department start wearing platform sandals, an ordinary blouse and pants in a formal interview?

but what made me raise my brow is the fact that the initial interview was conducted in a room that looked like a storeroom, complete with chairs in disarray and a broom and a dustpan. gosh. what have i done, i asked myself quietly.

and as soon as the interview started, i also started thinking of at least 20 reasons why i should not have been there talking in the first place. well, for one, i hate a graveyard shift. Second, who wants to write at least 10 articles a day? And third, it is a startup company, which means there is no guarantee if it is going to succeed. i have worked with a startup company before. but that was when i was still a newly grad. so, whether it stays or it closes, i wouldn't mind looking for another job.

and when the girl asked me a question that concerns my MBA, like she was trying to see if i'd give up my MBA for a call center job (in case i would need to, or if the job asks for it), i knew right there and then that i was still a lot luckier than the people who have started working for that company.

and you know what? i usually complain about wasted time doing nothing after work, but in there, breaks are even recorded. duh! what an uptight environment. too strict for a very laidback person like me.

so there. i went to class which happened to get dissolved after. i did not feel down, though. 'Cause i've gotten into a great realization yesterday.

now, i know where i belong. perhaps i just need a lot more time to somehow appreciate what i have in the present, and just look forward for the better things to come, like a promotion, right?

so when you feel like changing careers or shifting jobs, make sure it is what you really want. 'Cause regrets in the end don't give you back what you have already lost. Just stay where you are at the moment and look out for chances of career advancement in the same company.

Well, still depends on you, though. just think first before letting go of something you might wanna have back in the end. :)

right choices...how to make one?

Making choices. Easy as it sounds. Doesn’t take a genius to make one. but be sure to make it right, if not all the time, most of the time.

But how do we go about making the right choices? Well, just listen to what God tells you through your heart. Sometimes, it seems easier doing the things our enemies do to us. But don’t bother. Being like them doesn’t solve the problem. You can only watch them do their thing. And the best thing to do is stay put where you are. Never ever cross the line that sets the good apart from the evil.

Don’t let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance. ‘cause if you let them, it’s as good as retreating from your very first strike. Keep going and know that God’s always behind you. So put a fight for good things. If they strike you down, don’t give in to doing the same thing.

when it seems like you're always making the wrong turn...

Making a mistake does not make you less a person nor make you less than others. it only makes you human and nobody ever has the right to condemn you or subject you to judgment. That is not the work of man but it’s God’s.

we all do make mistakes sometimes. Everybody does. And that is why we are humans and not gods or goddesses. Just make sure to make amends or correct those mistakes. And try not to stumble upon the same mistakes or fall flat on your face on the same spot again.

And when somebody tries to put you down because of those mistakes, don’t let them. it is like letting the devil destroy you without putting up your faith as a defense. So hang in there and carry on. God is with you all the way. Promise.