the universe is sending me a different message

i tried sending my dreams of being a writer out to the universe. the law of attraction and all that. but the universe has been sending me a different reply... not the one i expected.

earlier this year, i was willing to give up on my so-called career and try to give my life a makeover. i was planning on taking courses about topics that i care about.. for a change. i was willing to explore the possibility of me as a another person. maybe i wasn't meant for the corporate world. maybe i wasn't fullfilling my destiny. God knows i've been so miserable the past decade.

just as i was going through the finishing touches of my plan in my head, a series of events started to unfold... until i found myself in the midst of the biggest career boost in my 10 year career. before i even knew it, i was assigned to a sensitive position at the office, i was up for interview, i was recommended for a promotion. all these happened withing a couple of weeks. i was just lazily doing my own thing, minding my own business, keeping pretty much to myself when this happened.

so what now?

back to the old grind? put the writing dream in the back seat and start concentrating on "more serious" stuff?

argh!!! just when i thought i had it all figured out!

keeping a journal

A journal, unlike your class notes, goes beyond the simple act of recording what transpires in the classroom. The journal allows you to record dialogues with yourself regarding the meaning of the experience. In a journal, the writer can accomplish what T.S. Eliot expresses in The Dry Salvages. "We had the experience but missed the meaning,/And approach to the meaning restores the experience/In a different form." In a journal, the student writes, not to fulfill an exercise, but to learn. "Learning about a subject means more than memorizing axioms, dates, and formulas. You also need to develop general intellectual skills that will allow you to understand the discipline in its entirety, that is to approach it intelligently, knowing what questions to ask, where to discover the answers to those questions, and, finally, how to develop and organize your own ideas about the subject. A body of knowledge about the material is fundamental, but a student of any subject should also learn how to acquire and
interpret additional knowledge. . . .

. . ., writing is one of the most important intellectual activities that you do in college, for writing is not simply a method of communicating what you know about a subject; it is an extremely useful tool for assisting you in a variety of tasks, from observation to argument. From making simple lists to analyzing and synthesizing complex data, intellectual functions, especially the more complex ones, 'seem to develop most fully only with the support system of verbal language--particularly, it seems, written language.' The most useful writing in this kind of writing is what we call "private" writing, that is, writing you do for yourself." (Elaine P. Maimon, et al. Writing in the Arts and Sciences)


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Reasons for Keeping a Journal

To gain self-knowledge--to assist you in formulating the thoughts and half-formed ideas you have in your unconscious

To develop the habit of writing. Writers learn to write by writing. Keeping a journal helps allay some of the fears of the "blank page." Keeping a journal encourages self-expression and helps the writer to develop his/her talent.

To give form to confusion of everyday life.

To help in perceiving and observing more critically and sensitively.

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Subject Matter

Impressions: Take note of what you experience. Be concrete, using as much detail as necessary to accurately record what you feel.
The current situation: Summarize an event or experience that has taken place in class. Record your attitude or point of view regarding the experience in detail.

Revisionism: Choose an awkward or unpleasant moment and rewrite the experience so that the situation turns out more to your satisfaction.
The path not taken: Imagine a situation that turned out badly (perhaps because of reluctance to risk something important). What might have happened if, at the critical moment, you made the risky decision?

Controversy: Argue a position open to debate or dispute; take the unpopular side; try to find an unusual angle to support. (Remember, arguments are based on well chosen evidence; don't simply make pronouncements which are
justified by emotional response ("knee jerk reaction")

Reminder: The journal is not a diary of your daily activities. Use the journal to record thoughts and impressions, to remember the past, to plan for the future. Approach the writing of the journal as an journey into the unknown. In the words of T. S. Eliot in Little Gidding: "We shall not cease from exploration/And the end of all our exploring/Will be to arrive where we started/And know the place for the first time." In keeping a journal you discover new things about
yourself you may not have considered or realized before. Take Eliot's advice and "Fare foreward, travellers! Not escaping from the past/Into different lives, or into any future;/You are not the same people who left that station/Or who
will arrive at any terminus."

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article source:
http://www.nd.edu/~fys/gettingstarted.html

i'm stumped

for the first time since starting this blog, i'm stumped! i can't think of anything at all to write about. and so i am writing about that... being stumped.

i guess you can call this a writer's block... if i am actually a writer.

oh well.

let us enrich our vocabulary!

i have decided to regularly post some words and their meaning so that we can all enrich our vocabularies. here's my first post:


most of our words have a greek or latin root source. i will share the root source and then define words that are related to that source:

LOG- from the greek word logos, meaning "word, speech, reason".

Eulogy - A speech in praise of someone, often of someone who died.

the prefix eu- means well and good, a speech discussing the positive attributes of the one who has passed on in a funeral or a memorial service is called a eulogy, although you may also eulogize a living person.

Monologue - a speech or dramatic scene spoken by only one person.

dramatic monologues often let a character talk openly about himself or herself.

Neologism - a new word, usage or expression

e.g. such neologisms as cyberspace and virtual reality came from the computer technology.



source: Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builder

why do i blog?

one of the most memorable days of my life was when i finally got wired! the day my dsl connection was installed almost brought tears to my eyes. why? because, no matter how introverted i am. i can now be in touch with anybody and everybody in the world!

i started blogging immediately. actually, i already had a couple of blogs going, but none of them were actually noteworthy. i became serious with blogging when i finally started having visitors in my blog, these visitors eventually became friends. it is a good feeling. being able to share and ehem.. brag about random stuff about my family. this was enough for me, for a while, but then i started feeling uneasy. i started feeling the urge to do something more. i then realized it was the call to write. and finally, i responded.

and so i opened this blog, primarily to practice writing, i hope to make writing friends too. i also wanted a little anonymity, so i don't divulge my true self, this way i am unbridled. i blog so that i can literally write down stuff that pops in my crazy head. i read somewhere this is how you practice.... just by writing. i blog so that i can have a venue to share my future masterpieces. i blog so that i can unload my thoughts, my feelings, my queries. i blog because it makes me happy. i blog because it relaxes me. i blog because it unclogs my tired brain cells. i blog because blogging gives me a voice, who cares if no one listens (reads).

i am grateful that i live in the digital age, where everyone can be a self proclaimed writer.

so the real reason i blog? i blog becayse in my blog, i am a true blue writer, and no publisher or editor can tell me otherwise.

commited i am

Like stones, words are laborious and unforgiving, and the fitting of them together, like the fitting of stones, demands great patience and strength of purpose and particular skill.

Edmund Morrison


that's it. i have decided to commit myself to my craft. yes, i my mind i will consider myself as a budding writer. i will learn and practice, and then learn and practice some more.

i am not in it for the fame and money, but for the personal gratification that i have done something with my life. i am a writer, and i will write!

butch dalisay in the flesh

i was wandering about in powerbooks trinoma last saturday when i saw they were having a presentation of sorts. i then heard a man with a deep, solid, confident voice explaining something. ( i too caught up with the velvety voice to actually listen) hehehe. i kept on wondering who is he? is he a political figure? a media practitioner? i was not really sure, but having his talk inside powerbooks, he definitely has something to do with the written word. so i kept on hovering about. after a few more minutes, the talk was over, and the moderator introduced the mysterious speaker as the distinguished mr. butch dalisay.

i was in awe. i have one of his books. i read his article in the newspaper. he is a writer advocating the art of writing. my kind of guy!

too bad, that i made a sad realization. i think i am too shy to ever be a writer. in my mind i kept on kicking myself... why didn't i approach him? take his picture? talk to him?

how can i ever get into writing when i am too shy? how will i get stories? interview sources? argh! so frustrating! shyness is an occupational hazard i have to get rid of.

too bad. i hope i meet him again. probably by that time i would've read his book.

finding time

being a "writer" is not easy. it is very time consuming. you really need to choose to spend time everyday just for writing. as they say, writing is like playing a musical instrument. you need to practice everyday to learn your craft before you can actually get better.

i will do it.

i will be a writer.