Support Jacinto&Lirio

Jacinto&Lirio, a local brand that sells leather bags made from water lily, needs you! Give them a hand by spreading the word and/or by clicking this link to sponsor them. Here’s a message from Noreen, the owner of the mentioned company:

We need your help! EcoIngenuity Inc, the company of Jacinto&Lirio is a Finalist at the Unreasonable Institute 2011. It’s a global social entrep accelerator in Colorado, USA with world class mentors and access to capital that will greatly fuel our mission.

But for us to be part of that, we need to be among the 1st 25 to raise $8,000! It’s a race among 45 amazing entrepreneurs worldwide!

You can sponsor us by going to our page (it’s just $10):http://marketplace.unreasonableinstitute.org/ventures/view/30/EcoIngenuity-Inc-Home-of-JacintoLirio

or

Help spread this word to as many people as possible.

There are 2 Filipino social enterprises (Isla Culion and EcoIngenuity Inc) as Finalists, hence this is another huge opportunity to launch the Filipino in the global stage!

Thank you so much! Any contribution (monetary or spreading the word) will mean a lot! :)

This too shall pass.

I've been waking up on the wrong side of the bed since the week started. My dreams are becoming so vivid to the point that I feel like I'm living a double life... I wake up feeling exhausted, like I don't sleep anymore, even if I actually do.

This is affecting my disposition. I have no serious reason to be unhappy, but I don't feel like smiling as much (though I try). I don't know why. I'm trying to get back to my old jolly self, but even the weather isn't helping.

For now I'm trying to hold on to the Buddhist principle:This too shall pass.

Yesterday, I decided to take a break from my usual school outfit (shirt + shorts) and wore a dress instead...

Too bad all of my classes were free cut (as I later found out).

Le sigh. Life and its mischievous jokes.

(Well at least I was able to get a mani and a pedi! :P)

♥♥♥

Happy 21st birthday, sis! Can you believe it? It has already been a year since this picture was taken... Sis, thank you for sticking with me through all the craziness, mindfuck and drama. You know Mama Tin's always here to catch you, too! We have got a whole lot ahead of us and thinking about it can perhaps be scary at times, but I tell you this: You can hold my hand whenever you like. We're an unbreakable team. We got this. :)

Guess what these bags are made of

The first one's probably a bit easy... it's made from tetrapack. I bought it in Tiendesitas years ago; I'm not sure if they still sell it there. The store that carried this product also sold slippers and wallets (made from the same material as well).

The second one's purely made from... *drum roll* plastic bags! Yes. P-L-A-S-T-I-C B-A-G-S... like those kinds that you get from the market or from the grocery. Doesn't look like it, huh? (I bet you thought it was crocheted yarn or something. :P) This was made by a group called The Invisible Sisters. To know more about the group and this bag, check out their website here.

End of the World?

"Do you believe that the end of the world is on December 12, 2012?" was a question that caught my eye in the flyer that was given to me a while ago as I was walking through the school corridors.

Honestly, I do not really believe the world will end soon, but I am also giving it the benefit of the doubt. After all, none of us really know for sure when we will die... it could be tomorrow, next month, next next next next next year, or... well, who knows?

So I decided to make my own bucket list (in no particular order):

1. Go bungee jumping.

2. Go sky diving.

3. Go scuba diving.

4. Be in a billboard. (Haha :P)

5. Get abs.

6. Have a baby!

7. Belly dance in front of an audience.

8. Get married.

9. Be part of a commercial or a music video.

10. Converse with a highly spiritual person.

11. Bake.

12. Ride a helicopter.

13. Jet ski.

14. Go on a cruise.

15. Learn martial arts.

16. Learn different languages (Chinese, French, Spanish, et cetera).

17. Learn how to read and write hieroglyphics.

18. Get into photography.

19. Dance tango with my beloved.

20. Go on a pilgrimage/spiritual journey.

21. Master writing the alibata.

22. Read all the books I want to read.

23. Get a tattoo.

24. Play in the casino.

25. Be a bartender (even for just one event).

I could go on and on and on... but perhaps to sum it all up, I'll just let life surprise me and make good of what it offers.

How about you? What are the things written on your bucket list?

I love Rumi.

A new addition to my list of favorite poets: Jalalludin Rumi, a 13th-century Persian mystical poet. Here is one of his poems:

A Moment of Happiness

A moment of happiness,

you and I sitting on the verandah,

apparently two, but one in soul, you and I.

We feel the flowing water of life here,

you and I, with the garden's beauty

and the birds singing.

The stars will be watching us,

and we will show them

what it is to be a thin crescent moon.

You and I unselfed, will be together,

indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.

The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar

as we laugh together, you and I.

In one form upon this earth,

and in another form in a timeless sweet land.

Ahhh.. this is my kind of poetry. ♥

Classic vs Modern

It ain't always easy to choose.

Photo and outfits by Mea Figueras

What 2010 Taught Me

I was all covered up when the year 2010 began. I wore leather boots, skinny jeans, long sleeves (with layers of clothes underneath) and a thick bright pink feather boa, primarily because I spent the holidays in America; but aside from that, what I wore also said something about me. During that time, I was very secretive about my thoughts and my feelings to the point that even though I did want to voice out my sentiments, I never really did. Something inside me always stopped me from saying things. Simply put, I was afraid... of exposing my mind and my heart. My what if's caused me to play it safe: to shut up and just listen. I hid my most sincere sentiments in the deepest corners of my soul.

But as the year progressed, I was faced with moments that urged me to just say what I wanted to say. I was pretty stubborn, most often than not, I held back. However, later on, I became bothered about it. I always felt a sting every time I kept my mouth shut, when deep inside I screamed out loud my thoughts and my feelings. There was that reverberating feeling: the words I was unable to verbalize haunted me at night like ghosts begging for salvation. I felt a pang of pain every time something awful happens which would not have happened if I chose to go out of my comfort zone and just said what I had to say.

Speak now or forever hold your peace. I had to learn that saying the hard way, yet because I eventually found the courage to speak out, finally I was able to: start attending belly dance classes, shift to a different course (I disliked the previous one), join Malate Literary Folio, be part of The Book Club, write on my bedroom wall (literally), read my poetry out loud in poetry readings, get answers I have been dying to find out and get rid of hang-ups.

It was funny how 2010 had a way with me. On the last day of the year, I was made to wear a halter top and a skirt (trivia: made of rubber bands!) for my friend Mea Figueras' school project, as if pointing out how much I have changed in a span of one year; how I am like a caterpillar in a cocoon that turned into a butterfly fluttering its wings.