HeARTworks

          This entry was conceived last Friday when I visited my former principal Mrs. Selene Olvido (whom every one in the school fondly calls "Mrs. O"). These are our conversations born through time and experience. These are not just comments; they are experiences we had to overcome. I am sure that we are not alone in these comments/ burdens/ insights, as Philippines is a country whose regard for education and the teachers have gone so corporatist; hence the understanding of learning in this context have only gone and reached the surface level.                  *SIGH*. But as the saying goes, "every cloud has a silver lining". So this is what this blog entry is all about. The silver lining in a teacher's cloudy day/everyday/future/struggle/career... *** {Left} So she's Mrs. O -- our inspiration and mentor whom we dearly love as our mother. I really admire her because she weathered the storms of being a teache...

(Taken from my October 2017 teaching experience)                           Good morning world!  🔆  It's so easy to start the day with a pout, a doubt and pessimism, right? It takes some inner strength to fight the urge to ramble  😆 ANYWAY, in my own little battle to be thankful for today, i suddenly remembered this angel  👼 whose name is Chloe and a cute story i had with her  =) ***                This is Chloe. She is a 7-year-old kid, grade 1. What i vividly remember most about her with our not-so-regular interactions was when she asked me for my Flat Tops chocolate. I  had to "delay her gratification" because it's not yet recess time. So come recess time, i gave her my chocolate. Finally! So she put the chocolate on top of her Lemon Square Cheesecake cupcake and told me it's her own version of a choco muffin (haha, creative!). And just l...

It's in The Secret Garden, That garden dead for years, That 'Mistress Mary quite contrary' Learned that she could be happy Where Colin the sickly Learned that oblivion isn't the key And where Dickon the commoner Learned that he, though ordinary, Had enormous power. They needn't be great They needn't be saints They were just children Who needed You. They were just children Whose hearts were as hungry As the withered flowers and twigs and trees Whose souls were simply dead As that forgotten garden Whose hope have always awaited To be awakened Just like those bulbs that were buried. They were just children Whom You saw Whom You knew Whom You found Whom You loved. I am Mistress Mary Quite also like Colin Craven Much like Dickon too I am just a child Deep down within a child. ...Might I have a bit of earth? Might I have a bit of warmth? Might I have a bit of magic? Might I have a bit of You? Please come hear me Please come lead...

“God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him … "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord”.“                                                            ~ 1 Cor 1:27-29, 31        I keep on wondering why kids who still didn’t know spelling or who still have not come to spell words well spells  SIMPLICITY  in such that elegantly playful manner. It comes naturally to them. And we, adults, find this single word so complicated. Being simple is indeed complicated. Life has always been ironic. And I just keep on wondering why as we grow old, as we mature into adults, we become simple-...

(Taken from a journal entry dated October 29, 2013 ; Written at UP Sunken Garden at 1 in the afternoon) I was sitting in the Sunken Garden busy filling out forms and contemplating things which from time to time randomly emerged from the back of my mind when a 3-year-old boy who was playing with his mother ran towards me and stood beside me. As he stood there, he just randomly talked to me with words I could not understand. Then, he pointed to the sky. “ Doon, doon! ,” he tried telling me. From the papers, I had to look at the child’s face. I had to shif t my attention from the papers I was filling, from the future I was building was busy building for myself, from the petty things in the present that kept me distracted from the real things in life, towards that little boy’s eyes and simple pre-occupations. I had to look up to his face and up to the sky. If by chance or by my playful nature I decided to ignore him, might he throw bitter tantrums? Would that break him? Before...

(Taken from my journal entry dated December 14, 2013) I got lots of gift that day: a cute Thai sling bag from Mrs. O and a yummy homemade fruitcake from the good-hearted, meek, diligent and wonderful Rose Legarda. It will be my very first time to taste a fruit cake. Yum! However, the best day I got for this day was so far, Ron Bello’s random reflection for the day – yup, one of his super random thoughts – which (1) brought me back again to one of life’s most important reminders and (2) made me laugh hard and that healed my heart. Ron Bello was randomly telling his stories again when he suddenly pointed his finger at the bulletin board’s “Things To Be Grateful For” section. He read the bulletin board section’s title : “Things To Be Grateful For” then went to a brief pondering moment. His mind suddenly started thinking about the things he could be grateful for… RON : Oh, things to be grateful for. Hmmmm…. ME: FILIPINO, Ron! (it was a routine for me to urge him to tell ...

Life's most wonderful irony : "The joy that comes from a place of pain" " The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain." ~Kahlil Gibran, "On Joy and Sorrow" (https://allpoetry.com/Joy-And-Sorrow-Chapter-VIII) Christ is enough! #RainbowPromises

   I planned to leave my faith because i realized i failed in the department of being Christ-like  Christianity is so difficult. Oh no not difficult -- it is impossible.     And yet, here I am singing this song in the midnight and in my own midnight. Jesus Christ did mot let me go. He's a good, good father... "You're a good, good father It's who You are, it's who You are And i'm loved by You." "It may be well said that revival comes after the midnight." ~AW Tozer, "Born After the Midnight" HOPE.

While onboard the FX, radio plays this old baduy Tagalog song, which woke me up: " Ipaglalaban ko hanggang sa dulo ng mundo, ang ating pag-ibig,di kita iiwan..."( https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JpnPWDP9dFY) And I was like, "Stop it Lord. Yoko na nga maging christian o. Lagi na lang ako sablay and i have NO HEEAART." That part kept on repeating. " Ipaglalaban ko hanggang sa dulo ng mundo, ang ating pag-ibig,di kita iiwan..." Ang tagal nagpaulit-ulit as in. Unfortunately, i left my earphones at home so that paulit-ulit part kept repeating in my head even long after the song had ended. 😑 *** At Burger King while i was busy finishing my psycho-educational informal assessment materials, these lyrics from a Lady Gaga song suddenly caught my attention: " No matter what you know I'll, I'll fix you with My love ." I was suddenly distracted from my laser focus. Lord, is that You again? You'r...

    Yup. I was so down, so disappointed and just so irritated and angry with the people around me and of course, with myself. These nasty things happened all because of all the pent-up irritations exploding:  - I can no longer hide my "fierce burning eyes". My anger was simmering out from the bottom of my soul. - I no longer have the self-control to hide my fierce burning eyes from the old man (whom I found had been disrespectful of my time and personal space. He overstayed at home, consumes much of my time which causes me delay and late, and even disturbs me even if i am already in my room); - I just let the old man know how an intruder he had been (because he was asking but kept on nagging and scolding me on the streets, angered me more); Thus, my disrespectful and ego-deflating ways drove him more angry and more irrational. - and all of these events led to a present family conflict in our home. Simply because i was dead tired of insensitive and disrespectful peop...

Tremendous rain pours Thunderous Nevertheless there is That canvass of colors Radiating hues Amidst blues Mysterious How great is Your display Mighty is Your place Glory is in this journey Journey in the One holy. (inspired by a thunderstorm last September 23, 2012)

       (picture not mine; credits to the owner)            There I was lying on my bed with eyes firmly closed but with mind so widely awake that my racing thoughts can win any Olympic Marathon. For one hour or almost, I hope I finally would fall asleep, but nope, the dark got into me. The darkness and the silence kept me wide awake in the middle of the night until I finally got up and opened my eyes.                           As I opened my eyes, I instinctually looked up my room's ceiling where the stars I stuck there glowed so bright in the dark (yes, those are stars-shaped glow-in-the-dark figures I stuck to the ceiling so it would be like there are stars above me despite the darkness of my room). As I gaze at my stars, some lines from a well-loved song of mine started to play in my head "His mercy has always been written in the stars..." ...

"Bright Days | Dark Days" by AA Patawaran from "Hai[na]ku and Other Poems" ~ Artworks not mine; credits to the owner.

(taken from my journal entry dated February 2, 2014 | Show on air : Solar News Channel’s “STORIES: Extreme Love-Autism”)             Watching with my eyes wide open and my heart happy as if it’s whispering, “those special kids are unique, and I want the schools available for them and the privileges they have there here in my country too.              Theirs is a very unique journey. It is tough. It is WAY BEYOND almost eveybody’s comprehension. Almost oftentimes, it is heartbreaking….                If all special kids were only high functioning individuals, then life would indeed be sweet. But no, it’s not the case. The ones who take good care of children who belong on the far side of the spectrum live an almost unbearable life everyday. But they still take good care of them anyway. They still love them, in spite of all the trauma and prejudices and shattered dreams. Day...