Thoughts for the week

Holy week is almost over. Tomorrow, we would be celebrating Easter.

Looking back, holy week has been sacred for me and my family. We really did skip the meat. But I wonder if eating delectable seafood such as shrimps and crabs can be considered as a sacrifice. Sometimes, we would do visita iglesia or at times, we would be spending the free days in vacation. We never did the cenaculo and other stuff but we watched plays about the life of Christ.

As I grew older, I started becoming skeptic. Not about having a higher being but about the Catholic church's rules and everything. And to add that my parents required us to observe religious practices such as going to mass every Sunday, etc. meant I would hate doing it everytime. You see, I somehow developed a rebellious streak when I was growing up. If my parents say do this, do that, I would totally do the opposite. Over time, I began to see reason and think that my parents may be right but I still hate it if I feel that someone is dictating my life. For goodness sake, I'm now 24. A helpful advice would be appreciated but an order on how to live my life.. well, I might take it negatively.

Anyway, back to my holy week "reflections". I don't understand why people need to have a holy week just to reflect about life, to do good to other people and to go to church. For all I care, they can do it 365 days a year. People can be such hypocrites at times. Pretending to be all religious and nice for a week and then go back to their drinking, womanizing and whatever "bad" things they do when regular life resumes.

I feel like my holy week was not spent to find my deeper connection with my creator. Because I was too exhausted and stressed with work, I spent the past three days getting up at noon. I would then spend the rest of the afternoon at the shop, or bond with Shakti, or go gaga over draw something, and bake like crazy after dinner. The only thing I'm proud of are my creations: blue velvet cupcakes (I just changed the food coloring) and carrot cupcakes. Both are such a hit that I had to bake again tonight.

Without the icing.

I'm just glad that Monday is also a holiday. I would have more time to do my reflections after all the resting that I did. At least now, my mind is cleared and I would be able to meditate peacefully. There are so many things that I have taken for granted. Thank You for everything.

I have nothing against religion. But I sometimes need something else, or a push to make me believe. I believe that we have a kind, loving and forgiving creator. That's it. I don't think I believe that our god is a punishing one. I don't believe that we need to suffer in order to feel complete, gain entrance in heaven, etc. The list can go on.

No matter what our beliefs are, no matter how we chose to spend our holy week, let us not forget to thank our creator for all our blessings. Every day.

Normally, I would be complaining about work. How meager my salary is, how I have to compute the daily sales of my division every night (which I will do after posting this blog), etc. But really, thank You because I have a job with very nice people. I may have an eetsie bitsy salary but I'm learning a lot. So instead of negativity, I will shift on the positive side. I hope you also do too.

Now, I gotta wrap this up, finish the sales, and have a long conversation with my creator.

Good night! And happy easter!

Cheers to the graduates!

'Tis the graduation season once again. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, will celebrate the relief (or not) of finishing college.

I have two brothers who graduated this March. Louie graduated with a Management degree from Ateneo de Manila University and Marty graduated from high school from ADMU as well. Before any other sentiments come pouring out, I want the world to know that I am so proud of the both of you!

Let's start with Louie, or Luis, as his friends call him. Louie is two years younger than me and he is a true blue Atenean. He was not supposed to go to Ateneo for college but I guess he wanted it that much that he failed the UPCAT (on purpose???) and did not even bother to get the results for a chance of reconsideration. Anyway, I think he may have a couple of aspects in his college life that I envied (no bitter feelings here, I'm also happy for him that he did those things). For one, he was very active in his organization, he was VP I think. Well, there was a time that I was also active, maybe for a sem and over one summer? Hahaha. This is something that employers look for in applicants (trust me). Companies want leaders and a position in an org would indeed be helpful.

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Kidding!

Next would be him being a part of Ateneo's rowing team. It's no dragonboat but it's still pretty impressive. He even got to represent Ateneo (or pati the country ba?) three times in an annual competition in Malaysia. Now, that's something really great!

Row, row, row your boat!

And last would probably be the leniency of my parents. During my time, and maybe because I'm a girl, I had to be home at a reasonable time on weekdays and I can rarely go out past midnight on weekends (thus the hundreds of sneaking out incidents).

So my bottom line is, Louie, if you are reading this, you have so many things to be thankful for. Not just those stuff that I mentioned but about a million other stuff as well. I know you do not always get what you want but believe me, mom and dad are doing their best to give us what they think is best for us. And given your background, I am sure you will snag a great job (even if it will kill me if you land a better job than I did). Just don't waste too much time on your networking thing. Take a breather and then start looking for work! (pressure? Haha. Take your time).

Next brother is my least favorite. Before he came along, I was the star. Haha. But really, Marty is a genius. He is a consistent honor student and he even claims that he barely studies! Anyway, Marty will definitely do well whether in UP or Ateneo. Just a couple of tips. Don't give in to peer pressure and don't do anything illegal! Haha! Kidding!

Note: Sorry I have no photos of Marty, I can't access his photos in Facebook.

But seriously, I love you both even if I seem indifferent at times.

P.S. Jaime and Nikki I'll also write a post on your graduation when the time comes.