Allow Me to Digress

It’s better to be late than never, but sometimes, never is better than late.

- A. T. Choa, world-reknowned singer  / stage actress, philanthropist

1.  Have you ever felt what it’s like to fall with no one to catch you?   (haha… inspired from a song? Help me, I’m falling… )

2.  What will you do if you fell, slipped, or tripped? (But still very much conscious, nothing serious…)

a.  Get up and say "o ano, kaya nyo yun?" (inspired by Iya

b.  cry in pain so that people will take pity instead of laugh at you

c.  play dead

3.  Why is it funny to see someone slip, trip, or fall?  Is it just something Filipino?  (Maybe not. I’m reminded of America’s Funniest Home Videos hehe

4.  Why it is that when you fall, you can’t keep yourself from smiling (or even laughing at yourself) even if it hurts?

5.  Why do smart people fall?

Maybe this time, I won’t fall… Why did I come up with these questions? Just asking. :)  This list is part of the list of questions I ask when I got nothing to do (well not that I have nothing to do…just having a break

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream

For the soul is dead that slumbers

And things are not what they seem.

All the 6th graders in the room were nervously waiting for their turn. Those lines kept on running in my head repeatedly and my stomach was rumbling as I anxiously anticipated my class number to be called to get over the nervousness.

"G-5!"

That was my class number.  The poem is one of my favorite poems (not that I like a lot of poems) and it does make a lot of sense right now than it was when I was 12. When I recited the poem in class then, I was able to go through it without forgetting a line. But then the teacher complained that I didn’t recite the poem with enough feelings. (Or any feelings at all? I can’t remember hehe:) Maybe now I can do it better So why am I suddenly reminded of this poem? Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing a lot of thinking - soul-searching - asking myself questions such as "Should i have ice cream or chocolate cake for dessert?"

Here’s the entire poem.

A Psalm Of Life

I just came across this… I didn’t know Joseph Campbell until now.. he seems to be famous. (hehe :)  "Bliss" here seems to have a different definition from what I have in mind. 

"if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be."

"…Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time."

More from his website: "Yet it is important to note that following one’s bliss, as Campbell saw it, isn’t merely a matter of doing whatever you like, and certainly not doing simply as you are told. It is a matter of identifying that pursuit which you are truly passionate about and attempting to give yourself absolutely to it. In so doing, you will find your fullest potential and serve your community to the greatest possible extent."