lecture

one of the interesting activities i've been doing this week is giving leadership lectures to the 2nd class COCCs in ROTC and well i've decided to post one of the things that i shared to them today...

Lesson 15 of Colin Powell's Leadership Primer Powerpoint Presentation:
Part I: "Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands
for the probability of success and the numbers indicate
the percentage of information acquired.”
Part II: "Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range,
go with your gut."

in any case i hope the statistics don't scare you but all it basically says is not to act until you are at least 40 percent sure that you are right and don't wait until you are 100 percent sure because by that time it is usually too late... in any case the second part of this post is what i consider to have a bigger significance...

Risk

To laugh, is to risk appealing to the fool

To weep, is to risk appearing sentimental

To reach out for another, is to risk involvement

To express feeling, is to risk exposing our true self

To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd,

is to risk loss

To live is to risk dying

To hope is to risk despair

To try at all, is to risk failure

But to risk we must,

Because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing

The man, the woman who risks nothing, has nothing

is NOTHING.

that concludes this post... for an added bonus try reading the poem out loud and it somehow gives you an extra feeling when you are about to read the last part as if you're proud to say that once in your life you've taken a risk and that you are not empty and that you are indeed someone...

thoughts

a thought has been lingering in my mind this whole day... it seems to have been prodded by recent conversations with friends... as i scribble down words in this entry i am able to convey my feelings as well as ideas to all of the readers... in an attempt to share with them what i possess... i have also allowed them to own these thoughts... once processed in their heads it can no longer be considered all mine... it has eventually been absorbed as part of their knowledge... as such things happen i cannot help but think that whatever notions i have expressed in this blog is open to a myriad of interpretations... even allowing some of the stuff here to be distorted by existing biases as well as to be consumed and read like any other entry... i only have control with what i place here but once placed... i have no control of it anymore... it can take on a life of its own in the minds of others... this however leaves me curious as to how other people interpret my entries... as i have no sure way to check... all i have are speculations which were made prior to writing the entry... i find it a challenge to try and lock the thoughts of my blog so as to prevent it from being misinterpreted... however since i do not have the capacity to sieve through all possible interpretations i go with the safest route in order to protect the integrity of my blog... a painstaking task but i firmly believe it to be a helpful one... in any case... i hope that further scrutiny of the thoughts i choose to place here in my blog will allow me to shape the way the reader thinks of my entries... allowing a more effecient as well as meaningful sharing...

a quote that i would like to share: "assumptions are a transparent grid through which we view the universe... sometimes deluding ourselves that the grid is that universe..."

optimism

"the tapestry of the universe is vast and complex... with infinite patterns... while threads of tragedy may form the primary weave, humanity with its undaunted optimism still manages to embroider small designs of happiness and love..."

the quote above was taken from a book that i've been reading lately... anyway i gave it some thought and i tried to figure out how i can relate... well personally i believe that in life tragedies always have the greater impact on us... in philo we even learn that trauma is what makes us think... that if something unusual happens that is when our brain starts working to assess why and how a certain event happened... it seems that there is no wonder why bad things are usually magnified out of proportion... it is through them that we are supposed to improve ourselves on... if everything were to be normal... we would all grow to be complacent... nothing will fascinate us anymore as well as astonish us... we will not wonder about anything... we will cease to think... however this also presents a problem... if we wonder about everything there would not be enough time to put anything into action anymore... therefore we have made systems in our heads that allow us to process thoughts that can automatically address "normal" issues... a ball falls and it automatically is processed as a result of gravity... therefore it is rare to ask why on certain events... i think i've strayed too far there is time for another entry regarding the process of thinking...

anyway... if tragedies are indeed necessary to teach us... then what makes us different from roadkill... what makes the human spirit different... this is where optimism comes in... despite the overwhelming problems that we may encounter... as long as we recognize that tiny beam of light called hope we are able to continue with our lives... many can plunge into darkness and keep their eyes shut thinking that by opening their eyes they will the same thing... nothing... but to those who search around enough they may see that glimmer that will eventually lead them out of the darkness... i just hope that people try hard enough to look before despair gets the better of them...

solitude

i never imagined myself to be so busy lately... it's as if it wasn't a vacation at all... today is technically the first half day that gave me some time to sort some things out... as i came home from the COA formsem i immediately had a backlog of emails to read as well as blog entries... then i stumbled upon one email that prompted a thought in my mind... the difference of loneliness and solitude...

in both cases the person is just by himself or alone... the big difference is most probably the mindset that one has... loneliness is an unwanted experience... loneliness makes a person feel bad... fear of loneliness may lead to tragedy... one may even feel lonely while in a relationship especially a bad and unhappy one... loneliness is seen as negative... on the other hand... solitude is appreciated... solitude can give clarity of mind... solitude may be used for reflection... solitude can avoid disaster... solitude is viewed as something positive...

on a more personal note... i think that loneliness can be converted into solitude... that the feeling may be turned from something negative into something positive... something destructive into something helpful... most of us who experience loneliness tends to sulk and hide in a dark corner... but then when we are in the dark how can we ever see the light of reality... that maybe on the lighter side of things being alone may be the time to reflect... especially your priorities... to think of what is really right for you in life... it is possible for people to rush into relationships as well as to pursue the wrong person for fear of not having someone... some are also afraid to get out of a relationship for fear that no one else will come along... an irony of having someone yet still feeling lonely... i guess the challenge is to really stop and think... think of the situation and assess it... find more positive opportunities as well as outcomes... to have that positive attitude to transform loneliness into solitude...

side note: i'm thankful for all the things that i've been doing for the past two weeks... it has surely given me an ample amount of distraction to place things in perspective... hopefully this may lead to the better horizon that i've mentioned in my previous entries...

priorities

wow... it's been quite some time since i last posted... but it seems that since i have time in my hands right now i'll take advantage and try to write a decent post... well so far so many events have gone by without me mentioning a word about them... first off is the COA elections... finally the results are out... i guess i have a lot of stuff to do for that and as well as my fellow officers... good luck to all of us... next there was the LS grad... congratulations to all the graduates... last was Celadon Night... congratulations to all the winners of the awards and as well as to the next set of officers... as for the minor happennings like the choir and dance troupe performances... well i believe that both groups are in good hands...

right now it seems that i might be getting a loadful of stuff to do in the future... and i would really have to rely on my gut feeling as to which one i will prioritize... i have been doing this for the past three years in Ateneo and hopefully it won't fail me in my fourth year... i've usually stuck to the decisions that i've made and sometimes it really tries to shake me whether i made the right choice or not... but i guess this is the time when i have to have faith in myself... oftentimes people might lose faith in you... they might not see the way you see... they might not think the way you think... they might not feel the way you feel... but in the end it all boils down to how much you stand up for yourself...

i had a recent conversation with jules... i told him that i strive to better myself not because i want to prove myself worthy to other people... but i strive to be better because of the people who believe in me... and well with that being said i would like to thank all those who do... especially those who not only say it but those who show that they believe in me... but of course all of this will be for naught if the one important person who should believe in you doesn't do so... and that person is you...

poem

A mighty pain to love it is,

And ’t is a pain that pain to miss;

But of all pains, the greatest pain

It is to love, but love in vain.

a friend shared this poem with me... it is by Abraham Cowley(1618-1667)... i just love the way the rhyme goes... it's like a tongue twister... the more you repeat it... the harder it gets... sometimes you feel like you're getting used to it and then...all of a sudden... you make a mistake... isn't that how love is...

formlessness

assume formlessness... this was a thought shared by our new corps commander... it seems that it is a powerful advice... it is true that life is governed by concepts... and those that are in the grey areas are usually neglected because they are full of the unknown... it is easier to see things in black and white... to place things in perspective... to have meaning for everything... to immediately know bad from good... within ourselves... we also seek the place that we are most comfortable with... a secure location that we are so sure of ourselves... we form that barrier around us that limits us to what we think we can handle... we place boundaries to our imagination by realizing what can become real... in the end we fail to realize that we limit oursleves in the process... we cannot adapt easily to the changes that will happen... the wheel of fortune always turns and so do we... but because we want to feel comfortable... we are not able to move along with it... we end up being disappointed... getting slapped by reality is harsh for anyone... but the ability to take that slap and use it as a proponent to move on is the challenge that i believe anyone should take... to harness the power to move on... the power to keep struggling against life challenges... assume formlessness to allow ourselves to be more adaptive to what is happening... maybe this is the key to happiness... a happiness that perhaps we are probably seeking in the wrong place... i guess it's time to move and look around a little more... consider other options and to see better horizons...

"Celadon Dance Troupe: One Awesome Group!" 

enough

learning to say that... this is enough...enough is enough... being content with one self and what one has... enough said...

crazy

today...was quite boring...slept through the morning till the early afternoon even...and well tonight had to be different and spontaneous or i might lose my mind... so a thought crossed my mind during the late afternoon... while i was giving a tour of my new house to my relatives... i suddenly remembered something when i was pointing out our water tank at the back of the house... in the old house... i used to climb our water tank so that i can climb up to the roof of the house and well just stay there... do nothing... sometimes think of stuff... and well even waited for a solar eclipse to happen... but anyway that was in the old house... this time around the water tank was higher than our roof... so i suddenly thought of something... why not try to relive the old times... find somewhere high and isolated to try to sift through thoughts...

so i waited till it was late enough then i looked for my gloves... then i changed my slippers for sandals so that they won't fall off... i unlocked the door to the balcony and looked around... i had to hide for a while because i saw the guard patrolling... it suddenly felt like i was infiltrating our house... i hopped off from the balcony to the roof and slowly and steadily headed for the water tank... the roof creaked a little from my weight so i had to move fast... as i reached the water tank... i immediately grabbed hold of the metal ladder and slowly climbed up... the thing creaked too but it didn't shake so i had nothing to be afraid of... as i got to the middle... i looked around again to make sure no one saw what i was doing... then after a few more bars i made it to the top... when i got there i didn't immediately stand... i just sat and looked around... trying to assess what i really did... then i thought that it would be useless if i didn't make the most of my time up there... so i finally stood up and took a good look of everything around me... the view was excellent... it was so calm and serene... it was a clear sky... even if it wasn't a full moon the moon shone brightly as well as the stars... it was quite cool up there too... after a while... i had to sit down... since i was trying to relive old times... i decided to try and meditate... think of stuff that have been going on in my life... every now and then i had to look down to see if the guard was there so my concentration kept on shifting... but i was able to reflect on some stuff which i think was not really any different from the reflections i have already made... but it was nice doing it somewhere above the world... it somehow had a different effect... well after a while... i decided to go back down... i climbed down but this time around i was able to do it much faster... probably because i got used to it when i went up... i got back on the roof and back up the balcony... i locked the door and well... mission accomplished... no one in the house found out and i guess that made it more exciting for me...

now that i've written about it... some thoughts crossed my mind... the feeling i felt while doing this was a mixture of worry and excitement... fear and bravery... craziness and logical reasoning... with all these mized up i guess... i couldn't even pinpoint why exactly i did what i did... one reason that comes to mind is to fight off boredom... but i don't feel that was the only reason... somehow it just feels great to do something out of context... to do something spontaneous... but that doesn't stop there... it was also nice to do something secretly as well as stealthily... to do something that nobody will find out unless you tell them... it was also nice to relive an experience... to do something nostalgic... i guess i can think of a thousand reasons... but in the end... i feel happy for myself... i did it... and i survived to tell you about it... i guess that is what counts too in the end... despite the perils and danger... i'm alive... and that is an important feeling...

lesson

i found a particular song in phantom of the opera to be quite interesting as well as very insightful... the lyrics are...

Learn to Be Lonely

By: Minnie Driver

Child of the wilderness

Born into emptiness

Learn to be lonely

Learn to find your way in darkness

Who will be there for you

Comfort and care for you

Learn to be lonely

Learn to be your one companion

Ever dreamed out in the world

There were arms to hold you?

You’ve always known

Your heart was on its own

So laugh in your loneliness

Child of the wilderness

Learn to be lonely

Learn how to love life that is lived alone

Learn to be lonely

Life can be lived

Life can be loved

Alone.

as to how true this is... i can't tell... but it seems to be a nice lesson to learn... just in case...

song

this day has finally ended... i only had one class which was from 730 to 830 but since i arrived late i had to cut it and instead i went straight to the rose sale booth... as early as 830 it was already open and was already acccepting orders... i was already warned beforehand that it was going to be a busy day not only for the booth but also for the harana team which i was part of... since i didn't know how the booth operated i just concentrated my time on the harana team... that was tiring... we had to run from place to place which could have been on opposite sides of the campus... we also had to meet deadlines because the person we needed to serenade would only be there at a certain time... sometimes we also had to sing in front of the class especially if the timeslot given was during a class... we had to sing to all kinds of people... even teachers... we also got to sing inside the cafeteria which drew a lot of attention... on account that the song had a gay theme to it... we also entertained a few special requests so we had to learn some new songs immediately... well that is a basic narration of how i spent valentine's day... yes... i almost forgot to mention that...

come to think of it... last year's valentine's day... i spent my time in air force base somewhere... accompanying cadets on their field trip... it was a saturday and well even though i was with some familiar faces... it was still weird that was the way i spent valentine's... fortunately that night the LHC decided to have their own gimik which made the day a bit better... this year though the day was spent in school... and even though we serenaded people here and there... somehow valentine's day had a different feeling for me... the day went by differently... singing to these people... some i knew... some i didn't... it sort of affected me... it just somehow made me a little happy that in some way i was able to divert my energy and time to making their day a little extra special... i was never confident in my singing but somehow as the day went on and my confidence level slowly went up... but that didn't guarantee louder singing because at the end of the day we were all so tired that we could barely sing a whisper... well at least i couldn't...

anyway for some reason i don't consider how i spent valentine's day for the past two years a waste... well for this year... seeing the reactions on the faces of those we serenaded somehow exuded their own gratitude... at least being thanked was fulfilling enough for me...

i think i'd miss this feeling of tiring myself out for others... but somehow... i would also like to reserve some for myself... i know it sounds a bit selfish but i guess each and every person deserves some energy and time to himself too...

dance

i got to watch "shall we dance" hours ago and the movie is still fresh in my mind... it was good and it turned out better than i expected it to be... it was actually to a certain extent... inspiring... i myself have been dancing a lot lately on account of the upcoming alumni homecoming... i can't even remember how i got hooked to dancing... i remember my mom trying to teach me to dance ballroom but somehow i was just weirded out then... but all of a sudden... i found it interesting... first opportunity came when it was van's debut... she had almost everyone in the block participate and we were all taught how to dance... it was really fun then considering that there was really someone there who knew how to choreograph... next opportunity came when joana decided to perform ballroom for celadon ball 2004... and once again it was fun... and now enzo, jacky, iris, and i are choreographing the dance for celadon ball 2005... i can't believe how fast time flies... and how much dancing i've done in just two years of my life... but ballroom is just one part of it... there was also hiphop during the christmas party and as well as my addiction to dancemaniax... all of these have kept me moving recently and it really has spiced things up in my life... i never imagined myself to be a dancer... fine... wushu as most people have said is like a dance... but still the dancing i've been doing is much different than that... it's different especially for ballroom... it isn't a solo like wushu is... and there is much more involved in it than simple movements of your own body... because there is someone else's that you have to take into account... as the cliche goes... it takes two to tango... therefore in life we need the other... not just any other... but that someone who you will care for and will care for you also... someone who will dance to the same beat... someone who is willing to dance with you...

parts

i just watched cyrano...and well it was wonderful... i was actually hyped up abt it because i've read the book and i've watched the Hollywood version entitled Roxanne and i loved the story on both occasions... this time i watched it translated in tagalog which is actually not that bad... but along with this comes some reflections that i have from the play...

in our lives we are meant to play certain parts... these are assigned to us somehow by an unknown force... we play the part of a student... the part of a friend... the part of a sibling... all these parts we have to play... each one unique and have their own qualities... but there are times that these parts are suddenly forced upon us... we simply don't want to play them... sometimes we even hate them... and here comes the dilemma... there are some people i admire that chose to change the parts that they are playing... they risk and take the chance of changing what role they should play... some of them were successful... while others failed and were forced to face reality... but there are also those certain few who make the most out of the parts they have... like cyrano... being in that position... in that situation... ensuring that the one he loves is happy even if it meant giving that person away... must have been really painful for him... but as he accepted his fate... he moved as he should... he tamed his heart... he redirected his feelings... through beautiful words of poetry he was able to show yet at the same time hide what his true feelings were... he made the most out of the situation he was in... some people associate what he did with cowardice... but for me i see it as courage that stares fear in the eye... as the problem weighs down his heart he makes himself grow stronger by acknowledging what he must do... it's a constant war in which heart and mind battle it out for control... and as time passes by... even if in the end heart will win... the war was well fought... and for that alone... i admire the character of cyrano de bergerac...

"the fundamental option of a happy Celadon..." 

"shooting for a successful Celadon..." 

"taking care of Celadon's past, present, and future..." 

"where everyone's interests are accounted for..." 

elections

elections are just around the corner and well everybody is doing their best to campaign... but since there is no guarantee of winning... i would like to dedicate this post to those who have helped me along the way... the following pictures show the campaign materials that were made for me... the idea is all thanks to Tristan Rosario (galing mo talaga!)... but of course this would not have been possible if it weren't for the wonderful people who endorsed me in the pictures: Dr. Ibarra, Chair of the Dept. of Accounting and Finance... Mr. Ambeth Ocampo of the History Dept...Chris Tiu of the Ateneo Blue Eagles (special mention to John Go...thanks!)... Dr. Locker of the Theology Dept... anyway aside from this there are other stuff worth mentioning... first of all congratulations to Jules Ang for winning the Best Student Leader Award of COA and congratulations to Celadon for winning the Most Outstanding Organization Award of COA... congratulations also to the other projects of Celadon that were nominated in various awards: Gratia, Aling Lahi, and Chinoy... congratulations also to Lady Celadons for winning the IAC Women's B division... wow things are really going great for Celadon... hopefully it will be greater as Celadon Week: Oriental Splendor is just around the corner too... last but not the least... i would like to greet Raechelle, my "daughter," a happy happy birthday! :D

empty

this aptly describes how my blog has been for the past few months... i haven't updated and well the only excuse i have is that so much has happened since i last updated that somehow i do not know which are important for me to write about... with a confused mind can anyone think straight... well... i could write about my new house and how my new room looks good and how my new bed feels great to sleep on but i felt it too shallow of a feeling to express in contrast to the sentiments i have written in this blog in the past... i could write about the recent tragedy but that would just be plain sad and well... that was the underlying theme of my holiday season... so basically i have finally decided to make this post as worthless as possible so that it will give myself time to think of what i've really done while i haven't updated my blog and as well as reflect/concentrate on what i should be doing the next few weeks... perhaps thinking too seriously can somehow hamper any real success and by doing so will never give you any progress...

i leave you with one quote i found... enjoy...

"thoughts are the shadows of our feelings - always darker, emptier and simpler"