What is True for You Right Now?

I'm writing this blog post today as part of the writing retreat I joined. The retreat led by my friend, Marjorie Duterte, ended last week, but today is our practice day to free write. Our speaker today, Elaine Factor, shared with us a few things that cause writers block. The last point she gave was about writing from a place of truth.

"Beautiful words come from a place of truth." - Elaine Factor

My Kuya's other challenge for me is to write a book. He gave me this quest the same time he issued the financial freedom challenge. I started writing a memoir a few years ago with my colleagues. We wanted to share our journey scouting for Google. We already had an outline and I have a few pages of it written out. The project fizzled out because we all got busy with work and our lives. I eventually realized it wasn't the right time to write it since I was still working for Google. Perhaps I'll do it once I retire. 

When I joined the writing retreat I knew already what I wanted to write about. Completing the outline and introduction was easy for me. I started to write the second chapter, but hit a huge block. The chapter required me to go back to my painful past. I have moved on from it, but I guess there's still some residual pain from it in my heart. 

It is the truth that I have to accept that's been part of me since I was 17. I went on with my life and did what I had to do to survive. Kuya in his NLP sessions for me always tried to bring me back there so we could resolve it. It's probably what's been wreaking havoc also to my health. And that's the truth that I have to resolve and absolve so I could fully accept all the love that I have right now. 

I hope I'll be able to move on from this so I could continue writing my book. Healing from past trauma isn't easy, but with God's grace I hope to accept this truth. 

CB///*Yr2/56  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/83 #StayHome #BeKind

Making May Marvelous

At the beginning of the month I told myself I was going to make May marvelous! I started the month by joining a writers retreat. I was quite anxious about it since I was iffy about making it through. We had weekly homework to get our project started. I'm surprised I was able to do the challenges considering there are days when I have to completely rest. I'm inspired to continue and pray I will finish what I started. 

The writer's retreat was a huge step for me. My health has kept me from doing much so I keep to myself mostly. The other thing that I focused on this month is my stamina. I make sure to do my exercises everyday and I'm working to increase what I can do. At least I'm a bit more useful now at home compared to last month. 

Also working on a quilt project. I had to set aside the Harry Potter quilt blanket for now. It's so heavy! That's one of the reasons why I've been working on strengthening my arms. I just received today my fabric order from Spotlight. I'm excited to work on my other projects. 

I continue to blog everyday to keep my mind busy. It helps me focus and has been my way to track my progress. I had to drastically adjust my lifestyle since I need to cope with what my body can do for now. I rest when I need to and that's okay. 

CB///*Yr2/45  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/72 #StayHome #BeKind

Dousing Procrastination with Inspiration

To be honest I've been sleeping a lot in the past week. I'd wake up late, eat oatmeal, drink my meds, do some exercise, watch YouTube, then feel exhausted by late afternoon. I take a nap then Sweetie wakes me up for dinner. It's horrendous since I've been unproductive. My posts have also been uninspired. The sloth seem to have become my spirit animal. Nooooo!

I don't know what's happening. It can be the medication. I oddly felt better after I had cardiac catheterization. We had to lower the dosage of my meds last week because I was bruising. I told myself last night that I had to fight it and get my bum working. Being on stricter lockdown again isn't really helping me. 

I woke up at noon today. Ugh. It took me awhile to sleep last night. Fitbit says I feel asleep at 12:35am, but I kept waking up and I probably thumped Sweetie on the chest because of his snoring (haha). I received an email from my writing guru and felt so inspired. I ended up writing for an hour after finishing my oatmeal. 

I guess the weapon to kill procrastination is inspiration. After class last week I immediately started working on our homework. Then I set it aside and crammed to finish it at the last hour of submission. It's really hard to slay old habits. I guess I just needed some praise and a gentle nudge from my guru to get things started. 

Since I finished our homework early I guess I should now work on my quilting projects. I hope I can stay up today so I can cook Sweetie some dinner!

CB///*Yr2/37  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/64 #StayHome #BeKind

*Mingling down to 2, cases going up in SG   

HeLluR P0wH!

If you're my age you would've probably shuddered at the title of this post. That's exactly how I feel whenever I chance upon text-speak on non-mobile phone platforms. 

The other day I saw a message written by my nephew in his Facebook account and it was in terrible text-speak! I almost called up my brother to tell him about it. I didn't because I don't want to get my nephew in trouble (and I don't want my brother on FB, LOL). 

I am totally disconcerted about seeing text-speak outside of mobile phones. I dunno why, but I just find it totally unacceptable and I have forbidden my son to write in such fashion. 

I do remember being terrified of my strict first-grade English teach, Miss Parcon. I remember her because she was so strict and demanded for perfection. I always got low marks in her class and I was in the slow-reader segment too. It was only when I was ten that I realized I had to shape up and eventually started to read more and work on my writing. I joined the creative writers club in high school just so I'd learn to write better. 

I was never a superstar in writing. Never won any literary contests, save for a distinction from renowned-Filipino author Cirilo Bautista for my one and only masterpiece (a short story titled "Amalanhig"). Always second or third place in essay contests, but nothing noteworthy. But writing has been an edge in the jobs I've taken. I can write decent copy when needed and churn out studies, business plans, research etc. in a jiffy because I can write. And I've been writing since I was 8 because my Mom encouraged me to do so. 

I hope other parents can check if their kids practice the proper way of writing outside of the mobile phone. UnLez u wnt uR kIdz 2 wRiTe dis way.

What do you think?

Babae Po Ako

I had a long discussion this morning about my writing style with a friend. He got me to check out how my writings would fare in the Gender Genie (http://bookblog.net/gender/genie.html). So, I opened my blog and tried it out. Lo and behold! Results showed again and again that my writings reflect that I am a male writer! A male writer! Me? Male? Meeeeh?

I think I tried about ten times. I tried out my different blogs and save one entry (my column for our parish newsletter) all the results said I was male. :(

My friend had a grand time teasing me. He was already calling me pare, tol, bro . I wasn't annoyed. I was challenged to find a reason why the results showed I was male. I was really curious why. There are times I don't recognize what I've written. Even my friends who read my work sometimes don't think I wrote it (I tested that before by emailing a short story I wrote).

It took the whole day and another friend to find the answer. I tested my private blog using entries from 2005 until 2006. And, whoopsies! It showed an overwhelming poll for female.

Because I was wailing about the results to my other friend, he told me to take the Gender Brain test on Blogthings.com and this was the result:

Your Brain is 73% Female, 27% Male

Your brain leans female You think with your heart, not your head Sweet and considerate, you are a giver But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

What Gender Is Your Brain?

So why did my public blogs show I was male? Go figure or ask my best friend. :)