When I was still studying I often hear my higher year Ates and Kuyas who already graduated from college rant about how hard it is in the real world. I keep hearing things like life is much more different in real life and stuff like that.

To be honest, I didn’t understand them. I was thinking what possibly can be harder than what we’ve had in college? I mean we were forced to do crazy stuff just to make ends meet so an eight hour office job will be just fine, right? It’s freedom- we’re finally free!

But little did I know.

During college we were forced to learn and adapt how to stay awake and efficient with just 3 hour sleep, and some days we even have less than that, with a quiz or exam that same day. Personally, I’ve experienced having to go to school for my 8:30AM class without sleep, aside from power naps that I feel guilty having during that time, and then go home at 10 in the evening to repeat the process of my non-existing sleep for more couple of days.

That time I keep saying that I can never be more tired than this, not possible. I can’t understand our working friends rant because all I ever wanted that time was to get the hell out of college and get done with studying. But I was wrong and so I would like to write a letter for the graduating students about the things I wish I knew when I was about to finish college.

Dear Graduates,

                To be honest I am not sure if I want to congratulate you or send you a warmest hug for I know you’ll need it soon.

                It might seems like a book’s index or glossary but trust me it’s just a chapter’s summary and there’s still a Unit Test that you need to pass before going forward. You’ll face questions that seems like not part of the previous chapter but you have to answer it anyway and I am here to tell you to answer it patiently. Think about it. Is it A, B, C, or D? One question but can either make or break you.

                Friends, life is not a race and you don’t have to speed up, but to be honest I’m not even sure if your speeding up process has anything to do with your own decision or just a mere pressure from the people around you. I can’t blame you. With the kind of society that we have it’s almost impossible not to be pressured because most of us has a tendency to feel like what we think right is right.

                But hear me on this, you are your own. If you really want to grow then decide for yourself. It doesn’t matter if you decide to be practical and choose a path that is way out of your career path for a greater good, what matters is that you keep your stand. Human up and face it. Who cares if you need to choose pay grade than your passion? Who freaking care if you only have enough to make a living while doing the thing you are passionate about?

                If you are here reading this to seek advice to help you choose between your passion or being practical then I have to disappoint you. I will not imply an answer to a question in which you can only answer. We have different kind of life and sometimes what is best for others won’t be best or even good for you. If you choose passion then by all means, go and be happy because I’m happy for you. If you choose to be practical and leave your passion aside then it’s fine, I’m still rooting for you and all I ever wanted you to know is that I hope you are happy, if not I hope you become one along the way.

If you are those lucky human being who doesn’t need to pick between the two then I am very much happy, I hope you shine and grow more and help others too because whether you like it or not people or your friends will get jealous of the life you have and I hope you are there to make them see that you are all different but are equally talented and good. You might not notice it or like it but there will be people whose pain will come from your happiness and success. You’re not at fault and you don’t owe them anything but I have to ask you to be there for them. Cheer them up, affirm them because there will be times where it’ll be hard for them. So be that tiny hole- that whistle on a pressure cooker- and don’t be a heat that produces pressure for they have too much.

Graduates, the next couple of months will be hard for you. The training wheels will be taken away and you’ll have this mental clock that will keep on ticking, making you want to speed up the process of growing. But remember this, you are your own. Do not let yourself drown by the sound of the clock because it’s all in your head and that ticking sound is just a mere pressure that you keep on getting and forming are just inside your mind.

You have the power to silence it and adjust the melody for you are the master of your own.

Graduation is not the answer or an escape for you are not done, not yet. The challenges and sufferings will not stop, the pain will actually intensifies and I will tell you to keep on holding on and keep fighting.

What I learn from the past few years is that you will only age in number and in physical form but you will never be old enough to break down or be ready to any problems that will only intensify as you age.

When you feel like giving up and feel like the next summary chapter is way beyond your reach, if you feel like you are stuck, if you feel like you already suffered enough and can’t take any longer, just look back and see the journey you took and the challenges that you surpassed. You are here now, you already suffer enough, ngayon ka pa ba susuko?

Congratulations on your graduation! You are not done, but it also doesn’t mean that you can’t start something new.

THERE’S NO SINGULAR FORMULA IN BEING A MINIMALIST

The common misconception of other when they hear that someone is a minimalist is the fact that they either wear same clothes and that everything is black and white. While this is partly true, I want people to know that being a minimalist is not limited to a certain color palette.

Using certain color palette does help but it’s not a must. As I’ve said, there’s no singular formula or rule to being minimalist. The goal that you have to mind is that you have to limit your belongings only to those that makes you happy. The goal of minimalism is to lessen distraction that hinders you to have the peaceful life that you deserve.

I don’t have a certain color palette in my clothing but I consider myself practicing minimalism in terms of clothing since I don’t spend that much with branded clothes. As I’ve said, no singular rule as to how to adapt minimalism.

Back then, I tend to hoard clothes since I always buy cheap ones and it has accumulated along the way and some ended up not being use at all! Now, I think I only have less than a 90 pieces of clothing (I know it’s still a lot but I’m still working on it, don’t worry!) and for some I might not have done proper purging but I am proud of what I’ve accomplished.

I learn to accept and realize that not everyone is the same and that’s fine. I don’t have same shirts that I use every day and I don’t have a color palette that people associate with minimalism.

IT IS A PROCESS, IT DOESN’T NEED TO HAPPEN IN A SNAP OF YOUR FINGERS

As I’ve said on my previous post about my journey to Minimalism it took me some time before I jump to it and even more time to be on the process. I said to myself ‘Okay, enough reading and researching. Do it now!’ but it didn’t happen in a snap of my fingers. It took me three weeks before I achieve a lighter room. To be fair I only did the work during weekend since I have a day job during weekdays.

During the first week I went and throw all the unnecessary items inside my and Lola’s room (we share a room). My Lola is a hoarder and you can only imagine how dusty it is underneath our bedframe where she keep stack of filmsy Tupperwares, the pasalubong containers, and I was even shocked to find planks! I also started purging clothes this week and I already purged a luggage full.

During the second week, I decided that I still have a lot of clothes and so I purge once again. Yes, it took me majority of the day since I also clean the cabinets. After purging I ended up with additional box full of clothes.

I was pretty proud of myself knowing loads of stash are going to be discarded.

Third week was hard, I decided to give my attention to my books and papers. After I clean my bookshelf I separate the books into three category, the one I’ll surely keep, maybe pile, and let go pile. I told myself that I need to be brutal about my books since it takes up too much space and it’s not healthy since I don’t have time to read that much. I let go of the books that mostly just pick my curiosity but is not my genre and the one that I bought because I thought I’ll be able to read it.

As of writing, I folded my clothes just earlier and upon doing so I purge ten more pieces. Minimalism is a journey, not a race to discard all your belongings.

IT’S NOT ABOUT HOW YOU ORGANIZE, IT’S THE HABIT YOU DO AFTER EVERYTHING IS ORGANIZED

For the past weeks I realized something and it was so simple and yet I was blown away by how it can affect my current state, a make or break deal to be honest.

It’s how you put the things after you use them.

Pretty simple right? Indeed, it is simple but it does make a lot of difference. I notice that half of the reason why our room is a mess is because of how I put my stuff after I used them. For instance, after I went home from work I discard my uniform and put it on a corner pile (not proud of it but it’s true) and then the next thing I know is that I have bunch of mixed clean and dirty clothes.

It’s also the case with my desk. One moment everything is organized then I need to write something so I’ll get a pen and a paper, then the next days I can’t see a single pen anymore because I didn’t put it back to where it was placed.

We’re not done with shoes yet. So technically most of my shoes have boxes and it’s not that I change the kind of shoes I use very often so I keep them under my bed at the end of the day, and then when a certain shoes wouldn’t complete an outfit I have to use another and the next thing I know is that all my shoes are now under our bed while their boxes are carefully stacked and empty.

You have to keep telling yourself that certain things must have a certain place to stay with. In doing so, you wouldn’t just improve your organization skills but it’ll also help you ease daily struggle in terms of finding pieces of belonging that you needed.

And I know it’s hard but trust me when I say that it’s all worth it.

RESPECT SOMEONE’S PLACE AND BELIEF

As I’ve said earlier I’m with my Lola and she is a hoarder. It is hard on my part because she keeps putting back the things I wanted to let go. Even though I’m 110% ready to let go of things she just keeps on getting it from my pile and carefully hide it together with her other clothes.

I’ve seen a video of a girl tidying up her mom’s place, a certified hoarder, who went out to do some errands. The caption says that her mom keeps accumulating things and she wanted to help and so she tidy her house for her. But I think it’s not right. Being a hoarder ( a little bit haha) myself and growing up with Lola who typically keep all the things that she think that she’ll be able to use someday is a lot of work. For me, what the girl in the video did was way out of the line and uncalled for. If you wanted people to respect the way you live then you should also practice respecting their way of living. You don’t go throwing people’s stuff away just because you wanted to help, you can help them but at least as for a permission to do so.

Now, in our room there is a corner full of clothes of my Lola (we used to share that corner) but even though she went on a vacation for more than a month I didn’t try to discard her clothes or belonging even though I know that half of the clothes were not even used for years because if that will be done to me I’ll be pissed and will probably spit fire.

Just because we life a minimalist and meaningful life doesn’t mean you are right and that everyone will follow suit. It just doesn’t work that way.

IT’S HARD UNTIL IT WASN’T

This, I can attest to. It took me months of reading and being curious to the world of minimalism and I keep asking and wondering if I can pull it until I decided it’s time and just jump into it geared with knowledge from my reading.

To be honest, it’s really not that easy. It’ll hurt you and make you doubt if you are still doing the right thing. You’ll contemplate if letting go your things will all be worth it or just a crazy phase that you’ll outgrow in the couple of months.

But the only thing you can do is to move forward. Keep purging and hopefully you’ll feel the lightness lift off from your chest and the next thing you know is that you are regularly purging through your belongings.

After 4 major weekend purging I was surprised when I realized that I was getting good at this. Every rest day I go through my belongings and declutter one or two pieces. My books that is under my ’maybe pile’ keeps on decreasing while my ‘to-go pile’ keeps on accumulating. I realized that I crave the lightness I feel when I maintain the space of our room.

It is indeed hard until it wasn’t anymore.

“Love people and use things because the opposite doesn’t really work.”

I think I’ll speak on behalf of many Filipinos when I say that we were raised to think that acquiring loads of stuff is what makes you successful. It somehow became a basis to our life’s standing and for the longest time I was one of the solid believers of that thinking.

Growing up in a big family means not everything you want will be serve to you and it somehow manifested on how I treat things. I treasure all my belongings too much to the extent that I became ‘madamot’. I hate it when people search through my things, because I know when my things are meddled with, and I even hate it more when they use it without my permission.

Throughout the years I blindly accumulated things that occupy too much space on my room and even my life that I feel like I was suffocating.

ADMITTING SOMETHING IS QUITE NOT RIGHT

Last year went by in a blur and the fact that I somehow think that I wasted all the time I had made me wake up to a realization.

Something is wrong.

Inspirations won’t come by no matter hard I try and I’ve been slacking too much for the longest time, I am disoriented. I search online and found out that my save pins and ideas on Pinterest, as well as the podcast and videos I often listen to helped me gain my missing energy.

I realize that I have too much on my plate already. I look around and our room is filled with clothes I don’t even use. I lay down in bed to sleep knowing my clothes and bags were just under my feet’s reach. My working table was stocked with paper and other paraphernalia that hinders me to work, I can’t even lay my notebook to write something.

And for the past months I started my journey towards minimalism. I would like people living in the Philippines to know that we can do such thing if only we believe in ourselves, we can make minimalism work in the Philippines.

WHAT TO DO FIRST

The first thing I did was to read, listen, and watch people discussing about what minimalism is all about. I discover that being a minimalist doesn’t have to be complicated. There’s no single formula because the kind of minimalist that you are going to be will be based according to the kind of person that you are.

For example, in my case I am a bookworm and I am also a bit chic in some rare moments so letting go of my books and my most-kept clothes is a big heartbreak in my side. I have a whole bookshelf that house my collection of books that I am not ready to let go yet together with my sentimental pieces such as letters and old school memorabilia.

But all is under control so hold your horses! After months of watching and listening to quite some plenty minimalist guru I finally went on with it. So for this post let me tell you some things that made me just do it and other facts that made me start this journey.

TAKE AN ACTION

As a young adult you might think that I already got my sheets together. Some might say ‘What are you wailing about, girl? Come on you have day job, great friends, overly supportive family, and you still do what you love in that website of yours’. And though I admit that I am blessed in those areas, there are just some things that I can’t explain. There’s still a void.

I’m living a life the fullest in the eyes of other people but what my eyes see is that I am living. There. Just living. I don’t feel like I’ve found my purpose in life and I became stagnant. I feel mediocre in everything that I do that it somehow took its toll on my writings. The usual one blog entry per week went down the drain to the point that I can no longer post one entry in a quarter.

What I hate to see the most is the fact that I’m starting to hate myself for being like that so I have to take it seriously. I realized that I am too weak to convince myself from the inside and so I decided to do it from the outside. According to the videos and podcasts I streamed, if you can’t make yourself do something from the inside then try to fake it and do it from the outside first. Your surrounding plays an important role, it’ll help you replenish some of your energy and confidence just by making you feel good about the place you stay in.

BABY STEPS AND TIPS

Recently I did a purging with my clothes. I told myself to be brutal about it. I went on and grab all my clothes from my closet and put them on the bed which form a huge pile of different kinds of clothes. To be honest this is not my first time to purge my clothes, I did a decluttering a few months back using the KonMari method to which I failed because my grandma put all my purged clothes back to my closet. As I was purging again I realized that I still kinda like and can use some pieces of clothing I purge using the KonMari method even if it doesn’t spark that much joy.

I decided to just go commando with my style of purging, mixing KonMari and the traditional way of being practical, and I think I succeed. After the purging I have a luggage full of used and ready to discard clothes and an additional huge plastic almost full of clothes that no longer fit in the luggage. Update: I purge again and I have a luggage, box, and paper bag full of clothes and shoes.

Some might say it’s not that much and I agree.  It was indeed a baby step but I was glad I was able to do it. Clothing had never been an easy category to declutter and seeing I almost empty a closet makes me want to celebrate this kind of small victories.

Cheers to more toddler steps!

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” –Antoine Sains-Exupery

When I was a junior in college I remember that I made this mental breakdown of where I’ll be years from that time. I decided that after I graduate college, I’ll find a job and save 2 years and enroll myself for my second degree, I still haven’t figured out what to take but I know a specific field that I want to be.

Fast forward to present, can you believe that it’s almost 2 years after I graduated from college and that means based on my mental plans I only have months to go before I enroll myself to another program.

But look where I am now.

Of course, my plan haven’t change at all it’s just that for the past months I’ve been beating myself too much. I was this optimistic human being who is excited for her life’s next chapter but I was slacking off. I was flowing through life and now I realized that I haven’t plan anything at all.

As Antoine Sains-Exupery would say, it’s just a wish until I create a plan. It’s not enough to have a goal and a timeline, what matters most is your plan. You need to have your plan laid out and have back up plans when things didn’t work out the way you want it to be.

I think the fault was on me. I was so eager to be a certain person that I forgot to be at the present and plan my future. I did plan my future but the structural plan on how to achieve the future that I wanted to have wasn’t done, it wasn’t even half done.

I guess I was accustomed with the fact that all throughout my growing years I am a follower of curriculums and the fact that I will be where I am meant to be means doing good at class. When you are studying you have a goal, whether it’s to be a latin awardee or to graduate on time, and it is by default instilled on us that in order to get those goal you have to do good and passed needed requirements.

But everything is different after you’re done with college.

I had a conversation with a friend about this and I am not sure if I will be happy or feel sad that she actually feel the same way as I did. I realized that I was slacking off mainly because I feel like I have all the time in the world. There’s no more deadlines (in terms of personal growth, this doesn’t apply to work tho) and no more push to make you do things urgently. No more midterms or finals that will require you to learn the ins and outs of certain program, no more output that will require you to carry a camera and use the technical knowledge you were taught by your profs, and yes no more critique that will correct your essays.

There’s no more training wheels, we are on our own now. And I think the past months were the hardest part because we’re unsure about everything around us.

I somehow stop paddling and I eventually stop, and after some time waiting for that push I realized that I only have myself now. It was hard and if I’m being honest I think I haven’t move forward that much for I’m still struggling to feel my feet and steady myself.

I may not be a good rider and I may not have improved that much but one thing I’m sure, or at least I want to believe, is that I’m stronger and I know better now. Of course, I’m still picking up the mess or rather I’m still struggling to get past my mess and my clouded decisions from the past but I now know that creating timeline does not equate to success.

Just because you created a fool-proof timeline does not guarantee that you’ll achieve your goal. What matter most is that despite all the setbacks you are still there wanting and fighting no matter how small the voice inside you, no matter how small your hope is.

It’s not bad to have a timeline, just remember that it’s not enough and that no matter how high or low your goal is the thing that you really need is a plan.

Today, I’m writing to you as a friend. You might not personally know me that much, you might be one of my internet friends whom I haven’t had the privilege to meet yet, a classmate whom I haven’t talk about personal stuff, an org-mates, college mates, or just a regular FB friends, but let me say that I got your back and this is for you.

First, I would like to ask. How are you?

Your ‘I’m fine’ cliché won’t work on me right now. I’m asking how are you? How fine are you? Or how eff is your life right now?

Stop faking it. You only have yourself to witness our chitchat so might as well be true to yourself.

Now, how are you?

Did you know why I ask? It’s because I know that not all of you have had the privilege to be listen to. I know that it’s more bearable to fake your current state than to share fragments of yourself and be vulnerable. I know how hard to figure out life and other shenanigans that you are experiencing.

I know it’s hard.

But now, I want you to stop faking anything. Stop fighting the pain and struggle and let me take you back to the younger version of yourself. Even just this once, let me take you back to the old yet younger you.

Do you still remember what you wanted to be when you grow up? The profession you repeatedly write about on your theme papers every start of the school year?

As a child we tend to be indecisive about things and if it’s, by any miracle, happens that you are pursuing the field you dreamt of taking by your younger self then I’m happy for you… I hope you are happy too.

The problem with people in our society right now is we eventually stop dreaming. We hope for a better life but we don’t dream bigger anymore. We tasted too much reality and we settled for what we have in front of us because risking is too much risk- perhaps it’s the reason why it’s called risky.

I remember so many people dreaming to be something great! I know some who wanted to be an astronaut, scientist, doctor, teacher, and so many more back when we were younger. I know that the one who wanted to be an astronaut took up teaching instead but I don’t have way of knowing what the others decided to be right now, some of my classmate during grade school and high school didn’t even had the chance to finish college despite their earnest will and desire due to life’s circumstances.

There’s nothing wrong with being realistic and living within means, I agree with that ideology too. If you need to eat then buy a decent food within your means and don’t go for a diner that costs too much. Be practical as much as you want, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t hope for a better life.  Being practical is not a hindrance in our ability to dream.

Scared of risking things? Who’s not, right?

We are so scared that we might waste all of it and we’ll end up failing. Well, I’m not saying you immediately jump off on a cliff, take a baby step, just a little step will suffice as long as you keep on going. If you feel like giving up then take a rest but keep walking after.

When we were kids our parents told us that bad dreams are called nightmares and they say that it’ll eventually go away so just don’t mind them, and perhaps that contributes to the problem.

Nightmares are also dreams, just not the thing we wanted to be dreaming, same as life can get tricky and hard, not what we wanted, and so we hope for it to go away like nightmares when in reality nothing can put it away but you. It’s you who needs to move forward to be able to surpass it. You need to wake up and let the fear subside until you finally had the courage to know better.

The way I see it, we are so accustomed believing what our parents said when they told us it’ll go away, so we wait for it to disappear and it sucks our happiness and hope the more we wait and let it engulfs us. Nobody will shake us awake, but we can turn the page the way we wanted if we can only learn how to dream again.

Remember how our 4-year old self dreamt of her/his 2-storey house with a swimming pool facing the beach. How we wanted to fly and travel the whole world.

There’s nothing wrong with knowing your limits but at least give your mind the power of being limitless even just inside your head.

You might feel the pressure of not being enough and it will weighs you down, but don’t let it kill your dreams.

Be a dreamer and let’s talk being a doer next time, just focus on dreaming first.

Don’t be afraid of nightmares, be afraid of being scared of dreaming.

,

They say that there will come a time in a relationship where the thing you adore in your partner will be the reason of your quarrels. That the traits that first draw you to your partner will tick you. You might like a person for being mysterious or chatty but there will come a time where it will drive you nuts. Of course, I don’t have personal proof to validate that but if you will see it in a different perspective I think it is true.

When I was still studying people keep asking me what path I will take, what type of career my program will lead me, and where will I be after I graduate. During those time I confidently say that I can be anywhere since communication is pervasive. Our Profs did told us we can be in any field we want to be, we can be in the field of media, advertising, marketing, or even sales!

It is our strength. We honed ourselves to be the best version of ourselves in different fields.

I remember a conversation I had with a friend when the topic about mastery came up, we share our own sentiments and he shared an instance during a job interview, it was asked what we major in our program.

To cut it short, my friend answers what we were thought is the answer. He told the interviewee that there is no specific major in the program we took, we learn and tackle all of them! He thought it is a great answer until he heard the rebuttal line ‘Jack of all trades, master to none?’

Maybe that’s the reason why I went on a phase of confusion. We don’t have a concrete path that we know we can be part of. If you took education the next thing you have to do is take your licensure exam and be the educator that you wanted to be. If you took business course the next thing you need to do is look for a job that is related to finance and accounting or start your own business. Of course people who graduated from those programs were not limited to one profession, but you know what I want to point out in here. Unlike us, if you ask those who studies under those programs, they’ll say specific career path.

Eventually our strength became our weakness. We were lost and stuck with the realization that we could have been better but how? I know enough of the little things but how will I standout?

Our then strength became our weakness. We were so diverse that we can’t decide where to go next. We have been put in a position wherein you have to choose between so many possibilities but despite all of them you still look and ended up being a mediocre.

I once read a thread regarding how a relationship lasts, not because I’m looking for tips or something, it just so happen that a friend of mine found the thread fitting for him that time since he just got out of a relationship and so he shared it to us.

In the post the one who penned it underwent life studies and stuff, a part of their study was to find out the reason to lasting relationship. They were ask to interview people of different relationship status. They went and ask the reason how they last and why it lasted, is it love or choice. Upon asking it turns out that majority of the people don’t consider pure love as the reason why they are still on a relationship. It’s not about the kilig or the love, it’s all about choosing to be in the relationship.

So where am I heading with this? What I want you to realize is that no matter how powerful or the lack thereof of your chances in life, the thing that will help you make it through is you. You accepting that life is full of crap and that it is not always rainbows and butterfly, you realizing that it is always up to you whether you consider your strength as weakness or make your weakness as some field for you to improve.

If we let people make us doubt of our strength then how can we grow? Yes, there will be times where you will question your capabilities and skills but don’t let it break you. You are more than that.

For years you face criticism and self-doubt, you fought in silence, cried when the light was off, you’ve been through a lot but don’t quit. Are you going to quit now that you’ve been through all of that? You already suffered, gain something from it.

If they made you turn your strength as your weakness, then try and turn it back again as your strength.

And now, you will be stronger than before, wiser, and much more ready to face life. I’m rooting for you, even when you at your worst, know that I’m rooting for you.