Dear All: Chapter 4 Seize The Day

Last week, my friend passed away.  He was the very first person close to me who died. And I do not even know the real cause of his death because his family do not know me. And honestly I really do not want to know. But we have been friends for a long time. I could say he is one of the closest despite the distance we had since I moved abroad.

He was a funny guy. He made us laugh always in our small circle of friends. He has that humor that all of us seem to understand the moment he starts talking.

Dying at a young age is indeed a waste. He could have done even more things. He could have made more people laugh. He could have touched more lives. He was a great friend.

I know that he always want to live his life to the fullest everyday. He never misses a day to enjoy the life he has. He may have been wreckless sometimes but I know he did it because he just want to cease the day. Carpe diem as it is. He enjoyed his life even if it is just for a brief 33 years. But atleast even if he died young, I know that he enjoyed his life not thinking about what others would say. He lived it freely. He lived it on his own.

You will always be that person who makes me laugh. You are great and will always be.

Dear All: Chapter 3 Friends

I have many friends but most of them do not know each other. Some got to know some on acquaintance but not everyone really knows who are who. The only common denominator of these people is my Facebook account which I hardly visit nowadays. Last April, I have a very close friend from my previous office who got sick. Until now he is still sick. He was diagnosed with viral meningitis and it caused him to lose a lot of weight, partially lost his eyesight for a while and hardly can't move himself. Luckily with medicines and right care, he is recovering and will hopefully come back to work in September. Last month, I have another friend from way back who was diagnosed with Lupus. His skin started to deteriorate and he lost a lot of weight to. Right now, I do not know what is happening to him as I do not have any way of contacting him but through our common friend. His family does not know me and my family does not know him to. As I said, our common denominator is just Facebook although I have established a long and lasting friendship with him for almost 10 years now.

My family mostly do not know my friends because I have a lot that they never really got to met. Given my freedom since college, I mostly meet my friends out and we are all mostly independent that we never really visit their family houses because we all have our own places where we visit each other. I guess this is just how life is. When your only connection through your friend is each other, and once you do not maintain contact, you will lose each other.

I am praying that my friend recovers. There is still hope while he is alive and breathing. I will still see him soon when I return home so please wait for me. We still have a lot of things to do. I love you my friend.

Dear All. Chapter 2

Dear All,

Enjoy your life. Love yourselves. These are the words I learned today from a quite famous person who I unfollowed on Instagram and Twitter. Well I unfollowed this person because I do not see any good cause being done. As much as possible I follow people who serve a purpose, who have something to believe in or a cause that helps other people. Since you are of great power, you were given this ability to influence a million people, why not help others. But I heard that his life is full of bitterness that is why he is more likely thinking just about himself.

I may not know the whole story of his life but since those are the only things I know, I can only make a statement based on it but that does not mean that what I say about him is the whole truth about him. Anyway what I am saying here is not really just about that person but the quote he shared.

Again he said, “Enjoy your life, love yourselves”. Stop worrying about other things in life and just focus on what is going to make you happy. Not like selfishly happy but do something that you think will make your life easier. Worry is the greatest misuse of your imagination. The more you think about stuff about other people or what will other people say, the less you enjoy what could have been a spectacular now. Enjoy your life every day because you won’t know if you will still be here tomorrow. It is the truth. So savor up your life as much as you can.

Do great things that scare you. People say if your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough. Forget about the bitterness. Let bygones be bygones. You cannot move forward with your life if you keep on dwelling in the past.

I used to worry a lot about what other people would say. I always get scared about what other people may think because I feel like I won’t be accepted in the norm if I am not doing what everybody is doing. Normal people suck. Mediocrity is a disease that is untreatable and spreads really fast. Do not follow what others do so you could be in. Do better than what others can do especially if that is what’s gonna make you feel better.

Enjoy your life.

Dear All. Chapter 1.

Dear All,

There is a time when you think about the things that has happened in your life and wonder how did you reach this place where you are right now. Not everyone who dreamed of something 10 years ago reached their dreams. But our lives cannot depend just on our dreams. You have to work hard for it. 10 years ago I was receiving shipments and documents in the front office of the very first company I worked for. Lucky for me during that time, I was already a regular employee with medical and dental and allowances and I had dreams of living in the city. A couple of years later I reached that dream of living in the city but I did not really feel satisfied attaining that dream.

But today my dreams have changed. I want something else. Not bigger things but more meaningful things. You see I do not really see myself being married and having kids although I work with kids now. I guess it would not really work out for me to settle down. In 6 years of working abroad I have learned so many things that I am sure I would never learn if I never left home. I feel like if I surround myself with people who live for their principles, if I read a lot, if I travel a lot and if I meet different new people, that is what going to changed me. If I stayed at home, I would definitely still be chasing that big city dream of having my own place, my own car and comparing notes of the best places to eat and hang out with my fellow colleagues who are raising a family at the same time. I will always be the uncle of the kids of my colleagues and old friends and will just be buying them stuff because I do not have any one else to buy stuff for. 

Of course I want my own place and my own but while I am living abroad, I do not have to worry about that yet. Just save up continuously and reward myself with some travel deals so I can see the world and learn more things. My problem with living in the Philippines is that most of the people are looking to what is happening in the US. Whatever they have should be franchised in any of the sophisticated location in the capital. But that situation does not really apply in the Philippines. Most Southeast Asian nation does it. I guess because of these nations really look at what is happening in western countries. But anyway, my point being is that living abroad made me realize about other important things that is going right now. I will discuss details of that in a different blog.

10 years ago, I never really thought that I will be where I am exactly right now. working in this antique table on the 17th floor of an apartment at the central business district of Jakarta. I guess destiny has its own ways to get in to you. I am looking out in the window now and all I can see is boredom. I may get anything what I ant now but there is still this boredom that hits you. I remember this mantra by Adam Braun, the founder of Pencil Of Promise, that says "Why Be Normal?" I always tell myself to be different, to make a difference and do not become a part of the mediocre world out there. There are so many people in the world right now and whatever you are thinking, whatever idea you got, if you do not do something about it then somebody will just come and do it for themselves without you knowing. Next thing you know, someone else thought of what you were thinking.  

As long as I am here in Jakarta, I won't be able to do a thing. I won't be able to make a difference because of the limitation I have. I do not speak their language. Even if I keep saying that our culture are pretty similar, I still could not do something because I do not have any connections. All I can do right now is just sketch and write.

I wish I do could more.

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23July2014