The Thought Junkie

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The Art of Calligraphy

My Instagram feed is often filled with the following photos: selfies with meaningful quotes, OOTDs, destination photos, and of late, beautiful pieces of art personally handwritten by the owner of the account. Calligraphy has always been something I have always been interested to take but never had the time to do so until recently. I’ve never been known for my excellent penmanship but an old colleague turned good friend Icka Santos inspired me by saying that, “Calligraphy and handwriting are not the same. Some of the really good calligraphy artists that I follow confess to have really bad handwriting. It’s really more of drawing and painting. You draw or paint a combination of strokes to form a letter or words.”
Icka, who is a teacher by profession, started calligraphy in the latter part of 2014 as inspired by one of her students. Long fascinated by typefaces and fonts as influenced by her parents who are both architects, which carried on to her work as a teacher, “I was always so excited to make handouts for my students and I would literally spend more time looking for the right fonts than typing out the information I wanted my students to read. Calligraphy interested me because I’m not a very artistic person but I love to write. Not write a poem or story but the actual work of writing down letters and words. It’s a good hobby because you can bring it with you everywhere.”
Icka then pursued her passion by attending workshops and surrounding herself with people as passionate about calligraphy, “We have a great calligraphy community worldwide and our local calligraphy community is equally awesome.Local calligraphy artists like Fozzy Dayrit, Alexis Ventura, Anina Rubio, Drew Europeo, Dr. Gail Madalag and Joel Fabiana are always more than willing to share their knowledge of this very intricate art form.”
For Icka, calligraphy is a stress reliever and a good way to unwind after a hectic day, especially for professionals who are so busy with their day jobs. It’s also a good way to tap into our inner child and a way to unleash our creativity. Our lives, though extremely busy, still need that boost of creativity and imagination to make it enjoyable.
Never letting go of her passion as a teacher, Icka then turned from student to teacher by running workshops of her own and the results have been so overwhelming that she is running another set of workshops, even one in Davao.
For Icka, it’s all about sharing the joy associated with it while also pursing her two new life passions: calligraphy and teaching. Icka inspires everyone to believe that it’s never too late to pick up a new hobby and share it with others.

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Transitions

Without a doubt, hearing and sharing the stories of the country’s top athletes have always been one of my favorite things to do. Through my dad’s job, my siblings and I have been fortunate enough to meet the best of the best international and local basketball players (including Kobe Bryant in his rookie year!) and hearing their stories often left me buzzing. For one thing, elite athletes are distinctively wired differently. To win at such a high level takes a lot of talent, skill, courage, discipline, and commitment and it’s always interesting to note that their stories, beliefs, and strategies often differ from each other.
I firmly believe that everyone has a story to tell and one particular one that striked me is that of a good friend’s, Shawn Weinstein. Shawn, who is currently a sports analyst for Fox Sports, used to play for the Philippine Basketball Association and while it maybe easy to dismiss it as another story of a Fil-Foreigner coming home to play for the motherland, his story is quite different.
For one thing, he entered the PBA with a mindset that is unusual for most athletes, “I set a timeline for myself because I wanted to go into business and the business side of sports early.” A natural born athlete, Shawn has years of high-level basketball experience under his belt, including a stint at the AAU National Championship, even playing alongside Trevor Ariza while also excelling in football and baseball, “I was actually better at baseball than I was at basketball and I was even recruited to play quarterback in high school but for some reason nothing could take me away from basketball.”

This coupled with his parents’ support led him to pursue his love for basketball by joining the Israeli Basketball Superleague and eventually playing in the PBA. Shawn played with the best of the best in the PBA but unlike most athletes he chose to transition out of it early because of the timeline he has previously mentioned. Despite it being an expected transition, he was quick to admit that the transition was not an easy one, “ Initially, the transition was quite difficult. You have a routine, goals you set, and a plan that prepares you to have a successful season and all of a sudden, it stops. You now have to find a way to channel the things you learned playing basketball into the next chapter of your life. And once I did that, the transition has been fantastic.”
Shawn, who graduated Magna Cum Laude from St. Edward’s University in Austin Texas then took what he learned from his first love into what he does now which includes being a TV and Events Host, a Sports Anchor for Fox Sports, and a basketball analyst. He’s also making good use of his International Business degree through the public relations firm he co-founded with celebrity publicist Lana Johnson. When asked if he misses basketball, he was quick to say, “Basketball is very integral in my life. I still play when I can and I have extreme interest in the psychological part of the game as well as body language. I find myself analyzing that aspect to a large extent.”
Shawn’s story taught me quite a few things over the period we’ve discussed the transitions in his life. For one thing, one’s story doesn’t have to go the conventional route in order for it to be considered a success and second, transitions unexpected or not, though never easy is always with a purpose.

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The Gratitude Project

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement you should include all things in your gratitude.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
At the beginning of 2015, my social media feed was filled with the hopes that 2015 will be the year where our prayers get answered and our deepest wishes come true. Without even realizing it, the year just whizzed by and soon, we find ourselves right smack in the middle of it. We often get lost in the frenzy of life that we forget to simply sit back and appreciate how far we’ve come.
As human beings, we’re extremely goal oriented. We have this innate passion to win at life, however we define winning as. We want the job, we want the clothes, we want the relationship and we want things to stay this way forever. We keep striving and reaching without realizing how much we have been blessed with. As driven individuals, we have the tendency to simply go from one checklist to the next without realizing we have to appreciate the fact that we’re actually ticking things off our list. There are days when we feel discouraged by the huge gap between where we want to be and where we are that we don’t realize that even if they were baby steps, we have indeed come a long way. It’s not a crime to pat yourself on the back every once in awhile and be proud of what you’ve achieved so far.
We also have this tendency to dislike it when things end. We feel like we’ve failed in life when certain people, jobs, and what not exit our life thinking that we would have been more successful if they have stayed. But the truth is, we simply have to be thankful for the time we’ve spent in that job and with that person. We cannot control how long a season lasts in our life, but we can make use of the hurt we feel when the season ends by learning the lessons. I used to hate hearing about life from this perspective but it’s the truth. The only way we get through anything ending in our lives is by thanking God for the happy moments, discovering the gold, and moving on from it. Stop getting angry with people who left and situations that didn’t go our way, find the purpose and be grateful.
So as you start your week, simply thank God that you have jobs to go to, people you love, and food on the table. Our parents were right, when we begin thanking God for the small things, the big things happen but until then, let’s be grateful for today.

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Finding the Real Adventure in You

I belong to a generation in love with traveling and unlike generations before me, it’s not just traveling for leisure, but traveling as a way to get to know one’s self and have an adventure.
Vibrant and brimming with life, my good friend from high school, Anna Faustino has long committed herself to a life of adventure. I have always admired Anna’s bravery to drop just about anything and explore life for what it is: raw, challenging, and adventure filled. When she first told me about her desire to quit her day job to travel the world, I was scared for her, but she did it, conquered, and then some.
This is the reason why I wasn’t surprised when Anna’s blog, www.adventureinyou.com, which she started with her boyfriend, Tom Rogers, is quickly gaining traction as one of the Philippines’ most visited travel blogs. Anna is the epitome of a person who breathes travel and you can see it in the way her eyes sparkle.
And it’s also interesting to note that Anna and Tom’s love story began with a travel story. Anna recalls, “We met while we were backpacking in Vietnam. Tom was literally rolling down the sand dunes in Mui Nei when we met. I was on the tail end of my yearlong trip and Tom was 6 months into his. We ended up traveling together all over Vietnam and Thailand. I had to go back to the Philippines for work while Tom had the rest of the world to see.” But unlike other travel love stories, this wasn’t meant to be short-lived, Anna continues, “After a couple of months apart, Tom arrived in the Philippines and never left! He ended up getting a job here until we take off to travel again.”

When asked what made him risk it all to stay in unchartered territory, Tom was quick to say, “As mentioned we met when we were traveling and when I got to the Philippines; I wasn’t even half way through my planned 2 year trip to see the world. When I arrived, we spent all our time together exploring when Anna wasn’t in work and soon after that, we began dating. After traveling together through different countries, we got to know each other really well. With that being said, within the first week of being here and spending time with her, I knew I was going to be here for a long time. Being that both of us are travelers, we were both quite skeptical of love, both having been hurt before. This time though it was different, and we both knew it. I flew back to the UK as a surprise for Christmas. After almost a year of being away, I turned up on my doorstep (wearing a santa hat), knocked the door and was shockingly greeted by my mum with, “Where is Anna?” I couldn’t stop laughing. My mum was so overwhelmed and confused to see me that this is what came out first. I had been talking to her when I was away and she was keen to meet the reason why I stopped moving around. So yes, my first reason for risking everything was Anna. I was later luckily approached and asked to join a great start-up business where I currently work. I’m continuously surrounded by positive happy people and I love it! I don’t regret my decision at all.”
The love story soon led to a joint travel blog, when asked how it started, Anna explains, “ Our blog was the brainchild from one of our many conversations about traveling. Both of us are wildly addicted to traveling, in fact, we met while we were both backpacking around Vietnam. We wanted to write about our many (mis)adventures to get others inspired to travel as well.  When we travel, we like going off the beaten track. This way, we get to see what other people don’t normally get to experience. During our recent trip to Palawan, instead of hanging around Coron town like most people, we rented a motorbike and drove along the coast, stopping in small beaches, sleeping in local fishermen’s houses and living the way they do. We even tried our luck in fishing for food, except that only ended with me falling in the water and almost capsizing our tiny fishing boat.”           
Their blog aims to look at life from a different perspective, the way traveling does. It’s more than just having a vacation but truly allowing one to experience life.


Traveling, Anna says, is what truly molded the person that she is, “Traveling has changed us in ways we both cannot describe. We have become happier people who live to make the most out of each moment. I think this is one of the main reasons why we started our blog, to motivate people to inspire and unleash their inner adventurers. Best part about traveling is getting out of your comfort zone. You gain a wider perspective of how people live, which in return, makes you more grateful for what you have around you. Aside from that, traveling gives you a complete sense of freedom. Freedom to live and enjoy life the way it’s supposed to be. We were both blown away when we realized how much more there is to experience. It opens up your world to endless possibilities which gave us a clear perspective on what is really important in life.”
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Building The Nation, One RVR Award at A Time


It’s safe to say that it was a night of suits and I couldn’t help but pull out every Barney Stinson quote imaginable while being in the same room with the sharpest business minds in the country during the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Manila’s launch of the Ramon V. Del Rosario (RVR) Awards for National Building. Awards such as this one always excite me simply because it’s always inspiring to see a group of young people so vibrant about national building and actually making steps towards it. Launched in 2009, the RVR awards was inspired by the late Mr. Ramon V. Del Rosario, who was the first ever national president of JCI- Manila and the first Asian world president of JCI. He largely impacted nation building and empowered Filipinos through his numerous entrepreneurial efforts including the founding of FilOil, the first ever Filipino-owned oil company, Philippine Investment and Management Consultants (PHINMA), and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP). His efforts are meant to inspire both men and women to follow his footsteps and build a better future for Filipinos everywhere.Previous recipients of the RVR Awards are Ambassador Jesus Tambunting and Senen Bacani, Oscal Lopez, Washington Sycip, Vicente Paterno, and last year’s awardee, Jaime Zobel de Ayala. The night, though different from the others I have previously been to reminded me that young people, just like the ones involved in this year’s award giving body are still concerned in creating a brighter future. And it’s true that the only the young ones can think of a brighter future is by following the steps of those who have gone before them in creating such endeavor. This for me is truly the essence of this award and this is why it’s important.  We must never stop hoping that good can be done and we must exhaust all options to get there. That’s the only way change occurs. **For more information, you may visit http://www.rvrnationbuilding.com/.
 www.carlabiancaravanes.com

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You Win and You Learn

“Don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens – The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.” – John Steinbeck
I don’t know about you but I absolutely detest losing. As a child, I found it difficult to accept the concept of “losing” and hated it when people told me, “but you did your best”. In both life and love, I would work overtime to make sure that life is exactly the way I imagined it to be in my head. It’s also safe to say that I can be quite the control freak.

At 26 however, I have come to realize that maybe I have defined winning differently. I used to define “winning” as being better than everyone else around me. It didn’t matter that I did the best that I can, the important thing was that I get to be the best in all things. It was a difficult life to pull off because the reality of life is that there will always be someone better in any area of my life. There will always be someone prettier, smarter, funnier, and all the other –ers you can think of. That’s just the way the world works. The world is the oyster of the best creation of God so who was I to think that it was only me who deserved the best of the best? And why did I even think that there was only one particular best for every single person on the planet?

My neurotic one-sided way of thinking has led me to be extremely competitive and easily discouraged without a hint of humility. I was prideful and easily irritable especially if people were not conforming to what I thought was the way to get things done. I was tough on myself and that spilled over being tough to other people as well. There were impossible standards to meet and no hint of gratefulness.
But recent events have led me to reexamine my life and my choices. With my knees on the floor, I have come to realize that life isn’t really about me. I’m here to create, to add, to give, and to enrich to those around me and not the other way around. Suddenly, it wasn’t all about winning or what I was getting out of life but I was giving to life. It doesn’t mean that I no longer worked hard; it just meant that I will not fall apart when things didn’t go my way.
One of my favorite authors John Steinbeck’s quote about losing generally sums up my life right now and my way of thinking. I’m no longer racing against the entire human race (or at least the human race around me) to be the best. I am slowly learning, by God’s grace, to understand that life isn’t a competition. And that another person winning doesn’t make me lose in anything, it simply means what was given to another wasn’t meant for me. Life isn’t about keeping score but simply accepting that there’s something for everyone and I don’t “lose” at life when I don’t get what I want, instead, I win because I learn from whatever situation has hurt.

It allows me to see life from a different perspective, one that is not bitter but always hopeful because if I can learn from even the saddest situations in my life then how can I not win? Life is life and if I don’t see the good that’s when we lose, so let it go, learn the lesson and believe that what’s meant for you will find its way back to you when the time is right.
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The Power of Authenticity

I would be the first person to admit that I am an extremely talkative person. As a child, I have been sent to the corner more times than I can count for never failing to out talk the teacher in any given situation. This pattern continued on until college where fortunately my desire to pass my subjects outweighed my incessant need to be heard.
That being said, I am always chattering on about something and the rise of social media has given me an even bigger platform to air my never ending thoughts and opinions on all things.  It was my persistent desire to share my opinion on absolutely any topic that jumpstarted my blog in 2004. I talked until no one listened and the birth of the internet (you mean all this internet space is just for me?!) has given me my own personal space that allowed me to voice my thoughts on just about anything.
Social media has been such a stable, consistent part of my life that even as I try to remember a time when I wouldn’t post what I was having for lunch or what I thought of the latest How to Get Away with Murder episode, I couldn’t. There used to be a time when I would only share my thoughts on both the relevant and irrelevant parts of my life to those closest to me (particularly my younger brother, Carl) but the rise of social media has given me an avenue to talk all the time. And for quite awhile there, boy did I talk – a lot.  The likes and retweets across all social media has also enabled my talkative nature. Suddenly, I was hypnotized by the likes that I was getting without realizing that just like in real life, I spoke (more like vomited) because I wanted to be heard so badly.
I was saturating my feed with stuff I should have kept private because in a way, the likes, the comments, and the retweets validated me. Unconsciously, I was showing off, trying to prove to people that I led a picture perfect life managed by angles and filters. What started out as an innocent way of sharing my life’s details turned into an everyday runway show (or is it a reality show?) minus the real messy details of my everyday real life. Suddenly, the duplicity got to me and I was exhausted by the double life I was leading. My social media sites reflect a perfect life so I must be perfect 24/7.
So I took a break from all of it, even from talking too much in real life. And then I saw the beauty of it. I saw the beauty in silence and the beauty in not having to share every detail of my life and most importantly, I saw the beauty in not responding to questions that I didn’t have to respond to.
I also learned the power found in authenticity, a goal I’ve had since the beginning of the year. If it’s not how I feel at the moment or if I am only posting a photo with this person to prove something then it’s not worth posting.

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The Gratitude Project

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement you should include all things in your gratitude.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
At the beginning of 2015, my social media feed was filled with the hopes that 2015 will be the year where our prayers get answered and our deepest wishes come true. Without even realizing it, the year just whizzed by and soon, we find ourselves right smack in the middle of it. We often get lost in the frenzy of life that we forget to simply sit back and appreciate how far we’ve come.
As human beings, we’re extremely goal oriented. We have this innate passion to win at life, however we define winning as. We want the job, we want the clothes, we want the relationship and we want things to stay this way forever. We keep striving and reaching without realizing how much we have been blessed with. As driven individuals, we have the tendency to simply go from one checklist to the next without realizing we have to appreciate the fact that we’re actually ticking things off our list. There are days when we feel discouraged by the huge gap between where we want to be and where we are that we don’t realize that even if they were baby steps, we have indeed come a long way. It’s not a crime to pat yourself on the back every once in awhile and be proud of what you’ve achieved so far.
We also have this tendency to dislike it when things end. We feel like we’ve failed in life when certain people, jobs, and what not exit our life thinking that we would have been more successful if they have stayed. But the truth is, we simply have to be thankful for the time we’ve spent in that job and with that person. We cannot control how long a season lasts in our life, but we can make use of the hurt we feel when the season ends by learning the lessons. I used to hate hearing about life from this perspective but it’s the truth. The only way we get through anything ending in our lives is by thanking God for the happy moments, discovering the gold, and moving on from it. Stop getting angry with people who left and situations that didn’t go our way, find the purpose and be grateful.

So as you start your week, simply thank God that you have jobs to go to, people you love, and food on the table. Our parents were right, when we begin thanking God for the small things, the big things happen but until then, let’s be grateful for today.
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The Get Fit Initiative

It’s that time of the year again when new gyms open within a two mile radius and where these said gyms are literally packed every single night.
My brother and I call them “the summer people”. The summer people, for whatever reason, only infiltrate the gym during the summer for the main purpose of “Laboracay”. They’re in the gym every single day until June and then they’re gone, only to return again the following summer. We really don’t mind but we do feel sad over the fact that most people think that fitness is all about looking good without realizing that the benefits go beyond looking good.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am definitely not one of those rah rah rah health buffs that only eat protein all day. My weight loss journey has always been an extremely personal one. I have dealt with years of overeating as a way to escape my emotions (yes, those memes you see all over Facebook can greatly describe me) and I have also dealt with counting every single morsel that enters my mouth. I’ve been on extreme ends of the spectrum and none of those fad diets have ever made me feel good on the inside.
It often left me feeling extremely frustrated, especially since I have always considered myself on the “active” side. I would run at the crack of dawn, dance horrifically during my Zumba classes, and even “try” my flexibility during pilates. My brother, however, would be the first to tell you that none of those worked for me.
You see, I was so busy working on the outside without realizing that I needed to get a lot of things fixed on the inside. The reason I wasn’t gaining control over my food intake was because I was a mess on the inside. I ate away my feelings one day and then went on a “cleanse” the next. I wasn’t being kind to my body simply because I wasn’t kind of myself.
It’s when I accepted my body for what it was and no longer detested it (and myself) for what it wasn’t did I see the legitimate changes that I’ve been longing for.
It started with a boxing program at our neighborhood gym (and my second home), Yellow Corner Sports and Martial Arts Gym that was initially introduced to me by my brother to help me deal with the stresses I daily faced.
You see I’m a HUGE initiator of things. I love starting new things but often have trouble being consistent with them due to my schedule and other excuses I often come up with. However, Yellow Corner for some reason hit the spot just right. Yellow Corner, through its trainers who have quickly turned into family in the year that I’ve been there, has been a place of solace. I’ve been surrounded by athletes my entire life but it’s only in Yellow Corner that I truly embraced a sport that challenged me and left me so tired I can barely walk at the end of the day.
My best friend, Karla, also helped me in dealing with my food intake. Food was no longer the enemy but it wasn’t my savior either.
The ironic thing however is that the changes on the outside didn’t matter as much as they used to. Looking good in front of the mirror was no longer the end goal of why I spent those many hours in the gym; instead it was just an added bonus. I am eating right and working out because I loved my body and now treated it as I would any of my friends.

It’s those things that you hear about constantly but it’s in experiencing it that you are transformed. So if you too are on an weight loss journey, don’t lose hope you’ll get there but you must also remember that you are beautiful and complete as you are, and once you believe that, that’s when the changes begin.
**
Know more about Yellow Corner by visiting their Facebook page, Yellow Corner Sports and Martial Arts Gym.

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Mama, The Rockstar

When I was younger, people would often tell me that you would get to a certain age when your mom becomes more than just an authority figure, she actually becomes your friend.
It’s safe to say that I’ve never quite met anyone pretty much like my mother. Most people would be quick to assume that she’s a helicopter mom, but more than being the constant voice in my head telling me what she thinks is best for me, my mom, over the years, has indeed turned into my very best friend.
I wish I could be one of those people who hid things from their parents but the truth is, whenever I get news, whether good or bad, the first people I think of sharing it with is my parents, the main constants in my life. Over the years, my parents have seen me win and lose in life. Being quite the emotional child out of their four kids, they have also seen me retreat to my hole far too many times when hurt, betrayed, or just disappointed with life.
My dad would always remind me to be tough when life decides to be a witch the way he is but my mom would sit with me for hours, for days, and for weeks constantly rehashing the situation trying to find a loophole that could be the way to her daughter’s happiness. My mom, just like me, can be ridiculously optimistic. To this day, even on days when I don’t agree with her often-unsolicited advice, I value her voice above all else. It’s her that I run to when my heart is happy and when my heart is broken without realizing that seeing her daughter going through such emotions makes her emotional as well.
It wasn’t until a good family friend pointed it out to me that when I hurt, my mom hurts too, maybe ten times worse and this is something I have never been grateful for. Maybe because I’m not a mom that I don’t understand this kind of illogical love that wishes to shield another from all the chaotic pain of the world. I never realized that as I wept, my mom’s heart wept with me. There were days when I was so into deep the depths of my monsters that I didn’t realize that my mom was hurting for me too. I’ve failed to value and be grateful over the fact that I am blessed with a mom who wishes for her children to be happy and who cries when they do. There are moms who are not as involved in their children’s life but today, more than on any other day, I appreciate my mom more for being so involved in the details of my life that she knows what’s going on without me having to say a word. Her strong desire to see her children happy encourages me to make better life choices and to stop settling for people who don’t take care of me the way she my parents do. I was settling so low when I have already been gifted with the best kind of love right at home. To choose to settle was disrespect to the love they have freely given me.
So on this mother’s day, I wish to commend her and mothers around her who carry not just the weight of their own world, but also the weight of the world around them: the emotions of their kids and their partners. It’s true when they say there is nothing like a mother’s love, so if you are a mother and you’re feeling underappreciated today, know that even they don’t say it, your family loves you and the work you do is the core of the people you love.
Mothers are a safe place kids can return to no matter how old they get and today, I show my appreciation to my security blanket, my mom. Love you ma, you make all the difference in my world.
Do me a favor and hug your mom today, you may not always see it, but she loves you the best way she knows how and on most days, that is more than enough.