Profound Thoughts

There are new horizons waiting Unknown challenges to keep Goals to set, discoveries to make There are endless adventures Wonders to be explored As we embark on each new da y

One of my earliest recollections as a child was my first trek to Lumsok, a mountain overlooking the barrio from where my parents hailed from. At that time, you may well consider me as a bootlicker, never letting my parents out of my sight even for a minute. Going back, I was ecstatic they decided to bring me along with them though it took them a lot pain telling me to reconsider. It was more like an hour-long trek along a spring-fed brook flowing from the foot of Lumsok. As we moved upstream, the scenery changes are very much noticeable. There were no more houses to be found. The clearings gave way to bushes, then later on to ferns and mosses. The trees gradually became taller, its trunks becoming broader. One could no longer hear any sound of modernity, but instead listen to the water running through rock crevices, the steady cicadas’ chirps and once in a while, bird squeaks. It was actually a breathtaking sight due to its pristine environs. The place was so remote that one can actu...

For someone who has lived a simple life, much more so for an introvert who needs to step outside of his comfort zone, the world may seem to be a scary place. Indeed, it is not that kind for those faint of heart,  since there is no such thing as a world of make believe.

As I kept on traversing though my own personal journey, I had gone past the parapets of my humble abode. Emotional and scared of the pending departure, I just had to keep up with what life had brought upon me. I have reached distant shores. I have made my way to different parts of the world and discovered a different side of me I never thought existed. I had been tested. Time and time again, fate had been continually dictating the pathway with which I must take. I learn from each journey that I took. I gain experiences with lifelong lessons. Embedded in my heart is a newfound strength that fortifies my weary self. Deep inside, I still cower in fear. But, I must maintain a strong façade. There is no place for weakness. I must continue on living. With every step and with every glance along the way, I meet kindred souls who are also traversing their own pathways. It is in these crossroads, I get to display my different selves. If I linger long enough, hearts meet and thoughts converge. B...

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twai n

Life is short... Focus more on the wonderful things it has to offer... "Let me but live my life from year to year, With forward face and unreluctant soul; Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal; Not mourning for the things that disappear In the dim past, nor holding back in fear From what the future veils; but with a whole And happy heart, that pays its toll To Youth and Age, and travels on with cheer. So let the way wind up the hill or down, O'er rough or smooth, the journey will be joy: Still seeking what I sought when but a boy, New friendship, high adventure, and a crown, My heart will keep the courage of the quest, And hope the road's last turn will be the best." - Henry Van Dyke -

The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say” - J.R.R Tolkie n

Come to my castle, the fragile hut that timidly hides behind a banana grove. Enter with care, 'tis of nipa and bamboo, but 'tis the sanctuary of my solitude. Like the few that in the world have been sages, fleeing from the world I have found this Eden  that offers to my flesh the warmth of a nest and to my soul, consolation, hope and faith. Here I live the memory of my youth, the birds, the sun, keep me company, the breeze that feigns songs of praise and the perfume of a dead illusion. Rustic meoldy, that sounds at the hour of the Angelus, closes, twilight; it seems to pray, it seems to cry beloved nostalgias for the time gone by. The night that weeps the death of day surprises me at times on the rough threshold, savoring in sips the sweet ambrosia of happy instants that shall not return. On full moons I reach the woods with imagination overflowing with dreams and before the miraculous light that is the landscape I...

An overcast sky, Wind is blowing from the sentry depths of the horizon Leaves crackle amidst The sound of solitude echoing through the stillness of a lull A few droplets of rain start to trickle down I look up and saw clouds being swept away by an endless sea of doubts and fears There beyond the abyss lies a glimmer of hope, Or perhaps a small clutch of circumstance If only I can be more like a sage Meekly entwined with the wisdom of parallel universes Perhaps I could figure out a way how To sail beyond and cleanse my soul from within The wind blows stronger The tress started to dance with the vortices of the wind howling through The branches sway and turn about It seems as if the tree does not stand any chance Against the elements which are about to consume it But, deep within, its roots do not move a bit A sentiment of the steadfast nature of a memoir If I can be like that of a tree I could become more like a sage Unswerving amidst the gales and squalls of life Waiting endlessly...

We cling to the precious memories in our lives. The friends with whom we’ve shared laughter and tears, the lovers whom we have shared intimate moments with. But with the passing of time, hearts do change, memories do falter. It is human nature to feel indifference. If we continue to live with the past, we are going to miss the new opportunities that come our way. So we have to let go… In our lives, we can never hold on to all the people we’ve shared our bonds with. We can’t control what we might have thought as something constant. People change and friends do change… and when it comes to that point where the relationship would start to falter, it is better to let go to continue on living. 

In the still pond, Sol’s light bathes the unmoving water with warmth. Small ripples appear as a small fish pokes his nose through the surface. Looking up to the heavens, it must have wondered if he will forever remain within the pond’s domain. It is summer and the rains still have not arrived. The earth is choked, parched and dry. As the days pass, the pond grew smaller and became shallower, its water evaporating. At some point in our lives, our perspective in life becomes narrower and narrower and our days become more mundane. We adhere to routine acts, one small change and we become disenfranchised. We become uncomfortable in our comfort zone, then, we gradually lose ourselves. We then forget to appreciate the wonders of this world. We become insecure in ourselves, so we tend to look around. The more we open our eyes, the more we feel small. We look back to ourselves and we begin to despair. As the humble water evaporates, it reaches for the sky. Small and insign...

The Meranti are a unique people having an affluent heritage. They are skillful and hard-working. They  possess an intimate knowledge of the world surrounding them.  Their animistic beliefs give them a deep connection and understanding of the environment and consider  all things of creation equal and necessary, worthy of respect and honor. Living with the Meranti is bliss. It has given me the break I needed to revive my torn self and carve a path for my life as I lived in simplicity. However, I was caught unaware of the events that ensued thereafter. I learned that it is futile to challenge the predestined fate rolled out for me to walk on. Immersing and assimilating with the locals opened a gateway to discovering a rich and primeval culture whose roots dates back to the age of the awakening of man. However, it is gradually losing against the external influences under the guise of modernity. Saving the Meranti heritage would come to mean total understanding...

I have always led an atypical life which I perceive as something strange. I have this certain ability which I believe only a select few are endowed with, intermittently manifesting itself from time to time , an inherent talent which even I can hardly fathom. I know deep inside, I have a mission to accomplish. It appears repeatedly in dreams; visions of a faraway land, distant from the throngs of humanity, a land of verdant landscapes and majestic mountains, of unusual flora and fauna which can only be seen in the tropics. It also shows a woman clad in white robes having blue eyes the shade of mine which gleam at her stare and whose auburn hair capturing the effervescent rays of the sun bidding me to come and follow her lead. In another vision, I witness a deluge, a hellish firestorm eating away the core of that beautiful landscape and that of the sea swallowing it whole into its sentry depths. In all of these, I saw myself as a bystander, welding an orb from which bursts an...

Man   and woman… characteristic of two complementing segments of the spectrum, the commencement and the conclusion of a day portrayed by the cosmic cerulean blue and the pulsating orange hues of the sky, balancing off a clash between two contrasting energies, vibrating when placed side by side, stimulating one with the other. A journey of rediscovery will take them towards the very center of their being in an attempt to unravel the fabric of time itself to probe and pull from the depths the ancestral messages that may remain. Seeking like a silver eye in space scanning the broad reachings of their souls. From the plethora of hearsays and myths, legends has it that men and women descended from an ancestry of beings much superior and advanced than the Atlanteans of the western shores of the primordial Earth. Faint fragments of this mystery are the workings of some forgotten race with the reputations of gods and the limitations of men embedded within their very being. The c...

Dark clouds are looming ahead… The air gradually became sultry as the otherwise clear blue sky turned overcast. I know that the parched earth had been yearning for this caress from the heavens. Who am I to oppose the melding of their souls? Before the first drops of rain, the leaves lying on the ground would be picked up by the playful zephyr and are then scattered about. A simple representation of entropy, unrestrained by the complexities of the workings of men. As rain falls, an earthly smell would emanate bringing to mind poignant memories of the days that had gone by, of friends and little kids wandering, gradually being soaked by the downpour. But without a care for the world, a childlike innocence akin to that smell of the first droplets of rain hitting the parched earth. If only life can become carefree as the days that had come to pass, then perhaps everybody can become childlike once more as our consciousness would be melded again into our very soul …

To love is probably the most unusual feeling one can experience because only love alone can let you experience the most remarkable joys and the bitterness of sorrows. Only love encompasses an assortment of things. No one escapes from it. It does not discern who or what you are.  It can withstand the squalls along its way, much more than that, the test of time. The experience of true love strengthens us and teaches us on how to balance our emotions. It makes us become wary with whatever future decisions we are going to make.  However, losing love can eat at your soul... and when it does, you lose yourself...

What is true friendship? What is love? When does love and friendship converge that it leads one being indistinct from the other? And when vested interests come into the equation, where would all of these lead to? Will love prosper? Will friendship withstand? Will it become an obsession when vested interests take precedence over love and friendship? I do know the answer to these questions. And I did learn and it was in fact very painful. Life they say is a complicated web of strings. Once you get smitten, you find it difficult to free yourself from that chain. And whence you get to disentangle yourself from it, you find yourself in another chain and so the endless series of entanglement and disentanglement ensues. What is so amazing about it is that even though time has created a barrier and when you seem to think that you are free, you still find yourself attached to that moment because regardless of all the attachments in your life, it is you who created your own web either by reaso...

Lay down Your sweet and weary head Night is falling You have come to journey's end Sleep now And dream of the ones who came before They are calling From across the distant shore Why do you weep? What are these tears upon your face? Soon you will see All of your fears will pass away Safe in my arms You're only sleeping What can you see On the horizon? Why do the white gulls call? Across the sea A pale moon rises The ships have come to carry you home And all will turn To silver glass A light on the water All souls pass Hope fades Into the world of night Through shadows falling Out of memory and time Don't say: "We have come now to the end" White shores are calling You and I will meet again And you'll be here in my arms Just sleeping

Regrets... I do have a lot of them... And the common denominator is time. I regret doing things because I have hurt the people who mattered to me. I regret because of lost opportunities. I regret because I know that with the passage of time, somethings will never be the same again. Everybody grows old and I am not exempted from becoming one. But, over the years I have realized that it is not all about age. It is on how you mature and on how you make yourself a better person which matters along the way. It is on how you handle criticisms and improve oneself which matters at the end of day.

Pain and sadness resonates within my being. I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, but nothing is more poignant than losing the friends I had loved and shared memories with during that time in my life when it was all about goals and dreams. Until now, I still carry the emotional baggage. But, I have decided to let go. Given that too much time had come to pass, it seems that some things in my life better be left in the past so that I can move on and sprout a new leaf elsewhere.