Last May I went to Bohol for some R&R (they call it self-care these days, I guess). It was a much-needed two-week break from being “over-peopled” and it was also a chance to get some art/work done in a new environment. It wasn’t my first time in Bohol. I was there last year for my friend’s wedding and I found Panglao island just beautiful: I decided to go back to Bohol when I was choosing where to go for vacation. I chose Bohol because it had the right combination of elements I was looking for in a working vacation: it should be a place I’ve been to before so I can…
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Silent retreat, 2018
“God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.” I asked God for His leading on my venue for my silent retreat. I wanted a place in nature, full of trees. The leading was this certain Augustinian retreat house in Tagaytay. I googled it, didn’t like it (not enough trees), so I chose another retreat place instead. We have free will to choose, I reasoned. But friends pointed out— you asked God and God already gave you His choice. Are you still going to go with something else? So I begrudgingly booked the Augustinian retreat house even though it was not MY choice. But I choose to go with whatever God…
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This song played in the car today
It must’ve been 2008 or 2009 when I googled the lyrics of I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab (one of my favorite bands). One of the links I saw was a blog post about how the blogger imagines its lyrics as God speaking to him, resistant and stubborn to God’s reality in his life, particularly these lines: “How I wish you could see the potential The potential of you and me It’s like a book elegantly bound But in a language that you can’t read just yet” Ironically, the song is about a stalker-ish, one-sided, obsessive love, but if you SWITCH your mindset and listen to the song…
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How One Word can shape your entire year
Since 2011, at the end of the year, I would assess the things that happened during the year and I would sum up my entire year in one word. In 2016, I switched gears, thinking to be intentional and set a word before the year started. Unbeknownst to me, I was not the first person to think of doing such a thing, as my other friends were doing the same thing, too. In fact, it was something that a lot of other people were doing, in lieu of setting a whole slew of new year’s resolutions that would eventually end up being broken.
