Just Like the Old Days: Reggae, Rest and Recreation

A day after my first graduation anniversary, I was reminded that life is not always about the millions of how to dos and sticking to the rules which could lead us to what we all want to head on: SUCCESS.

After all, at the end of the day, we should realize that we are humans, not robots. We need some time to rest, unwind and break free.

For many people, going on hangouts is like a way to get out of our own messy, problem-filled and stressful lives. For me, it’s like a way of giving yourself a break from the realities of life.

Since my college days, I learned to hang-out with friends and confidants and even drink some liquor or alcoholic beverages (sshhh.. I first drank when I was in kindergarten with my aunt...). I usually schedule drinking sessions on Fridays when school was over and just before I would go home to my hometown on a Saturday.

Reggae   

One thing I would not forget about those old Fridays of my life was the music – Reggae. “Payag sa Likod,” a local bar in Dumaguete would hold its weekly Reggae Friday with Standout Reggae Band, one of my favorite bands along with choir-mate and vocalist, Kuya Awing of the infamous Enchi Band of Dumaguete.

All of those Fridays were so different from each one but one thing was common: the Reggae music which I really loved. Love? Yes, the perfect term is love or maybe addiction. Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” “Red Red, Wine,” “No Woman, No Cry,” “Buffalo Soldier” and “Waiting in Vain” failed not to amuse me and get me into dancing when I heard such tunes. OPM’s “Maling Akala” and “Binibini”  were always my personal picks. All the more, I will be enticed to hear of more Reggae music when I would hear the band play “Baby, I Love Your Way,” “Caribbean Blue,” and more of Enchi’s originals like “Baboy” and “Istambay.”

Reggae music would give me some relaxing feel and it has kept me reminded of how life should be lived. Though I really have not mastered the lyrics of these songs, such songs still have a place in my heart.

Rest

After a very stressful week, humans deserve to grab some rest. Not at all times, sleep could be ideal because in some cases, we need more of a relaxing process and somewhat like releases for us to be called stress free.  

Pertaining to this, I would choose to stay with people, talk and laugh with other them. This also helps us break free from our serious life.

Recreation 

Drinking became like an ideal way for me to spend some free time. I consider this a recreational activity because I am also engaging myself into somewhat like socialization exercises with a mix of people with different insights and from a rainbow of backgrounds.

Drinking sessions would probably be inevitable for young men who are growing up and it’s like part of the process. It’s not about who is the strongest and who is slow to be intoxicated but it’s about the conversations, the bond and most of all, the friendship which grows 

within the group of persons who share the glass together.

Let’s toast to that! Kampay!

Wine, music and friendship go together. Like the old days, when I was still in Dumaguete, I used to have the kind of life which I mentioned earlier.

Here in Davao, nothing has changed but not like the daily and weekly drinking sessions, I now get some drinks just twice or thrice a month for some work reasons.

I've got some new favorite Reggae songs from a local band here in Davao. Hope to mention and talk about those in my next posts.

Thanks to a new mix of friends who live nearby. I've found new confidants in this new place I can already call: a home away from home. 

A Year has Passed

Ben S. Malayang III, president of Silliman University, as he handed over the proof
of my college achievement. Now a Bachelor of Mass Communication graduate. 

           It's been a year since my graduation day. I could say that it was one of the happiest days in my life and I have dedicated that day to the people who made me strong through the years: my family, my relatives, friends and church mates.

   
   Receiving my diploma on that very memorable day of March 20, 2011 was for me the moment when I felt the world stopped. As I took the steps to receive my diploma, it was the time when I believed that school was over and that I am already a graduate. 

      

The moment I stepped on the huge stage inside the Silliman University Gymnasium was the time when I finally believed I have graduated in college. Events which happened before my graduation was a total opposite of the outcome. I had my full trust in my God, the ever-near friend of mine through all these years, that He will make a way when circumstances seemed hard to cope with.  

     On this blog site, I opted to post the articles I wrote before and after my graduation. This would give you an idea of how I lived and loved my college days.


   Let me end this post by this paragraph I posted in my Facebook Account last year during my graduation day, March 20, 2011: "‎A million thanks to God for this day! After the great wave of hurdles in attaining a college degree,I still can't believe I've come face to face with this graduation.I would only believe until this afternoon,when I would go up on stage and receive my diploma..."

Countless Dreams, Unending Disappointments, Abundant Graces

        I've heard certain folks say that life is like simple Mathematics and I immediately lingered on my mind a few thoughts. Life is has its additions, when we gain something but still then, there comes the subtractions, our disappointments and the materials that we should let go along the way. Those are just some of the realizations among many that I have thought of. Life is a vice-versa of additions and subtractions.

     

      I had countless dreams, plans, of what should I do in my own simple life. I'd plan for this and that, and that I would go here and there and I would do everything I could think up in my mind. I may have fulfilled dreams that I have thought but still, I felt so sad for the dreams that I haven't had. I would be thinking of those dreams from time to time, and repeatedly feel blue that I was not able to fulfill it.

     

        Yet, I hold on to the faith and trust that I have in my Master, my God and King who sees me down here, who knows me and who created me. I may have plans for my own but He is my Creator and I have accepted with my whole heart that all that comes in my life is all of His working and part of His master plan and that His thoughts are greater than my own.  God sees everything beyond the wall that I may be facing and beyond my wildest thoughts is His great plan.

                                                                                              

        Though my dreams crumbled into pieces, and I felt disappointed at times, I still believe that God knows what is best for me and He promised to give me what I need for He is the Great Provider. I look forward to that day that like on the night when Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane I could fully say: "Let not my will be done but Yours."

Goodbyes

   If there is one thing I hate most in the world is the word goodbye. Saying goodbye is hard to do but as my life progresses and as I aim to look for greater things in life, I had to do such a painful act of letting go the comforts of my home and the company of the people who I can call my friends. 

  

  Goodbyes always bring tears to my eyes. I maybe the person who would easily laugh but I also cry in an instant, speaking of the dreaded goodbyes.

  

  Many would wonder why I have decided to leave my comfort zone but someday, they will soon understand why I have come to decide as such but for now, I have to say goodbye.

                

    Goodbye to the people who through the years have made me strong and made me who I am today, the young people who I have made a difference to as I shared my gifts of talent, to the children who considered me their inspiration as they grow up, to the people whom I touched their lives and to those I may have shared a thought or two. 


   Whether in the community I had served, in the church where I almost spent most of my life, in school where I learned the basics of life and its intricacies, and in my own home where I first received true education in the mind, the heart and the soul, I’d forever be thankful for those people I met in this remarkable places and rest assured that what I’ve learned, I’ll use it for me to survive the new hurdles in life in a new place to fit and in a new stature, and I’d be heading on to carry the challenges of professional life. 

        

     I'll soon be back and but as of the present, I would  start my life anew!

A Tribute to all my Friends

     Looking back at those sleepless nights not in burning the midnight candles but those nights turned day with the intoxicating dose of our sweet companion called liquor of any kind, I couldn't see any regret or a feeling of bitterness. 

         Instead, I would definitely remember the endless laughter over a joke or a funny thing that just popped out in the scene. Friends is what  I can call you but more than the friendship is the trust and the feeling of closeness though, time cannot be a measurement for the bond that has been made between us all.

          It's as if the world has made us to know each other and as we enjoy the company, life cannot seem to be unbearable. This may answer what is the purpose of having friends who are, true enough to be with you through thick and thin. It's a great thing to know that in this crazy and chaotic world, we have found peace in each other. I may be the luckiest person on earth if I have the greatest fortune and if I can avail of all the luxuries but if I found no true friend, I may be considered as the poorest of the poor, worst than those in the slum. 

 In my short journey called life, I am thankful for almost in every chapter that opens and closes, friends who I can consider true enough come and yet not go but as we say, though we are friends, we have our separate lives so we need to live our own personal life. One after the other, you may come and yet as time passes me by, I realize, if friends were treasures I had acquired, I could be one of the richest.

           But as a new chapter in my life opens, and as I face the great hurdles of professional life hopefully in a new environment and a new habitat to fit in, I hope to meet new friends like you who were true enough to stay with me and not forsake me no matter what happens.

         With that, all my friends, I thank you! I could have not made it this far without your encouragement and infectious laughter that always ring in my ear whenever I am alone and sad.

                                  Thank you!

Close to the Finish Line

       I can almost see that finish line towards this college life but like runners, I now feel exhausted and slow to giving up.

     As the days progress, I tend to get a lee-way out of this sad and melancholy mood. What would come after this? I still am not sure if I could get to grab that finish line. So sad but true! A sad truth at the back of my smiles and laughter.

   The happy-go-lucky personality is the direct opposite of what really is on the inside.

    It's a coping mechanism that in my whole life I have never been tired of using for me to go on amidst the numerous waves of tribulation that came one after the other. But one thing is certain, I have learned the lessons that would apply to different kinds of circumstances.

     Despite the dissapointments brought about by the trials, I have become open to a rainbow of perspectives.

     Then, all of a sudden, I fainted and found myself on the ground, helpless but as I grasped a breath and more, and when I looked up,  I saw the line with a mark: finish and all that surround became a black wall. I see nothing as if I am blind.

Almost Zenith

        It was almost noon, and the heat of the sun I could feel getting into my bones. But then, I walked in a calm pace and I was at ease that everything will soon be well after this journey I will take.

        In the silence of the streets my feet followed, I can hear a voice in the wind bringing forth a whisper of cheer and encouragement. I’ve heard various voices on the side as I passed through the alley though some were negative but I was deaf enough to hear even the accolades for I did not mind the sounds from the sides. 

      I was looking upfront to my point of destination, to where I want to be and when I finally reached the edifice where I would take my steps up to what I call zenith.

         The high point I dreamed to be in and as I made a stride through the stairway and it was tough. There were those steep points and I grasped a breath or more to cope with such strenuous act I have got into. People I met along the way were of varied kinds and for some, a smile would do and some would be inviting as you converse with them but I was not to stay long for I was up to what I wanted to reach. But there were some willing to accompany you through the journey. 

         As for me, I am brittle and slow to faint. I always fall but standing up would be the best option and as I rise wiping the rain of tears from eyes, I bring with me the strength I have acquired from the little rest when I laid flat on the path when I fainted. Inescapable struggles come along but I found myself stronger as I came through. Many disappointing times I almost took by the heart but then, I thought of what I’ve hurdled on my way up, I tend to ignore and continue to leap higher and higher so that I could easily get to the top. But it would be impossible for trials not to confront me for it was a part of every floor I was supposed to go through.

        But then as I dwelt deep down inside the upheavals, I came up with a conclusion that I am not the same when I first took the stairs to the top of the edifice. Every floor has given me what I needed survive the even rigid challenges on my way up. It was life changing.

        As I took the way up, I never noticed I was almost at the top and a step or two would take me to sight I dreamed, the reason why I took the arduous steps. But I looked back and then down and saw that I have reached this far.

       But then, I realized the stairs took me up but sooner, I would have to take my steps down. Being at the zenith would not be forever. This is real life. Life has its ups and downs. I’ll keep in mind not the time when I was at the zenith but the gains I had from going up to the zenith.

       So at this time, I’d rather stay close to the zenith.

A First Love, now a Living

When I was in my sixth grade, I was tasked by a teacher to work for our school paper. From then on, I started to love writing about anything. I gained confidence to write despite an incident that happened. I was supposed to be sent for a press conference but was not chosen. I have no hurt feelings with that another teacher. Well in fact, I thank her for the act.

She instead sent an incapable one in my place, who was really not inclined with writing. Her main reason was that, I was reckless, rude and impolite. Yes, maybe at that time, I admit for being such. But she should not have done that. I knew I was really capable of the job that I must have done. She would have ruined a dream or might have made me upset and made me stop my love for writing. But I was positive and still continued to write.

When I was almost to end my stay in high school, I ended up with deep thoughts worrying on what course to take up in college. I was a History lover and I wanted to teach History. I was almost to take Bachelor of Arts in English for I know it was really my forte. I also had thoughts of taking a Music course.

My senior year in high school opened the opportunity for me to realize that I could write good outputs. I always had A+ and A- grades in my English Journals. I saw my potential with those journals written out of my creative juices. I was not really that good, I'll be honest and that made me decide to take a course in writing – to further hone my skill and know by heart the craft.

Last February 2006, I decided to take Mass Communication. After all, it was about current events and English was of great use, a major subject to be exact.

It was in June 2006, I finally tied the knot with my first love-writing by enrolling at the Silliman University College of Mass Communication. It was a course fit for a person who loves to write, and write and write. It simply means, one should not tire to write because from the time you enter the college until the day you'll make the graceful exit, writing is inevitable and an eternal part of the goings of a mass communication student.

From that course, I learned the theories yet was guided by the best people whom I call mentors. News, Features, Opinions, or any article maybe a mix of the kinds, and all about its intricacies, are what I have got from the formal study. Like any other course, I cannot escape the loads of materials for reference but one thing I loved with my teachers, they chose not the writers who are boring. But sometimes, so rare a time, the teacher would be sorry for giving an author who is boring. But she guarantees learning from it.

I may sound sacrilegious but let me name the style book as our bible, from which we writers base our entries. We turn to it as our guiding light so knowing the rules is a must be if you want to be read. I must say that I have known what was writing when I took up Mass Communication. After taking the degree, I knew I am still willing to learn any sort of writing as long as specific instruction of its nature will be provided.

Constant writing is helpful in improving the skill so as with reading at least one or two long articles a day, or maybe a chapter in a book, or a page or two in a broadsheet.

Love for writing has given me now an opportunity to grow and I could not expect that I now make a living out of it. I am superbly thankful to this skill I have acquired through the years. So glad that I was not discouraged after that grade school experience 'cause if I did, I would have not got a living now.

I thank God for the opportunity to grow the seed He has given me. Still, I will continue to cultivate the gift and I would only stop seeking improvement only when I am situated below the ground. Only when, I write 40.

What has been a hobby, a pastime, now becomes a living!