Our Inexperienced Heart

The Heart is Forever inexperienced
— Henry David Thoreau

Every day, it is good to declare that I am “full of love”, that I am grateful for the day, and that the love is so overflowing from me that it can’t help itself but expand to the people around me.  That I be “full of love” is one of those things that I pray and hope to achieve.

One day my brother’s son told him “Dad, I love you more than a little bit” and “more”  than “a little bit” is actually a lot.  That sweet child was able to express the amount of love he has for his father and that left my brother astounded. It seems like the younger our hearts are, the more we are able to love.

But then again, even if we love completely,  we have to always ask ourselves if we are loving properly.  And so, another one of my most sincerest prayer is that I love the people around me the way that He’d want me to love them. Besides, I know that He would love anyone I love even more than I do love them.

The Ideas In Our Mind

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. -Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect, and poet (6 Mar 1475-1564)

The Ideas In Our Mind

One friend told me how, as a kid, she'd liked to draw. While in class, she would draw on her notebook. Unfortunately, when an adult saw the drawings, the girl was reprimanded. "You are wasting paper. Don't draw on your notebook."

After that, she decided that she shouldn't draw on her notebook and so she did not. She then began to draw on newspapers. With a pen, she made doodles and she enjoyed it very much. Again, an adult saw what she did and she was reprimanded. "Don't draw on the newspapers."

Since she wasn't allowed to draw on clean paper nor on newspapers, she decided not to draw at. Then after many years, when she was an adult and she had her own electronic tablet, she saw this application which allowed her to illustrate. She began drawing her heart out. Not only that, with only a few in-app purchases, she was able to make use of virtual brushes and a wider variety colors. It felt good, she thought that she could now let those beautiful images out.

photo credit: Padcamp 2012 via photopin (license)

No Regrets

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

― Dr. Seuss

It was a Friday. One officemate confessed to me her feelings about Fridays. She said, “I’m really kindda sad that it’s a Friday, you know.  It’s because I know that after two days, it will be a Monday and that means going back to work.”  I looked at her and she smiled.  She knew what she said and she also found it funny.

The thing is, we have these misconceptions about certain days of the week.  Usually, Fridays are TGIFs (i.e. Thank God It’s Friday) while Mondays are “O, it’s Monday!”   But, if you think about it, our weekends are just two days and our week days are five.  Why can’t we be excited over the weekdays like we are for the weekends?  If we are truly to have “no regrets” with our lives, then we’ll make even our week days exciting. We won’t be crying over the end of our weekends. Instead we will be smiling because it happened and at the same time excited that our week days are about to happen.

How To Eat A Kiwi Like An Expert

I've been in Western Australia for just about a year.  Of course I've seen many differences but I won't compare.  All I intend to do is to say what is good and to attract what is good.  Besides, everything that has happened to me and to everyone around me has been a blessing.

The first blessing which came to me and an ongoing one, if I say so myself, is the Kiwi fruit. The Kiwi fruit is rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and fiber.  Take note that prior writing this article I didn't know that but I did hear that it is filled with antioxidants.  That and the fact that the fruit tastes good especially when it is a little bit over ripped (i.e. it tastes sweeter the ripper it gets), makes the Kiwi fruit an instant favorite.  Earlier this year, one fruit was around one dollar but a few months after, it became 4 fruits per 2 dollars.. then 5 fruits per 2 dollars.  It is practically being given to me.

How To Eat a Kiwi Like An Expert

1. Cut the Kiwi in half

2. Use a teaspoon (not a spoon) to get the edible part of the fruit.

The Kiwi I usually get are the brown fuzzy skinned ones with green insides.  I really didn't give much attention to them when I was in the Philippines.  The first time I appreciated them was when I went to New Zealand a few years back.  In that country, the word "Kiwi" had a colourful meaning.  There was a Kiwi, the fruit; Kiwi, the animal; and Kiwi, the person.  Being there, I was bombarded with Kiwis and so I had to know what they were.

Prior my visit to New Zealand, I never really thought about living in another country other than the Philippines. But, when I was pleasantly bombarded with the Kiwis, my eyes were opened.  I began to see myself as a citizen of the world and I knew that I can live anywhere I want to.  There were really other countries to consider.  I could have gone to Singapore because I had friends there and my brother lived in Malaysia.  I could have easily visited him if I were there.  I could also have gone to the US where my other brother was. Then there was also New Zealand and, of course, a close relation to it which is Australia.

So what does this all mean?  I have been wondering why I like the kiwi fruit so much.  Is it because it is practically healthy, sweet, and refreshing?  Or is it because it represents one of the biggest decisions of my life?  I think I'll have more reasons listed here as i eat it and as I continue living in Australia.  First year living in Australia completed.  Now there are a lot of things to happen still and these Kiwi fruits will somehow become my witnesses.

How To Cook Frozen Chicken

For A Filipino who spent almost all her 33 years of life in the Philippines with a maid, cooking was really not a necessity.  I had other things to master and cooking was not part of them.

But yup, there were times when we didn't have a maid.. months even,, and I was really a very obedient girl.  As soon as I get home, my mother would call our landline and give me instructions.  "Anak (daugther)," my mother would begin to instruct me, "Cut some onions and mince some garlic. By the sink you'll find a chicken I left  to thaw.  Saute the onions and garlic and put the chicken.  Add soy sauce, etc, etc..  When it's cooked, season to taste."

Once she gave me or reminded of the instructions, I would then feel prepared to cook our dinner.  In my mind, I was obediently following her instructions and I trusted her so much that I knew I can do it and that it will come out good.  Usually it did, by the way.

But I have grown up, my mom had passed away, and now I am in Western Australia, having no maid.  Things have changed and usually, I do find myself in the kitchen, trying to plan what I should cook next and how much I should cook.

How To Cook Frozen Chicken

1.  Remove chicken from the freezer and from its container

2. Get a bigger pan to put the chicken in.  If there's none (like in the case above), then settle for the biggest pan you can find.

3. Put some water in it and put the frozen chicken.

4. Boil the chicken.

5. When the water is boiling, use a ladle to pour on the parts which are not submerged.

6. Once the chicken is thawed and somewhat cook (you can't help that), put the vegetables and spices in.

I was able to do two dishes with the frozen chicken wings above.  When they were separated I placed half in another container and made buttered chicken.  This one was made into soup with vegetables (almost a "tinola" without the papaya) .

If my mom and my grandmom (who died five years earlier than my mom) could see this photo, they would be shocked.  Well, pleasantly shocked.  They were the ones who gave me many instructions but would be very open when I do things creatively.  I realise now how bless I am to have had been instructed by these two beautiful souls.

Taken

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” -- Oscar Wilde, author.

At one point during my childhood, my batchmates were giving me unsolicited advice, telling me to “be myself.”    It was my fault actually.  I didn’t have any good friends that time and in my desire to be accepted, I asked them to tell me what I could do to please them.  I can’t remember how I asked that but it seemed that I had so and so I got a lot of “advice” -- from different people who not all I like.

It was when I  stopped “following” their advice when I started to explore who I really was.  Was I really not being myself when I do this or that?   When I do this, they tell me to be myself…  But what if I’m really being myself when I do this?  And so I did it still… I experimented on the different things that they tell me which was not me.  I just did what I wanted to do and ended up liking some things and not liking other things.  The things I don’t like, I discard.

In psychology, they say that there are different ways of knowing yourself:  by looking at how you see yourself and looking at how others see you.  I have a very simple reaction to that really.  Mostly who you are is how you see yourself.  How others others see you only matters if you like what they see in you.  If you don’t like what they see, you simply disregard it.