Busy Week

For most, having a week off is heaven-like and I feel the same. After working continuously for many weeks, we needed to re-charge our batteries so a break is so deserving. The week is almost over and I am going back to work. The question is if I am ready or not. I feel that I need a vacation after this vacation of mine.

I am wishy washy so I have no plans on where to go though I was able to be in many different places in a span of five days. I was riding cabs, buses, vans, motorbikes, planes, rickshaws and pick-up trucks all throughout my trips to the Eastern and Northern side of Thailand. I was just going with the tide, planned nothing but to be away from work and worries.

On the last day of my holiday, I took a subway from end to end for no purpose at all. Probably to kill time, to watch passengers, or to simply kill my boredom. I told this story of mine to a colleague and she was just cracking up. She told me I have so much time to kill but it wasn't time that I was killing.  It was something else.

Maybe another long holiday is needed for me to go back to full swing. I am lucky though that in two months time, I will be having a three weeks off so I could see people, meet new ones, do what I like, eat what I feel, and enjoy what life is all about. 

Termites of Our Lives

Recently I had some termite infestation in my house that I finally resorted to a pest control company's help. I stayed at home watching the pest control people's preparation for the great invasion. The chemicals, the spraying, the digging of holes, and the smell made me a fan of termites seeing how they can wreck havoc in one's home.

During the past weeks, I am assessing the value of my life as a person and as a teacher. I am constantly balancing my values whether they were of greatness or ridicule. My accumulated material things seems to be just something to make me feel secure. I realized that the things that surrounds me should be marked according to their importance rather than their quantity. For I do not need more of what I have and more of what I should not be having. I simply should stop.

One of my children's book under my collection was damaged by the termites. I was dumbfounded and angry but in a way, remembered being wasteful. I have collected books through my many years of teaching but have not found a special place to store them well thus the infestation. The accumulation was a proud moment but the loss of one special book became a shameful action.

As I pray for the good things in life to continuously fills my everyday life, I also would enjoy living what suits best which is a life without glitter, without lavishness and without guilt. I have to be a new person, needing and not wanting, economical and adhering to living back to basics.

To Everything

Forgetting that life is good and that I am simply being a complainer, this book for children reminds us that there is a reason for everything.

Based on the book of Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament, To Everything combines the simplicity but magnifying words of the Bible with the outstanding artistry of the author/illustrator Bob Barner.

The guide at the end of the book tells us that To Everything captures love, hope, and joy as well as the conflict that inevitably occurs in the course of life. The book can be used as a springboard for discussions about the choices we make and the effects of our actions upon others.

This book is a present from a wonderful friend who wrote," When I saw this book it made me think of you." The words in this book serves as a present for all those who are in doubt during these current times.

To everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose
under the heavens.

A time to be born, a time to die.

A time to plant, a time to pick.

A time to tear apart, a time to sew together.

A time to cry, a time to laugh.

A time to hold, a time to let go.

A time for war, a time for peace.

To Stand

I walked into the classroom of one of my colleagues in school and found her sniffling. I asked her if she was crying and when she faced me, she let the tears roll. I listened and then offered some advices, some assurances and some hope.

I remembered facing adversaries throughout the past months and prayed hard to let the dust of insecurities and fears settle down. Then hearing of the tragic loss of lives brought about by typhoons and a tsunami to nearby countries humbled me. I was being selfish, complaining about life though it was an honest revelation of my feelings. I shared them because I cannot carry the burden by myself. The words of encouragement I received from friends and family members were of tremendous help for my sanity.

I told my friend that she is facing storms in her life because she is a strong woman and that I have known her as that vibrant and positive individual. I assured my friend that after the sudden burst of rain and howling wind, the storm will subside. I claimed that everything that is happening has a purpose and this she has to discover.

I offer the same to those who are lost or to those who are to surrender. Though times is getting tough and hope simply diminishes, there are still people willing to listen and support in any ways.

When one anchors to someone strong, you'll feel a certain strength. An affinity to someone who is full of hope can be hope itself. Facing the battle is one's step towards winning it and that there will always be Somebody great to help.

Colours

Without doubt and without hesitation, colours bring about a much vibrancy needed as we produce a work of art or when we prepare a fave dish. Our house is surrounded by colours and our surroundings are ever so radiant with its spectrum of hues.

We bring forth through our growing stages the fascinating contribution of colours to our lives. When we were little, colours dictate our sex. Colours mandates our choice of school supplies and bedroom things. Colours dominate our personalities and behaviours.

We knew that colours had also been a source of conflict. It has been a subject of debates. It surrounds us and penetrates our choices through clothes and personal identities. It shows our simplicity or our extravagance.

The colours of my life strengthen my belief that life is not decreed by conformity and obedience. If I chose yellow over green, or magenta over turquoise, does not make me a simpleton nor a monarchy. Hues makes me a person as I should be: bold, sensitive, energetic, enduring, loyal and loving. The colours make me see beauty as awesome godliness.

Each tinge creates a part of me as it creates a part of you. We then see that living is great, being with friends is delightfully pleasurable, and that each breathe is a gift worthy of all the colours of our existence.

Hurry and the Monarch

Another charming literary piece I recently uncovered in my stack of books is Hurry and the Monarch written by Antoine O Flatharta. It essays the dialogue between a monarch butterfly and a tortoise named Hurry as they speak about the coming winter. It compares and contrast the two most interesting creatures in the world. One fluttering away to escape the cold weather and one wandering mindful to the everyday affairs of the garden.

The illustrations enthralled me and made me wish that I could do what the artist Meilo So, had accomplished. The lines, composition and colours evoke a high sense of wonder and amazement. She is such a talented artist.

The feelings evoked by one page as the monarch butterfly rested on a curtain pricks my ever so sensitive heart.

She flies in through an open window and thinks it might be nice to rest her
worn wings for a while in the folds of a sun-coloured curtain.
For a while becomes forever.

The story described a beginning of a journey, an end, a longing for an adventure, a wondering mind, and of hope. Overall, it is a great book and a recommended read for all.

A Compliment

Since the start of the school year this August, I had been unraveling the mysteries, the talents, the strengths and the weaknesses of my students ages threes and fours. I had someone very shy, someone very active, some lacking in self-confidence and some teeming with vibrant auras.

One new comer to our school started as a meek and shy girl. She had to find her way to the routines, the rules and the faces that surrounded her. Her initial reaction to attending my class was of hesitance as I was a new face to her. She managed to stay in my music and drama classes with some resistance but eventually learned that being in school is a lot of fun.

Yesterday while I was dismissing the children, the girl's dad came to me and spoke about her child. Then before ending our conversation, he mentioned something that melted my ever-so-sensitive heart. It made my day and will make my days to come. The compliment wasn't new but coming from a child who was refusing to attend school, having a very shy demeanour, and had never been seen to smile, the compliment was indeed a great one.

"She likes you a lot!" :)