Blog by Jedde

  It's quite ironic how we crave other people's validation and yet we couldn't even give some for ourselves.  Imagine working so hard to make ends meet, being employed in a job that you only tolerate just so you can provide for your family, setting aside your own needs so that you can deliver what's expected of you - but then, at the end of a long, tiring day, what you've been dying to hear is a word of appreciation from your family and friends. It's that simple, yes? You don't require much to keep going. All you need is to hear that what you're sacrificing, what you're working hard for, is being appreciated by the people you're gifting it to.  But here lies the gap. A missing piece.  You seek the validation of others, forgetting that you must offer it to yourself first. You long to be seen, to be embraced, to be told that we're doing so well, and yet you scarcely even notice your own hard work. You hardly embrace yourself after a difficult d...

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."   - Robert Frost   Photo was taken in January 2018. More often than not, we find ourselves in between two roads. The road we choose often depends on how ready we are to face the unknown, how brave we are to unleash our courage in taking that step, and how prepared we are to fail. Either way, making this choice is never easy.  I faced this moment many times in my life and particularly, in the year 2017 when I decided to pack my bags and move to Singapore. I barely had any savings after working for my first job in Cebu. My family isn't wealthy. We can afford to eat three times a day but we've always been mindful of where we spend our money to ensure we can sustain our basic needs, and infrequently, our wants - usually in a form of our family day eating halo-halo in a mall. That's why taking this big leap was a question for many people. How am I going to su...

"When it rains and it pours, the thunder and the lights shatter in the sky, and your heart wonders  in solitude, if you're  truly ever worth loving. They told you that you  get the love you deserve, but as soon as the lightning strikes, you are illuminated with the truth - that you are too broken to be put together and nobody keeps a broken glass, not even the king's men who  put Humpty Dumpty  together again. In a stormy night when the clouds are burdened  with tears gushing through  their  tender skins; you gather your broken pieces and lay there in silence. The door opens and  the one  who brings the lamp appears. With his sleeping soul, he sees you in the ebony of darkness and takes a step - and each step of his  is coated with  deafening  silence. The lamp bringer  casts  a  light on your broken pieces; A timid flicker at first,  and  then a loud burst altogether - of  a million stars shi...

Celebrating my 5th birthday with my sister and cousins. Happy with Filipino-style spaghetti and orange juice! As little girls, my parents would often remind me and my sister to be grateful for what we have. We grew up in a simple household. Usually, our breakfast, lunch, and dinner doesn't change in variety. The food is cooked in the morning and is reheated for the next meals. Yes, there were many instances when we would complain about why it's always repeating. As young children, we wanted to try eating new dishes too. We would whine about it and sometimes throw tantrums, to which my parents would reply: "Be grateful for the food on the table." We didn't understand what that truly meant back then. We thought it was just our parents nagging us and reminding us the same message over and over again like a broken record. We would even lip sync! When we eat and rice grains fall off from the plate, even if it's just a few grains, our parents would scol...

I'm beginning to feel even more restless. Now that the circuit breaker and ECQ measures have been extended, I cannot say that I'm perfectly calm about it. Each day, I watch the world move a slow pace from outside my window. Cabs in long queues instead of people, a person who just bought a bag of groceries trying to cross the street, a few vehicles driving by, and the trees calmly swaying their branches under the sun. The fight against the crisis still continues up to this day. Although now, my extroverted personality craves to be tended. All I could do is dream - going to a café, meeting with my closest friends and chit-chatting with them, or maybe having a date with Alex and taking lots of photos around Singapore. Alex. I wonder how he's coping with all that's going on right now. You might probably know about this but one very clear thing about us is that he and I have different ways to recharge. As an extrovert, I gain my energy in social situations, often see...