Chambers

By just observing the fragments of everyday living, you can feel a fictitious force pushing you to write. Of course, writing is letting go of yourself.

By lingering along streetwalks and taking a dose of its proposed environment, one can see himself somehow struggling for a blank sheet where almost all words are ready to be written. Streaming through the waves of an internal dialogue happening between you and your purpose,words are marching, and train of thoughts are neither disturbed nor derailed.

And yes, my purpose was triggered again.

"Chestnut roasting on an open fire.
Jackfrost nipping at your nose nose.
Yuletide carols, being sang by a choir and folks dressed up like eskimos.
Everbody knows, a turkey and some mistletoes, help to make the season bright..."

I heard Christmas songs once again. Those moments are of distinct relevance.
Nostalgic. I started to remember many things. SoO many things that overwhelmed me. To that extent, I prefered to look at those memories in a fast pace.

As to that, I started walking again in that big alley, where chatters are free to talk.
I push the baby's cart to continue strolling in that vast place -- where both the rich and the poor form part to build that masterpiece where discrimination has no room.

Everyone is taking a rest. Everyone is happy. And there is no single category to identify those cheers. The independence is complete in their own ways.

Till, I found myself texting beside that big Christmas tree, as I encode the details of what I'm looking at. All are clear.

I woke up. It was a dream. I finally realize that I am enclosed in an atmospehere where everything is reflecting as what mirrors do.

Abstract but free of possible intruders. We are the ruler in our dreams. We play the most significant role. It as if camera is taking a record of what has come to pass -- as we see our own facial expressions. It's like a big studio! It's like shooting a film.

But, thinking realistically, those scences happen only in our minds -- the chambers to where secrets, ultimate battlecry and the real you dwell!

There, I actually got the message to write.

Rural Living

I had this very moment to go somewhere else; wanted it to be different from the usual scenery of buildings, monuments, billboards and other urban domains. And since everything is in its break, might as well seek another minute to ponder on the other side of living beyond the boarders of urbanity. I know, this is less than what you would imagine. But taking a glimpse is perhaps worthwhile...

The carabao, the cow and farm animals heard it first before I do.
And so do the horses, in the staples where they peacefully rest.
A dry dislocated thumb and a bit of thunder from faraway.
While the breeze has its latest news for me, whispering.
The next moment, as if I can see the wind turning corners where in fact there are not any.
Lifting and weaving the farm/barnyard dust.
Wind flails the wind on the nearest trees -- a kind of wood, both hard and soft; as it reveals their silver undersides.
It scatters spent flowers like hockory in drifts.

Then, the sky blackens, and I can almost hear the sshhh, as the rain begins.
But then, the wind drops and the front unravels over the Pacific ridge where the weather takes its baptism.

Blue sky intervenes. Afterwards, a powerful night threatens again and you can see lovely Venus, the Queen of the Night and the Shining Stars hanging brightly in the dusk.

Strange, weird nature. This unmatched cycle that I truly miss.
The rural living incomparable to its opposite.

And this was along my trip to my three-year hometown, I wonder why I still have this feeling of coming back, to once I considered days of my childhood.
Sentiments outpouring. Rural life still has it.

Pagpupugay sa Kanila

Hindi ba't katatapos lang ng Ramadan? Bigyang halaga natin ang kontribusyon ng mga Muslim sa lipunan natin ngayon. Kung paano nila isinasakatuparan ang landas patungo sa naiibang makabagong mundo. " Kung iisipin, sa gobyerno na nga lang nakadepende ang mga kapatid nating Pilipinong malayo sa kalunsuran, ngunit ganito na nga ang nananahang sitwasyon sa kasalukuyan kung saan ang gobyerno ay tila kakampi na rin ng mga mapanlipol na adhikain. (At mas pinipili kong hindi magbigay ng pangalan, dahil aaminin kong minsan rin, ay nagiging mapangmata ako sa kanila. Ngunit, kahit papaano sa pamamagitan nito, mailalarawan ko ang tunay na kinakaharap hindi lamang ng mga Muslim kundi maging sino man sa mundo na nararamdaman ang pagkakawalay sa estado, separatismo at ayaw yakapin ang mundong hindi nakagisnan).

Paano ba nila napapanatili ang kanilang kultura sa kabila ng "McDonaldized Society" sa "Globalization of Politics" na tila pati ang mapanakip na gobyerno ay masasabing "participant Paano nga ba? Tingnan natin ang kapahamakang dulot nito sa ating demokrasya kung saan tayong mga Pilipino ay napakapartikular.

Narito ang isang komentaryong aking binuo mula sa katha ni Benjamin Barber mula sa kathang Jihad and McWorld in the New World Disorder.

THREATENING DEMOCRACY

“Still, democracy has always played itself out against the odds. And democracy remains both a form of coherence as binding as McWorld and a secular faith potentially as inspiriting as Jihad.”

There is an obvious mark between Jihad and McWorld that made these two perceptions contradicting – carrying a sort of political conflict. This conflict elevated the current matter to the new world application and classified it as blueprint hauling a kind of confusion.

Culture generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significant importance. Different definitions of "culture" reflect different theoretical bases for understanding, or criteria for evaluating, human activity. And mostly, culture can be manifested in various ways.

Jihad merely pictures out not only the way Middle East community hold permanence in light of their self-fashioned political process but gives us a big picture of how other groups struggle to maintain the primitivism of their culture, the ethnic identity and the tribalism. On the other hand, McWorld offers us the proposed play of the new culture. This earned a degree of possibility for some of the countries as McWorld attempts to revolutionize even the small traces of cultures and to try stitching them as one. McWorld gives rise to the post-modern concepts as consumerism, globalization, homogeneity and capitalism which simply leave us words of promises. Basically, the author caters the idea of realizing that the new world is actually in a state of odds between the projected engagement of contemporary rationality and the preservation of religious primitivism, which are both functional in the current world.

We have just observed again how an assemblage of people practiced their culture as Ramadan ends. This exemplified that there remained to be uncorrupted traditions that needs to be respected until now. They have shown their own style of faith and Muslims are just one of the many groups who largely live out the ethnicity of their race. But due to the fast phase of exchange, societies are undergoing social dynamism and therefore continually innovate in their own flight. This dynamism is inevitable, as the saying goes, “the only thing that is permanent in this world is change”. In straightforward words, culture modes change and so do not confine societies. Seemingly to converge, one could clearly spot the conflict on which the government’s role is desired or at most needed.

As I see it, this is the cyclicality of the perspective prearranged by Barber. Governments served to be the participant of the globalized world or one could think of the so-called “McDonaldization of the Society” or the “Globalization of Politics”. Critics assert that fast food chain restaurants such as McDonald's are critical towards many aspects of the native, home-grown cultures in countries where they have been introduced. Government in itself is a product of belief system that is knotted in its distinct cultural template. While political institutions (author’s term) are entrenched in the matrices. On the same line, political institutions embrace schemes that made them the enemies of the state. Having this encounter, institutions with their initiatives, search for an alternative belief system. It should have been anticipated that both actors catch up with each other.

Looking for enough reasons why this situation happened is reinforced by the constant increase of incidence involving radical religious movements such as the emergence of cults, individualistic groups and other religious organizations advocating for cultural refinement. As mentioned, government is a participant of McWorld and political institutions look forward to them for a sense of security. But momentarily, political institutions cannot jive on the planned intrusions of McWorld creating a crate that bolstered other belief systems to be accustomed once and for all. Muslims and other groups experiencing separatism felt that they are dehumanized. The humanization in all fairness crafted both by the government and social forces is not enough to satisfy these political institutions enough to finally decide to live in virtue of McWorld’s newly-built lifestyle. Taking into account the function of government, the whole cultural logic is truly dependent on it.

Speaking to deep, there are at least two fates that may happen given this decisive situation. The first is for these political institutions to finally surrender and allow retribalization process to occur but of course, this statement is easier said than done. It can actually trigger humankind to war and bloodshed. And to ponder on history, the effort to Lebanonization of national states resulted too much extent that culture is pitted against culture, people against people, tribe against tribe, “a Jihad in the name of a hundred narrowly conceived faiths against every kind of interdependence, every kind of artificial social cooperation and civic mutuality”.

The second is being instinctive for us to let the onrush of economic and ecological forces that command incorporation and standardization of the world with all being “fast” – (fast music, fast computers, and fast food—with MTV, and McDonald's) urging nations to weave complex webs of arrangements into one commercially homogenous association bombarded or tied together by technology, communication and other factors.

According to an essay authored by Benjamin Barber, there are four imperatives that make up the dynamic of McWorld: a market imperative, a resource imperative, an information-technology imperative, and an ecological imperative. By shrinking the world and diminishing the salience of national borders, these imperatives have in combination achieved a considerable victory over factiousness and particularism, and not least of all over their most virulent traditional form—nationalism. (Atlantic.com) It remains that in all high-tech commercial world there is nothing that looks particularly democratic. It lends itself to supervision as well as independence, to new forms of manipulation and concealed control as well as new kinds of participation, to tilted, unjust market outcomes as well as superior productivity.

The seemingly “magnetism” of these clashing ideas of tribalism and globalization are unrelated to democracy. What Barber pointed out is that, neither McWorld nor Jihad is remotely democratic in impulse and neither needs democracy; neither promotes democracy.

But in either way around, these two just principles of the modern age may both be threatening to democracy. Immediately away from the sphere of current events, these two ideas are neither inviting/appealing nor democratic. If we resituate this phenomenon in the Philippines, this clash threatens democracy in which Filipinos are very particular!

Hindi ba, totoo naman?

Ten Ways to Kick Procrastination Habit!

Hmm.. Usong-uso ang panghahalimaw sa mga requirements ngayon. Hindi na lang dahil sa finals, kundi hinahabol na magkaroon ng marka sa klaskard at maiwasan ang tumataginting na singko. Kaya naman 'eto ang sampung paraan para sipain ang procrastination habit...

1. Personal Values Development.

Take the time to find out what you really want in life, what your personal values are. Do you want more time, more money, better health, greater self esteem and confidence, more fulfilling relationships, a different career, set up a business?

When we procrastinate it’s often because what we are planning to do is not really aligned with what we truly want. We may be scared of skills (or perceived lack of) or fear ridicule from others.

2. Make Health a Priority.

Without good health we are less likely to have the energy and dynamism needed to make positive changes in our lives and it’s easier (and necessary if you’re very ill) to procrastinate.

So ensure that you have a nourishing diet, sleep well, exercise and meditate. Incidentally, it is thought that regular meditation helps delay the worst effects of the ageing process.

3. Visualize Your Life Without Procrastination.

See and feel the benefits in your life if you didn’t procrastinate. What could you do and achieve? Begin to act as if you’re not a procrastinator. Write down, draw, and imagine your life as a film. Use affirmations to help you.

4. Banish the Gremlin.

That little voice which runs on auto in your head – that dismisses any idea that you might have. It says things like “I’m not in the mood,” “I don’t have time, “ “I can’t do this.” Stop running on auto, replace the “shoulds,” “oughts,” “have to’s,” with “want to,” “desire”. You have a choice.

Acknowledge your choices and banish the Gremlin. Again, using affirmations can help you replace the Gremlin with more positive alternatives.

5. Overcommitment.

Saying “yes” to everything – often leaves you feeling tired and without energy to focus on what is most important to you. This leads to procrastination as projects and tasks are dropped.

Identify what is important to you and only focus on those areas, which will make the biggest difference to your life. It will enhance your focus and motivation.

6. Setting Personal Professional Goals.

It’s hard to motivate yourself when you don’t have a good idea of what you want to accomplish. So when setting goals think about what you wan to achieve in the short term and long term.

Techniques for doing so include the SMART strategy. S = Specific, M = Measurable, A = Action, R = Realistic T = Time based. Use a goal setting software to help you in goal planning and setting.

7. Prioritize Your Goals.

Develop a plan or schedule to help you reach your goals. In doing so you will begin to identify whether some elements need to be included or enhanced or dropped completely.

Also remember to be flexible, revisit your goals regularly and modify or drop if appropriate. Just because the goal is written down doesn’t mean that it is set in stone!

8. Divide and Conquer.

Once you’ve prioritized your goals, divide them into smaller chunks. Sometimes we procrastinate because a project seems really large that the scale of it overwhelms us and puts us into a temporary paralysis – you don’t know where to start, so you don’t start at all! Approach each project – especially large ones – on a step-by-step basis.

9. Reward Yourself.

Once you start to complete the task, reward yourself by giving yourself something that you want. So, instead of seeing a film before you complete a task, see it afterwards and make it a reward for you.

10. Just Get Started.

No excuses. No BS. Don’t wait until you’re “in the mood. “ The mood never comes! It is a clever camouflage and a delaying tactic. What you resist persists! Start with what is the easiest, so that you experience immediate success, which will give you fuel and motivation to upgrade and take on large projects.

Do any of the above and you’ll be well on your way to Kicking the Procrastination Habit. And if you’re procrastinating over doing any of the above, then remember that life is the biggest deadline of all.

Malapit na matapos ang sem na ito! Ang galing mo!