Conozco Pablo

The year of 2017 was so far the most unpredictable I had so far. It was as if I was riding a roller coaster with many humps,  sharp turns and swings. I would want it to be more predictable such that changes happened at a reasonable pace. I can not complain though that much because the year was good for me in terms of my career, but okay it was far from perfect. Why? This is the focus of this blogpost. Relationships The year seemingly started very well. I celebrated it with two of the most important persons in my life. What can I ask for during the time I welcomed the year 2017. It was unique celebrating with two of the most cherished individuals in my life. Days after that, my sister (one of the two) opted to transfer up north. It was heartbreaking and mentally-draining. But we do not have choice. That event shattered the way I coped. I made mistakes due to my incapacity to cope well. Unfortunately, those mistakes resulted me to lose the second of the two just several months

I am entering my fifth year of residing in Norway. Many things have happened during this short period of time, both good and bad. However, one of that is worthy to highlight is how I realized the big contrast between prevailing values between Norwegian and Filipino cultures. I can only talk about these two in particular, although there are somehow similiraties between the Norwegian culture with those of coming from Europe, as well that with Filipino and other Asian societies. This blogpost will present three comparative points to exhibit the diversity of culture. COMPARISON 1 Norwegian: Able decide independently for oneself Filipino: To fight for what is most important Freedom and passion may not be on the same side always. Freedom is the ultimate virtue in the Norwegian culture. One may or may not be passionate of what Norwegians are doing, but most important is that they decided on them by themselves, such that no one has dictated on them what they are supposed to do.

I had never imagined people could be so cold with one another. Instead of wishing things for their benefit, it seems easy to find faults with others and blow the situation into a magnified proportions. Yes, people are emotional and because of this, sometimes they act differently. However, human beings are not just torn between being rational and emotional, but still all of us has animalistic instincts for protecting what we are and have. To the worst extent, people take revenge to what bad and insanely injustice others have done against them. With these I am writing about the perfect form of revenge- served best cold. Here are the 3 elements: Long after-the-fact The adjective cold pertains with analogy between revenge and meal. Revenge should be done when the heat of the conflict has long dissipated. When people tend to have forgotten everything. Time seems not to be a factor of reconciliation or forgiveness. It is like wine that becomes stronger as time flies. Revenge is li

What really matters more? Being or feeling accepted? Perplexing question, unanswered, continuously contested Being accepted is something what others think of you Crucial to avoid becoming relevant only for the selected few Everyone needs social approval at all times no matter what We're indeed social beings affected by emotions, rather what? If we do not care of what others say we then become isolated In that state nothing is debatable, no one's elated just frustrated While feeling accepted is what matters more to oneself This isn't universal answer easily taken from the bookshelf This is what others prefer but it is not necessarily true in reality One can just ignore the hard truths, contrasts in life in totality Yes, one can not just say I am happy in one own's special way But there are other values and virtues in society one must weigh Here is where most of us have challenging difficulties within us Thus, existential and philosophical quest

Recently, I have made another Instagram account named The Filipino Seeker (@thefilipinoseeker). It has the purpose of sharing my personal travel pictures daily. Well, I was not really planning to maintain another account aside from my personal one (@pablo_ako) but I told myself why not. The major difference is that personal one is updated day-to-day, meaning the posts are made real-time or recently, not posted retrospectively. Well, this post is not about why I made another account, instead why I chose the name, The Filipino Seeker. Been seeking always for something I am always curious. That keeps me awake at night. Sadly, sometimes it makes me feel stressed. But I always think of answers to something. In my head, there is a web of alternatives paced at certain speed and rhythm. If things go faster as expected, my options change accordingly. However, those options do not just come spontaneously. It was well-thought beforehand. It is like I am coding algorhythms for my life.

I should have been genuinely happy today For the long wait is over for the ultimate d-day I have fought for others throughout my life As if I was fighting for them in their strife After having been stored long in the bookshelf Now is when something happened for myself I can not stop my tears from eyes falling At last I could now sit and relax, lolling The things I have planned for future worked They came out of attention as dogears perked After several setbacks things got back on track Like lost brothers at last have come in contact It should have been a good sign for the better At present stable and learned more than ever But personally now actually things got dimmer The light at end of tunnel fades less shimmer Those nightmares in the past came back Out of the blue those monsters paint all black As if they know I am about to be happy at last They would not allow good to prevail as asked Things turned upside down, but light on some An irony or paradox of li

Relationships can be compared to docking and undocking a boat into the wharf. There is a tie that secures the boat to the wharf. There is the body of water where the boat floats, and the wharf where the boat is supposed to stay for a period of time. Most importantly, the boat which is actually the point of interest in this symbolic analogy. The body of water The stream or current in the body of water is a decisive factor how one should tie the boat to the wharf. If there is a need to use several ties, one would do so. Interestingly, if the current of body of water could be destructive to the boat, it might be better to bring the boat out of the water to the shore. Similarly, in relationships, there is a balance everyone should seek. Time and situation are ever-changing, and so it is important to adjust with it. Pulling the boat untimely to shore would defeat the purpose of having the boat freely floating in water. This would mean that man should always be allowed a leeway

This came a little bit early. But I expected it somehow. But this will be first and perhaps the last time I am going to write about you here. Thank you for over 1000 days of being together. I do not know what to say but these are the things I am feeling in the last few weeks. These are the things I can no longer do. 1. See you with enthusiasm Yes. You were right in the last few months, I see you more as a very good friend. A confidant. However, I saw that as part of the process. A downturn before a possible upswing. I did not see that as a closed chapter not worthy of going back again. There was a time just few days ago, I somehow regained that enthusiasm, but as I have said I do not have to show everything I feel before things are certain. However, now I just have to develop that enthusiasm in me without you. 2. Hold you with passion It was because of the things that happened to me. I wanted to have some space. Because of that, I looked like a person losing passion.

Today is my niece's 12th birthday. She is now entering the teenage years. Indeed, time flies so fast. She is becoming a lady and starting to understand the complexities of life. The process of learning through life is unique from one person to another. That would be unique also for my niece. However, I could somehow give some guidance to her in the form of my experiences at the time I was also 12. This is the focus of this blogpost. At your age now, before I was... Realizing that friendships are not superficial Certainly, you have now identified some individuals who you consider as friends. Quite natural. They will be there for you to do the things that you and they like. In my age, I had also good friends which some of them I still maintain communication with. Friends will be there not just to do the things you like. But they are also willing to there during the times you are feeling almost quiting. Friends will spice up your life, but friends who are there to sta

This was a speech delivered at the First Recognition Day of my university, Father Saturnino Urios University last August 31,2006. I ranked first among all dean’s listers from all levels in all courses after the first year in nursing. For more than 100 hundred years of nurturing students in various fields, developing a standard of topnotchers and high passing rates in the board examinations, Urios College was converted into a university last July 12, 2006. The long wait has come to an end as the day of celebration for all Urians has come. That late afternoon, each student was indefatigable as they jubilate the momentous event. Many were excited to experience the privileges of being a university student. However, after the deafening sounds of cheers, what was left was the realization though still many questions and uncertainties are left unanswered that Urios truly has attained the university status.  Uncertainties? Why? Does this mean that for me Urios is incompetent to be co

From February 9, 2015 to November 4, 2017 is the eleventh "chapter" in my life. To summarize that 1,000-day period, take-off is the most appropriate phrase to describe it. Take-off is not entirely hassle-free, it is actually one of the risky part of the plane journey. It has its risks, turbulence and uncertainties are part of it. Like that phase in my life, I experience some of toughest challenges, heart-breaking events and there were some low points I was at the verge of giving up. This blogpost will use 8 points to highlight some remarkable things that made this time of my life unique. Traveled to 19 countries, 41 cities I started traveling very often at the start of 11th chapter in Copenhagen, Denmark. I really did not expect I would travel that much thereafter. All the travels cost a lot of resources, but these trips have expanded my knowledge and even lowered my threshold in accepting differences with others. From east to west Europe, to Asia, I made sure I

What seems to be correct in a Filipino perspective? Ethically speaking, where lies the boundary between what is right and wrong? As a Filipino myself, it is quite difficult for me to see that, because everything seems to be very subjective. Every Filipino could justify his or her action regardless of what it is. Nothing seems to be intolerable, and everything could explained as long as someone dares to do so. This makes the Filipino society chaotic and disorganized in a way. Nothing seems to be a standard way of evaluating actions and decisions. Ethical theories would not be sufficient even to explain the Filipino ethical standards. However in this blogpost, an attempt to put this relatively subjective threshold into an objective framework is to be made. Familiarity and consensus Change is something everyone of us would like to avoid. Filipinos takes risks when the available options are too few, but in general, most Filipinos would not want to change anything that is part of

This year I have used so much resources for me to travel to various countries and cities. This is not something new because since 2015, I have promised myself to travel as much as possible to gain new insights about the world we live in. So I have made a list and plan which places to visit first and how I would eventually do it. Structured as it seems, the travel plans seems to have certain logical purpose for recreation and discovery; but recently, I have realized especially this year I have been traveling to escape. This is the focus of this blogpost. Escape from changes Unforeseeable changes and crises either make or break an individual. These challenges put undue and sometimes excessive strain to a person's physical and mental capacity, and influences one's emotions, thoughts and decisions. The more sudden a crises develops, the more stress a person is obliged to handle. Worse, some do not have the sufficient coping skills and active social network that support

This is a taboo topic in social discourse but a common one. Why do people philander within a relationship? Not a difficult question to answer but no one would ever discuss it why. Is this more natural or a moral human weakness that has developed simultaneously with changes in the society? These questions are the focus of this opinionated blogpost. Attention Currency Think a person can dispose 100 dollars in a week. It is up to an individual how to use the amount up in seven days. Perhaps, one could buy more in the weekends than other days of the week. Think the analogy between attention and the disposable amount. If one would want to use 20 out 100 on Fridays but ends up using only 5, so a person is still capable of using 15 on a day. There is a surplus of money, or in this analogy, attention. If one gets not enough attention on a day than one expects to; ofcourse, one would tend to get that attention from another person. Moreover, a person's partner may think he or s

Today is the celebration of the International Day of Older Persons. It is after the United Nations passed a resolution to raise awareness related issues affecting senescence and the elderly. Personally, I want to separate the terms older and the elderly. To how these concepts differ and to how I see them are the focus of this blogpost. Older is associated with someone older than me, who differs in perspective, culture and ways. That person could be just a 40-year-old individual. On the other hand, the elderly is a term denoting those whose physical functioning has been significantly reduced due to natural aging process. These are the individuals I met at work, comprising the greatest resident population portion in a nursing home. The Older Something different from ourselves provides us a challenge. A person coming from an earlier generation lays a challenge to anyone, as well as a test of one's patience, tolerance and personality. These older individuals have seen th

It was on this date (September 29) four years ago when I started to embark into the most remarkable journey in my life. I arrived around 2 o'clock in the afternoon in Oslo Airport with over sixty kilos of baggage. It was about four degrees Celsius, normal for an early fall in the Norwegian capital. I had mixed emotions. I was not totally elated by the idea of starting anew. I was more confused, unprepared and anxious. Nevertheless, looking back to that day I am nostalgic, but a lot of "what-ifs" in my head. I could not really find an adjective describing those four years, but I would just choose the word fantastic. Why? This is the focus of this blogpost. Overwhelmingly fantastic Overwhelmingly drastic. This could somehow describe the process that we have to willingly accept as part of integrating ourselves into the Norwegian society. Literally, I have to forget at times my Filipino values. I have to embrace Norwegian mindset in deciding for myself and others

It is believed that after the age of two, we begin to distinguish what is right from wrong. Simultaneously, we create impressions and assumptions about the world we live in. These would eventually influence the things we want in life and what seems we require for ourselves and to others. This is where we start setting standards. But to what changes these standards have in our life is the focus of this blogpost. We tend to ignore alternatives. Our perspective immediately becomes narrow when we set standards. It could actually be beneficial to do so because we  set our minds in achieving a goal. We tend to focus on that thing and work towards getting it. However, the process is not linear and easy, such that nothing would hinder one from taking actions to meet one's goals. Sometimes, there would be a need to adjust goals or even explore other alternatives. The problem lies when we become too fixated with our goals that we are no longer willing to do something else, believi

The most difficult trait nowadays one could have is related to temperance. It is the state of moderation and self-restraint. It is challenging in reality because everyone seems to like massive wealth, act instantaneously, gain authority and attention and accept that stress is part of daily matters. Moderation seems an obsolete concept in the times of uncontrolled consumption and capitalism, and focus of personal achievements and egoism. Literally everyone has a difficulty on one aspect of temperance, which will be the focus of this blogpost. No retaliation and forgiveness Forgiveness is the hardest thing to find in the modern times. It is quite natural that this phenomenon is rare. It is because humans are time-bounded individuals. We remember from our mistakes and those of others. We attempt to learn from them, and avoid doing the same thing again. In a way, it is like saying than when someone is at fault at one, he or she could move forward without completely forgetting