Tell me why

I Won't Give Up, Jason Mraz

When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There's so much they hold

And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find

'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up

I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make

Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use the tools and gifts we got
Yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end you're still my friend, at least we did intend for us to work
We didn't break, we didn't burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not
And who I am.

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
Still looking up...

I won't give up on us
God knows I'm tough, He knows
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up...

Letter to Myself

Written on the night of 8/10/2012

Hi,

Today you turn 23. Yeah, everybody's sort of surprised that you're still in that early-20s bracket. You're so strong, as they keep on saying.

You have enjoyed your day, no doubt. Enjoyed saying thank you to everyone you have known from before who took the time and remembered to greet you and to those who had the guts to blatantly ask if today is indeed your day (better safe than sorry, I guess). Enjoyed the design in your work area, scarce but pretty much difficult to put up considering half your workmates are unable to come to the office the day before. And of course, enjoyed your gifts.

Aside from all of these, though, you seem to have gained happiness from the fact that everything seemed to have taken a full turn and became so much better.

Work has become bearable. You have found new friends in your co-workers and with all the laughter that you share together, the work load becomes considerably lighter. Remunerations have also become more generous. 'Nuff said on that.

But maybe what has really made your day today are the two of them. You are happy because you have something that can turn into a beautiful story if all the right signs point to it. And you have just gotten back what you have lost. Well, most of it anyway.

Admit it or not, you are happy over the time, however short, that you get to talk to him again. Over having told him about the new person in your life. You seem to have done it not to show off your new moving on skills and not even to try and make him think you have found a life that is so much better without him. You have done it, as I understand, because it is what you do together. You tell each other about the progress your lives are making. You tell him almost everything, seeking his understanding and relishing in the jokes he makes about your stories. In some ways, he's back.

All in all, today is a good day. And you hope that the days that would follow would be as good.

Well, I think you can be quite sure of that now. Because a year older can make you a bit more wiser than to actually wish for a good day while doing nothing to make it so.

Today, you turn 23. Today, you are happy. And today, you prepare for the life ahead with a lot of good vibes.


Always,
Ryo

#BangonPilipinas

The Philippines, particularly Metro Manila and several of its provinces in Luzon, is currently experiencing yet another calamity of a magnitude that shatters lives and brings about losses of almost everything. A calamity that has no name and that cannot be defined as clearly as all the others that came before it.

Many are stranded on the roads or trapped inside their houses. Some are in evacuation centers, huddled with others with the same fate as theirs and unsure of what tomorrow would bring them. Others are lost, literally and figuratively.

We do not seek pity. We do not even seek the most basic of our physical needs as much as we should. We seek for a tomorrow that will not be as difficult as today. We hope not only for the sun to shine again but for also for life to smile back at us once more.

Let’s all pray for the rains to stop, for the floods to recede. Let’s pray for everyone who we have lost. And most of all, let’s pray for all the lives we are to rebuild after the calamity.