Miah Learns to Write

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash Hi! It's been about ten months since I last posted on my personal blog, and that's simply because I haven't found the time to self-reflect. Over the past year, I've encountered crossroads and important junctures in my life where I've had to make several decisions that made a significant impact on me. To be honest, I'm just glad that I made it through 2022, alive and breathing still. Not unscathed, but hopefully, a bit wiser and more human(e). It was a tumultuous year, not just for me I bet, but for many people. But, it's the first time in which I've had to stand on my own two feet without having the assurance that, if I fell, somebody would catch me. Being away from family magnified the reality of having to take responsibility for myself, and the decisions I had to make. It really taught me to buckle up and prepare myself for a very bumpy road ahead, facing the unknown, and challenging myself to leave the confines of my

Photo by Eldon Vince Isidro on Unsplash Joseph de Maistre, a political philosopher, once wrote, “Every country gets the government it deserves,” and “In a democracy, people get the leaders they deserve.” With all that’s happening in the world today, we often turn to our leaders to establish order and guide their people. But in the same breath, we almost always put the blame on our leaders when things go wrong. I think this has been the case for liberal democracies across the board and it makes me wonder, “What is it with people? What in the world are they thinking?” I first heard the quote above from my PI 100 – Rizal professor. Now you might think, “Why were you discussing that in a Rizal class? What does that have to do with Rizal?” It’s actually a long story that involves several crash courses in sociology, political science, philosophy, and history. But to cut the story short, we discussed the revolution that Rizal wanted to launch in the Philippines and how he was going abo

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash I believe teachers are the backbone of an economy. They form the building blocks that make up the support structure much like the skeletal system or the foundation of any infrastructure. And similar to the bone marrow, they are instrumental in providing new blood to the economy. Teaching is a very noble profession, an ancient craft. There are those with the gift for teaching and those with the passion for it. Whoever has the gift should refine it. While those who have the passion should invest time in learning the craft. I say teaching is a craft as much as it is a skill because I believe teachers create new ways to pass on information to others. One needs to evolve not merely to stay competitive, although it does give them an edge. Rather innovation in teaching should be done for the sake of the changing times and culture that shape the students of today. I have had many credible, reliable, and excellent lecturers and instructors. But I believe th

Photo by Lindsay Henwood on Unsplash Ever had that thought cross your mind? Or perhaps you find yourself saying that too often? Do you always seem to encounter situations in which you later utter to yourself, “Maybe I should have waited for the right time”? There are numerous opportunities that come our way. And I am one to encourage others to grab them whenever they can. When you want to do something and it’s your passion, I believe there is no better time than the present. As I said before, if you keep waiting for the right time and continue making excuses, the right time will never come. You better be ready to take hold of the chance when it comes your way because it may never happen again. Surely, I would have wanted to take on various opportunities before. But I let them slip away from my fingers and I missed out on some interesting things. For most of my life, I was very safe. I only did things if somebody pushed me to do it and usually if it had any impact on my academ

Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash Nostalgia. It’s that sudden wave of emotions that fills you when you think about the past, from experiences and memories that usually make you feel a tinge of sadness. I’ve found out that I’m quite a nostalgic person. Sentimentality just comes naturally to me somewhat. This is probably because I’m often in deep thought – thinking or contemplating about various things when I’ve got nothing else to do. I’m accustomed to just being alone in my thoughts as I try to make sense of the things I see happening around me. Sometimes, these moments of nostalgia can make me feel melancholic. It’s no big deal for me though. I’ve gotten used to such episodes so it doesn’t adversely affect me. However, when I do get lost in my thoughts and feelings, sometimes it takes a while to come back from them and move forward. At times, I could get hung up with a certain thought or feeling and I feel off. I feel like I’m out of balance. Or like I’m having a momentary lap

Credits: Studio Pierrot I know I'm a bit late to the party but recently, I had just finished my Naruto marathon, both the original and Shippuuden. It took me about three months. Afterward, I kind of missed it since it felt like I was with them as they grew up and matured. So here are a few things I picked up after watching it. Pursuing Your Dreams One of the things that came up often in the anime is the idea of never giving up. Naruto knew what he wanted to be from when he was a child. He held on to that dream and worked hard to achieve it. He spent all his time and effort into getting closer to his dream. This tenacity and determination is so admirable in this character. And I think this is the reason why his story is endearing to many people. And this is why his story resonated with me. The way the character was written and animated made him an inspiration to me. That’s why after watching the anime, I became more determined to express what my dream is and to reach for

Yesterday I watched the film Koe no Katachi ( lit. The Shape of Voice; English title: A Silent Voice ). I cried several times throughout the film. For me, it was a sweet blend of tragic, sad episodes and uplifting, hopeful moments that make it easier for me to process without becoming an emotional wreck. After watching it, I now understand why many anime fans were outraged by the Oscar snub. The same thing could be said of many countless anime films out there but I think several bloggers and Youtubers have explained why that is the case. I like the explanations of Mother’s Basement and akidearest on the matter. Spoiler alert : If you haven’t watched the film yet, I suggest that you do. If you could get a DVD of it from your local video store, do so. It’s a wonderful film. When He Met Her The film follows the story of Shoya Ishida and his friends. One day in elementary school, their teacher introduces a new student, Shoko Nishimiya, who is revealed to be deaf. In the beginni

Photo by  Emile Séguin  on  Unsplash Why do emotional attachments have such a profound effect on the human psyche? Where does it draw its strength and power from such that when one is gripped by the emotions that have been amplified by bonds, ties, or attachments to experiences or people, one could be left paralyzed by it, unable to move on from that specific moment, as if the weight of that moment accumulated and had suddenly been difficult to carry? I don't know why we feel helpless in times of grief, pain, sorrow while it would be the complete opposite when we experience happiness, joy, laughter. Love and loss, that's one thing my mind goes back to. Love, or the emotions associated with mutual recognition, solidarity, friendship can definitely bring such elation but when that is taken away, loss takes over, a time of mourning. The mind should be able to rein in the heart. Logic should be able to trump out sentiment. Reason should overwhelm nostalgia. But that doesn

The picture above illustrates a well-known monument showing a towering edifice that aimed to reach the heavens, and probably an epitome of human ingenuity and collaboration. This is the Tower of Babel described in the Bible (Genesis 11) and the story goes that the people of those times were roaming around the earth and were commanded by God to scatter and fill the earth, which was simple enough but instead of doing that, they blatantly disregarded and disobeyed God by settling in one place and building this tower so that they may make a name for themselves. God seeing the intentions of the people, came down to see the work of their hands and He frustrated their plans by confusing their speech and thus, we now have thousands of languages that identify different people groups and cultures around the world. At first glance, it seems like a simple passage but there are questions that arise from the events that happened such as why did God want the people to scatter and conversely, why

A couple of months ago, some of my friends attempted to discover the pattern of my infatuations in order to develop a profile of the kind of people I am attracted to, much to my chagrin. But the idea that there is a certain innate set of characteristics that I find captivating intrigued me, moreover, the fact that there would only be one person who would "match" or complement you such that you somewhat metaphorically become "one complete person," supporting one's flaws with the strengths of the other and merging your experiences and personalities to live in harmony. However, at the time I didn't think much of it. Quite recently, in my management class, the concept of how our personalities shape the way we react and interact with people of similar or different dispositions unearthed my interest and reflections on the subject which sparked a connection, a sort of epiphany, one that I have not realized before, perhaps because I thought it seemed so intuiti

In all the hustle and bustle of life, we barely have time to sit down and just breathe. I think it is incredibly important to find time to reflect about everything that has happened so that we can make sense of it all and find our place, where we stand in the midst of things. We need time to review our lives and be reminded of where it is anchored in so that we would know the direction we are headed going forward. I want to have time for reflection, to connect the dots, to make sense of everything that has happened and formulate conclusions or action points to do something about them. This would require me to somewhat get away from the world for a little bit and to stop thinking about work or other people. I have not had the time to do so because the list of things to do seems to keep stacking up and I would find a reason not to have some alone time. Though I understand that the concept of "alone time" can be done regardless of the amount of work that you have - I mean t

What if every moment of our lives has been predetermined since the beginning of time and every action and decision we make has already been foreknown? How would you feel about that? Nobody likes the thought of someone else giving orders over us or, at the very least, we don't want to feel like we have no control over our own lives, decisions, actions, or even our own bodies. There is the feeling within our bones that wants to be liberated from authority and to have our own autonomy. We want to have power over our lives, we don't want to be bossed around. I believe that's the main tension within us with regard to the concept of God's sovereignty - of having an all-powerful, all-knowing creator defining the rules about everything, and I believe the reason for this internal struggle is that by our very nature, we are rebellious. If we think about it, things should be simple. Life should have been simple. But why is it so complicated for us today? And I say it'

Studio Ghibli films, especially their recent ones, never fail to turn on the waterworks for me. I just watched its last film, "When Marnie Was There," and it got me thinking again and trying to make sense of things. Though I do not want to talk about the film in this post, I will do that some other time when I have been able to grasp the message of the movie from every perspective. What I want to do is to go through the same process that Anna had gone through in the movie which was self-discovery or perhaps, an exposition of what I have found out and am finding out about myself. Recently, it has come to my attention that some might think that my recent posts were very poignant to say the least and it might have come off different from what I intended it to be. I would like to consider myself a realist in the sense that I acknowledge both the good and the bad that happens. And I tend to take things in with such sobriety that others may not understand that I have already been