It’s almost two weeks since mabasted ako. As much as I tried to keep to myself the pain (tsaket tsaket talaga ate Charo,) and not to show what I really feel, time will come that your mind and body will burst to a great level of sorrow. Kung gaano kasaya ang feeling pag sinagot ka, ganun naman kasakit mabasted.

I decided not to write about it especially during the early days since the wound was still fresh (di na kelangan i-ref) that time. I would be so emotional if I wrote what I truly feel. I also kept myself from being so “emo” in Facebook. I decided to get too busy and focused on my work. I would like to get busy and more work on my table. Yet still, I am just an ordinary human being, I still feel emptiness inside. I looked blank at my laptop, checked my Facebook account without nothing to share or to do in particular. I blogged but I skipped the love or romantic topic. I chose to eat alone, go to mall alone, see a movie alone… para na akong si Macaulay Culkin ng Home Alone… Alone, alone and more alone. 

Writing about the details of my ordeal (hahaha! ordeal talaga ang ginamit na word) is not important right now. Acceptance is better to do. Little by little I regained my own self. I can smile again about the present and not about the happy days I had with her (eating pizza and lasagna together mga ganun ba?). But it’s a process. Parang sa cost accounting…. I am still a WIP as in Work-in-Process. Huwag lang sanang maging Spoilage.

Then this Sunday, I was touched by the message of the priest. Hindi sya nagtext sa akin, nakinig ako at hindi nakatulog sa kanyang homily. Though his message is not directly addressing about getting basted (I am so konyo!), he delivered  a Max message (kasi sagad to the bones) about relationship. I would like to share about what lesson I learned today in three parts.

Relationships complete us. Yes I agree with this one, napa-Yes Man ako sa kanya because tama sya. How many times we think of achieving something and ididikit natin I mean we dedicate our success to our loved ones. When we were young even our simple exams we passed we are proud to share our joy with our parents. Every basketball game we won, we are so glad we played it with our siblings, friends and kaberks. Every achievement we obtained, we share it to our “bebekoh”. That because every relationship complete us.

That’s why when our love ones suddenly taken from us, iniisip natin, something is missing. Parang me kulang. “Lord sana kunin nyo na rin ako!” Yan ang madalas nating sinasabi. And that feeling originates from being part of a relationship. Same is true if we are the culprit o ang nakasakit sa kapwa natin. We also feel that there is something wrong, that because, we abrupt the feeling of being complete.

 Relationships give us meaning of life. Remember the saying “Aanhin mo ang kastilyo kung wala si Christine Reyes sa kwarto.” Ooops mali… “Aanhin mo ang bahay na bato kung ang nakatira ay si Tado.” Kidding aside, you already know what I am pointing at. No matter how rich we are, no matter how successful we are in our career, no matter how great our work or how profitable our business, no matter how popular we are, if our relationship with our family, parents, siblings, wife/husband, or children is a mess, all things will have no meaning. The most important thing in the world is not the money or investments we have; not the coolest gadgets we have, ohlalala Sports Car yung red that we drive, so comfortable na bahay we abode or high paying jobs we are proud of. What is more important above these things is our relationships. Masira at mawala na ang lahat, wag lang ang relationship natin.

We are designed to be connected. In the first place, we are not designed to earn money. We are not also initially designed to be successful. Rather we are designed to be connected and be in a relationship. Gaining material things and being successful is only the by-product of our existence here on earth. Just a little eye-opener, having a Friendster account na naging di na cool kaya lipat na sa Facebook, chatting in YM, emails and even in our own offices if we have Office Communicator, having not just one but two or three cellphones (para lahat ng ng network meron ka)  is the most valid evidence that we wanted to be connected. Kahit na paulit-ulit lang ang pinag-uusapan nyo ok lang. Ultimo oras ng pagkain ng mahal mo at ulam nya uusisain mo pa just to be connected sa kanya.   

For those people who chose to be not connected, sige dyan na lang kayo. Good luck na lang sa inyo. Sana masaya kayo sa pinili nyo. Isa kayo sa mga tumiwalag sa kasabihan na “No one is a Hundred Island!”  Joke lang nagbabata lang ako (in English I am just kidding). It’s not too late to rekindle your closed relationships. Minsan it is up for us to do the small step. Small step could be saying “I am sorry… tama ka gwapo ako.” (nagbabata ulit).

So after hearing the mass, para akong nabuhusan ng malamig na tubig sa ulo. I realized, after akong mabasted, friend pa rin naman kami ng mahal ko. And I also have some other relationships to maintain. My family, relatives and friends are around me especially pag nanalo ako sa lotto! So moral of the story, above all things, let’s prioritize our relationships.

Remember it’s nice to eat Giant Halo-Halo ng Max with someone… or with the whole gang/family and relatives! Malaki kasi yun! (try nyo omorder yung saktong mag-isa nyo lang, balitaan nyo ko sa reaction nyo… email me and be connected.) 

I wish every one who read this will have a great relationships to their love ones! Send this to 20 of your friends or else… you will have miserable s*x life for 20 years. (nagbabata ulit!) 

Let’s all be In A Relationship!

I am Dorm Boy and I am in a Relationship!

I started blogging after passing the board exam way back in 2007. While hunting for a job, every morning I dropped by a computer shop to search for the latest job vacancies posted in the net. Then I came across with the word blog in my Friendster account. I heard about blogging from my cousin. According to her, more and more people are having blog accounts about any topics under the sun. So I wrote initially about my vacations, my job hunting experiences and poems which you considered as emo-type poems.

Then I watched an episode in Mel & Joey about professional bloggers who earn ample amount of cash through their blogs. Being jobless with lots of time loitering at home, I decided to make a career in blogging. I left my usual Friendster blog and transferred to Blogger.com. I also tried linking my blogger account with my Multiply account. Earning money the easy way was my initial drive.

I secured an Adsense account and put advertisements in my blog accounts. I thought earning money was easy in blogging. I was wrong. My blog was not known in the blogosphere with limited traffic generated. It was so hard for me to advertise my blog to the point that I asked my closest friends listed in my Friendster account to visit my blog. Trying hard as I was, I still pursued my dream of being a “professional” blogger.

Days, weeks and months passed by and still I had nil amount of revenue from blogging. I decided to quit my “impossible” dream. But the writer in me continued to force my mind and fingers to punch the keys and to write. I came to the realization that being a newbie I should rather concentrate compiling more articles and let my readers enjoy what I wrote. But each article I wrote received no comments. Still I continued my blogging ways.

Months passed and I opened about blogging with Maan, one of my closest friends in college. I know her as a good writer. I definitely agree that she has the potential to become a lifestyle columnist. But she has no idea about blogging.

During those times I left my personal blog unmanaged. I shared to her the idea to create a new one involving her as co-owner of the blog. Each week a couple of article would be published from a single topic we both agreed to write. We named our blog as Cookies and Cream. I am the Cookie writing about the point of view from a guy and she is the Cream writing about the ladies’ side. To add flavors in our blogging, we alternately write a “Delectable Finale” about our weekly topic. Our joint-blog account was cute, awesome, and pleasant to read. It also gained appreciations from our friends.

My old drive to generate income from blogging was changed by the appreciations and comments our blog received. When Maan and I finally gained our confidence, we made a decision to “momentarily” close our Cookies and Cream blog and managed our own individual blogs. Until now we never got the chance to revive our blog.

From Blogger.com, I transferred to WordPress with unknown reason. It’s like switching from being a Kapuso to Kapamilya or vice-versa. I addressed myself as Dorm Boy. I intended to write anonymously about my experiences and stories living inside the dorm during college, while maintaining my identity in private. I also changed my style in writing. From being a meticulous and conscious in my English grammar, I wrote in Tagalog for the first time.

Masaya pala!

Mas relax magsulat sa sariling wika. Nasusulat ko lahat ng gusto ko at naging kengkoy din ako sa aking panunulat. Dumami friends ko which adds to my delight.

From receiving a one, two or three comments, I gathered wow ten… twenty… thirty… sixty comments. Of course responding to each comment completes my day.  Blogging changed my internet lifestyle. I gained friends whom I never met. I know much about them through their blogs. I hope one day I will meet them in real life. Just like in Avatar… I see you guys when I see you.

For now allow me to enjoy the renewed joy I found in blogging! I guess once you become a blogger you will and always be a blogger. I blogged yesterday, blog today and will still blog tomorrow.

Welcome to my new home.

Welcome to my dot com!

Eto po si Dorm Boy… dumadotcom lang!