The Commitment

I haven't been "in a relationship" for the longest time. It has been more than seven years to be a bit more specific. I was in my sophomore year in college when I last had it. It ended when the both of us realized we weren't that committed to each other. I got stuck into student politics which I never imagined to be so demanding, and she... well I really never knew what went on with her. See? That's how uncommitted we were... or at least I was. It was in that season that the words commitment made sense to me. Committing to something/one means choosing it/her over anything/one else. See that in choosing, it means that there is a choice. Always.

I had this idea to go to Google and see what the top picture will be when I type the word "commitment", hence the image on the left -- a group of people's hands laid on each other in a radial manner as in doing a hands-in before a huddle break. Unfortunately, it totally ruined my direction for writing this blog and messed up with what my point exactly was -- a two way commitment, not a group or company commitment. However, in keeping with the theme of this post, I have committed to go with the  inclusion of this photograph no matter how irrelevant it is. I do have a choice to go with an image that made more sense, but I choose to be prideful and stick to the irrelevant hands picture no matter how foolish it seems.

Getting back on track, I simply wrote this because right now, I have decided to give myself fully to a commitment. Redundant, isn't it -- to fully give yourself to a commitment? But that's how dedicated, decided, and locked in I am to this. I solemnly swear to make room in my life for her this time. I will make it a point to meet with her more days than I don't in a week. I look forward to every hour we will spend together. It will never be a chore but instead, a delight. This commitment has been the best I've been in so far, next to giving my life to Jesus. I just went into a relationship with my local gym. Time to lose those kilos!

What were you thinking?

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love Christmas! Christmas songs top my reasons with tunes that are uniquely for this season! As old as hymns are, Christmas songs get reinvented and revive the sentimental side of everyone...unless you're the Grinch. I love the sparkle and glamour that Christmas lights bring; a certain wide-eyed wonder in every child on the street, some pressing their faces on the store windows to just get a closer peek of the display. I love the warm feel of reds and greens, some copper and blues, and even the whites bring out a nostalgic moment a midst its plainness throughout the rest of the year. And why wouldn't it when it is also the season for weddings! A season when couples finally tie the sacred bonds of their 'til-death-do-us-part's and begin a roller coaster ride of building a family on love.

Some people aren't mad over the holidays. I'd understand. Streets get jammed, malls get jammed, the shoppers are crazy, your Secret Santa/Munito-Munita is picky, you've got more nephews, nieces, and inaanaks than the grains of rice on your plate, and the heaviest reality of all, the funds are depleted.

I still smile after thinking about this. Rethink about it: It is the season where people go the extra mile, exhaust their reserves, go through hours of traffic, and shove their way through a sea of crazy sale shoppers, just so they have something to give on Christmas day. All the earth is moving double time and working the hard extra hours just to get service to clients/customers. I'm not saying everyone is willfully doing it with a cheerful heart and the holiday spirit, but at the end of the loooooong process of making this gift item or preparing these food, it still brings a smile on a son's/daugter's/mom's/dad's/friend's(/pet's if you may) face. It's chaotic, beautiful selflessness and it happens like clockwork during this time of the year. It is in the human soul.

Why wouldn't it be? After all, the big kahuna for all of these was the biggest inconceivable selfless act: (Start of sentence) The God whose presence is of bolts of lighting and rolling thunder, Maker of erupting spheres of fire and suspended spinning rocks, Commander of the skies and seas, the only One worshiped and obeyed by nature, stepped down from his awesome, splendorous, glorious, and majestic dwelling, and came to this world through a bloody birth into a stinky, cramped, and damp cow and donkey hole -- it's all the tiny world had to offer that night (End of sentence). And at the end of His stay here, he actually had to die for the world who welcomed Him in a stable; the world who did not recognize Him even after the stars in the heavens and the heavenly host and angels exalted Him on that night. Nobody recognized the King, but He would die for them anyway, and yes He did die (and live again) for them anyway. What a chore. Nothing we've ever gone through compares. Chaotic, beautiful selflessness.

Merry Christmas, planet Earth.

The Ones that Matter

There are billions of species of crawlers, lurkers, trotters, climbers, swimmers, wrigglers, gliders, wanderers. Beyond one enormous marble of soil, water, air, and fire, there is a vast array of spinning and suspended rocks. A billion other suns, burn and explode with rage. Gems and precious rocks and metals of the earth; all the complexities of biology, chemistry, and physics; the arts and sciences of colors, lights, sound, music, reason, passion, and every single thing that have already been before we were even born -- all gloriously from the mouth of God, out of nothing... but in the grandness and splendor of all those, I doubt that any of those matter to Him as much as these:

You, me, all other people, sin, redemption, salvation, holiness, worship, love.

The Thing I'm Good at Saying Out Loud

http://www.thingsaboutlove.com

In line with my last post, I had to ponder about this boy-girl relationship thing. I've been often told to seek and contemplate for the right person to spend my life with. I've always been pursued by this word: pursue. But then I ask myself, "why does it have to take such a long process of searching and enduring? Why can't I just be with whom I feel like loving now?" I cannot help but wonder how it was when this boy-girl thing happened in the first place. People, (especially y'all single ones out there) let us take a look at Adam... and Eve... but mostly Adam. Did Adam have it easy?

As far as I remember Adam didn't even ask for it. I was thinking he was slouching bored, sad and lonely on a tree branch, busily pointing at a random creature and naming it which he did not even get to finish (because his descendants are still up to it even today). He was the only creation of his kind. I wasn't sure if he knew that, which was probably a good reason for being sad and lonely, but even if in case he didn't notice, he must have felt it in his heart. And who knew his heart better than his Crafter? So God said, would you like another of your kind? I can just imagine Adam's face lighing up and nodding furiously, which probably made him dizzy, lose his balance, fall off the tree and into a deep sleep (LOL! Kidding). And so, Eve was created. The point is, it seemed like Adam did not have to search... or did he?

Genesis 2:18-20

18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. 

But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

http://www.edumacnation.com

With that, I think he did search...amongst the livestock. He went "Dog. Cat. Cow. Chicken. Pig. Duck. Duckling. Goat. Aww... sheep. But no. Lizard. Frog..." and so, no suitable helper was found. Hence, Eve.

So young people, the waiting, contemplating, and pursuing has been done since this boy-girl thing was invented. Sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, nobody said it was easy. However, everyone else who has been through that waiting and searching phase had said it was worth everything. And if you ever find your self in the midst of a frenzy of hogs, cows, chickens, and other forms of barn yard creatures, no matter how cute they may be, do not settle. Take heart. The Lord knows your needs more than you do. ;)

The Beginning

I live in a world of epic proportions of dynamism. I wake up to the sound of a city -- a tune, rain, wind, machine, voices, a song. I open my eyes to the past's vision, now in the flesh -- color, light, form, movement, technology, life. I get up to a life and decide to live for whom I owe it to -- the God, family, friends, acquaintances, and the rest who have life. It is a sin not to write about this.

How did I do? That first paragraph might have taken longer to think about and write than the rest of this entry. As this blog's subtitle says, this is an attempt to get into the blogging sphere as a newbie and a late bloomer.

I am Conan. I'm a 25-year-old communication graduate from the University of the Philippines. For someone who's been pretty much around people who read and write a lot (and again with a communication degree), I would think of myself as one who has more likely kept a blog or done something to keep the writing skill sharp and cutting through words and ideas. Unfortunately, after that very long sentence of cluttered ideas, it shows how rusty I am... and at this age. Ugh.

On this (really really late) night, the 11th of September 2011, let this be a manifesto for me to start a blog as a creative outlet of thoughts that hopefully make sense and do not offend; thoughts that do not corrupt; thoughts that uplift and do not destroy; thoughts that may rant at times but rant for betterment's sake; thoughts that hopefully go beyond my lifetime and probably even this world's. These thoughts, I put into words in the name of writing, so help me, God.

image c/o fanpop.com