Me, My Camera, and the City

A repost. As originally published on EV Mail News for the week of February 27-March 4, 2012. 

Link: EV Mail News (Digital Version)

It's as if I'm not already very busy as it is right now, I've actually added another project for myself to work on. I've recently "launched" my very first photo blog on the internet. I call it "Water Reflections." I'm really, really very excited about this project but I sometimes think that I must really be crazy for doing this to myself. Adding extra work to my already full and "overflowing" schedule? Oh yes, my screws up there are quite loose for sure! Oh well, but I love doing it and I'm enjoying what I'm doing for a change. It doesn't feel like it's another job that I have to "tackle" just for the sake of tackling it. So why limit and deprive myself with such a creative and fun "artistic" outlet? This will be a treat for me and I will call this new photo blog my "guilty pleasure." I'm allowed to spoil myself sometimes, am I not? And this is all going to work out, I promise.

Speaking of working out, in one of my "blog surfing" on the web, I happened to stumble upon a blog saying that said: "For every successful blog, there is a family (or a husband) less fed behind it," or something like that. That is just too funny! Funny for me until my husband saw it. He actually put a limit to my blogging time. The nerve! I only do my blogging when everything has been scrubbed clean and sparkling, and the table has been set with my delicious cooking! Uh okay, the delicious part may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but it's true, I don't blog the whole day. I've found a "system" that works for me so I'm able to maintain all my four blogs. Four, you say? Yes, four. See, I told you I was crazy!

Since I already have the "water" pattern for my writing "projects," beginning with this column here on EV Mail (Sweetened Waters) and then my "original" first blog (Writings on Water) so I just continued the pattern with the new photo blog (Water Reflections). This photo blog, as the name suggests, is a website for my photos which I want to share with the world. It's open to the public. Anyone can access it and everyone is invited to enjoy the featured photos. As you all know, I'm walking a lot these days as some form of exercise so, I might as well enjoy the strolls by taking everything in and by recording the sights I see through the lens of my camera. I'm a pathological photo-taker, what can I do?

Let me tell you about the sights. I've seen some pretty incredible things on my walks. Sometimes I wish I was more bold and aggressive in taking pictures just like the paparazzi we see on TV and on tabloid magazines, but I'm simply not. I’m just too bashful for that kind of job. I hate to step into anyone's toes (literally and figuratively), I hate to offend anyone, and I dread to cross the invisible line of what’s appropriate.

I have some examples to show you when moments come up that I wish I was more aggressive in my picture-taking. One was when an Asian lady accidentally dropped all her money from her coat pocket while walking in downtown Chicago. I just happen to be walking behind her at that time. As you know, Chicago is a very windy city so needless to say I had to help that poor lady pick up all her paper bills from all over the place. If I were a calloused, uncaring photo-taker just for the sake of my photo blog, I would have taken pictures of the commotion around me instead of running wildly after those wind-blown money.

Another example was when a person with an incredible Mohawk haircut, stretched to its full length with some super hold hairspray and his whole head was dyed neon blue, walked right in front of me at a pedestrian red light. If I were not too shy, I would have whipped out my camera and took photos of him. I don't think he would have mind. I'm guessing he would have been flattered by my delight and interest in his hair but I simply couldn't do it. My feet were stuck to the pavement and I just couldn't stop staring wide-eyed at that marvelous hair! And then he was gone. Say goodbye to an interesting photo subject. My chance has slipped away. Maybe next time?

Another photographic moment is when it's a gorgeous day in Chi Town and the sun is shining brightly that its rays are hitting a beautiful skyscraper at a certain "artistic" angle but the same moment passes by so quickly. I need to be more quick and alert with my camera on hand when such things happen. They are so fleeting and ephemeral that when they're gone, they're gone forever. I know the sun will shine again, I know its rays will hit the same skyscraper again but the original moment, the feeling I had when I first saw it is now gone.

That's why I love taking pictures. They not only capture a certain moment, it takes you back to that specific time, on how you felt, on how the ambiance affected you at that particular occasion, and on how you feel towards the people or the sights that are captured in still life forever.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

A Movie, A Dinner, and A Stroll

A repost. As originally published on EV Mail News for the week of February 20-26,2012.

http://www.evmailnews.com/eastern-visayas-mail-issue-of-feb-20-26-2012

By the time this article gets published, I'm pretty sure Valentine's Day would have passed by already. But no sweat, I'm still going to write something about (yes, you've guessed it) dating.

I'm not even going to try and talk about dating before marriage because I don't have much "quality" experience on that. My boyfriend-relationship with my husband was kind of a "whirlwind romance" of sorts. We had a short courtship. We went out on "formal" dates maybe only two or three times before we got married. But now, after being married for 17 years, I'm enjoying more "quality" dating time with my husband on couple getaways, impromptu "movie, dinner and a stroll" moments, and after work rendezvous.

This is possible now since our son doesn't need to be watched or to be taken care of like when he was little. My husband and I have more "freedom" and more time to go out of the house now even without any prior plans. It's kind of liberating to feel that we don't have to be bothered anymore with finding a "yaya" (nanny), or to worry of getting home at a certain hour while on a date. We are free! (Ah, not totally, but you all know what I mean.)

Our favorite date is to go out and watch a movie, have a quiet and yummy dinner, and maybe a short walk after, if the evening is nice enough for a stroll. A very simple night-out is what we both like --nothing fancy, nothing expensive or crazy. Sometimes we even just skip the movie all together and just go home and watch a good DVD on our couch in our pajamas. My husband likes it that way even better since he can pause and stop the movie while he goes around the house --to go to the bathroom, to zap some popcorn or to get some iced tea or water, all in the comforts of his jammies. Yes, we are very "low-maintenance" people.

It's my strong belief that married couples must never stop dating. Even after 50, 60 or 70 years of marriage, spouses must never stop surprising each other with small, simple gestures of love, and doing special things for each other. Learn new adventures and activities with each other and take turns in doing what the other loves the most (no matter how much you hate it, like watching basketball on TV!). We must always "keep the flame alive!" You are married, not sentenced for life!

It took me a while, and with a lot of disciplining from God, but I've learned how to be a better wife to my husband now. I'm not saying that I'm a perfect wife or that we don't have any riffs, but at least we've made a firm commitment with God that we will give it our best to make our marriage work, most especially to make God the center of our relationship. In the olden times when, and in some cultures where, marriages are often arranged and forced by families and relatives of the couple, and yet more often than not, they manage to stay together, have a family, and make it work somehow. So how much more in our time right now, when in the best scenario, no one is forced to marry anyone anymore, ought we not to give our best effort and everything to make our marriage be a success even more?

I know it's easier said than done. I'm not even going to try and preach on the topic of marriage because I'm the least qualified of all to do it. I just want to share with you today on how God has helped me and my husband to understand that our marriage will crumble and will amount to nothing if we remain selfish, stubborn and unforgiving towards each other. It doesn't matter even if we love each other so much, our human love will never overcome the difficulties and hardships that come naturally with life and relationships. We need a power greater than ourselves to help us to be grounded, to be reminded, to be strong everyday, and to work hard for our marriage. We need God.

Young love is fresh and exciting but as time matures that love, it becomes even more beautiful and fulfilling. I will never trade the love I have now for my husband with anything. Even when it's just a movie, a dinner, and a stroll that makes our weekend a thrill, I'm in a happy place in my life right now. I couldn't ask for anything more.


"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself." -Ephesians 5:22-28