#001: How do we make sense of... anything?
Hypothermia in birds, intimate birthday dinners, secret writing projects, and more tiny yet precious life moments
Hey, friend! Thank you for being here. This is a Sunday newsletter! It may be or may not be every Sunday, but this OK to BE email will arrive in your inbox anytime on a Sunday. At the moment, you will receive musings about relatable everyday adventures, more silly than serious stories, and some tiny yet precious moments of life (well, mine, mostly) in between. If anything here touches you in any way, I encourage you to write back or leave a comment—and I shall reply! Also, this is a public dispatch, so feel free to share with a friend or two. Enjoy! :)
There are way more interesting things to launch this newsletter with than talking about the weather, but with today’s nonstop, hold-on-to-your-wig downpour, I thought I’d bump it up in my list of worth-chatting-abouts. It’s not that I haven’t experienced typhoons in my life (and no, I did not lose my wig because I don’t wear one), but where I live is supposedly a rare tropical cyclone route, and it’s a teeny bit terrifying to have even a Signal 1 raised in this area.
I suppose there are a few good things about heavy rains, such as not needing to water the plants and *ahem* washing away the pain of the past, but what about wet laundry? (I have zero budget for a new washing machine with a dryer.) What about flooding? What about people losing homes? Efficient urban and rural planning both remain to be some kind of a foreign concept around here, like many public goods we’re supposed to have a right to, but our romanticized resilience? Still a gift. Look, even these mayas embody it.
The wet bird catches a cold much?
Perhaps they felt like having a “Basang-Basa sa Ulan” moment or were feeling the rain on their sk--feathers, but hypothermia, you know? Plus, I doubt there were worms on that line—I mean, everything was so wet that even the ants were for sure on a day off. To avoid heartbreak, I didn’t stay long enough to witness the rest, but I mean it when I say I hope they are safe, soaring and tweeting somewhere.
How about you? Me, I’m fine, thank you. I’m here writing this newsletter, instead of rolling in bed while laughing-crying at romcoms (or let’s be honest, BTS video compilations), with crumbs of cheese sticks peppering my two day-old shirt, because, as nerdy as it may sound, I’m excited about it. Now I can’t and won’t guarantee that I will be sharing anything groundbreaking here, but I’d like to believe that even though we are trying to lead our fabulous lives from however-many corners of wherever we’re quarantined in for now, fresh perspectives are still aplenty.
So here we are. My everyday adventures, just like everybody’s else’s, involve a lot of Family, Faith, Finance, Fitness, Fiction, and Feelings, and so my letters will be about those. Plus a Featured section, to make it fancy. This week, here is what I have for you:
Family
We spent my mom’s birthday in a more quiet and sweet way at a Thai restaurant. The food was divine! Had this been in a parallel timeline where this terrible pandemic did not exist, the food would still be divine but we would have been a full house of relatives at home, and somebody (likely me) would be washing the dishes every thirty minutes. I miss the togetherness, and yes, I do love doing chores that have to do with water, but I don’t miss the pile that kept on piling up and the late-night chatter… But just something about being intimate and tranquil that makes something extra special, right? When was the last time you enjoyed something similar to this?
The red curry duck breast dish (Gang Phed Ped Yang) was pretty special, but so was everything else. Strongly recommended!
Faith
The past year has led me back to learning and understanding more about what it means to be a Christian, and I hope you don’t hurt yourself from the shock of finding out, especially those who have known me for a long time and have been a witness to my shenanigans, that I have been attending online church group discussions, let alone facilitating some of them! I enjoy them because they allow a safe space for questions and arguments, and there’s a range of diversity in the people who participate—converts, former atheists and agnostics, strugglers. Right now, one session is about forgiveness, and the other about the stages of consecration. My constant takeaway is that it is hard to be a Christian, and even at this point, I’m still processing the discussions from October 2020. How do we make sense of what’s required of us when we are somehow limited by these very human ways and emotions?
Finance
Do you hear that? That’s the sound of our bank accounts crying. I’m not qualified to give you financial advice, but here’s a good reminder, something you already know: it doesn’t matter how much you have; what does is how well you manage however much you have.
Tracking expenses, digital or old-school pen and paper, is also a useful tool. For instance, it shows me that I spend a lot on Food… but that’s a pretty good investment, isn’t it? How do you make sure you know where your money goes?
Fitness
I do the bare minimum nowadays: roll out my mat, stretch my neck, and then press Play on YouTube cast on TV, preferably a vlog or a BTS video compilation. Hah! But when I do gather enough energy to push myself, HIIT videos are a hit, and sometimes yoga and dance videos, too. If you have any recommendations that can produce results like I did an hour of exercise instead of five minutes, send it my way?
Fiction
I freelance as a beta reader and editor for fiction so this section (in my brain, at least) is often busy. But for now, I want to let you in on a personal secret (not that I share the secrets of the authors I work with, just to be clear): writer turned friend Isa Garcia invited me to do a weekly writing project with her, and we have been exchanging fics since the start of this year. I might share some of them here, but if you want full access, you’re welcome to my Patreon. (This is Isa’s!) Would you like to read at least one in the next newsletter?
Feelings
Oh, do I have many. But what I want to focus on is the good (as we have enough gloom already), and one of my anchors for balance and happiness is BTS. One of the members, Jhope, celebrated his birthday on the 18th, so that practically put me on Party mode all of last week (not, but I did have cake for breakfast that day). As I told a friend who asked me for the best advice I could give them, “Stan BTS.” So while I’m not here to convert anybody, may I interest you in Pinky’s Linkies, a fantastic resource for baby and toddler ARMYs?
⭐ Featured
...Word of the Week — Binisaya: kuyaw, which is used to express amazement, shock, or surprise. In a sentence: “Nakuyawan ko sa imuha” (“I got surprised/startled by you / You surprised/startled me”), “Kuyawa nimo, oy” (“Wow, how amazing are you”)
...Word of the Week — Ilocano: pigad, which means rug, sometimes rag. In a sentence: “Ayan na ti pigad?” (“Where is the rug?”), “Kasla ti pigad ajay t-shirt mo” (“Your shirt looks like a rug/rag")
...Sign of the Week — Filipino Sign Language: I can sign but it’s best to learn from someone within the community. Click here to learn how to sign ‘How are you?’ from a Hard of Hearing YouTuber, Rai Zason (not sponsored, not connected)
...Book of the Week: The Philippines Is Not A Small Country by Gideon Lasco, which I picked up for the #BookbedMeets last February 13. What are you reading?
That’s it for now! Thank you for being here. I hope you picked up something fun or useful! See you in the next one. ☀️
If you enjoyed this newsletter or have any questions, I hope you let me know. I appreciate your effort in growing our connection!
If you, or anybody you know, are looking for a beta reader, critique partner, accountability buddy, editor, proofreader, cheerleader, or enabler, consider recommending me!
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If you want to get featured in this newsletter for free or otherwise (we should accept blessings with an open heart), contact me by, again, replying to this email or leaving a comment! :]
Yay for your first issue! Kuyawa nimo, oy! (O ha! lol)
I like the word of the week feature. It could improve my Bisaya and Ilocano in the future. By the way, the Thai food looks appetizing and it made me hungry (:-)—I do look forward to more gastronomical anecdotes. Thanks!