#043: When to move, when to be still

Staying still, book recs, new travel videos, and more tiny yet precious life moments

Hey, there! OK to BE is a Sunday newsletter about my adventures in reading, writing stories, creating art, collaborating, and being human. If you want to see more of my creative work, visit my page, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and support me on Patreon. Thanks for reading! ^_^

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You'd be right if you feel I’ve been quiet over here the past few weeks, but obviously, that’s not the case today! How have you been?

Me? I’m a bit overwhelmed by the many things I need and want to get done, especially in my personal and work life. This second half of the year seems to demand a lot from me, but I’m not complaining… Well, I do sometimes, but then I keep moving. And yep, my creative pursuits have taken a backseat but at least they’re still in the car, vehicle, whatever. I’m still here and will always be, even if I’m quieter in the ~online public eye than usual.

So anyway, this is just a quick update! I’ll write again soon. For now, Merry Christmas, happy Jungkook day, and happy first day of school (Daniel Radcliffe wrote HP, thank you very much)!

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BTW

I sometimes get surprised to find that there continue to be new people in this community. Welcome! I hope you enjoy my newsletter. Here are some of the readers’ favorites:

#004: How do we embrace vulnerability?

#033: Let yourself be seen

#035: What about the things waiting to unfold?

View the archive.

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📚 Reading

As promised! Here are my recs/Jan~Jun 2024 reads. My reading pace is slower this year as I might have finally, truly morphed into a—🥁—bookworm 🐛 Still, 30 books is 30 books! I have 50 more to go for this year's goal, and I hope to add more diversity to my list—genre-, rep-, theme-, format-wise, etc. All recs welcome!

kbsteps

A post shared by @kbsteps

🐛 Rumi–Poet of Joy and Love by Rashin Kheiriyeh
🐛 The Lucky Red Envelope by Vikki Zhang
🐛 The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
🐛 Being Toffee by Sarah Crossan
🤓 A Quiet Unfolding by @asoftlanding_ph
🐛 Alon and Lila's Last Summer Before Doomsday by Ingrid Valenzuela, illustrated by Cyrill Acuña
🐛 A Life Beyond Boundaries: A Memoir by Benedict Anderson
🐛 Oha: A Story Told in One Eternal Second by Krie Reyes Lopez
🐛 Kinship and Marriage: An Anthropological Perspective by Robin Fox
🤓 Who is Aramina Villaroel and Other Life’s Deepest Reflections from A Father and Husband by Francis Evan Manayan
🤓 Haliya: A Moonchild's Journey by Yna Cabredo Balacano
🤓🦋 Manila Takes Manhattan by Carla de Guzman
🐛 Asia's Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific by Robert D. Kaplan
🐛 On the Suffering of the World by Arthur Schopenhauer
🐛 Aung San Suu Kyi: A Portrait in Words and Pictures by Christophe Loviny
🐛 Reportage on the Marcoses by Quijano de Manila, Nick Joaquín
🐛 Dictators in Quotes: Rants and Ravings of Despicable Despots by Ammonite Press
🐛 Katie Goes to KL by Su-May Tan
🐛 How to Make a Book by Becky Davies, illustrated by Patricia Hu
🐛 The Bookstore Cat by Cylin Busby, illustrated by Charles Santoso
🦋 My Strange Shrinking Parents by Zeno Sworder
🐛 The Last Season: A Team In Search of Its Soul by Phil Jackson
🐛 Rizal in Saga: A Life for Student Fans by Nick Joaquín
🐛 Queridas de Rizal by Ambeth R. Ocampo
🐛 Linamnam: Eating One's Way Around the Philippines by Claude Tayag, Mary Ann Quioc
🐛 Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan
🤓 Tellurian Dreams by Khiara Laurea
🤓 Entwined by Miel Salva, Khiara Laurea
🤓 Veiled by Khiara Laurea
🤓🦋 For the Win by Catherine Dellosa

~
🤓 = I'm part of this book / I worked on this book
🦋 = reread

🎨 Creating

Another OK to BE zine is coming our way!

It will be this year's third issue, and the 21st issue overall. Related to my musings about quitting, I also seriously considered going on another OK to BE hiatus. BUT! We are just doing it. Please look forward to the Call for Submissions!

🎨 Collaborating

Photo by Local Project Photography, posted with permission from participants

Some of the Book Writers Club members, the community of young writers aged 18 and below that I work with, flew in so we could organize the Young Writers Conference in my hometown. I’ll share about this in the next issue!

🎒 Travelling

Slowly but surely! These Japan vlogs from our winter trip will soon be complete~

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That’s all for now! I hope you picked up something fun or useful. See you in the next one!

☀️ KB

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Huge thanks to this newsletter’s readers, my patrons, and the OK to BE Discord community! If you enjoyed this, you can help me keep the newsletter going by buying me a coffee. :)