Happy Fathers' Day!

To our very own Man of Steel, to the admirable men who carry on the noble mission of fatherhood, and to the great women who lovingly fulfill the duties of both mother and father, may the good Lord bless you with immeasurable joy and happiness always!

HAPPY FATHERS' DAY, DAD! WE LOVE YOU! 

P.S. Made this layout for Dad's 75th and Sofia's 5th joint birthday celebration in 2011.

A Time to Give

When I was younger, I had all the time in the world to create handmade gifts to my family and friends whenever there’s a special occasion. I love to do crafts and shop for cute and useful things that I would put together, redesign and personalize. Preparing gifts and surprising my loved ones with inexpensive, yet unique creations always give me a different sense of fulfillment. But when I became an adult with real life responsibilities to prioritize, I realized what “so much to do, so little time” meant in its truest sense. 

Fortunately, while the luxury of time has become limited, the creative expression need not be compromised. There are a lot of online gift shops today that cater to this specific kind of need, where you can browse a  lovely range of selections and conveniently order in just a few clicks, without going to a physical store. So whether one is too busy to shop for dog gift baskets for a furry friend, or has ran out of ideas of what to give during the holiday rush, the warmth of Christmas food gift baskets never fail to spread the holiday cheer. 

One of the best things that my parents taught me early in life is how to be a joyful giver. It does not matter how little or how much you give, for the thought of sharing without expecting anything in return, is what’s truly important. Gift-giving does not always require a special occasion. Whenever you feel like sharing, please do. The profound happiness it brings is meaningful both to the giver and the receiver, especially when it comes from the heart.

2013: Under Promise, Over Deliver

Unposted artwork from 2011

I started blogging in 2008, over enthusiastic yet clueless. I was nervous working on the first article I’m sharing to the world, for the OC in me had to make sure it’s free from typos and grammatical errors. Just as I mentally edit the words before I speak, I re-read and revised my first blog post so many times before clicking the ‘Publish’ button. The thought of someone reading it and finding mistakes, made me cringe. 

As I journeyed through the blogosphere, I learned by making baby steps on how to make my blog presence felt online; became more comfortable with writing for myself and others, as well; connected and made friends both local and abroad; gained followers who actually read my thoughts and anticipate the next letters that I will type; and ultimately, profit from what I write. 

It has been almost 5 years and I’m fully aware that I have grown laid-back and MIA most of the time, as my blog aged and survived purely through traffic source from search engines (I’m lucky I wrote about things that people look for all the time). But through the years, I've always had the deep yearning to share new insights and experiences regularly and make my existence felt, only that I have yet to find the inspiration to let it happen. 

For what it felt like the longest time, I have postponed writing lengthy posts in exchange of real world activities that consume my days. I have resorted to posting photos instead, that need very little words to spare me from having to say more than what is called for. And testament to that, is a grand total of 3 posts last year that clearly say, it’s time to light up my fire in a major way and keep it burning once again. 

I had two wakeup calls last year when I attended seminar-workshops about Innovating Governance through the Social Web and the Nuffnang Blogopolis. I’m so glad I went to both events for I came to realize the great opportunities I have been missing by putting blogging on hold. One significant thing I learned is to ‘under promise and over deliver’ instead of what I've been doing, which is completely the other way around. I realized that promising to write and going MIA all of a sudden is a clear injustice to my readers. 

So just as resolutions and diet promises begin whenever a brand new year unfolds, I’m jumping in the bandwagon and try to fulfill undelivered promises this time around. I still have a lot of words and ideas kept hostage inside my head that will be put into writing, so please stick around and watch them finally unravel. :)