a showcase of my love affair with the written word…
Imagine sitting across from someone at a nice restaurant. Before you even menu-browse or take a sip of water, he spends forty-five minutes giving you an unsolicited monologue about his high school track trophies, his quarterly personal achievements, and how he uses "synergistic paradigm execution" to organize his daily life. He hasn't asked you your… Continue reading Why Most Business Messaging Sounds Like a Bad First Date
There are two kinds of people in this world: those who walk gracefully through life, and those of us whose feet seem to act as target zones for falling objects. Guess which group I belong to? Just the other day, I was in the shower, feeling accomplished about buying a fresh, shiny one-liter bottle of… Continue reading Confessions of a Human Earthquake: Gravity, Shampoo Bottles, and Other Household Hazards
I never officially enrolled in Family University. There was no application form. No entrance exam. No tuition fee. And definitely no orientation seminar. Yet somehow, after years of living with my family, I appear to have earned several unofficial degrees. Bachelor of Patience. Master of Selective Hearing. Doctorate in Knowing When Mom Is About to… Continue reading Things I Have Accidentally Learned From Living With My Family
Another birthday. Sigh. Don't remind me. I'm not counting. Actually, I refuse to count. Because if we're being technical, this isn't about how many years I've been here. It's about how many years I still have ahead of me. And as far as I'm concerned, my life is just beginning. So whatever number of candles… Continue reading Another trip around the sun—and I still don’t know what I’m doing
Apparently, adulthood forgot to send me the instruction manual. I checked. Nothing. No PDF. No YouTube tutorial. Not even a badly translated booklet titled So You're an Adult Now: Good Luck. I've been waiting for it for years. It hasn't arrived. So I guess we're all just making this up as we go. And surprisingly...… Continue reading I Don’t Have Everything Figured Out—and I’m Finally Okay With That
I have come to accept that I notice things. A lot of things. Sometimes things that nobody else seems to notice. And before you start thinking, "Ay, eto na. Echosera na naman," let me clarify. I don't observe people because I want to collect gossip. Okay? Mostly. 😂 I notice because I'm curious. I want… Continue reading The things I notice when nobody is asking me to notice them
I have seen businesses with beautiful websites. The branding is gorgeous. The photos are professionally done. The logo looks like someone spent three weeks choosing between twelve shades of beige. The social media graphics are polished. The captions are clever. Everything looks... expensive. And then I read the website. And five minutes later, I still… Continue reading Sometimes the Problem Isn’t Your Marketing. It’s That Nobody Knows What You Mean.
There are days when I look at my computer screen and think: Google Chrome is judging me. Not subtly, either. I can almost hear it whisper: "Girl... are you sure you need all of these?" Yes, Google. I do. Please mind your own business. At any given time, I can have a dozen tabs open… Continue reading My brain has 47 tabs open—and they’re all loading
Why ordinary people tell extraordinary stories People often ask writers where they get their ideas. They expect some magical answer. A secluded cabin in the mountains. A dramatic life-changing moment. A lightning bolt of inspiration. I usually smile because the truth is far less glamorous. Most of my ideas arrive while buying groceries. Or waiting… Continue reading The Art of Noticing
What observing people taught me about communication If you ever find yourself having coffee with me in a busy café, don't be surprised if I suddenly go quiet. I'm not ignoring you. I'm probably people-watching. Not in a creepy "I'm memorizing your license plate" kind of way. More like... "I'm fascinated by humans." I love… Continue reading The Best Conversations I’ve Never Had
