i'm all over

Lately, I've been wanting to do (and be) a lot of things. It's like I'm at this point in my life where I want to accomplish a lot–things that are substantial, things that would allow me to grow as a person, things that would make people around me ummm...happy, at the very least.

I want to travel and take decent photos and write. I remember a friend telling me to just live a bohemian life (that would be sans the drugs and sex), and I found myself seriously considering it (even if my friend meant that as a joke). But then again, I'm not one to go for a full-time freelancing career (call me insane but I just can't imagine working without having colleagues and without an office to go to). Perhaps an MWF office job and the other days would be devoted to a bohemian lifestyle? Haha!

Traveling is something I've come to love. Assuming I have all the resources to go around the world, I'd do so, starting at this very moment. When you travel, you immerse yourself in a different environment with all-together different realities from what you've been accustomed to. When you travel, you get the chance to be part of somebody else's life–be it for just a fleeting moment–and you also let another person be part of yours.

Of course, it would be silly not to translate what you see, feel, smell, and hear into something more tangible, like a photo. As cliché as it may sound, a photo does speak a thousand words (that's why I don't find it necessary to tell the tale behind every photo I take). The memories and experience you have had are etched in something you can always go back to in case you forget, something you can share with other people. Add the luxury of the written word and you can perhaps compose poetry or prose, which would in turn make others experience somehow the feelings you felt when you went trekking that winding road on your way to a quaint village hidden among the greens.

Imagine if I get to do this every day, I'd probably be broke but I'd be way too happy to even care (now this is where sponsorship comes in!). I can be a lone vagabond, but I think it would also be pretty to have a companion (more like someone who can carry heavy things for me, like my cam and tripod, for instance; this is where Francis comes in. Haha!).

I want to someday put up this charity institution for the aged, especially those on the streets. I want to at least have them experience a good life while they still can. Being old and lonely and homeless is something anyone wouldn't want to be especially when you only have a few years to live. I can't imagine the lolos and lolas breathing their last breath sprawled on a dirty sidewalk, with only an empty stomach and a tin can to hold on to. Being a lola's girl, I would always have a soft spot for the elderly.

I want to start living a healthy lifestyle. Not that I smoke or drink or do drugs (heck, I'd probably die instanly if I even try a puff). It's just this desire to physically prepare myself for my future family; this want to be prepared and healthy come the time I (we) decide to have kids. And not just that–I have come to realize the importance of health especially in this mega-polluted world. I've been wondering how the Old Testament people came to live until they're more than a hundred years old, heck even 700. I realized that it's most likely because of the absence of DDT and all that kind of pollution we have now. I bet they don't even get colds.

I have to thank this little assignment for making me rethink of living a healthy life (by starting with healthy eating). The operative word here is: organic. By going organic, you not only treat your body to chemical-free food, you also help the environment. And when people actually see you as the living proof of healthy eating, they will, for sure, get into the same habit. And then that's when the demand for organic products would shoot up, which would consequently lower the high prices of organics in the market today. More demand means more supply means affordability. Then we will all be smiling, healthy people. (I just wonder if corruption would be extinguished by organic consumption. I also wonder if I would finally gain weight with organic food. I suppose the latter is more feasible.)

There's also this drive to somehow make something in the music scene. This Francis and I are bent on pushing for. It's been a long time since the band started, and there have been a couple of hellos and goodbyes to new and old members, respectively. Musical differences is often the reason. And since it's been a long while since we started this "crazy" journey, we really do think it's time to push for something bigger, something beyond the now-you-see-it-now-you-don't practices. It's high time to take things to a new level, and God-willing, reach that new level. Perhaps when things are really looking good, everyone in the band would be more than motivated to really commit. So I just hope and pray (and record and write new songs) that we'd really be able to have something that would be worth all our efforts, especially Francis'. The guy has been slaving away lately, running around to have songs copyrighted and tracks recorded. (That's actually what's filling up his bumming around days.)

I want to go back to studying, take up masters in journalism, and feel UP Diliman again. But for me to do that, I have to be in a job that gives me the freedom to do so–a job where I know when I'll be neck-deep in work and when I'll be free to leave early so I can attend to my scholastic pursuits. Apparently, I don't see that happening now. Unless of course editorial suddenly scoops me up from this mire. Hahah!

Oh well, I don't know how to start. There's a lot more I-want-to's running in my little head. But I guess before I even start entertaining them, I have to figure out how to meet my deadlines today. Bummer.