REAL TALK: Artist Problems

I have this weird habit of like in mid-conversation, I suddenly get an "article idea" or I reflect on a quote I just heard or I suddenly imagine how my next painting would look like. Then in my mind, I start unconsciously zoning-out from my friends' conversations to process the idea in my head, and then when I come back, I'm like scratching my head like "I have no idea what you guys are talking about now."

And they roll their eyes and go "Oh, she's doing it again."

Sorry :>

MILESTONE: Happy 1st Career Anniversary

I love meeting celebrities—who doesn't? The thrill that comes along with talking to celebrities and successful businessmen, sitting down and getting to know more about them on a personal level is something that each writer like me looks forward to. It is as if you are privy and very much welcome to know who they really are as normal human beings before they transform into those glamorously perfect and unreachable gods and goddesses on television.

I am and I have always been a creature of CURIOSITY—so innate that it keeps me hungry for mysterious things—like unread books, roads that are less taken and most of all, people that have stories to tell—and that is—everyone.

Growing up in a very sheltered and safe environment (Christian family, Christian school, missionary lifestyle, all-girls college) has altogether kept me naïve, gullible and seemingly clueless about the real world for sooooooooooooo long—UNTIL I unexpectedly  got myself into a high-fashion publishing company as a writer—which position was like a golden key to enter a world that is so glamorous but so messed up, a world where all those glitters, embellishments, spotlights, studio lights, camera flashes that can be so pleasant to the eye, but can be dangerous enough to blind me, a world the people I thought only lived inside our living room’s television sets were the same people I now rub arms with, talk to, make friends with and hang out on restaurants, cafes and even lounge with inside their own homes—it could get overwhelming—so overwhelming, that I always find myself in a state of shock.

But for every dream, there will be nightmares—things that keep me from floating in cloud nine, things that remind me that this glamorous world is also full of dug pits, traps, set-ups and dark wicked schemes altogether awaiting for me to make a single wrong move, just so they can finally attack.

Nevertheless who’s to fear all those when I know that it was God Himself Who has brought me here? In my first year of being exposed to the so-called “showbiz,” I discovered a very important lesson.  And that is…THOSE WHO HUNGER FOR GOD’S WORD ARE NOT ONLY THOSE WHO HUNGER FOR FOOD. I think we should break the common connotation that “missionaries” are only meant for the field of the poor, the oppressed and the less-prioritized. God also needs missionaries that can go out and share His Word in the world of the rich, the glorified and the highly-prioritized—the modern-day Babylon, as what I always like to call it.

Because I have seen that even the people in the highest places can feel lost and searching—they feel like they lack something in life but they never know what it is exactly. They achieve everything, every acting award, every endorsement and they own so many riches in the world—but as what they tell me, they can never be fully happy. Whenever I ask these people about what they still want in life, being that they have everything, they usually answer me with “Parang never pa ako nakukuntento sa buhay. Parang may malaking void pa sa life ko na di pa nafi-fill eh. Pero di ko alam kung ano yun, gets mo?”

And yes, I get it—and now I do understand exactly why God placed me here. 

Photo (c) Jessica Murphy

REAL TALK: Daydream

I USED TO DAYDREAM A LOT ABOUT GROWING UP. Because I thought, that maybe when I grow up, there wouldn't be mean kids to pick on me and laugh at my flaws anymore, and that I wouldn't have to walk the halls with my head down again. I thought that meanness only existed in childhood. I thought that if I strive to be the best version of myself—if I study real hard in college and eventually get a great career, I’d never ever face bullies again.

But now that I've grown, I learned we all can never outgrow meanness—that no matter how old you are, no matter how successful you can be, no matter where you are in the corporate ladder or no matter how many people you have helped or inspired, there will always always ALWAYS be people out there who’ll make you feel small with their biiig faaat unsolicited opinions—people who’ll make you feel like you don’t deserve to be where you are, people who’ll criticize you not for your improvement, but only to make you want to quit. They’re the ones who don’t really have anything to do with you—they’re not your boss, not your colleagues, not even your readers/followers or even your friends at least, but somehow it seems like their role and goal in life is to just hate on you.

Well lately, I've been meeting those kinds of people myself. And I know that somewhere along the way, I’ll be seeing them again and I’ll be hearing from them again.

Now I try to understand that it’s not in my job description to please them. I finally learned that we can never control meanness, there will always be that, but we can always choose the way we treat the people around us. I hope you use your choice very wisely and I hope that when you grow up and meet more of life’s bullies, you’ll remember that THE ONLY THING THAT HATERS CAN DO TO YOU IS MOTIVATE YOU TO BECOME BETTER.

WRITER DIARIES: Young. Wild. Free. And still employed!

I'm finally crossing off a few things in my bucket list as I am set to finally have my wildest dreams come to life—to try traveling alone (ONLY meaning away from my family, friends and all familiar faces) and to explore the world out of my own comforts of having a Dad or someone to take care of all the logistics, accommodation, hotels to sleep in, tours to go to, meals and all the souvenir shopping—now, I'll just jump in and see where it'll take me. Whew!

I think that I've come into a point in my life of early-twenties where I want to feel young and wild and free. I just feel like I finally want to be more adventurous (read: responsibly) and be open to new things—so new that it would be life-changing (but only for the better). There's something about traveling alone that feels liberating, as you for a while leave the usual daily grind/cycle/routine behind you and clash with the unfamiliar, the mysterious and the different.

BUT with a fast-paced editorial career that demands most of me (in the name of DEADLINES), never did it crossed my mind that one day our CEO would simply approach me with a smile and tell me that I was just assigned to do a coverage in a luxurious Asian cruise with stopovers in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and more—ALL in a week’s time!

"WAIT WHAT?!" I thought. I almost quit my job by giving in to wanderlust—and now my job is...TO TRAVEL.....(—in a cruise—that'll take me to every corner of the whole Asia—for free—with extra travel allowance—and a salary because it's still "work") I'd faint.

I remember praying to God early this year about my deepest longings for a great life adventure. But that prayer was like a prayer I thought God would put in a time capsule and answer it in years’ time. (Like what we think He always does)

I remember praying for God to expand my territory—which I thought He had already answered by giving me all the three TV stations (ABS-CBN, GMA and TV5)—but surprisingly, He really meant MORE for me. He was willing to give me more than TV stations, He meant giving me nations.

It feels like whenever I pray, God would answer me with a wide open Heaven that He just gives me MOOOOOOOOOOORE than what I asked in His SOONEST response. His love is just so captivating.

OH GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS IN MY LIFE, GOD! Global domination for His Glory!!

#LiveToLeaveALegacy

PHOTOSHOOT: #NoFilterBeauty and HANA Shampoo

MEGA dares women who best personify natural beauty to empower themselves by showing off their most natural un-filtered beauty, as a support for Hana's nationwide digital campaign #NoFilterBeauty.

The Japanese beauty brand Shokubutsu offers women HANA Shampoo which uses 100% all-natural ingredients that goes beyond quick fixes through sustainable solutions and long-lasting effects to bring your hair back to its natural state--the way nature intended it to be. As HANA's brand manager Norman Mier puts it "We want to showcase hair in its natural glory."

Focus on what makes you naturally beautiful, without the retouching, studio lights, heavy makeup, and most especially. the digital tweaking, and just dare to go out in your most natural look! 

Real beauty is effortless. It's not about transforming into the look that isn't you, but rather real beauty is all about how you take good care of your well-being--just the way HANA takes good care of my hair.  #NoFilterBeauty #HanaShampoo

Photos (c) Jessica Murphy

REAL TALK: The Words I Regret

WORDS build bridges from one place to another and cut-through places that we cannot.

WORDS can turn hopelessness into hopefulness, just as it can also turn hopefulness into hopelessness.

WORDS can break someone into a million pieces, just as it can also put them back together.

WORDS. So crucial. So fragile, yet so powerful, that most of us start to cringe and hesitate, for fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong timing. 

But lately, what scares me more that that is letting one moment pass without saying anything.

Because sometimes the words that haunt me the most, aside from the careless words I've said, are also THE WORDS I DIDN'T SAY—the words my heart wanted to scream out loud, but my mouth just kept shut. 

I'VE REGRETTED NOT SAYING 
"I love you"

WRITER DIARIES: Anatomy of the #Selfie Culture-What is Selfish and What is Not

If you were born between 1970 to 2003, then you surely have found yourself breathing the same air and walking alongside people of the so-called "#Selfie Generation"--that you are inevitably much a part of, whether you like it or not.

With the rise of the virtual dimension and of the #selfie phenomenon, it is undeniable that we have given "me, myself & I" a whole new meaning. Mark Zuckerburg's addicting invention of an online social platform has brought about the flooding of self-taken pictures (that annoyingly look all the same) and is responsible for the unstoppable overflowing unsolicited information regarding everyone's whereabouts and where-have-been-abouts up to what they are doing, what they had for lunch, where they're going....and! ehem, who are they fighting with.

What a perfect way to define