Let's be metamorphic

Definition from: Dictionary.com

Recently, my country has just crossed paths with the meanest and strongest typhoon ever formed this year inciting an unfathomable wreckage upon thousands of people. The aftermath brought about by typhoon Haiyan sent the media into frenzy, filling the news and the internet with so many horrific details reporting about thousands of dead people and houses and infrastructures wrestled down by the storm. Not to mention their irking issues about the government being indirectly labelled as slowpokes by the public and Korina Sanchez lambasting Anderson Cooper with the words, "doesn't know where he speaks of".

It's been a couple of weeks since the storm hit the Philippines and I could use some good news right about now because I swear, if I see another dead body lying on a pile of debris or hear another word from a fellow berating the government again then I would need to break something, either a vase or my irritating neighbor's face. 

On the serious note, thank heavens because slowly, people from the affected areas are starting to receive a great amount of help not only from their fellow Filipinos but from people all over the world. I would personally like to send my deepest gratitude to those who helped and prayed for the fast rebuilding and recovery of the victims of the typhoon. You guys are indeed appreciated. 

Let's jump to the main point of this article. This afternoon I was looking for ideas on what to write on my next blog post then I came across a commentary written by Ninotchka Roska. She's known as a journalist and a literary writer. She's an activist and fights for the rights of women. 

I was amazed by her commentary, not only because it was different, but because it was awakening, well at least that's how I found it. I was stuck in the cycle of belief telling myself that we, Filipinos are very resilient which is true, there's no doubt about that. We can take anything that life hits us, whether a big punch from an economic downfall, loss, or even a typhoon. Sometimes I think we're so resilient, we don't just endure any hardship, we welcome them.

We really are resilient, aren't we? 

According to Ninotchka's commentary(Click here for her full commentary), we are not. 

There are times when we bend but there are other times in our lives when we simply ought to break. When I lost my grandmother who took care of me when I was a kid, I broke and it broke me more when I failed to attend her funeral. When I lost an essay writing competition, I couldn't bend myself after losing, I simply broke. Then I realized, I am not resilient as I thought I was. The most important thing I realized is, breaking is not so bad after all because I realized that I can always put myself back together. The best part of breaking is the next time you see yourself, you're a stronger and wiser person.

As defined by Dictionary.com, being resilient means the ability of something to return to its original form; being able to spring back. Is that all we do? We only spring back? We desperately hanker for the light at the end of the tunnel, only to retain who we once were? If you're answer is no then Ninotchka is right when she said in her commentary that we are metamorphic and not resilient.

What does she mean by metamorphic? 

After going through a tough time, we break our former selves and transform into someone stronger and wiser and I think that's what the victims of typhoon Haiyan has become. I am sure that all of them has broken down after the typhoon hit the country but now that rainbows are beginning to appear ( I also mean this literally because there are reported appearances of rainbows in certain affected areas), gradually, they are restructuring their lives while getting ready to face the world once again with a stronger personality and a wiser mind. 

I think it's about time for us to look at ourselves differently. Whether we're a victim of a typhoon or the usual road blocks we come across in our personal lives, it's going to help to keep reminding ourselves that we're more than resilient. We're not superheroes for crying out loud. We get hurt and we break down but we rise from the challenge, we fight, and we succeed in the end and I believe that's more than resiliency. I completely agree with Ninotchka. We learn from the hardships that we go through, we grow and become stronger individuals.

Lessons learned from movies

Yesterday was the last day of my school break and I ought to spend that last day with a blast. When I say blast, I meant watching movies the entire day while munching a toasted tuna sandwich with an ice-cold bottle of coke. Nothing fancy, just a modest way of bidding goodbye to what appeared to me as an endless round of do-nothing days. 

After a few minutes of scouring the internet, I found three movies that I decided to give a try and they were Step-Up Revolution, Internship, and Exam. All of these movies gave me everything that I look for in a movie. Step-Up gave me the chills and the excitement. Internship gave me a good laugh, and Exam sent me a good amount of thrill. My Dad thinks that movies are simply persuasive tools to fool people in spending big bucks for a two-hour long entertainment. 

That's a pessimistic way of looking at the works of the entertainment industry but for some reason, I agree. However, I am an optimistic guy and I always put the bright side of things first before anything else and as much as possible, never include any sort of negativity. Some movies might make you want to request for a refund and some movies just make you want to spend more just to watch it again. In other words, there are good movies and there are bad movies and the ones I mentioned just awhile ago are definitely good ones. You see, these movies not only give you the entertainment you want, it stirs up your emotions and inspires to do something. Some movies also have a way of reminding you of life lessons that you may have forgotten.

Step-Up Revolution

Photo from: gnmforum.blogspot.com

As we all know, it's a movie about dance. One good thing about this movie that I just realized yesterday is that it made me want to be a dancer. That's how talented those Step-Up people are! I don't want to make dancing as my career and never did that cross my mind but the way they bust those moves just made me want to be like them. I was amazed by how they twist, turn, and make their bodies move to the beat. It's just nothing but a complete display of sheer magnificence. I know, me wanting to be a dancer was ridiculous. I know that I was stuck at awe after watching the movie and that my emotions were probably rusting my decision making skills. Nevertheless, no worries people, I am fine and I am thinking straight now. 

At the end of the day, the movie taught me that if you have a talent, not just use it for the sake of using it. Use it for good. If you're trying to fight for what's right and you can't go out there and talk to people about it and you know that you have a talent you can use to make people understand your point then use your talent. Don't let it go to waste. There's a reason for having that talent so put it to good use. 

Internship

Photo from: rockstarenergy.com

I had the perfect timing in deciding to watch this movie. I heard this movie before but I never really got interested but a couple of days ago, I did give it a try and I have no regrets. It's a perfect movie to watch because I recently applied for an internship. I have no idea how things are going to work out in the company I applied for but this movie, as cheesy as it may sound but it's true, boosted my confidence. 

The problem about me sometimes is that I get scared about what I can't do. Sometimes, I focus my attention on the things that I can't do and make myself feel worse by comparing my skills with other people. I realized that it's not a healthy thing to do. I didn't know that I was already bruising my soul and my confidence. I'm still trying to work on that problem but after being through a lot of stuff, I can say that I am more confident now and that I spend more time praising myself instead of making myself feel bad by pointing out the things I can't do.

This movie taught me that hard work can make you go somewhere. With hard work, not only can you do something new, you can even be better at it. Things come and go, we meet friends and eventually we bid goodbye to some of them some day, we lose the one job that serves as our only source of income, a lot of  unwanted situations that we wish we can avoid but we know to ourselves that there's nothing we can do to avoid these downers. We have to suck it up and push forward.

Exam

Photo from: moviesonline.ca

This movie's a thriller and it has something to do with standing out from the competition while maintaining your compassion with others. The movie revolves around eight job applicants and they were sent to a seemingly isolated room for their final exam which will determine who will get the job offer. The mystery began when they flipped their examination paper and found no questions in it. I'll stop there. You might want to check the movie out and see how it goes.

The movie doesn't showcase a bag filled with violence, blood, and gore and that's why I liked it. I'm sick of those movies with crappy plots and are filled with stabbing, cutting, and decapitating scenes. After seeing this movie, I realized that it's important to acknowledge competition because that's when you develop your strategy to succeed but your strategy should have a borderline. If you get the opportunity to help a fellow competitor, do it, do it not for the sake of doing it, do it because you know it's the right thing to do.