Ramblings from My Soul

October is a rainy month in the Philippines. If being drenched in the rain or getting one's shoes soaked wet are the woes of commuters, car owners complain of the frequent need to wash their vehicles. I can relate to this at a practical level. But on an emotional level, I feel quite differently. You can call me crazy but I truly feel that washing the car is therapeutic. Okay, I admit that at first it wasn't like that. I used to think that it was such a tedious task. I would make up all possible excuses that I could come up with just so I could delay or escape the task of cleaning the car. But for the past few years, I have seen this chore in a different yet interesting way. I love washing the car most when I'm not in a hurry. This is usually on Sundays when I take time in enjoying the sound of the water coming out from the faucet and filling up the pail, the squishing sound of the sponge as I make a lather, the somewhat hypnotic and relaxing effect of t...

I was born to teach. I didn't go out of my mother's womb grasping a ch alk in one hand and unfurling a lesson plan in the other. I could only imagine how many doctors or nurses in the delivery room would have shrieked or fainted. It wasn't like that. In fact, my birth into this calling to teach was slow and a bit later than my actual biological birth. It started with an assigned special report by my grade school science teacher. Being the eager and competitive student that I used to be, I volunteered for this one. If you haven't notic ed, the previous statement is actually a euphemism for being a nerd. Anyway, my task was to find out how electricity is generated by electricity providers and provided to the houses of consumers. This took a little research, a visit to the local electric company, and an hour or two to rehearse my report. Presentation day came. And although I practiced to make it the best report my science teacher had ever witnessed, something...