finding your FLOW

i found something really interesting and refreshing in my mail today. it's from Bo Sanchez' newsletter and it's a short article about finding your FLOW. In my understanding, to be in the flow is to be caught up doing something you enjoy so much that you lose track of time. in short it's about being focused about something you enjoy doing. To help, he used an illustration by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (challenging name, i know) which perfectly describes where we could find our flow. I also found it helpful and reassuring with regards to where i stand in my job right now. haha  

applying it to the workplace, i could say that i'm standing (more like weeping) on the ANXIETY quadrant. work challenges are high and i could pretty much say that my skills are on the low level yet. and it's true! i've always ranted about how my job here is eating me alive. haha then again, if i may suggest adding a new factor to the illustration, given TIME, i believe that ANXIETY can be transformed to FLOW. and that's what i'm very very hopeful of. 

here i realized that, just because i'm facing a hard time at work because of my technical incompetencies means i should look for another job or pursue art and design and blah where i'm sure i will get my flow. God blessed me with a degree in computer science and i believe he wants me to learn further. if i'm leaving this job, i want to leave it fulfilled, knowing that i left as an asset and not someone lost who just wandered around and now wants to move elsewhere because she couldn't find her mojo. 

thank you for this wonderful message, Lord! 

i think this day is going to be cool. haha >XD

come on, money!

there's something bothering me about my life right now. yun o. naks. haha. a lot of my time is lost commuting to work and back home! if i were to sum them up, that's approximately 4-5 hours spent collectively outside. mind you, that's a lot of time! i could've used that to exercise or sleep early but obviously that's just an excuse cos even if i worked nearby i'll hardly get myself to do those still. hahaha

anyway, my sister told me that it usually takes 2-3 years for someone to master a certain skill. applying that to the work place, that means i still have hope. yehey! that's a really really big breather for me. remember how i was always complaining about feeling useless and dumb most of the time at work? LOL. maybe i just need time! yes! hay buhay. ang tagal ng 2 years! 9 months to go before i ask myself (again!) if still want to stay. ang laking factor talaga nung malapit ka lang sa bahay. huhu all this pollution is killing me. lol

anyway, since malapit na ang sweldo (containing part 2 of our 13th month pay + some OT pay hihi), it's high time for another wishlist! di ko naman bibilhin lahat to on swelday but hmmm we'll get to that someday!

1. Lenovo S720 (~Php 10000)

lol what i liked about this phone upon first glance is the presence of MOST of the physical features i needed in a phone, mainly: LED flash and dedicated camera key. talo nga lang ako sa size cos it's too big for my hands haha pero keri lang. i do hope it gets a jellybean update though! >XD i also love how it looks almost like the the HTC One haha.

http://pinterest.com/pin/459859811921768855/

2. office desk (~Php 2000-5000)

i want a really simple desk for my room. preferrably glass topped and rectangular. without any drawers. pretty much like this!

http://pinterest.com/pin/16888567325798266/

3. mobile pedestal (~Php 3500)

i like the one i have in the office HAHA parang ganto

http://pinterest.com/pin/538109855446990438/

4. office chair (~Php 1400-6000)

i would love something like this. yung pwede mag indian sit haha. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/132785888986661050/

as you can see, i want a new office system in my room. hahaha i badly want to clean up na rin cos i have lot of stuff that's only accumulating dust, and you know i'm allergic to dust. hayy thinking of selling most of my books na rin, they're not a lot, but they're really good titles. HAHA i was thinking of moving entirely to the digital format, as in pdf na lang lahat para handy! when i get that 4.5 inch phone naman i think i can bear with the size. LOOOOOL RepliGo PDF Reader is the way to go.

5. new NIV Bible (~Php 1000)

yung expensive at red leather/leatherette yung cover. ANG ARTE! pero seryoso, kelangan raw mahal para basahin mo talaga araw araw eh. sabi nga ng isang post, "the bible is bread, to be taken daily. not cake, to be taken occasionally." word.

Man of Steel from Schick and Wacoal

super duper late post! anyway, i just want to thank, yet again Nuffnang Philippines for my nth free movie! they held 2 contests for man of steel, one from Wacoal and the other one from Schick! i'm blessed to have won in both screenings, resulting to me watching it twice in a week, both with jeckie!

the movie was really action packed specially towards the end where there's so much of the earth breaking haha. there were times i didn't understand the pacing and cinematography but i believe it's typical zack snyder style, so yeah. what i appreciated most with this movie aside from the action is that it reveals how clark kent struggled growing up as a human. he always knew he was different and stronger than most, so it's highly admirable that he grew up as a good person, forever patient with the humans' insensitivity/idiocy/whatever. thanks a whole bunch to the couple who fostered him. i also liked how, at the end (you don't mind spoilers now do you?), he chose to save the earth over reviving his planet. that is just so Christlike, or so they say. >XD

Wacoal Screening!

anyway, the wacoal screening was set at Newport Mall, Resorts World on its premiere night. that's july 12, independence day! i spotted a lot of celebrities like liz uy, rica peralejo, patty laurel, etc. i think i also saw sir abe olandres somewhere. lol i'm not sure!

anyway, on top of the wacoal freebies they gave all of us (900 worth of online vouchers!), i also won additional 1,000 worth of wacoal merchandise from their twitter raffle! yeheyy!

it's a cool thing that wacoal hq is (almost) just across our office at makati so right at the deadline, i used my vouchers and purchased two sports bras! yeyyy! that's actually that cheapest bra they have there haha but still perfectttt hihi >XD

Schick Screening!

this one was set the coming friday at shangri-la mall. the really cool thing about this night was the freebies.

the perfect father's day gift! a paperbag full of schick goodies! you bet, pang-ahettt! >XD sandamakmak mga 10++? i lost count hahaha may shaving cream pa haha

there you go! nights full of fun and freebies! >XD thank you Lord!

Manila Bulletin Sketchfest 2013

happened July 15, 2013 @ Ayala Triangle, Makati

i was so excited when i first heard of it! but when i came there with chii and jeckie, nalula ako. cartolina pala ang canvas. that's just so big. and there weren't enough seats/tables for everyone so most of the contestants just sat on the ground and drew there. very very uncomfortable. argh. i thought the event was BIG but honestly, i didn't quite feel the hugeness of it considering that Manila Bulletin is hosting it along with a mean bunch of media partners. hay.

jeckie and chii

the freebies also didn't feel like freebies at all. maped pencil/eraser, heaps of magazines (back issues), and a copy of manila bulletin for that day. aside from the maped pencil/eraser which i found really cool, i felt the rest was just given for disposal. no offense meant. i just think everything in the contest required so much from the artists that i believe everyone should at least be amply rewarded. it was a bit disappointing on that note. >:)

i have no qualms about the prizes though, they were awesome. yeah.

anyway, since i gave up on the size (stupid me for not realizing that beforehand), i just took most of the time looking around and taking pictures of others doing their works. there may be only a few who joined the contest but most of them are really really frkn good! hehe if you feel like you belong in this so-called album of few, please comment below so i could give due credit.

also, i picked just the ones i thought looked awesome . >;)

winners from the previous years:

3rd Place - Mark Joseph Mabuna
Sketchfest 2012
Senior Category

2nd Place - Erwin Mallari
Sketchfest 2012
Senior Category

1st Place - Emmanuel Robles
Sketchfest 2012
Senior Category

3rd Place - Justen Paul Tolentino
Sketchfest 2011
Junior Category

awesome artists at work!

thanks for scrolling! saw yourself? just comment below! >:D

Titus Pens iDoodle Contest 2013

happened July 1, 2013 at SM Marikina Cyberzone

i've been meaning to blog about this awesome event but i never had the time haha. at least ngayon meron na! thanks to SONA, i had to take the day off because of the terrible traffic. thankfully, it's a good time to finally catch up with my pending blog posts! yeyy!!

so i learned about this doodle contest via my friend's mailing list. i took jeckie with me to the contest, and together we went on a cool adventure to SM Marikina. lol. it was a short trip, we used the LRT at Gateway, Cubao. and well, hanep lang! elibs na elibs kami sa LRT dun! ang ganda! being regular MRT passengers, riding this LRT for the first time was very refreshing.

cool looking station haha

 

it was so spacious inside the train. tingnan nyo naman! haaayyy when will MRT be like this? >XD

anyway, on to the event! there were so many artists who came, most of them looking like students hehe. honestly it was a bit cramped, it was hard trying to move around. the seats are so packed together because of the volume of the people who came.

nevertheless, i enjoyed it! 3 hours of nonstop doodling using their awesome oil-gel ball point pens and i was able to come up with this! and i insist on the many shots. haha

i didn't win but it was such an amazing experience. it's kindof the first ever art contest i joined outside of school (if i remember correctly), and i had no regrets. plus, i discovered that the pens they provided were so freaking awesome. believe me when i say this, i have a knack for pens and Titus fine oil-gel ballpens are the greatest if you're into ballpen art. just look at the quality! the colors are all sharp and vibrant and it's so different from the typical panda ballpens. you can trace a pencil line art with em and the ink won't run. how awesome is that. it's the type of ballpen that will make you want to reaaaaally draw your balls out. >XD

oh, before i forget, the grand winner! >XD

by Marvin Bandoles
taken from https://www.facebook.com/doodleartenthusiasts

congrats! those are frkn crazy details! amazing! >XO the other winners really kicked major ass as well. it was very inspiring having to see so much talent in one place!

yeheyy! happy that i took home lots of these!

thank you Titus Pens, for this wonderful experience! for the free shirt, name tag, pencil, eraser, envelope, folder, and of course the glorious pens! >XD