Social Media Or Not

I am a very private person. I guess it is my personality. I was born like it. In addition, I believe the “bringing up” factor counts since my father was a lawyer/agent so we were taught (indirectly) not to be too trusting with the surroundings, with people/strangers. Be more vigilant and careful especially growing up in the Philippines.

I deactivated my Facebook account because I felt it was too much, too social. In fairness, Facebook helps you quickly reach out to anyone since a lot of people are practically using it. Anyway I survived not using it for more than a year now and I felt happier.

Honestly, I was hesitant putting up personal photos here or even my real name. However, I thought that if people want to truly see and feel my messages or my sincerity, there should be honesty. Some personal touch.  So I decided to put my name on it. Added my photo on the profile. On the 8th month of actively blogging, I posted a personal photo. Hooray!

I know that there are advantages and disadvantages of using social media. I am hesitant but at the back of my head I am thinking that if you really want to connect to people, you have to share a part of you (while still being careful, while still protecting your privacy).

I only have WordPress and Instagram to connect to you. I am already happy with these 2. You can add me up if you are using Instagram! khris_79!

Have a great week guys!!!!

Instagram Follower

Observation:

For those of you who are familiar/using Instagram and following famous persons, have you noticed that some followers keep asking questions directed to the famous person they follow? They keep asking and leaving messages even though they never ever get a response. People would usually ask to be followed back.

Thoughts:

People hope to get noticed by the person they admire. It is human nature to long for recognition.  People do not stop trying because they are hopeful. It is fun to be a fan!

Attitude

Good morning!

I just wanted to share this. I got it from daily bible verse, which I follow from Instagram.

Have a good day!

Attitude is a good way to show God to others. Your attitude includes your manners, your outlook on life, your feelings, your ways of behaving, your mind set, etc. When we have a good attitude, it is easier for God to use us and work in us. We can be encouragers and motivators to those around us. But when we have a bad attitude, we can see sin coming in to take over our thoughts, feelings, and outlook on life. Our attitude can help us deal with problems. We can let bad things bring us down or we can let them make us better. We can master our attitude or be controlled by the attitude of others. With Jesus we can renew our attitudes and be a showcase for Him in the world.

Scripture: Philippians 2:14-15, 4:8-9, Proverbs 17:22, Colossians 3:17, Ephesians 4:23

The Family Tree Project

The big portrait on the wall fascinated me. Although I was too young to understand, I was aware that it was a huge tree with branches. I remember there were so many names written on the branches.

When I was little, we used to come to my grandfather’s house. He was the fourth of the five brothers (for which my direct grandfather was the eldest).  When you enter their property, one would always notice a family tree painted on the walls.  I just recall how he gave importance on family ties. He used to host  family reunions in his place. It was a big gathering where a mass was being held for the family, and celebration come after (food & entertainment). I remembered that my siblings and I used to play a lot with our cousins. When grandfather died, I do not remember having reunions at all.

When I came of age, I find myself drawn to family ties. I see the value and significance of blood relations. I believe I was in high school when I started becoming interested in my family tree. I even documented it, wrote about it in my journal. I interviewed a great grandfather and asked all the names I needed to know to build the family tree. I know I have to find that journal that contains information about my ancestors. It was kept back home in the Philippines (it was one of the many). I hope they were not destroyed by the typhoon. I know I have too many other important things I need  to do in my life. Building a family tree is definitely not a necessity or maybe a waste of my time. But I think documenting and sharing it is what my heart wants. For the ones who are to be born yet. My son is naturally interested in it. He asks a lot of questions about family members. He seems to be more like me. I told him it will be my project and I will share it with him.

It maybe good to look where we came from, to acknowledge the past, the family, our roots. To make that spirit alive, spirit of being a family. Pray for healing and pray for hope. We are but many branches coming from the same trunk, originating from the same root. In a global perspective, we are all interconnected, intertwined.

It will be nice if we all continue to value our origins, our families. Like now, I try to reach out for my other cousins, nieces, nephews (the new generation). But it seems different. We are connected through social networking sites only and I see no effort from the younger ones to get to know their families. Don’t you think it would be nice to be connected not  just by social media like Facebook or Instagram? We aim for a connection that has depth, sincerity, and meaningful. Maybe it will be one of my goals for my own branches. I will make sure my branches will forever be united in love and in the spirit of being one. I better start building my family tree project!

Beauty From Above

I dream to travel the world. I am amazed by different cultures, different places, and how people can be different from each other. When I was younger, geography and history were my least favorites. They bored me a little. But now that I have come of age, I definitely appreciate maps, countries, travel, and culture. As of now, I neither have the time nor the means to see the world. So what I do is watch travel shows, refer to books or the website to see different places. I enjoy the shows House Hunters International, Vikings, The Tudors, anything that shows history, geography, culture.

To Travel is really awesome. If you have the time and money, it is such an experience to actually  be in different places, enjoying beautiful landscapes, exploring local food, feeling the place’s breeze, hearing fascinating languages being spoken, walking on the street pavements, and having your photograph with a beautiful scenery in the background. For now, I am happy and contented to travel the world using my sense of sight and my wild imagination! This is seeing life’s beauty up close.

Another perspective that truly astonish me is not just to witness the beauty of life in front of me. I often wonder how it also feels like to appreciate the beauty from above. I am very afraid of heights. For sure, I will never fly up in space or be an astronaut even in my imagination. This is the reason why I follow NASA’s official instagram account. I enjoy their photos of earth, outer space, Universe, and all those celestial objects. They let me have an experience of seeing the beauty of life from above. It is astounding to see wonders and beauty in space. It can be scary too because of the other unknown things out there. I will not be talking about force, gravity, or energy. I know little of these things. But in general, it is just so amazing. There are so many things we do not know yet. As human beings we strive and keep on learning, knowing, and discovering.

I believe the astronomers and astronauts are blessed to have a first hand knowledge and experience of knowing/seeing the beauty of/from space. I often wonder how this experience has changed their views or if it has affected them at all?  So as I was engaging in a conversation in Instagram, I came across an amateur astronaut. I seized the opportunity to ask my inquiries (I will update this article as soon as I get his response). I am excited to know his point of view. He said, “as an amateur astronomer, and one who works with both amateur and professional astronomers for the most part they share a humble understanding of their place in the Universe and are aghast and excited to know what’s out there.”

Down here, from this perspective, everything seems so big. Problems are big. Our country is big. It is a big wide world! But when I just imagine, from up there, we are tiny specs of dust. Being alive is truly amazing. Being here on earth for just a few years is an incredible gift. Compared to billions of years or light years in space. With this in mind, fighting/ war does not make sense.  No sense hurting people in any way. There is no sense to be unhappy. We are all brothers and sisters, we are all human beings. Whether we come from different places, we live differently, we look different, we are all the same. I hope I am making sense. Or am I just too drunk from awe?