Connecting with People

Okay, so the new semester has officially started and I haven't so much as written a single sentence update for this blog. I'm actually sitting here at the office waiting for my next class. I usually only have a week-long break in between the first semester and the second semester of the school year. Normally, I spend the week resting at home, reading and preparing or updating my notes for the next semester. This year, though, I decided to go to Manila for the break. Well, I actually had to get some documents from UP anyway, so the decision to go was easy enough.

I spent one whole week in Manila. I got to see the UP Campus again and the moment I got there, I realized how much I've missed the place. Actually, the moment I stepped on Manila soil, I realized that I actually missed the place. I guess I'm just a little too busy to notice that I've actually been missing the place all this time. It was nice to see the place that served as my home for almost six years in my not so distant past. But, more than anything, it's actually my Manila-based friends and aunt that I missed. And, okay, the food. Hehehe:)

I got to meet with some of my friends while I was there and I got to meet up for the first time with a bunch of great people with whom I share significant things in common. It feels wonderful to meet people we could identify with as kindred spirits. It's always reassuring to know that we are not alone in our struggles. The instant connection, just amazing! I guess I can say that my trip to Manila was about human connection. My connection to the old and the new. Both equally meaningful, interesting and promising. I just love how special people in our lives, especially our friends, make the world such a beautiful place, or more bearable during desperate moments.


I have always known how important the role of other people is in each of our lives. The wise man, John Donne, once said: "No man is an island." I had not felt the truth in that statement more than I've just recently had. Sometimes, we feel like we can handle things on our own or it'd be best for everyone if we kept all our feelings, frustrations and issues to ourselves. True, that may work for some time. It did for me. It suited me perfectly. Keeping to myself. But, being lucky enough to have the best circles (there are indeed quite a number of circles) of friends I have always had, the kind of friends who would tell you what you need to hear even if at times it's not what you necessarily want to hear, and being blessed to meet a new group, a very welcome addition to the circles, that would help me understand and see things more clearly, I have realized that, true enough, we need other people to deal with life's tests as well as celebrate life's triumphs. That's what friends are for. That's the role we play in one another's lives.

I love my friends so much. Old and new. They make my world more colorful and rounder than it already is. As I'm writing this, an huge smile is plastered on my face thewhole time that if you see me you'd think I've lost my mind. Hehehe:)

I'm writing this for everyone of you, who are so dear to me. You know who you are. Thank you so much. You, people, make my day. Every single day. :)