Tag Archives: writing

9 Things You Need To Know If You Want To Be A Writer

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Ever since I was a kid, I always try to search for ways how to be a writer. Yes, my favorite subject in class is English and my favorite part of that subject is the after-vacation essay. I always feel giddy when I share through writing how my vacation went. I also loved to join writing contests not to win the prize but to let my stories out. If you’re like me who wanted to pursue writing as a career, here are 9 tips you can consider and follow that dream of yours as a writer.

How to be a Writer: 9 Tips to Think About

1. If you want to be a writer, commute via public transportation every day.

The stories are out on the streets from the woman you helped get inside the crowded train to the guard who greeted you exuberantly with, “Good morning, Ms. Beautiful!” 😀

A whole lot more can happen in a day and every single moment can spark a thought or an idea that may be or may not be related to it. The comforts of your car can’t give you those experiences. Aside from that, you’re too focused on the road while driving you won’t have time to notice everything around you.

2. If you want to be a writer, mingle with people from all walks of life and not only the social circle you grew up with or you happen to spend most of your time with.

Talk to that vendor at the market where you always buy your fresh eggs or the barista at your favorite coffee shop. Your conversation need not take an hour, a few chit chats are enough.

You’ll realize how rich and colorful their stories are. Each story is special. If you can imagine them in your head, they’re like vivid images with so many details and colors of different tones, hues, and gradations.

3. If you want to be a writer, you don’t have to take expensive writing courses so you’ll come up with the most interesting pieces.

The old adage in our Literature classes back in college is a pearl of golden wisdom to uphold, “you write not to impress, but to express.” If you’re also born to be a writer, a “writer’s block” is never a problem and it can’t stop you from coming up with an exquisite write up. Why? Everything around you has a story to tell.

4. If you want to be a writer, always write from your heart.

Always remember that you never have to copy any other writer’s style. Find your niche and when you do find it, embrace it. Only then can you make masterpieces that are genuine, sincere, and reflective of who you are. Every writer is special in the same way that your individuality makes you unique from everyone else.

You can also be versatile by exploring different genres. But at the end of the day, always go back to your niche. I encourage you to write in the language that you’re most comfortable with. If you’re comfortable writing in the vernacular, do so. If it is the lingua franca, use it.

5. If you want to be a writer, always have a thirst for learning.

It is your knowledge bank that makes a writer a writer. Without knowledge, you’ll have nothing to write about. Knowledge need not be highfalutin. It can be as mundane as a cat lying languidly in your balcony basking its furry coat under the sun’s prickly heat. Then “boom,” you now have an article entitled, “When Cats Bathe Under The Sun.” 😉 You gain knowledge from anyone, anywhere, and anything. Knowledge is never limited to books alone.

6. If you want to be a writer, you need to be a wide reader.

My Mom never failed to encourage me to be one when I was a kid. Thus, we were surrounded by books while growing up. She is right. Reading is one avenue for you to gain knowledge. Reading also improves your vocabulary. Having a substantial vocabulary also makes it easier for you to process and express your thoughts and ideas. How? Words just flow freely. You always have the right words for every thought.

7. If you want to be a writer, you need to be observant.

Writers are keen on details. Details can make up or break up your story. If you presented them wrongly, you’ll come up with one sloppy article – not worth reading. Nope, I’m not referring to details in a technical way, but details you see around you. What you see is what your brain will process. What your brain will process is what will come out in your writing.

8. If you want to be a writer, keep on writing.

Never lose your focus. If there is any tinge of truth in the saying, “practice makes perfect,” I tell you, there is. Not just a tinge but a myriad of it.

But never plagiarize just for the sake of having something to write about. A copied thought is still plagiarism. But you can somehow make it your own by infusing it with your interests, past experiences you can associate it with, and your own interpretation of the thought.

9. Lastly, if you’re called to be a writer, trust your God-given ability.

He has a purpose why He showered you with that gift. As a writer, you leave an imprint, a legacy that will not just impact your generation but the next generations who will be reading your articles for as long as dear WordPress is alive and kicking. 😀

Writers don’t just leave a legacy, they’re also the greatest editors of themselves. They subject themselves to consistent improvements and rechecks their articles every day until it is polished free of errors. But no, you can’t always make your writing perfect the first time around.

At the end of the day, keep in mind that if you want to be a writer, always think you are writing for an audience of One and always bring God all the glory. Trust Him, He will never fail you. 🙂

From a Christian writer with all the love she can give,

NewBlogSignature_edited_edited

P.S. (A very long one.) 😀

I very much would love to publish a book, be a published author, and I know I won’t have a hard time achieving that by God’s grace and if it is His will. But my convictions told me that it will defeat my purpose why I am writing if I will publish the book for the sake of making a profit or earning money. If I will make a book out of my faith-based testimonials or anything about God, I will give the book to all my readers for free – the same way that the Bible is free. In the first place, it’s the Bible where I got all the wisdom from the experiences I went through and the reason why I’m writing.

God’s Word is never meant to be exclusive only to those who can purchase your book – it’s meant to be free for all. Always remember to never let money be your sole motivation in using your God-given ability to write. It has to be God and only Him that should be your motivation why you’re writing. Also, God will provide you other ways to finance your writing but never use your writing about God to earn money. If we plan to put God on the pedestal, place Him there without anything latched on to Him – self-glory, money, pride, popularity, etc.

“You shall have no other gods before me.” – Exodus 20:3

If you also want to be a Christian writer, don’t deprive your readers the chance to know God more due to financial constraints. Give them wisdom for free as a way of serving them, as a way of loving others so much you want to give them a source of hope through your writing, as a way of sharing the Word, and as your gift back to God who let you experience salvation for FREE.

“God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” – Ephesians 2:8

This is why I have never monetized this faith-based blog even if there were offers to monetize it. All of my ideas and testimonies are free for all to read and share and it will remain that way for as long as I can write. I refuse to even make this a private domain and pay a monthly fee even if I can because I don’t want money to have anything to do with my faith except for tithes.

I may write a book but I’ll give it for free. It is not the price of your book that matters but what’s in it – the story you want to tell. Your story is meant to be shared with everyone. Just like the Bible, there is no limit to where its wisdom can go. It’s the same with your book. Write a story, share it, then leave a legacy worth following through your articles and your readers when they also pass the wisdom to others. 🙂

Are you an aspiring writer? Are you still in a daze how to become a writer? Or have you been writing for years already? Let me know in the comment box below how you’re pursuing your love for writing. I’d pretty much love to hear your story too. ❤

A Day in the Life of a Writer

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A Day in the Life of a Writer

(Featured image credit: StockSnap)

And so I’m back. ☺ Hi there beloved reader of this post!

As promised, my next article will be about my “remote working feels.” God gave me the grace to have just a few hours to squeeze this in. 

To those who will be reading this for the first time, this is a “sequel article” to my previous articles about remote working, freelancing, telecommuting, and the likes. It was a total career shift for me from the field of education to my first love which is writing. If you will ask me why the shift from being a teacher to a writer, let’s just say classroom management is my waterloo. But I do love teaching. Yet, I love writing more. It was actually one of my prayers to God to give me a career opportunity where I can pursue both my passion for teaching and writing.

The answer? GOD MADE IT POSSIBLE. (Yay!)

How did it happen? I’ll explain later. 😀

This will be my first-hand experience on remote working and if you are already a remote worker like me, maybe you can relate. But if you’re still considering the option to work remotely, this might give you a heads up.

So, how do I go about my day being a writer/remote worker?

1. Start with a routine.

When I wake up, I do my devo first, do household chores, take a bath, then have my breakfast. I sometimes start working on my articles while eating breakfast. Or sometimes, I don’t eat breakfast and start working right away. 

2. Weigh your tasks.

This will mean prioritizing what you are going to do for the day. If I need to do errands on that day, for example, I have to assess if that errand will consume more time. If yes, I would need to finish my pending articles first. But if the errand has a time deadline too i.e. banks, bills payments, etc., then I would prepare everything I needed for the article the night before so I wouldn’t have to cram in finishing it the next day.

3. Create a deadline for yourself.

This is, by far, the most difficult. Because if there’s one challenge that any remote worker faces every day, it would be this – procrastination. So yes, beat yourself to that deadline and practice discipline at all times. Even if that bed looks so comfy and the weather is all gloomy and pretty much a bed weather, never forsake work over comfort. 😉

4. Check your productivity.

This will make it possible for you to keep track of your work’s progress. Always make sure you’re getting towards your goals and not falling behind.

5. Always look for online crash courses which could help you advance your skills in your area of expertise.

Ah yes, this, I totally love. And I just discovered this with LinkedIn. Yup! They offer a “free” trial period of their online courses and I haven’t used mine yet. 😀 Let’s just say I am still waiting for that right online course. 

6. Continue to challenge yourself to do not just the given tasks but be proactive in what else can you do to help in the betterment of your team’s performance.

Let’s admit it. Your team leader and the rest of your teammates are balancing priorities left and right too. So, it’s not just about getting things done but making sure you are also contributing to your team’s progress.

#1 and #2 are interchangeable depending upon your current needs. For example, in my case, I am currently juggling two jobs as a remote worker. Yes, the answer to my prayers. ☺

But before I get on with the how, the when, and the what, I just want to mention that before I finally got what I prayed for, it required me to seek first and foremost God’s wisdom over my plans. Honestly, I went through several job rejections too. I had a hard time balancing my priorities. I also had to give up my master’s degree. And a whole lot more of struggles left and right.

There were also things which I insisted I will do and I so wanted to have for as long as I put my 100% effort and will-power and yet, God closed those doors a thousand times too. So I finally got it that that door is not the one that God intended for me no matter how much effort and sacrifices I make just to have it. This verse reminded me of that:

“Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” – Proverbs 3:6

So I came to those moments of placidity – a moment of idleness. Those moments where I had my “serious” heart-to-heart talk with my Father.

“What do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go?”

Answers did not come as fast as I’d expected. The enemy played a part in it too by deceiving and tempting me with other opportunities. Sometimes the temptation comes in the form of my own motives.

But it’s a good thing the Scripture is around and the Spirit is greater than he who is in this world. So, God won, of course. 😉

You may read another similar article/testimony here in this link: “Is God Wasting My Life?”

I waited patiently. Always keep in mind that when you seek God’s will in your life, it requires patience. Why patience? Because patience is required for you to have faith. And faith is believing in the things that you do not see. If you aren’t “seeing” any outcome and you don’t have patience, your prayers, sad to say, are useless. Because most likely, you’ll easily give up and move on to your next prayer request.

As they say, believe in the power of your prayers, seek for God’s wisdom and His will over your plans, and lastly, be patient. This, I guess, is the formula in making sure in everything you do, you are assured that you are honoring God with everything.

So let’s now proceed to the job opportunities and I will lay them down one by one according to how each one has played a role in my decision-making.

First, I have a high tolerance for traffic congestion, long lines in the jeepney and taxi stands or walking far just to get to work and to get home. For me, they all require will power. As they say, “if there’s a will, then, there’s a way.” Unfortunately, my body can’t keep up. 😦

The first time I tried going back to the corporate world, my first week at work welcomed me with a cough and flu which went on for about several weeks and I had to take antibiotics for a week because it became severe and it just won’t go away. Another thing, I am a possible candidate for breast cancer. Yup, you can read more about that here in this link: https://thejourneymansmoments.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/the-borrowed-life/.

Last Friday, my husband and I went to this mall in Makati’s business district to buy birthday gifts. When we were about to go home, heavy rains poured, and as expected, the traffic jam was a killer. It was also around rush hour so our usual 15-minute travel coming home was extended to an hour and a half. Pretty saddening, right? Oh, and so exhausting too. While inside the jeepney, I was staring at all the corporate employees and all their haggard, tired, and sullen faces and I was praying silently to God for more options to us working and commuting people.

Better options.

I cannot speak for all as we all have our own reasons why we work, why we chose that kind of work as well as our goals and dreams. We’re all different but for me, my decision to be a writer and work remotely certainly falls for only one reason: health.

I am not really the pro-promotion kind of employee as I am aware that promotions are most often equated to heavier responsibilities which require more of your time and more of your effort. It requires you make your career as your #1 priority. However, there are those who were really called to be in higher positions at work. But personally, I do not see myself as one of them. It is not even my main reason why I pursued a master’s degree.

My goal as to why I work is to earn money to provide for our needs and to use the extra money to help those in need also. Now, the latter is part of the reason why I can say that one of my jobs right now answers this. I am a content writer for the Emerging Business team of an e-commerce company. I have never thought about writing business articles or anything related to business.

But I am very eager to learn some business concepts even before I started this job. I have this feeling God is leading me towards this field from opportunities to interests. I cannot see clearly now what His plans are for me in this area, and yet I trust Him that I am right where He wanted me to be. 🙂

I have one guess why it has to be in the field of business. When we say “business,” oftentimes it has something to do with money. Yes, money is the root of all evil, as they say. And yet, it will only be regarded as such if you have the wrong reasons for having it. But if you are using the money to honor, glorify, and expand God’s kingdom, then money, in that sense, cannot be regarded as something evil.

I want to sponsor one or even more scholars in the Real Life Foundation in our church; I want to help send missionaries all over the world; I want to take part in every community outreach/medical mission event; I want to put up my own SpEd school which will cater the needs of Special Education students here in the Philippines; I want to put up a foundation for all the children with special needs who cannot afford to have the therapies; and a whole lot more of other advocacy.

I cannot do all those if I lack in finances. Volunteering, for me, can only do so much. I want to help in a way that I can see these people slowly reach their dreams and see them aim towards better opportunities in life.

The recent killings of juvenile delinquents here in the Philippines are very alarming. If only the spiritual family can reach out to them before another young life becomes a collateral damage again, the better opportunities for these kids to have another chance in life. Poverty is not reason enough why these kids should resort to crime, robbery, and drugs and vice versa. Poverty has an end. Education can be a tool for that – financial education, family planning education, livelihood education, and regular schooling. Faith makes it all happen.

If money is the problem, there are foundations willing to provide scholarships to students as long as students meet a certain criteria and fulfill a set of obligations. Just to mention a few, we have in church the Real Life Foundation. World Vision and Operation Blessing also provide that. These kids don’t actually need a one-time volunteering outreach event. What they need is serious mentoring making sure they’ve been given the right opportunities towards a better life through empowerment.

I am never a fan of spoon-feeding when it comes to succeeding in life in general. Just the way my parents have taught me, it is all about personal effort which consists of persistence, patience, and resilience. And yet faith has taught me too that it is only God who provides EVERYTHING we need and to trust in God alone.

So this, I am guessing, is one of the reasons why I am learning a lot from all my research in business, finances, and entrepreneurship. As much as I hate money when it becomes the root of all evil, I also know I needed it that much to help others. I did tell my husband a few months back that I wanted to take up a business management course. He told me that we are not financially capable for that. So he asked me why. I told him that one day I might have to take over our family business in Bicol along with my other siblings.

My guess again is that this job sort of hit two birds with one stone: I get to do what I love and I get to learn all about business and finances for free from all my research. 

So I did mention that I love teaching. I love literature. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in this field and I have the passion to share knowledge or pass it on to anyone who is willing to learn. The next job opportunity came in the form of an English content specialist for an e-learning platform. This job is project-based and it gives me the opportunity to impart what I learned from the academe to the younger generations and help them achieve their goals as a student through additional learning supplements in the form of lesson plans. Teachers also get to benefit from these lesson plans (calling fellow teachers out there to check it out). 🙂

Now isn’t God amazing? All it took was persistence in prayers, more personal time with Him, more immersion in the Scripture, and complete trust in His leading alongside disappointments, failures, and sacrifices. 

As this verse goes on to say:

“Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established.” – Proverbs 16:3

Those were the good opportunities. The not-so-good ones came, for example, in the form of a teaching opportunity abroad. I am not saying that working abroad is a bad opportunity. But let’s just say that it isn’t for everyone. I, for one, can’t see myself working abroad if my husband will be left here all alone. I will be going against my marriage oath and commitment to God to be with my spouse AT ALL TIMES. The compensation is far greater than what I’d be earning here but I am also thinking about the collateral damages and the consequences.

This now brings us to priorities. As a wife, the mandate from God when it comes to priorities is God first, second is the spouse, third is family, fourth is the career, and last is the ministry. One of my prayers to God during the whole decision-making process is to help me align my priorities right and balance everything making sure each priority is getting its intended attention, time, and effort. The article below is a favorite of mine as it shares how women can both be successful in their careers and their family lives.

Forbes: “Five Ways Working Women Really Can Have It All” by Candice Lu

That is now my current prayer – to be able to balance all my priorities well as a wife, as a content writer, as a content specialist, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a sister-in-Christ, including weighing of tasks and managing of time. I know God has brought me in this certain season for a purpose which includes serving Him and others and though I may have a few doubts and worries, He will lead the way for sure. 🙂

As God has promised:

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11

And as my life verse says:

“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4: 13

P.S.

My special thanks to my family for all the support and to my sisters in Christ for all the prayers. ❤

 

 

Liliw Tsinelas Store: Sole-ly Fit for Your Feet

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“Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.” – Proverbs 16:3

Hi, everyone! 🙂 It’s been a while since I’ve written here (details why will be shared in the next article) and good thing I still have some remaining time (before prepping dinner) to compose a “quick” article.

A brother in Christ/friend of mine and I had this business collaboration and I was more than glad to help and do a review of their products. Well, when it comes to shoes and sandals, no girl can ever resist, right? 😉

Liliw Tsinelas Store

So he asked me to do an OOTD-sort-of-theme for the sandals and all I promised was photos of the shoes and no whole-body shots (except for one). lol Well, I am getting older and let’s just say the fashionista in me has shifted too to more simple outfits peg. Being a remote worker has a say in it too. This will be explained more in my next article. 🙂

Anyway, I’ll keep this short so you can go ahead and read more about what Liliw Tsinelas Store has in store for you by clicking the link below. ❤

http://www.wheninmanila.com/love-local-with-liliw-tsinelas-comfort-and-style-for-an-affordable-price/

Liliw Tsinelas Store

P.S.

Thanks to my awesome hubby for being my photographer and thank you, When in Manila, for the feature in your Fb page! ❤

Liliw Tsinelas Store

Seclusion and Inclusion

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Secluded from the blogosphere, included in the rat race. Hello, readers! 🙂

This may not be the comeback post I am rooting to write about, but it definitely will spearhead the activities that transpired months back – jam-packed.

I normally post “heavier”  and lengthier posts but this will be a divergence from the norm so do allow me to post it short and sweet, uhm, subtle might be the term for it.

Thus, my temporary adieu. 😉

Classics: Of Reading and Writing

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While fixing my stuff, I came across an old textbook of mine we used way back undergraduate days. I browsed through it and while flipping its pages, something caught my eye. It was an excerpt and then I found yet another excerpt from major names in the field of literature. Beautiful essays, they are. I thought I’d share it with you just to have an idea where my passion for reading and writing came from. But in intellectual discussions and conversations, I merely listen. I listen, then I write. 😉

getty_francis_bacon

Engraving of Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, writer, lawyer, and statesman. His philosophy of science concerning the use of inductive reasoning for scientific inquiry had a significant influence on later scientific methods of investigation.

OF STUDIES by Francis Bacon (excerpt)

Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores [Studies pass into and influence manners]. Nay, there is no stone or impediment in the wit but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cymini sectores [splitters of hairs]. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers’ cases. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.

WHAT IS A CLASSIC? by Charles Augustin Saint-Beuve (excerpt)

A true classic, as I should like to hear it defined, is an author who has enriched the human mind, increased its treasure, and caused it to advance a step; who has discovered some moral and not equivocal truth, or revealed some eternal passion in that heart where all seemed known and discovered; who has expressed his thought, observation, or invention, in no matter what form, only provided it be broad and great, refined and sensible, sane and beautiful in itself; who has spoken to all in his own peculiar style, a style which is found to be also that of the whole world, a style new without neologism, new and old, easily contemporary with all time.

This last one was my professor’s paraphrased version of Francis Bacon’s “Of Studies.”  I loved her own style in rewriting it.

Of Studies by Francis Bacon

Studies are for amusement, for showing off one’s education in social institutions and for getting along with skill. For the purpose of amusement, studies are for occupying one’s private, leisure moments. For social situations, studies will allow one to show off how well he can engage in conversations. Studies can also help one make the right decisions, but only within each one’s limited field of expertise. But for more extensive advice and ideas on how to manage in different situations, the advice of the learned may be taken from different readings.

To spend all of one’s time doing nothing but studying is a form of laziness.To display how well-read one is in conversations is a form of pretentiousness or vanity. But to base one’s judgment on what one has learned from reading is all at the same time the sudden whim, the source of excitement and activity and usual habit of a scholar.

The writings of learned men show a way of improving oneself. These writings contain good advice which have been derived from experiences. The natural tendencies and abilities of man may be improved, disciplined or controlled by the knowledge gained from reading. Studies serve as a tool for self-discipline in the same way that pruning makes a plant grow better. Readings in themselves may give too many ideas, directions or advice. But they are to be taken according to how they have been used according to the writer’s experience and according to to how they can be used according to the readers’experiences.

Cunning men look down on what they read. They do not generally put a value on reading. Men of lesser intelligence admire what they read. Readings do not limit their value to teaching how valuable they are or how useful they are. Instead, they teach lessons and even encourage readers to observe and discover truths beyond those contained in the readings themselves.

Do not read only to argue against and disagree with everything that has been read. But do not accept and believe everything that has been read. Do not read for the sake of finding something that can be talked about. Read to understand and consider the value of what was read.

Books are food for the mind – some are to be tasted, meaning, read only its parts; some are to be swallowed, meaning they should be completely read without thinking deeply about their contents; and some books are to be chewed and digested, meaning they should be carefully analyzed, understood and appreciated. Books may sometimes be read through digests, summaries or commentaries prepared by others, but these are good only for less important ideas and works. Not reading a book completely and directly, and relying only on the summaries made by others deprive the reader of the full flavor, full essence and full mental nourishment that can be had from a thorough reading of the work. This can be compared to drinking distilled water, which is purified or strained. It is still essentially water, but all the flavor and mix of mineral elements are missing.

Reading makes a man well-rounded or well-developed. Discussion makes him alert and responsive. Writing makes him an accurate and critical thinker.

Sources:

http://grammar.about.com/od/60essays/a/studiesessay.htm

http://www.bartleby.com/32/202.html

Communication Skills, UP Open University

For The Love of Teaching

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I am a teacher and yet I am also a student. That is, a student of life – I learn from life experiences. Technically though, I am a student.

I was advised to take a penalty course alongside my thesis for overstaying in the university where I am taking my graduate study. We have the privilege to choose which subject are we going to take and I opted Art Education being a lover of arts in all medium – visual, dance, language, music, etc.

We haven’t met our professor yet but when I saw our course syllabus, I smiled and thought, “I like this professor.”  Not that there are professors that I don’t like because honestly, I loved them all even though back in college I had harsh experiences with some of them. I love them for the sake that without them I won’t be where I am now and I won’t be who I am now. I appreciate what they teach may it be in a terrifying or encouraging manner. It doesn’t make any difference at all anyhow – the important thing is I have learned. But if I am to choose though, I’d still want to be a teacher who uses positive reinforcement. 🙂

Going back to Art Education, you might have wondered what made me assume that I am going to like my professor. It is because of this, the one which I encircled in red. It may sound simple enough but we share the same advocacy:

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Amazing our God, isn’t He? He not only gave me the course I wanted, but even more than that. It is always hitting two birds with one stone when God does His ways. I can only hope and pray though that more educators will become like my professor – teaching how to set the limit and the balance in preserving and conserving the natural in the midst of the ever developing modernity through man-made technologies.

I saw myself in my professor. I was given the opportunity 3 years back to teach Grade 3 and 4 pupils in a private school as their sub teacher in English. I have always loved reading and writing even when I was a kid. Why reading? It enhances critical thinking skills and improves vocabulary, creativity, and imagination. Why writing? This is the avenue to use the vocabulary learned while reading so it would be stored up in the memory bank.

I wanted to gauge the students’ English vocabulary so I gave them an activity which will test their visual learning and writing abilities. In a sheet of bond paper, I printed various photos of different kinds. I asked them to write their answers at the back of the bond paper to encourage recycling. They are to write a paragraph of at least 5 sentences wherein they will make a story out of all the photos coming up with one coherent essay. In short, they have to connect each photo with the other to come up with a story line.

I advised that the mode of writing is freestyle meaning they do not have to follow any criteria other than what I have instructed above. I personally love learning outside the box so I am in favor of social and experiential learning wherein learning is not just limited inside the classroom nor textbooks. I tend to miss out a lot of details in the instructions when I was a student so I know how it feels for a student to strictly adhere to teacher’s instructions and guidelines. *wink*

When it was time for the worksheets to be submitted, I couldn’t contain my excitement to read all their works. I was expecting I’d be seeing really fascinating stories knowing that children of today’s generation are more cognitively advanced than the generation my age. My expectations were all met – I found myself laughing out loud with all their brilliant ideas. That is, when you let kids be kids. *smiles*

Most of the kids had fun doing the activity even for those who were kinesthetic learners and opted to add more to the illustrations in relaying their stories or those who preferred to share them verbally just because they learn best when there is physical activity or movement. Now for this latter, this is a challenge since in teaching, there is no “one size fits all”  medium of instruction. Lesson plans and activities have to be prepared and presented in a manner that will meet the needs of most students regardless how diversified they may be and depending upon their learning styles. Not to mention the values and discipline that they have to acquire in class.

This may sound too challenging to a teacher and even more challenging if you are to teach in a public school (my next article). BUT if the passion for teaching is there, the greatest reward is nothing more and nothing else but to impart knowledge. 🙂

P.S.

Sharing some of my former Grade 3 students’ works:

This is the printed photos of the activity.
The output of my student who learns best kinesthetically.
His ideas are well-presented…BUT he couldn’t finish 5 sentences. 🙂

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Angel, Did You?

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FinalFeather

Angel, did you…? 

Did you graze upon our home and left this proof of your presence? 😀

Okay, now this belongs to a bird, a small one, which frequents my little garden at the back of our apartment to get bits of a pot made from coconut husk to build for its nest.

But for angels, it oftentimes occurred to me that they do exist with us except that they are not the ones which we commonly imagine or how angels are portrayed in children’s books – with wings of fluffy feathers as white as snow and with silken, long white robe.

I have read in the book of Revelation  that angels are actually very huge beings which do not take the form of a human. They usually come in a bright light which, I believe, is where the “white figure”  idea of an angel came from.

I know angels can also be spirits and yet there is only one Spirit that lives in all of us – that which is of Jesus Christ, the one He sent to be with us when it was time for Him to physically take leave of this world and be with His Father in Heaven.

But then again, childhood memories are not easy to erase. Though I believe in the Spirit and acknowledge His presence in my life everyday, I will still stick with my bright, feathery angel and this photo I’ve randomly taken will remind me of that. 😉 ❤

“The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” – Psalms 34:7 

P.S.

I don’t have any formal training in photography and I just shoot when I want with what I want on who I want. But I guess you don’t have to travel far and be in grand and new places to enhance your photography skills. Same thing with writing. I was trained to write scholarly and academic papers back in college and even now in my graduate study and the jargon is totally different to that of feature writing like this one which has a very casual tone.

But in life, faith in God and experiences taught me more than the technicalities of photography and writing per se for they taught me more about one thing – appreciation. It was actually my faith followed by my transformation/salvation that brought this blog to life, not to impress readers nor gain followers and likes but to express my thoughts and honor my God.

I was then urged to make the mundane interesting by appreciating what is already in front of me a.k.a. what I can make out of what I already have – God’s love. This is what I call the by-product of “eyes being opened.”

Then, everything becomes worth capturing – they all now have a story to tell. All we have to do is take on the Spirit’s leading in His ways and in His time when to share them. 🙂

Very Inspiring Blogger Award 2014

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Greetings beloved readers and fellow bloggers of WordPress!

Before anything else, I would like to take this moment to extend my warmest gratitude to God and to my fellow blogger/writer Ronovan of Ronovan Writes for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. I am deeply honored and much appreciation goes out to him for choosing me. Having been nominated, I would like to uphold the award’s name by continuing to provide more inspiring stories and articles to all of you. 🙂

I would like to share this opportunity of appreciating fellow bloggers here on WordPress by selecting my nominations for this award as well. But first, here are the rules in accepting this nomination:

  1. Thank and link to the amazing person who nominated you.
  2. List the rules and display the award.
  3. Share seven facts about yourself.
  4. Nominate 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they have been nominated.
  5. Proudly display the award logo on your blog and follow the blogger who nominated you.

veryinspiringblogaward

7 Facts About Myself

1. I prefer to eat cold food and rummage the refrigerator.

2. I always play a particular song in my guitar wherein I only get 30% of its lyrics right.

3. I enjoy long talks whether they may be over the phone or chit chats over coffee.

4. I love rainy days but ironically, I haven’t experienced getting soaked under the rain on purpose.

5. I have occasional bouts of random words that I do not know popping in my head I just have to write them down.

6. I prefer writing articles using a pen and paper when I am not at home than type them in my laptop.

7. My thoughts may come in as fast as they go out I easily forget things, but my faith in God remains constant.

 

15 Nominations for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award 2014

Heart of Life Poetry

Sublime Days

Replicant Core’s – Photoria

The Crazy Bag Lady @ BulanLifestyle.com

Taking A Deep Breath

Laura Macky

Movies of the Soul

Angelart Star

Ajaytao 2010

Story Smitten

Pride in Photos Photography

Eye Will Not Cry

A Spiritual Journey

The Hungry Artist

A Life Moment

 

These are just some of the awesome blogs that inspire me on a holistic sense. There are still lots of other blogs that I’d like to include but I guess I would have to just end this by saying that all the blogs here on WordPress are amazing and unique in their own special ways. This is in fact what makes my blogging experience worthwhile and awesome – versatility. 🙂

Continue blogging my dear blogger friends and inspire one another, one way or the other. Happy blogging, everyone! 🙂

He and I Communicated

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It usually takes me 2 days after I have written an article or even a post like this one to publish it online. Those two days are usually for editing i.e. grammatical errors, sentence construction redo, delivery of ideas, etc. That’s why I have a Word file saved in my laptop where I write my thoughts down or a pen and paper beside me for those impromptu thoughts and ideas. I do a lot of editing and just plain technical editing. But that was before. Now, these two days aren’t just the usual editing, because the editing done comes from God. How and why?

I guess I need to tell you too that being vocal about my thoughts and making a lot of ‘noise’ on social media about my faith brought me to people calling me names such as a hypocrite; banal na aso, santong kabayo; Ms. Goody Two-shoes and a whole lot of other names. (Mind you, I am not offended, I am just amused.) I can go by a lot of nicknames pala. 😀

Nah, kidding aside, there comes a point wherein I do ask God before I post an article or a status update if it is the right thing to “say.” Did I write it too outlandish? Or was it too vulgar? Or did I use the proper words that were meant to be understood and not meant to ruin someone else? Do I sound too prying or too imposing? Did I share those words/thoughts in a manner that You wanted me to share it? Am I making the message across just right when it comes to faith and God? Or I’ll just deactivate my Facebook account, or I’ll just delete my blog site, or just do it altogether?

Of course, no matter how tempting deactivating is to me, which I actually did a hundred of times already way back when I wasn’t a Christian yet, it was one of my commitments to never do it again when I got saved. I just felt that I should not. Not again. Not anymore.

Because I love writing.

I love expressing my thoughts through words.  Not verbal, not in front of a crowd, but with a pencil and paper or in front of a computer screen.  I hate public speaking, I am not good at it. I stutter, my thoughts get lost as fast as it comes. My spoken words are all a jumble.

So yes, I have been praying over a lot of my posts lately here on social media. I have prayed earnestly up to the point that I asked God to talk to me in my dream, tell me directly what He would want me to do with my love for writing and is there a way that I could have done it better. I asked Him not to give signs and let me do the guessing if it is from Him or not. I fell for that trap when the enemy used it to his own advantage.

I woke up the next day, did my daily routine and opened my Twitter account. Guess what I read in my news feed?

This:

“Don’t give up on what God has called you to do. The end result is worth the pain.”

God's Daughters

God’s Daughters

To think that I wasn’t even a follower yet of this profile (upon reading the post). So I thought, “how did it get in my news feed and how come it is the only thing I saw in my Twitter page?”

I have no idea.

Read it again, this time in the profile of God’s Daughters. Okay, I got it. It is the answer to my prayer – timely, accurate, and concise. All I could blurt out was: Hallelujah! I will always be Your follower may it be on Twitter or everywhere. Now happy to serve You. 😉

My First: A Sweet One

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Happy 1st Year Anniversary!

Happy 1st Year Anniversary!

Oh, how sweet it is to turn one! 😉

Do celebrate with me my first year anniversary on blogging and sharing. 🙂

My warmest “THANK YOU” to WordPress and of course, to you, my beloved readers and the wonderful community of bloggers here at WP. It is all because of you that’s why I am here and I am having this priceless moment.

Share the passion, share the love. Keep on blogging folks!

With much love and gratitude,

Chin Ginete