I've seen a lot of people posting year-in reviews on their social media accounts. Facebook even bothered to pick my 20 biggest moments in 2013 for me. I found that most of them weren't really the highlights of my life since FB's way of selecting those "biggest moments" was based only on the number of likes or the virality of my posts.
I've learned and experienced a lot in the past year, gained new wisdom too. I think, more than anyone else, I know myself a lot better, and I feel like I should be personally picking what I feel are the most significant events in my life -- not Facebook or not some app.
As we all face the New Year and say goodbye to my year, the Year of the Snake, join me in reminiscing my greatest experiences in 2-0-1-3!
Number 1: Coming back to the Philippines
There are two primary reasons why I came back to my home country. My first reason was all thanks to the Department of Tourism's famous social media campaign It's More Fun in the Philippines. After getting to watch a lot of videos and seeing my friends post many photos of the places they've been to, I started missing the country so much and decided that I want to travel to its beautiful towns and cities. Almost all of my savings went to my travel (and shopping) expenses and I could have bought a new car with the money, but I wouldn't trade the wonderful experiences I had back home with anything in the world.
My second reason was to explore other career options. I felt like there was sort of a dry spell in job opportunities in the media industry in Canada after I graduated, and I wanted to try if I can get more experiences back home. And I did.
Being able to travel and work a job I like allowed me to regain my confidence and positivity. I also lost all the anxiety I felt after graduation caused by excessive thinking about my career and the future.
Number 2: Reuniting with my lola (grandma) and good ol' friends
Homecoming isn't just special because you are going back to a familiar place. It's also very special because, once you're home, you'll get to see familiar faces again; faces of people whom you love dearly and bring warmth to your heart.
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| with my 94-year-old lola |
Number 3: Getting to spend Christmas with my family again
Do I need to explain why this is very important to me? ;)
Number 4: #icestorm2013
Okay, this is so random and "out of the theme", but hey, it's my first time to experience and witness an ice storm. Even though it caused a lot of headache to us, I got to admit, the ice-frosted trees were beautiful to look at.
Number 5: Realizing that no matter where you go, your happiness is in your hands
Not even a year later, I was back in Canada. Some might be wondering why I decided to quit my job as a writer and move back to Canada if being back in the Philippines was all I ever wanted. Again, I had reasons. It wasn't just an impulsive decision.
I think this is the perfect opportunity to talk about it. The truth is, I've been sick a lot of times in the Philippines and it was so hard to live alone, with no one to take care of you. Well, my housemate did a pretty good job in taking care of me whenever I got sick, but having my loved ones close to me still gives me more comfort.
I also got paranoid about my safety. It started when I heard about the 25-year-old female account executive, who was abducted by a group of men right in front of her house while parking her car and was brought to a remote town and then brutally murdered. It's horrible, horrible news and it really had affected me since she lived in the same city where I live, and it used to be a very quiet city. I thought, what more in other places? Wherever I went, I felt like bad people were just always lurking around the corner. I know unlikely events can happen anywhere, even in first world countries, but as mentioned, I was living far away from my family. I wasn't just worried about myself, but I was also worried about them always worrying about me (if that makes sense).
I was also a bit disappointed about the work culture in the Philippines. I think the times had changed. It felt a lot more enjoyable when I was a fresh grad. Now that I have experience working in Canada, it felt so different. I felt "culture shocked" to be honest. I've met a few unprofessional people. There were also people who would put you down and insult your work even though they weren't even talented enough. There's a lot of crab mentality going on, and I just can't put up with that. I mean, it happens in Canada as well but it isn't THAT bad.
Plus, employees in the media/creative industry get paid really small. I wasn't earning big money back there, but my income was still pretty fair and just (by Philippines standards) compared to, what I heard, employees of other companies are earning. If you work in the media industry, you kill lots of brain cells. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. I mean, for me, it's very unfair to those people considering that sometimes they stay up for three days or more with no sleep for work. You just don't get exhausted physically, but mentally and emotionally too. All of those who work in the media/creative industry in the Philippines are the most-hardworking of people, and they just deserve more -- and I hope they realize that and take action. I've been warned about it by my family and friends before I left, but that's just the kind of person I am. I have to see it (and experience it myself) to believe it.
Despite having these few bad things to say about the work culture, I still can say that there are more good things than bad. In Canada, work is work. In Pinas, work becomes play because of the genuinely good friends you meet at work make it so.
Having ranted for five paragraphs (I'm so sorry), it's time to talk about my learnings. Oh yes, I learned a bit too much about life in 2013. I learned and proven that, as many times we've heard, you can choose to be happy. It's not a feeling which occurs only when you're at a place that's very special to you (as I used to believe). You can take happiness with you wherever you go and share it with others as an added bonus!
I learned to be more grateful as well. Why say "more"? I always had considered myself a thankful person, but because only good things had happened in my life before. Of course, when you're older and out in the real world, you get no exemption to failures and frustrations anymore. Now, I know how to be grateful not only for the good times, but also the bad, for those experiences made me who I am today and definitely made me stronger.
I also learned that, I don't have to rush life. As said in Game of Thrones, "He who hurries through life hurries to his grave." I learned how to forget about the deadlines I give myself and just let God work on his plans for me. I realized I had always prayed for a life out of my comfort zone since I was young. When I got it, when He gave me and family the opportunity to move to another country, I gloated and tried to run away.
"Running away" isn't always the best option, but this time, it did me some good as it made me realize that I shouldn't really be living in the past and thinking about the Philippines all the time. I was brought somewhere else and given something else for a reason.
Sometimes, it is really necessary to relive past experiences, revisit familiar places, and reunite with old friends to be able to better understand our present selves, and be able to lightheartedly move on to the future. No experience in life really goes to waste -- always remember that. :)
Happy Year of the Wood Horse everyone! Cheers to another year full of surprises and adventures for us "twentysumthings"! Keep dreaming. Yeeha! ;)
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