Mapping Out a Sky
I am actually forcing myself to write this blog entry. I want to write something that commemorates my first year of teaching in an actual classroom outside of ESL or special enrichment classes. Here’s an admission: I’m scared to write it out
Letter Better
I first took up calligraphy and lettering to reconnect with words. It did more than that. It taught me to be brave, to focus, to let go when need be. More than the practice of lettering, I wanted it to help people from the inside. That’s how the Letter Better inspiration sessions began, and in time for the new year.
The first session was partially inspired by Patti Dubrowlski’s Tedx talk on visualizing your future. The first part involved the power of words, how to change one’s use of language to turn one’s hopes, dreams, and wishes into something that can be done. The second part helped participants visualize this with the use of lettering basics. Depending on the group, it can be more than that. For one group, it was about reconnecting with their creativity and cementing their goals. For another group, it strengthened their sense of community and sharing.
I am always in awe of how much art and crafts, from the very time a skill is applied, reveals. Wouldn’t you want to find out?
If you would like to hold a Letter Better inspiration session for you, your friends, and/or your organization in the Philippines, contact me at myachi at gmail dot com. Rates and packages can be customized to your needs.
On Paper
Adulthood is overwhelming, It is a spiral of bills that have to be paid, work that needs to be done, and just everything else in between. While I cope well enough to keep the roof over my head, it is overwhelming and it’s tempting to succumb to succumb to darker thoughts. I need to learn to temper them.
So for 2016, I will learn to be a little more grateful. It won’t change the situation I’m in now, it won’t mend a lot of the damage past or dent the debts I have, but it can make me look at the bigger picture.
A good friend and a longtime student of mine gifted me with a Midori MD notebook. At this point in time as a hobbyist letterer and calligrapher, Midori paper intimidates me. It’s on the pricey side and definitely not for idle doodling, but the cream-colored paper is crisp and smooth to the nib’s touch. It took a few weeks to realize that I had to do something with it, or the dust will destroy it. I’ve decided to make it a prayer and gratitude journal. My favorite pen to write with it is a Pilot Cocoon Fine Nib with Sailor Jentle Ink Magenta.
Tita Vicky, who I have the best conversations with, gifted me with a Q&A a day notebook. It contains 365 questions meant to last over five years, so you can easily look back on how far you’ve come along. It’s less intrusive than Facebook Memories, and a lot more intimate.
Questions Answered So Far: “The best part of today?”, “What was the last restaurant you went to”, and “Today was tough because ____”
Will this change me? I can’t say. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. But for the change I want to make, I have to figure out how to get there.
I’ll start by putting it to paper.
What journals and pens are you using for 2016?
The start of something new
It took me over ten years to finally agree to have domain in my name. For the longest time, I resisted. I felt that I wasn’t worthy. My name is catchy enough, but I have no glittering awards to it (yet). It was only in the last year with a few key milestones in my teaching career that I finally gave in. I needed to be less of a ditz online. The ones who have told me that they read my blog were parents of students and editors. I need to cater to more to that.
So here we go: new year, new page, as I don’t believe in a “new me”. A new year doesn’t mean a chance to start over, it’s a chance to learn from the year before.
For one thing, I need to update this more often!
What You’ll Find in miamarci.co:
-Casual lettering and calligraphy projects
-Thoughts
-Maybe some personal creative writing
-Information on my copywriting and workshop services
Close the Gap
Earlier today, I got on my usual jeep from banking errands to home. There were about four people other on board. I took the seat closest to the door, more out of convenience than anything else. There was a girl who was already on board, in the space ahead of me.
As the jeep drove on, I couldn’t scoot up to the driver. I asked other passengers there to pass on my fare. They politely ignored me. With a little more urging in my tone, I asked the girl next to me to pass my fare. She seemed to give me a withering look, and scooted towards the front, complaining, “Ang layo ha.” – this is far.
I wouldn’t have bothered her if she were, letsay, asleep on the road. I would have understood her irritation a little more if she were to get down at the next stop or before me, but she didn’t. I got down first, the girl stayed on.
In that one instance, I saw the problem on our level. We may not be at fault with the key problems we have as a city, and as a country even. But there are too many of us who refuse to pass on what we need to pass on. There are too many of us who refuse to close the gap between us, even if it just made simple sense to do so, even if the gap is a mere feet apart from where one sits or stands.