Person of Colour

Yesterday was quite fruitful. I went to the chiropractor, got my hair trimmed, went to a couple of meetings, had 'after work' cocktails with the bf before making chicken noodle soup for dinner.

One of the things I love about dressing up is making your own individual look based on your personality, feelings and emotions. It's also fun and exciting to see how your surroundings react to your look. Instead of letting people be voyuers peeking into your life, you watch them back. Think of it as a social experiment. Some will praise you, some will be horrified, but no matter what people's reactions are, you stand by your look because it's uniquely you.
Nothing makes me more uncomfortable than allowing myself to be influenced by my environment on what or how I should dress. When I decorate my body like a Christmas tree, put things on my body, I put things because I like them. Not because it's 'appropriate', not because 'it looks good' (to who? the wearer or the eye of the beholder?), etc. I like the guilt-free feeling of not caring what others would say. I wish I could say I'm a strong person but I'm not -- 99% of the time I don't care but when that 1% strikes, it's a mindfuck!
For instance, I wore my head-to-toe orange and red look a few days ago and boy, I looked like the sore thumb. On the surface, I liked it, yes. I'm no stranger to looks -- it DOES feel good when people point, gawk and stare at me whenever I'm in, say, New York, Milan or Paris... but in monochromatic Scandinavia? Suddenly, I felt bad.
What happens when you stick someone who likes to stand out and place him or her in a society where people deliberately make the conscious effort to blend in? Standing out and looking different from everybody else suddenly becomes less challenging. It becomes easy. Way too easy.
How do you go from there? What is more challenging to the person who doesn't like to conform? To conform or not to conform?
I ended up wearing different shades of very dark blue.

- BryanBoy
Visit His Blog Here

Thoughts

For those of you who doesn't know Bryan Boy He is a well known blogger in the entire world of fashion industry. He is a Filipino, always out in the country because of all the invitation and commitment he gets from the top fashion houses like LV, Channel, Marc Jacobs name it and you'll see him sitting besides Anna Wintour in their respective fashion show, front row baby!

Anyway I like how he elaborate himself regarding dressing up good point though. Indeed, "Person of Colour!"

- Enrique' Fernandez

The year I pay it forward

IT’S AMAZING how 12 months can go by so fast. This time last year, I was mourning 2009. I dubbed it “the year of heartbreak,” severed relationships, and loss. I remember telling 2010 that it better be good to me, and it was!

It was the year I stopped being such a drama queen. I no longer post “emo” or negative Facebook statuses and blog entries. Oh, I do still have my bouts of drama, but I’ve learned to just talk it out with good friends.

Good friends, meaning people I know will clear my head and change my perspective. I make it a point not to rant to people who will just rant with me and agree—“Oo nga, life sucks!” Pity parties are a waste of time and emotion.

I go straight to people I know will pull me out of the hole I’m in. That’s the kind of company I’m proud to keep.

Let loose, being free

2010 was the year I learned to let loose and just immerse myself in the people around me. The saying is true: “Stop working on your issues. Get interested in another person, and your issues will resolve themselves.”

I don’t understand how it works, but I’ve found that loving the people around me and going beyond myself never fail to make my problems go poof! I’m convinced that a good bulk of our misery comes from focusing on ourselves and taking our lives too seriously.

I also learned to take 100 percent responsibility over my life, and as a result I’ve stopped blaming and criticizing other people.

It was the year I learned that cynicism is just fear and self-preservation masquerading as “knowing better.” I’ve learned that vulnerability is essential to being alive. We ought to go after the things we want, as if we have never been hurt.

Don’t be held captive by past disappointments, like they were still happening today. They’re not! Take the past out of your perceived future, and put it back into your past. When you look to the future, you ought to see a blank space where anything can happen.

And pain? Pain happens, too. There’s no point trying to protect yourself from it. It’s the saddest thing when people put up walls to hide behind. Walls block out everything, including utter bliss.

Walls rob us of our chances to truly come alive--to feel and experience life down to our bones. That’s no way to live. You ought to be jumping off cliffs and feeling the wind in your hair, even as you are still.

In the wise, wise words of Katy Perry: “... So take a chance and don’t ever look back. Don’t ever look back.”

Gratefulness

What I’m most grateful for in 2010 are the people I got to share it with. I’ve learned not to take it for granted when people keep me company and seek out my company. Those people voluntarily “inconvenience” themselves for me, sometimes even without my asking.

People continue to be gracious and go out of their way for me, even if I’m being stubborn or difficult—that’s mainly my family. There are people who love me, whether a lot or a little. Not that I’ve ever lacked love. I’ve had it all my life, and I got so used to having it that I forgot it was there for me.

I remember feeling depressed and thinking that life was shortchanging me. Then I realized how selfish I’d been. I was nice to people only whenever I needed something from them. I’d been hoarding all the good things that came my way; I was the one shortchanging those around me.

And then in the next moment, I realized the whole time I was thinking only of myself. I never ran out of people crazy enough to like me, love me, care about me, believe in me, and commit themselves to me.

For some reason I keep meeting the most amazing, funny, brilliant, interesting, generous, and loving people wherever I go. A selfish brat like me, I was feeling sorry for myself the whole time, when I was actually getting so much more than what I deserved.

I’m done hoarding. Now, 2011 is the year I pay it forward.

Visit the author at http://catedeleon.blogspot.com/.

By Cate de Leon
Philippine Daily Inquirer

DateFirst Posted 22:05:00 01/08/2011

Thoughts

I am not good at reminiscing events that has happened in my life I think, it's because I embrace the phrase that goes "Don't ever look back". I don't know, everytime the year will change to a new one almost everyone has this to say .. "what I loved about last year was blah blah etc... and I regret the most about was or for someone like me I don't regret anything", nothing wrong about it but it's just too cliche' and tiring to hear year after year.Well, I cannot do something about it, just deal with all that I guess, because at the end of the day it is the reality of life.

I have been working and learning for the past seven amazing years and yet I still remind myself that it is still too early to make a list of everything that had happened in my colorful life though, day by day I make sure I take them down and give prayer plus thank you's to Jesus.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

- Enrique' Fernandez

I Just Had Sex! - Not Me.

I thought this video is one of the funniest, if not the funniest song I've ever heard. I had to share it because it's just way too HIGHlarious. Warning:  You have to be 18 years old and above to see this - joke! No seriously. Just watch SNL Digital Shorts. Enjoy! Haha..

- Enrique' Fernandez

Who cares?

BEING CARED for. It’s one of the biggest and most-wanted feelings that people seek. To others, it may be even more important than love and happiness.
Care can be shown, received and registered in many different ways. Caring may even be misconstrued as something else, something negative. Perhaps you’re the type to care excessively for others, taking a risk for them. Or maybe you care just a bit, and never think of anyone but yourself.

Then there is the type who cares deeply, but refuses to show it. Could you be the type who hides the fact that you care for others, afraid of getting rejected?

No one cares about you

Imagine a life alone; a life where no one cares about you. Think of all those problems you’d have to solve by yourself, with not even an ear to confide in, a shoulder to cry on or a person to spend time with to ease the pain.

Think of all those achievements, failures, experiences that you will have no one to tell about. Your stories will gather dust in the corners of your mind, forever untold, as there is no one who cares enough to listen. It is like living in the most crowded place in the world, with people bumping into you on the street, with thousands of faces—yet you are all alone. You have no one.

This is why care is important. It is not only important to give it, but to receive it. What kind of person would you be if you only received care, but never once tried to give some?

I once spoke to a good friend of mine, Carlos, about his opinion on caring. He finds it to be the second best thing in the world, with love being the first.

There are many views on the term “care,” but not one of them is the precise truth. They are all true.

Think of it as a trip to the mountains. You will find many scenic spots and encounter many views from high up there. Perhaps one view awakens your emotions the most, making you terribly emotional. And another could be so plain, you simply move on to the next.

The view is different from every cliffside. There are many different people in the world, with many different outward appearances—and different inner turmoil. It eats them up like a wild fire does to a thick forest. It is how we view them that determines how much we care.

Sometimes, it’s better to care unconditionally. Don’t think about the hardships. Love is a seed that sprouts from soil that is fertilized with care. You cannot nurture something to become something greater with just a few pats on the back. A life without love and care would be a life out in the cold.

My lovable pet

A good friend got me a pet chick. She was fat and adorable, always chirping and running around in circles. Whenever I brought her close to my heart, she would stop chirping, and would close her eyes in a peaceful manner. She won my heart in a matter of minutes.

I couldn’t get enough of her cheerfulness, and the way she took a nap on my lap could instantly melt me. I cared for her so much, and I gave her many good things. I even named her Chika.

The next night, when I went downstairs to see her, she was lying in her cage, unable to stand up. I tried helping her, but she would just chirp weakly and make a few wobbly movements.

I was on the verge of tears. I was able to take a few pictures of her and held her close to me one last time before letting her rest. But I will always care for her, even in her absence.

Some things change in ways that we cannot accept. Sometimes we will care for something so quickly, so deeply, that we become attached to it. Perhaps it’s because of the person who gave that thing to us.

It takes a lot of willpower to get over such pain, when so much caring didn’t amount to anything, or seemed not to help at all. All of the people you care about are just like Chika. They have their own lives, their own little worlds, and they run about constantly, going about their daily routines. But the touch and caress of someone who cares can make a big difference. With the warm embrace of a person who loves and cares for you, things immediately feel okay. You find solace.

Learn to care

Don’t take too long to find it in yourself to care. Even the littlest things you do can help—from a compliment or a light-hearted joke, to deep heart-to-heart talk and sympathetic hugs. All you have to do is show a little love, and it goes a long way.

Never stop showing how much you care, because in the end, it is returned and very much appreciated. You’ll never know when you’ll be able to show your love and care again, for there’s no guarantee that you will be here tomorrow.

Climb every mountain and look out from every cliff. See these cliffs as different types of people with different lives. See the different views, and learn to care about all of them.

By Hannah Nolasco
Philippine Daily Inquirer

DateFirst Posted 22:05:00 12/18/2010

Thoughts

As the saying goes.. "you cannot live alone"  vice versa "you cannot live without showing your care to the things around you." We're all human being with emotion and affection. I, sometimes tend to forget that I do have obligations that I need to take good care of I'm talking about my future. Do not be afraid to show you care because you'll never know, do not be afraid nor shy to tell your parents/siblings how much you value them. CARE TO LIVE!

- Enrique' Fernandez

Guilty pleasure

I am no style expert nor stylist but clear enough what do's and don'ts when it comes to dressing up. I enjoy the feeling of puting things together you know the matchi-matchi kinda' stuff. Looking and checking someones' fashion website is definitely one of my guilty pleasure. I could spend the whole day by just staring at those over the top price items while playing chris brown's new song yeah3x in the background. Sorry that's my current LSS.

Anyhow, still from last saturday issue of PDI Life & Style here's what they have..

For the complete article read here. Btw, dying to have those garments above.

- Enrique' Fernandez

Hello, Stranger - changing the world, one stranger at a time

Random acts of consideration are good for you
WE’VE ALL been warned before: don’t talk to strangers.

It’s perhaps the most overused warning our parents told us when we were kids. But now that we have the sense to judge what can and cannot jeopardize our survival, I now dare to twist that imperative into, “Always be kind to strangers.”

It takes a lot of ridiculousness and impulsiveness for one to think that any simple act of kindness can dramatically change the world.

As I am both ridiculous and impulsive, on Aug. 1 this year, I decided to start a blog campaigning for kindness. I challenged readers (a.k.a. my friends) to do random acts of kindness for unsuspecting strangers.

Knowing that there can be a large disparity between how kind we are to those who are dear to us and those we consider as strangers, I thought it was a challenge worth posing.

It can be done

Wonderful things have been done since the campaign started. Strangers from different parts of the world have been given a reason to smile because of a random kind act.

Lei Tan, a friend of mine who lives in Canada, decided to buy a McDonald’s breakfast for a man who gives away free newspapers every morning. With the meal, she included a note letting the newspaper man know how appreciated he was for the work he did.

“I never saw his reaction afterwards, but one thing was for sure, I felt good,” Lei wrote of her experience.

Another friend of mine, Pin Orejana, a resident of New Zealand, gave a bar of Mentos and a note to a bus driver. It was her way of thanking him for the service he does.

“He smiled, and we made him happy! It felt good,” she said.

You see, hard and taxing as it may seem, expanding the scope of our kindness can be done. The goodness it brings goes both ways for the giver and the receiver.

Ridiculous warnings

On Nov. 21, my friends and I celebrated what we called “Kindness Day.”

When we went to Quezon City Circle just to give away freebies, it became more evident to me that the more kind acts we do, the kinder the world begins to appear to us as well.

Before we ventured into the park, we received all kinds of warnings such as “You might get mobbed,” or “Mag-ingat kayo sa magnanakaw!”

But every time we received a thank you, a polite smile, or even just bewildered looks thrown at us as we walked with a sign that said, “LIBRE,” the warnings we had heard earlier seemed more ridiculous.

I realized, the more we give without asking for anything in return, for some reason, the more pathetic our pessimistic conceptions about the dynamics of the world become.

Restoring faith

When you’re being a kind stranger to another stranger, doesn’t that already change the world in some way? Because when we exercise our capacity for kindness, we actually affirm the idea that things can always get better. That way, people find a reason to restore their faith in doing what is right and what is good.

Science tells us the brain can rewire itself and change its structure depending on our daily practices. Science also tells us habits aren’t so hard to acquire. If, over time, we have gotten the habit of tweeting our every activity and changing our Facebook status every two minutes, I thought, isn’t it possible for us to become kinder individuals?

I think it is. And I also think it’s possible for us to be able to make the world a better place—one kind act at a time, one stranger at a time.

By Micah Lima
Philippine Daily Inquirer

DateFirst Posted 22:05:00 12/18/2010

Let's do this!

Here's something I write to you, to explain to you why I do the things I do. No, actually erase that. I am just too excited to start rolling this blog the way and how I want.

I'm just like the rest, eager to express what I feel but this is not about my personal affection or what so ever  and to be honest, really honest.. sick of those blogs expressing their feelings about L.O.V.E. nothing against and wrong about it though, rather my addiction to Saturday edition of Philippine Daily Inquirer 2bU Life & Style section.

Too specific? Yes and why not?! I wanted to share to everyone the great articles that 2bU has and this also serve as my instrument to put together everything I read and see or maybe dream. So, enough said I will post and re-post everything I can through here.

- Enrique Fernandez