Huggybear's Corner
Seeing Through Centuries
Dancing Like Dobson
Looking For Alvin
Jonathan Aquino's "Huggybear's Corner"
My eBook, Huggybear's Corner, went live December 14, 2013
Here's my blurb
This is the first anthology of my
inspirational and eclectic magazine articles, all published in major magazines
and newspapers.
These stories on spiritual growth,
the triumph of the human spirit and a mind-blowing range of other subjects are
crafted to stand the test of time.
This volume is dedicated to those
who have the faith to believe in their talent for writing, and who have the
courage to follow that passion all the way, no matter what stands in their way.
In the end, it's not about how
others celebrate your work. It's about how your journey as a writer made you a
better person.
Along the way, hopefully, in our
own personal ways, our pen has shone a light on our own little corners under
the sky, and made this world a bit better by our transient passages.
My First "Greatest Hits"
Collection. With Stories About Og Mandino, Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Brian
Tracy, Jim Rohn, Jack Canfield, Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Reeve, Cory
Aquino, Dolphy, Eddie Garcia, Paeng Nepomuceno, Marilou Diaz Abaya, Mario
O'Hara, Celso Ad Castillo, Lea Salonga, Manny Pacquiao, James Herriot, JK
Rowling, Philippe Cousteau, Oliver Stone, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Norman
Vincent Peale, 3-time Nobel Prize Nominee Fr. Shay Cullen and a lot more
including near-death experiences and Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Download Huggybear's Corner
February 15, 2014
Saturday
I was standing, leaning against my
workstation, looking through the glass windows with a spectacular skyscraper
view of the mountains of Cebu.
There were three of us who had
volunteered for the midnight to 9 in the morning shift: me, my best friend JC
and the former rock band vocalist RC.
I was thinking how those mountains
have stood for thousands of years, wondering what they looked like in the
centuries past, knowing they will still be there a thousand years after I'm
long gone and forgotten.
"I never know what brought me
here," I sang softly, "as if somebody led my hand; it seems I hardly
had to steer, my course was planned..."
Ever Since The World Began
Jimi Jamison and Survivor
[Theme from Lock Up]
I held the bouquet of
"flowers" made of chocolate wrappings and cloth paper tied with a
material made from banana leaves.
"I admire creativity because
it's so rare," I told JC earlier, showing him the "flower" made
by RC from tissue paper for the Valentine office decoration.
Our 4 a.m. lunch was the first time I got together
with my closest friends in the office: JC, NJ and MA who's also my gym buddy.
With us were his girl IR and our officemate AG from whom I bought the home-made
empanada last week and who had bought California maki.
"Johnny, you're so rich,"
MA joked, kidding me with my new knapsack, rubber shoes and the large pouch of
TwinLab whey powder.
I remember our conversation last
week where I told him that once you experience being totally self-reliant,
you'll have a radically different mindset about money.
"I bought it because I need it
and I buy only what I need," I told him. "I choose quality because I
respect myself but I never pamper myself like a spoiled brat. Only insecure
people do that."
Speaking of money, I was with my
friend CB two days ago when when he got a loan from the bank.
"I'm lucky if you're with
me!" he told me.
It's true. I bring good luck to
people. I even seem to draw customers when I'm buying from street vendors.
Coincidence perhaps, though a spookily consistent one at that. But that, I
think, is one of the best compliments I ever heard in my life.
My issue with my supervisor is okay
now. We had a heart to heart talk and she apologized. She admitted that she had
indeed acted rather harshly, intruding into my personal life which is one of
the worst things you could do to me. She asked me to stay, getting JC to make
me give it one more go. I'm staying because it's too early to leave. Once I do,
I'm not sure when, or if, I'll ever get back. JC and I are targeting
promotions.
But deep inside, I know I really
don't belong here and I will soon continue my journey. I already know where I'm
going to next. My heart is not in any office job. It never had been.
February 21, 2014
Friday
I dreamed I was standing in the
yard of what looked like an abandoned or unfinished building.
I was talking to a woman who seems
to be drawing water from a pump or hanging clothes out to dry.
Her aura is blurred and I don't
know who she was.
The building is unpainted, just
gray from the cement plastered on the concrete hollow blocks. On a large hole
on the wall which had been a window, I saw a cousin-in-law. I was glad to see
her because we're close and I miss decent conversations.
In a blink, I was standing in a
bright living room full of stuffed toys and colorful decor. I saw my
cousin-in-law look go into the kitchen alcove to my right. On the sofa in front
of me is someone from my present work whom I had an issue with last week
because of the way she was showing how unworthy she is of her position.
I have a solid track record of
defying authority. But I'm always civilized, even in my dreams. I was telling
her that I like the place because it's large. I even danced like Peter Dobson
in Sing.
Sing
I looked behind me. The wall, with
bright billowing curtains on both sides, gave way to a lanai, or outdoor patio,
overlooking a sprawling garden. In my dream, I thought it's the home of a
childhood friend. Now, I realized it wasn't. I have never been there before.
February 23, 2014
Sunday
It was half past two in the morning
when I went out to get a cup of hot chocolate.
The vending machine is in the variety store
down the street.
They have a large TV where the
locals would sit on benches on the sidewalk to watch movies on DVD or cable.
I went to the bakery across. The
girl at the counter told me that they still don't have pan de sal. I looked at
the glass counter.
"Where's Alvin?" I asked.
She looked confused.
"I mean Francis," I
corrected myself.
She smiled too.
Francis is a type of bread without
fillings. But they don't have it too.
I felt the beginning of a drizzle
as I went back. The little droplets of rain were like ticklish pins and
needles. The rain fell as I went inside. So there I was, sheltered from the
raging elements with a cup of hot chocolate. I should be so lucky.
Blessings come in all forms and
sizes. I try not to lose focus on the big picture. I know what I want in life.
They may be radically different from the socially-upward goals of almost
everybody else, but my life is nobody's business but mine.
In my present company, my original
goal is to stay for a year. There's been a couple of times when I've been
tantalized by the prospect of gunning for promotion. I know this is not my
dream. So I had to ask myself why. It's not about the prestige because my
self-worth is a solid as titanium. It's not even about the higher pay although
I'm saving to continue my journey. I certainly don't want to be stuck where I
am. But my idea of moving on means leaving it all behind.
So, to me, money means freedom.
This is why, unlike most people, I avoid a high-maintenance lifestyle. I would
hate it if I'll be forced to slave for gadgets, coffee shops and overpriced
Internet service. But money per se doesn't faze me. I have proven to myself
many times that I can walk away when the atmosphere has turned
toxic. Absolutely no regrets. It's a big world out there. I'm a voyager and
there's nothing to keep me here aside from the need to work and save. What I
have that "normal" people don't is the freedom to just get up and
leave when it's not worth staying anymore.
4 comments:
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."
~Steve Jobs
The video that defined my teen years. I finally found it. Then again, it has never left me
No Retreat, No Surrender
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcThFswcLB0
"You are magnificent beings, in the perfect place at the perfect time, unfolding perfectly, never getting it done, and never getting it wrong. Be more playful about all of it. "Today, no matter where I'm going, no matter what I am doing, and no matter who I'm doing it with — it is my dominant intent to look for that which I'm wanting to see. I'm wanting to find thoughts and words and actions that feel good while I'm finding them. For in doing so, I am, in the moment, practicing the art of allowing all that I've been telling the Universe I'm wanting, for all of the days of my existence."
~Abraham
Excerpt from the workshop in Asheville, NC on Sunday, October 29th, 2000
Source: abraham-hicks.com
Photos courtesy of wallpaperswala.com, i1-news.softpedia-static.com, cafeclock.com, a2.mzstatic.com, impawards.com, sathiyam.tv
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