Cruel Thoughts

It was a consistent complaint that I have been hearing, young attractive women with successful careers telling me how unhappy they are, since in spite their great looks and personal achievements they have not found their one true love because the men they have been meeting are not “worth” it.  But before I conjure a scenario that there is actually really a shortage of good men out there, I remember a chapter in Peter Senge’s book, “The Learning Organization”. In one chapter there, it was discussed that one of the reasons why certain problems continue to exist because the people who are affected by the problem do not see themselves contributing to the problem. The “problem is always out there.” So if it’s possible for organizations to make the mistake of blaming their circumstances to everything out there, what more from a personal perspective?  From the perspective of a young single woman who can not seem to find true love? So the next times I find myself in a situation of loneliness I should ask myself first, “is the problem really out there?” or are my standards too high? Am I denying the reality than not everyone can think like myself or be exactly like myself?  Are my criteria for the right person correct and realistic? Am I taking time to meet people and let them know I am open to a relationship?

I have a friend who consistently complains that she can not find a boyfriend, only to discover her exposure is limited to the office and her house.  So if all her officemates are married or “taken” (in a relationship)   her hopes for her boyfriend is gone, not unless a new hunky neighbor moves in  and she bothers to actually go out of her house to meet him. But of course even with constant exposure and lower standards a person can still end up a lonely person. However,  in my personal view, it wouldn’t be appropriate  to tell a lonely person to “wait for the right guy” since its fatalistic and deterministic; nor tell a lonely person to , “ live without men “and, say “single life is blessedness” since who am I to decide for them? Whose authority am I? In the end, I just hope regardless of circumstances we strive to be happy, single or not.

While accompanying my  younger brother at Power Books,  I was able to purchase the book, "The Collected Poems of Lord Byron".

Lord Byron  became my favorite poet when I came across his poems, "When We Two Parted" and "She Walks in Beauty" when I was  still in High school. He became my favorite poet even if I only read two of his works, or barely knew his personal history. I never got a chance to see a compilation of his work until I was able to purchase a book of his collected poems. It turns out the man’s life is as intriguing as his work. He only lived for 36 years yet he was able to seduce 500 women. He had a scandalous affair with his own half-sister, and was once attracted to a choir boy and so on. No wonder he was dubbed as the man as "mad, bad and dangerous to know."

My friends and I decided to have a four day road trip to a few Northern provinces. From Saturday (April 29) to Tuesday (May 2).

First we went to the province of Villasis, Pangasinan for a stop over before going to the Our Lady of Manaoag Shrine in Manaoag, Pangasinan. Fortunately the hotel we checked in at Villasis ,had a private pool with warm water and a videoke machine. Instead of sleeping immediately, my friends and I ended up night dipping and singing.The next day, Sunday ,we decided to take a 30 minute trip to the province of Manaoag where the Our Lady of Manaoag shrine is located.

The Manaoag Shrine was built during the time of Spanish Colonization around the 16th or 17th century. The statue of the Virgin Mary, the Our Lady of Manaoag, was said to grant miracles to piligrims. It comes no surprise then that when we went there, the church was over flooded with people. People had to make really long lines just to touch the Virgin Mary, or gather in large crowds so that the priest can bless their images. Unfortunately, the Church Museum was closed during our visit. It would be interesting to know what kind of artifacts the church has kept all this years. Aside from the usual religious images I assume there is more to it.

Later in the afternoon, my friends and I went to the province of La Union to look for a beach resort. I always wanted to check out La Union, since it was recently dubbed as the "Surfing area" of the Philippines. I always wanted to see the waves even if I couldn’t even damn float on water. After a few mishaps, we finally checked in at the San Juan Surf Resort (www.surf.ph). It turns out the that the peak season for the waves was from July to October and November to March. The resort provides lessons in surfing , so it comes no surprise that alot of groups of young people are checked in at the resort. My friends and I had fun hanging out on the seashore getting hit by the waves.

The next day , we decided to move to the colder and mountainous province of Baguio. We went to Camp John Jay for food and do a little shopping. Later in the evening, we went to Cactus Bar to listen to Ska music. Since it’s Monday and a curfew was in placed in the city, there wasn’t much crowd to speak of. We ended up going back to our hotel room as early as possible, and did some buying the next day.

I can perhaps say this is the best thing that happened to me during term break.