



It was a Friday, and as far as i can recall, it was almost always a friday, and almost always borderline saturday, almost always the same problem, almost the same hope, always the same result. the facts that happened that night wasnt any different, just wrapped differently. though i could have choosen to ask myself press 'repeat emotion sequence', but that night, I felt different. funny how everytime it happens, it further proves a point, and pushes me further away.... after every time I believed, it came to this point... for that night, I felt numb. Alcohol was doing a great job numbing it and diluting every bitter punch to wrap the bad taste it leaves... and the smell of the smog of the October air and fresh rain was letting me make it sink it all in without too much contemplation. It's letting me breathe it all in and face it like a man, and exhale any ill feelings. It was hard to do, but I knew I was doing it for me - I knew it was for the best. I waited and
waited, even though I know I was waiting for no one,
...until the clock stuck 3AM, there I was, standing at my dormitory window, and it seems like the whole world was silent waiting for the next time my phone sings.
i lied in bed with eyes wide open arms folded and had there not been any roof and pollution, i know i would've conversed with the stars and ask why the freaking universe is not letting us work this out. but of course, the universe will not answer that. instead, it will give you a deafening silence and let you figure it out yourself why. maybe it will give a little falling star here, or a twinkle, but that's about it, it will still leave you perplexed and hungry for explanation... maybe the answer will just hurt me, maybe i'm not ready for it yet, but most likely, i'm not gonna get the answers that i needed. maybe i just have to let it be. maybe, i really just have to let it go.
grief has 5 stages. i've heard that for a few good people, they could sneak their way out ang go right away on the 5th stage, acceptance. for some, they dwell too much on the first. or second. or third. and repel too much on the fourth.
but for me, Grief, is a form of Fire. You deny first that the fire is already harming you for you thought It was just getting you warm and getting you through the cold night. then you'll start to realize the fire is stealing the air you're about to breathe, it consumes what is supposed to be inside your lungs. And then the fire grows and it starts to
chase you, and the next thing you realize, you are standing in front of your dormitory window, at 3AM, thinking if you're willing to jump from the building, or be consumed by the fire - either way, you're dead. And as the fire wraps you, you find yourself conversing with the stars that cannot give you a concrete answe - that cannot give you an answer in
the first place. and as the fire burns every single, living hope in the ridiculous little fairy tale, you inhale pure fire just to get your life over with. no matter how painful it will be.
then again, Grief is a form of fire, but fire doesnt have to be a bad thing. it purifies and neutralizes all emotions and memories whether good or bad. it kills all probable pathogens, that even the most minute contaminant won't have a chance of cultivating back. fire could make you catalyze the cooking process and not just let the goddamn sun do all the work. Fire makes even the hardest of metals glow, and be forged into the most lethal of swords. Through fire, they bend, get molded, and they don't break.
Sometimes, we don't understand why we should take all the heat and let us be engulfed in the fire, but I guess it will all be clear once we get out of it... as crystal clear as your reflection in the shiny sword that will be made out of it.
so right now, i'm letting the fire burn in me until it kills all hope and toast all pathogens of regret. i'll let it get all the air it wants. I would let it wrap me and devour me, the Universe could even play a background music for all I care, until it will take me higher, and higher, and around and around, until, I, too, will be part of the smoke, and the smoke will thin out, until the air becomes breathable again, and then, It will all be clear. greif will then turn into gratitude, and bitter will be called a blessing. i just needed the fire to be a vehicle, as I ride along its wake.
A line has been drawn in the brain - and no, it's not a Sulcus, it's deeper. Along the Temporal Lobe, they chose to battle, riding along the Highway of Papez – two movements who was usually going the same way, chose not only to diverge, but to go against each other. One is Reason – where logic and facts stand in constant, where black is black and white is white. And on the other end, lying near the Hippocampus, is Emotion – where it breeds color and breathes life, where inspiration taps the best of potential.
The War of Heart and Mind has been waged. People all throughout history have had these epic wars inside of them. Some more than once, and some lasted a whole lifetime. Some ended up in regrets, and some set themselves free. But the hard part about this battle is that there is no algorithm to follow on what to do, and what not to do. No rules to delineate, and there is no definition of right or wrong. What makes it even harder is that, after one side wins, there will always be that what-if that slaps you back. That what if and could have beens, and might have beens, that will haunt you – or maybe not. And no two stories are the same.
Emotion was throwing fireworks of colors. For a while, the brain was happy. He was happy. All it needed was a confirmation that he is loved back. Selfish, maybe, but that was his drug. That was his fuel to keep the hormone flowing.
At first, someone else was poking on his cranium. Until, someone else also did it. And someone else also did. Until opinions became suggestions, and suggestions became wake up calls, and wake up calls became bitch slaps – suddenly, reason woke up and picked up ammunition, and aimed right at the middle temporal sulcus.
And then they shoot. Facts. Facts. Facts. Fuck. Emotion just stared at the sky, and smiled as they braced for a landing.
And then emotion spoke: “Just let me be happy. Please”
Reason heard it. And stood for a while, and put the shooting on hold, for reason remembered something: Never had he seen himself so happy like ever before. Never had he been more proud of himself, never had he gotten to be appreciated so much. From appreciating his works, to the way his eyes sparkle, and even the way he snores. Yes, never been that happy.
But then, one day, Reason started to get on its feet once again. He thrown more facts and more missiles to Emotion, but they all came back to him with a note, written all over it.. “I Love Her” – it was a Trump Card. A Two of Diamonds. An Immunity Idol. An Exemption – yet reason kept on sending and resending his messages so that he could make his point. Until Reason gets tired of the war. Now I understand the schizophrenics.
Emotion on the other hand, tried to remain vibrant and high and hold on to every single sane thing he could hold on to. Pride was kicked out of the equation. He kept on throwing the same thing, and is not letting reason get the best of him. His drug must remain at a steady state. Because, Emotion thought: this is my story. The story I asked for, and this is it, and I know it – there is no way in hell I will let go.
Emotion stood there and gave everything he can. Reason, was there too, not giving up without a fight. It was the epic war of Heart and Mind. Where the price in unknown, the rules are unsettled, and no one knows when this will all end. It drains too much CSF and Brain waves, too much necessary or unnecessary lacrimations, rants left and right, and opinions from other people.
After it all, the Two became tired. Botch catching their breath at an imaginary battlefield they stared point blank at each other. And said their last piece for the day before they settle
Reason said: You have done what you have to do, and actually even more than you are expected. Yes, I am proud of you for that. But, dude, leave some sanity for yourself. Leave some love for yourself. And even pride. Yes, you Love her, maybe I won’t contest that anymore. But, The fastest way to kill a relationship is to try too hard to fix it. Just let it be. Let God fix it, and pray for the best.
And Emotion said: I understand you for being that way, but I guess you cannot blame me from this spell. Maybe you’re right, I should not let this consume me, but please let me keep even just one flicker of hope. If it dies, so be it. But leave the probability of it for me, let me miss her from time to time, let me reply to her messages, let me feel what I used to feel – let me keep a dose of hope in my pocket, you can have the rest. In the mean time, I will cast my own prayers, you can cast yours. And let God do the rest. You are right, maybe I’m trying too hard.
....
The air was still thick, full of smog and cloud, but there were no ramblings anymore. No one won and I think no one will. One day, they will flow into one road again, and pick up what was lost and heal each other’s wounds, and patch up each other damages. They will rebuild each other again, and maybe Reason will say sorry, maybe Emotion will apologize. Only God can tell.
And as both Reason and Emotion were tired, one wave of waves came in that was even more powerful than the both of them: it was Sleep. It purifies, it pacifies, it makes you forget, or live out a subconscious fantasy – either way, it’s an escape.
...And then I will wake up. And live one day at a time, then sleep again. And the cycle will go on – and the War of Heart and Mind: I just know it will one day settle – hopefully with her (says Emotion) maybe without her (says Reason) – all I know is that one day, Everything is going to be alright.
It was Day 488 for Tom and Summer. It is less than day 300 for Me and Her. We didnt have a final conversation, maybe I'm letting Tom and Summer do it for us...
(Tom)...."you know it sucks realizing that everything you believe in was just complete and utter bullshit? Sucks. You know, destiny, solmates, true love and all that childhood fairy tales... nonsense... You were right, i shouldve listened to you"
...
(Summer) "No tom, you were right.... It just wasnt me you were right about"...
...
So, I guess this is it. The old familiar feeling that I just want to sleep or drink away but at the end of it, when you wake up whether with hangover or none, it still lingers and stings. Sometimes I choose to succumb more into the sleep to forget the pain, but, eventually i'd still wake up to the reality of it...that I cant run away from it. It is something that no matter how hard i try to catch in words, it still falls short to how I exactly feel about it. You know it's weird? I've lived 24 years na wala naman siya, how come, at this point, I can't see myself moving forward without her?
I miss her. I miss how her voice whispers to my ears to say goodmorning, the way I hug her and i say 'ambango moo' and she says 'ang asiiiim mo', the way she cooks for me and how it puts a spell on my mood and accuse her na ginagayuma nya ako. Ill miss how painful it is for me to watch her cry, how I say sorry even it's her fault, and how I ask her parents or cousin to help me get back at her. I miss how we could stand not talking to each other because our mere presence beside each other would be enough for me to feel that I am loved. I miss finding solace in just hearing the air that she breathes, and comfort in her tiny little hands, and the rush that her lips bring unto mine. I miss how sweet she is, and how she embrace my flaws and immaturities, I miss how she love me, I miss how we created a world where it is only she and I.
I will miss her. Although we may not have a lot of memories to keep, the lessons I have learned from this relationship will last for the rest of my life. I have redefined the words 'patience', 'benefit of the doubt', and have put the threshold of love to a higher level. I have never thought I am capable of things I have never thought I could do, dealt with unimaginable situations, became paranoid to the highest level - although there is no concrete explanation until now for everything that happened, I guess I'll never get all my answers, maybe not even up to now, but I know someday I will understand why - they will all form a perfect picture when I one day look at it in retrospect. Rob Thomas said it perfectly in one of his songs: ''let the clarity define you, in the end, you will only just remember how it feels"
Oftentimes, we ask ourselves and the end of each relationship, 'were we really loved?' or, 'are there any things that you regret?', 'have the things we've done been properly compensated, or given back?' - we ask selfish things and speak as if we were victims of our relationships, but in the end, we get to realize that the more pertinent questions are "did we really love unconditionally and wholeheartedly?", and "did we try our best to make it work?" - the latter questions will render the first ones useless, because the first ones could be out of our control, but the latter ones, it's all up to us, no matter how uncontrollable things are it's all in our control, therefore we should do it in the best way we can. The first questions are up to fate, but the latter ones, it's in our hands....
So, the question is, did I really Love her?
I have tried to understand Feng Sui, dealt with her friends, patiently waited for hours but still got ditched, she had the worst of mood swings, i waited and made efforts that I never thought I am capable of. I had all the reasons before to let go, but i needed only one reason for me to hold on to: I Love Her. Beyond her mood swings and instability, beyond reason and feng sui traditions - regardless of looking stupid, regardless of the doubters of our relationship (specially to that fat guy who keeps on honking that im delusional), regardless of the complications and criticisms - i didnt mind them all. I swallowed my pride that i choked on in but still swallowed it back. I have loved without considering my own feelings. I neglected myself and my reason just to make it in line with hers.... Damn it. Sometimes, the heart wants what the heart wants.
If that was not loving, then i know what is....
Unfortunately, now, we're over. What more better day to pick, but on my birthday? :( i know that I did what I have to do, and I was there where I was supposed to be - she wasnt.
So, It's over. We're over. :c
....
Someday she will move on. She will be loved by a guy more than I loved her. He will be perfect for her, and they will have their stars aligned for them, he will be pure chinese so that there will be no more issues, Maybe he will be more goodlooking than I am (just maybe), but i wish her only one thing - i wish her hapiness. the true genuine hapiness she craves for, the type of hapiness that is more than she ever felt from me. She deserves all the best things in the world. Maybe God said, I am not the best for her, and I have to be man enough to accept that.
Someday I will move on. But for now I will contemplate all I want, there will be times that I will well some tears, sometimes, I will call my friends and rant about it, and sometimes I will write about it, sometimes I will just pray, I will do everything I can to put reason to everything that happened. No foul words will be said, and no pin pointng will happen. For whatever happened, happened. All i have to do now, like what a good friend said, is to 'refind, refine, redefine, and redeem' - I will embark again on the beautiful journey of finding myself once again, on discovering the things i missed and lost along the way and celebrate the things that i have gained. I dont know if things will get better from here on, whether there will be aftermaths and addendums, but i take comfort in the fact that in the end, everything is going to be alright. If it's not alright, then it's not the end yet... Last sunday, while walking to receive communion, God had arranged the choir so wonderfully and sang a song for me, and it said, "Do not be afraid, I am with you" -and i cant help myself but lacrimate and hold my sister's shoulder - for in that very moment, I knew that im not going through this alone. That God is with me, and that should be reason enough for me not be afaid. God is with me and he sent angels to get me by...
I will move on. I have to move on. I have loved till it hurt me. Loved till it hurt me more, it's about time that I should love till it will hurt no more.
Someday, I will be loved. Whoever she is, she will love me more than i deserve to be loved. And i will love her like the universe has never seen anything like it before. I will be there at a snap of a finger, or make it appear that i am there by mere closing her eyes, and she will always remind me of which love is worth fighting for, and which does not. I will love her with all my hypertensive heart and the complications that will come by it. I will see to it that she falls in love with me everyday, that each day will be more reason to love me more.
All she has to do, is to say she loves me back.
To say she loves me back -
- wait a minute, these are the words that got her into me, but why am I still selling the idea to the next women after her? Havent I gotten hurt before that these should be enough to say enough?... After thinking of these long and hard, i realized one thing: even though the burning ambition for that love-story-to-die-for had me crashing and died trying, instead of giving up, the more shall I be excited and more longing, because I know The next one will be better than the last, and unto the next one, and to the next one, until one day i will stumble upon the best - and that best? She will one day walk down the aisle for me as the most beautiful woman the world has ever seen. She will walk in those perfect smile, and each step will be filled with grace, she will be the one, she will give herself to me wholeheartedly and unconditionally... And by that time, it will all be clear to me:
that the reason why everybody else didnt work out, was because it paved my way for Her and I.
I thought for the past months that I already have her, but, God said otherwise. I was asking God why he gave me to her, or her to me, but Maybe i only have to take comfort in the fact that maybe, it is for the Best. For whatever best it may be. I have to accept that, little by litle.
So please join me as I Pray to the Lord,
"Dear God.
I guess there is no point in asking why you have given me this story. There's no point in becoming mad at you because what's done is already done. So i guess my prayer will not be rooted from anger but of gratitude...
You know what, Lord?, from this I have appreciated my friends and ruled out fake friends (i really got disappointed for some, specially the fat bastard who's just projecting his insecurities) I learned that my family is bigger than I am, that money does not always equate hapiness. And most of all, Lord, I have learned my capabilities and boundaries, that there is a type of pain that teaches you and makes you strong, but there is also a type of pain where it does nothing but destroy you - in a way, i have seen the art of distinguishing that. May the pain I am feeling right now pass by quick and I know by doing these, it's a step closer... Until tomorrow it will hurt less, and then a lot less, until one day, i will reach a place where remembering everything that happened wont hurt me anymore.
Please take care of Nishi. I have no idea where she is right now, but please, please keep her safe. If we really are, indeed, meant to be, i'll just leave it all in your hands, and not on me anymore. Hindi na ako aasa. Ikaw na bahala, Lord. As for now, I'm gonna have to move on. You know the reasons why, and I know you'll understand. I love her. And as I cross the timeline of saying i love her to i loved her, may it not be a road of bitterness, but of understanding, that maybe we are not just meant to be. I cannot say that it doesnt hurt because it does hurt, but your plan is bigger than the two of us. So, Lord, I let it be. Just please bless her, take care of her, please send people to remind her not to skip meals, and not to oversleep. Send people to tell her that she's pretty and her lips are hot. Have people remind her to always choose to be happy, that there is more to life than what she think it is. Please send her someone who will make her happy more than I did... For her hapiness, is also my hapiness.
I have nothing else, lord, to say, but thank you.
for all that has been,
and for that will be,
may it be according to your plan.
May it be for the best.
I may not always understand what your perfect will demand
But i have to trust you in this, Lord.
Amen.
-i am not begging for sympathy or pity or whatever you may misinterpret this. If you don't know me, I am posting this because this is the way I deal with things, writing is how I figure things out and publishing them in notes and blogs is my way of 'setting them free' and reach wherever they may...especially the bitter feelings, because I dont want them rotting in my sheets. If you're interpreting this as otherwise, it's not my problem anymore. Thank you.
If One day I will have a son, i would have him enter the world, in a slow motion the-matrix style manner. he will be like Neo for he will be the one. he could even wear shades for all i care. Whether he'll go out from her mother through a birth canal or through her abdomen, whether against his will or not, whether term or preterm, i want the first moment when my eyes meet his eyes, my skin touches his, when my lips kisses his delicate, moist body, i want that scene to be spit into milliseconds and further milliseconds more. I will have every single gasp, and grimace, and movement, recorded and not a single thing missed.
I would tell him that that it's okay to cry because that will be the best indication that he is filling his lungs with air.
I would tell him that it's ok to clench his fist, that means his muscle is toned good and coordinated
I would tell him to shout all he can, because that means he wants to be heard, to be welcomed, to be understood... That he needs something
I would tell him it's okay to sleep for 18 hours or even 20 hours a day if he want, as long as he would promise to wake up the next day.
I would tell him to smile on contact as early as the first month not just because the doctors suggests so, but because our world becomes colored and more complete and vibrant and draws a smile on me and her mom, too, just for a simple reflex smile.
I would have him perfect
And damaged
And sweet
And bitter
And brave
And scared
And everything
And something
And nothing
Whatever circumstance life may require of him
I will set him loose to the world and he could do everything he wants, as long as he own up to his actions and stand by it. To stand by repercussions and consequences. To savor the good things, and control the bad. I'd tell him it's ok to make a few little screw ups in this life, but heck, don't abuse that privilege.
I will tell him to be careful with breaking hearts, and take care of his heart as well. I'd remind him that girls are fragile and complicated and gives you a bunch of headaches and not to mention erections, but all the more you should love them, for in that labyrinth of trying to figure them out, of trying to reason out that it doesn't matter if her dress is blue or red, of bending pride and mumbling apologies, one day, you will see beyond that. And you will become a better man after.
I will tell him, "Son, She will make you feel something that even alcohol and basketball can't give you, she will make you choose between her and your friends, or brods, or family or tv shows, and it's okay if you don't choose her. But it's also okay to choose her, as well. Whatever you decide, because you know what? I know you wont listen to my advise anyway, even to ur mom, and to your friends, and even to yourself - if you get hurt, it's okay. In case that happens, I will make a stash of wine in our living room, and i hope you figure out one day that i left it open for you. Break it in case of a heart emergency. Or better yet, run to me. tell me about it, son, i won't scold you, maybe ill laugh at you for a while, but hey, the drink is on me anyway. And yes, I wont tell your mom what we talked about. But please don't expect me to fix things up for you, no, i wont do that, i can only suggest and strongly suggest and forcefully suggest to you, but then again it's your call. Its your heart and penis anyway.
My son, I will tell him, the world out there is harsh on you, and you will be prone to infections and discrimination..
It will be not okay to cry, for it then be called weakness.
I will not be okay to clench your fist because it will be called anger, or if you're unlucky, will be called rebellion.
It will not be ok to shout and have a say, because you will ruffle sensitive feathers no matter whose side you will take on. Even of you take none.
It will not be okay to sleep because you will miss out something that needs doing, theres always that something that needs to be done.
But dont let them them convince you, cause otherwise, they will.
But in case of bad days and rainy days and gloomy nights and drunk early mornings at the end of it all, you can always scoot beside me and your mom in our bed, we'd lie beside you. On both sides. No mater how big you will be. Or how bad alcohol smells on you. Our hug will be powerful enough to shut the world... And there will only be us, three.
You can cry,
clench your first,
say all you can,
Or we could just sleep
-whatever you want, my little boy, you are home.
There may be times, my son, that you will shout a me, 'buhay ko to' and all that stupid lines you watch on tv ('akala mo lang wala pero meron meron meron'), but always remind yourself that we dont do this just because half your chromosomes are from my testicles, and not because i spent a lot for your goddamn guitar lessons, basketball lessons, different workshops, gym membership, school and clubs and shit and not expect a return of investment - it is because of the simple fact that I Love You (yes i got that one from Vilma Santos)
...maybe we're stepping in your world probably more than you want us to be... I understand. But hear me out just this time... Son, it was because when you were born, the world was in slow motion, and all the world was you., you entered the universe and we let you into our world with warm hands and teary eyes, in that moment i remember it's as if im on that room again, the smell of the operating room, the sound of your cry, and slipperiness of your skin, and you... at that moment... you were just everything we have, full of life, full of hope, and full of promises, full of tears. In that very moment, we cried with you.
Perhaps we're stepping in your world more than you want us to be... For that, im sorry. We just cant accept the fact that one day, we have to step away from it.
If this is you, son, one day reading this... If ever I didn't live up to your expectations, i am sorry. But from this sorry, at least know now what not to do. Don't idolize me too much that you'll even copy my mistakes.
Write your own book, make your own path, tell your own story.
Remember, son, You are better than me.
You must fucking be.
(this is inspired from Sarah Kaye's "B" / "If I should have a daughter", one of the best works ive ever seen)