No Walls, No Ceilings, No Floors

A newborn is God’s gift of life and love and will always be. Some years ago, on the 30th of January, a baby boy was born to us to the delight of everyone. The baby was much-awaited and although we did not know if it would be a boy or a girl until delivery date, surely, he came with a bang! Grappling for a male name, GARRY was the name I quickly spotted from the baby list. ‘Protector’ was the meaning of the word given. now, many years after, surely, this boy is the protector of his mama, papa, and later his younger and only sister, Eloise! Welcome to the world!

Just a few days ago my ISP (and my laptop)  took a much needed hibernation from the  global, wide, wide world. Disconnected…shut out from the spheres of the net and all. Panic-stricken, I dialled for connection as if my life depended on it. To no avail. The whole area was shut down and connection would be days yet. I rushed to the neighboring areas for connection only to find out they too were troubled. Then it struck me. The temporary disconenction affforded me time to think…and enjoy the break. And just when I was beginning to enjoy it, it came rushing back.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS (apologies to Charles Dickens)

As a writer, I sometimes find myself hard press on putting pen to paper. I find myself in a state of paralysis…and upon close examination, my paralysis stems from expectations-not so much the expectation of others but my own! Will my thoughts confirm what i want to get to my readers? When i think of what it can be, I am dazzled.

After sometime, when I have finally finished writing my book, and I reflect on how much was entrusted to me by my editors and publisher, I feel the pangs of giving birth to something so beautiful and true it makes me cry!

17 january 2009

A new day dawns

A chilly January morning. Hugging my robe for some warmth, I fumbled for my slippers under the bed. My daughter is sound asleep so with little, careful steps, I tiptoed towards the window . It was still dark outside but I could see the beginnings of sunrise. Facing the east, I took a deep breath and uttered a prayer of thanks. I could feel a   surge of warmth slowly enveloping my whole body.  A sweet feeling of comfort. It’s a great day! Thank God for this day!

He ain’t heavy; He’s My Brother…

My favorite quote.  Just this morning, around 9:20 am, I was chatting with a dear friend about life and how we dearly value it especially when we fought hard for it. Makes me think of all those experiences I underwent, and still undergoing. He told me about how, as a young boy of thirteen, he had to work for his family, and how this has taught him the value of work and honest living. I cannot say more. He is a wonderful philanthropist who believes that a good turn deserves another. To him, anyone in need isn’t heavy; and he will help until it hurts. Honestly, I am inspired!

The Lord is my shepherd. I have felt the hand of the Lord in my life through people I have known, worked with, laughed with, chatted with, shared light and sad moments with. Life is never easy but knowing that God is on your side surely lightens up your load! When the going gets rough, the tough gets going ( the name of  the author of the book with the same title escapes me now). But toughening up is one tough job. And like any recipe with a secret ingredient, it’s putting in a lot of trust, a dash of patience, and a whole lot of love from the Lord that completes it.

And then, there are my friends who I cannot thank  enough, who through thick and thin, are here for me.You know who you are. Just having been given the chance to be your friend  is a wonderful blessing!

Meet Hermes, my Puppy!

Actually she is no puppy anymore. She came to us in 2003 no bigger than my fist. This newborn suffered from a heart condition that deterred her growth. But with tender loving care, she bustled her way into our hearts. it didn’t take her a day to warm up to us. Right away she longed for human warmth and of course she got more than that!  You should see her tap at our bedroom door in the morning, wanting to have a space on our bed.  Training her wasn’t a problem at all. She loved to be trained.  A bustling, loving, carefree doggie that looks at you with her puppy eyes begging to be cuddled! How could you say no!

Actually, I have had other dogs in my life who have joined dog heaven. There was Douglas,  Sly, and Jackie among my favorites. I cried a tubful when they passed away but consoled myself into thinking they’d be in dog heaven.

I have friends who own dogs and are just as crazy over them as I am. There’s Jean Lara from DLS-CSB who loves her dog to bits. When her Ping passed away, she took her pup and to this day they are inseparable. In De La Salle University-Manila, Pauline owns a playful dog who is adored by his son. Rubie S. just would not part with her dogs too, even if it means living away from her sister’s family. Luckily, an arrangement was reached and she has the dogs. Eden also  owns a big dog, I think a Labrador, which is family to them.

In Ibri, Sultanate of Oman where I taught as an English lecturer, I have colleagues who are passionately *in love* with their dogs and pet cats. There’s Laura, Tanya, and Alla. Once Laura and I were about to adopt a lovable dog whose owner was bound for Tanzania and could not leave their dogs behind. An English couple they were, but since we were going home for vacation, we could not take the dogs. We also left two cats in our flat to the care of our Omani friend, Said. Sally, Nida,James and William, colleagues also, are fond of other pets.

KVK,  Ram, a good friend from Muscat, owns three dogs, a Labrador, a golden Retriever and a German sheppie named Sandie, Betty, and the other name escaped me now. Would you believe he  personally sees to their care, house, bath food etc despite his hectic sched. Wow! Ram, do post your dogs’ pics here,  please!

To my friends who own dogs, they do add meaning to our lives, right! Please feel free to post your opinion, your take on any thing under the sun, even your dog’s pics here. Remember, this portion has no walls, no ceilings, no floors!

As a teacher I  always hear my students groan whenever I tell them that we will do some writing. It seems such a herculean task to write; better to speak up on some issues than write.  To start with,  I allow them time to speak on issues that they know well enough, or on which they have something to say. Soon they find the speaking task enjoyable and they begin to feel at ease.  Then, when I see they have enough to say, then I know they are ready to write.  But always, the writing task is something to contend with. So , how to begin?

First, my advice to student writers is to keep writing whatever comes to their mind, regardless of grammar and rules. Just put down in writing their ideas, whether coherent or not, and in whatever subject.  Doing this allows them to begin the task of writing, organized or not. Just knowing that one can write about something is a good start; putting them together will come next.

So, to all of you reading this. Next one time you find you have something to write, write it down and keep them. You’ll never know when they’ll come handy!

By the way, I have always enjoyed reading my students’ blogs. For one thing, it is not something they feel obliged to do. They write  because they want to post their opinion, they want to be read and heard. Isn’t that a wonderful motivation to write? No pressures from teachers, no grades to worry about, just the desire to put in writing what they are thinking about at the moment.

So, back to the question: How difficult is writing? Well, try and see for yourself!