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Changes can be sweet, and sometimes bitter. I'm moving out of Blogspot and will be using Wordpress instead. After years of defending blogspot over wordpress, I have conceded and opened an account in Wordpress. Thanks to export-import features, I don't need to let go of my archives.

It's just like a bend in the road, a change in orientation but still going in the same direction. I'm still moving forward. See you there! :)

Karen says hello to her new home.

http://karensayshello.wordpress.com

Travel Light

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Travel light. Take only the essentials, and be resourceful. Not everything you see and hear are needed in life. Take only the essentials, and use them well. Avoid bulky baggages filled with unnecessary anxieties and worries. The journey will have its own worries, and your essentials will be enough.

Travel light, travel happy.

Happy Goodness

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The most honest way of touching a person's life is not knowing you're already doing that. And the paradoxical nature of it is that, we are humbled when they are able to appreciate us for it. But the most honest way of doing good, is when we actually mean it. Sometimes it is not in our intentions to be good, but we inadvertently do good. And we are rectified when a person thanks us for it, because we realize that we never really meant it. What if we start meaning to do good? To be heroic, such that we still try to do good even if it's already out of our convenience. Tough call, I know.

Ah, but it's always a happy attempt to fill the world with goodness. It's a little difficult, but it is always fruitful, even the seemingly futile attempts are. Nothing is wasted, that's the best thing about it.

Pass me by

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Let all other things pass me by. 

But let me not miss out on You.

I'm happy to see You passing by.

in the most ordinary circumstance

in nothing less than perfect timing.

In Love

I am in love with Life. I think it's beautiful and it has so much more to it than what we already know. I love happiness because it's a universal force which physics has never adequately explained. I like randomness because it makes life more interesting, but that this has to be in moderation because duties and responsibilities call for order and predictability. I like being in the middle of the world, meeting different people, engaging in different sorts of conversation. I love my family and friends and trying to make them happy as well. But of course to keep my sanity, I save space for myself, where I could enjoy my own company and muse about life's beauty.

I am a medical student and little by little this kind of life is proving to me that toxicity and being busy are not excuses to miss life and all its splendor. I am an aspiring doctor, but and I also yearn for some creative work. I know these two will eventually be realized, and it's just a matter of time. 

I love the basic elements of learning: to read, to write, to talk, and to listen. I love the whole spectrum of colors, in its subtlety and boldness, in its opacity and transparency. I like still photos and their play of shadow and light.

I could go on and on, blabbering about the things I love. Simply put, I am in love. 

Good Morning

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I have never woken up to a pleasant morning like this for the longest time. I woke up in the middle of a dream, which I couldn't remember anymore, but I know it was something pleasant. I wanted to sleep longer and have more of those peaceful dreams, but God was tugging me, and said He wanted to talk to me already. In my half open eyes, I talked with Him, and blabbered things I hope made some sense. Finally, I got my senses woken up little by little, and the beautiful morning is slowly rising to my horizon and I can't help but smile and thank God for this sweet surprise. I woke up to a reality sweeter than the dreams I had this morning.

I prayed for you this morning. :)

Questions

Sometimes it's easier to search for an answer when you know what question you're trying to answer. Sometimes it's more difficult to look for the right question because you're simply lost. But let me begin with these two questions in mind:

What is important to you?

What makes you important? 

The importance of our being --- have you really found yours?

The Mystery of Migraine

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The mystery of migraine: it strikes as it pleases, its etiology is unknown, and it affects people's functionality in different extent.

I've been having episodes of migraine these past days. It's very untimely since it's taking too much time away from my studying (or blogging. hehe.) It's especially difficult when it strikes while I'm walking. Because it blurs my vision, it throbs and it feels like I'm about to pass out any moment. It feels like my brain's expanding as it throbs its way out of my cranium. Man. I wish this expansion has something to do with the studying I've been doing, but I highly doubt that. Please migraine, go away. Karen needs to study.

To Where You Are

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To Where You Are
by Josh Groban


Who can say for certain
Maybe you’re still here
I feel you all around me
Your memories so clear

Deep in the stillness
I can hear you speak
You’re still an inspiration
Can it be (? )
That you are my
beloved dad
And you are watching over me from up above

Fly me up to where you are
Beyond the distant star
I wish upon tonight
To see you smile
If only for awhile to know you’re there
A breath away’s not far
To where you are

Are you gently sleeping
Here inside my dream
And isn’t faith believing
All power can’t be seen

As my heart holds you
Just one beat away
I cherish all you gave me everyday
’cause you are my
beloved dad
Watching me from up above

And I believe
That angels breathe
And that love will live on and never leave

Fly me up
To where you are
Beyond the distant star
I wish upon tonight
To see you smile
If only for awhile
To know you’re there
A breath away’s not far
To where you are

I know you’re there
A breath away’s not far
To where you are


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIAQCiMIEEQ

Of Grace and Balance

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In her graceful fall we find acceptance

In complete surrender she has embraced a will

not of her own but of life less understood.

A wise man once said, charity is not merely in giving, but more in understanding. Everyone seeks to be understood. We are unhappy when we are ignored, unheard and taken for granted. And yet the soonest we stop to seek for understanding and start giving it, we realize how life can actually be brighter and more peaceful. 

May we never find ill feelings for anyone who has faulted us. Instead, may it always be in understanding that we forgive. May we never feel righteous over people who make a fool of themselves. Instead, we realize what a bigger fool we are to feel righteous. 

Oh, there could never be a sadder form of poverty, but that of poverty in understanding. A person who understands is wiser than the learned, is richer than a millionaire, and knows best how to love.

A Year and 12 Seconds

A year and 12 seconds

I've shared dreams with you

A year and 12 minutes

I've laughed with you

A year and 12 hours

I've prayed for your happiness

A year and always

I'll be by your side.

Stolen Time

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Lulling. In the middle of my routinely night studies, I thought of sneak peeking into my introspective thoughts and share it to whoever is around.

There's an unknown etiology to my happiness today. There were little instances that made me sustain my smile a little longer, but I knew there was something more about today. This is probably an internal force of happiness pulling me inward and at the same time pushing me outward to share this happiness with people. (Yes, You. thank You, God.)

Today marked a busy day for me. Everything i need to do today has to be put on an alarm or sticky-noted just so I remember. But even the notes I put on alarm are still forgotten.

Today I thought I should make a new reminder for myself, that's to be happy and to make other people happy.

Making happiness a habit, one day at a time.

Happy Thoughts

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They come in snippets
They come in thought
They trickle from my heart to yours

Sometimes you get yourself in a state of unbelievable happiness, and you're left with nothing but a grateful heart.

What made you happy today?

To you who made it

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I'm so proud of you Alric :) More opportunities have opened for you, and I pray that you choose well, that you do well, and that love be your foremost motivation to be accomplished.

Nightsky

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Stars are falling one by one

but you and I will remain

holding up above,
lighted and twinkling
in the clear night sky

Forward!

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I'm trying to make time keep up with my pace, but it's only pulling me forward as it ticks. Walking at my pace is just not going to make it. Run, Karen, run.

Order

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When things are back in order, thoughts in my head flow better, words come out nicely, and I am able to love more consciously.

It's always nice to know what you're doing, to own your actions and to mean every word you say.

365 hello's

It starts a conversation, a relationship and love. 365 hello's... and counting. 

Too Few Words

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The pages are turning on its own, and the story is moving forward without the storyteller. The past days have been pretty busy that I can barely get some time to sit down and share some thoughts in this space. My recent entries have only been few short breaths I was able to spare from a very squeezed day. Nonetheless, God has been good. Most moments were snippets of happiness, like they were sneak preview of the next big thing.

Hello there.

On Your Birthday

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This is how I felt yesterday. Because I missed you, and I wish I could spend the day with you. I love you, Dad. :) Happy birthday!

Truth is, this was me on your birthday because I spent the day studying for an upcoming exam.