My Own Saga: Passion or Practicality?

Dear friend,

I haven't been active here lately because I don't have much time to write entries and I am a bit too stressed to write entries. You see, I've been busy with my job for the past two months and it'll be my third month at work next week. So how are things at work, you ask?

Well, obviously I'm a bit stressed out myself with work. Training's over and we're finally doing the job we got hired for and it's really a complicated work I must say. You might think it's easy because we only sit in front of the computer all day and do our thing but it's not as simple as that, my friend. Oh no. It's just mind-splitting most of the time. (I can't specify what I do there.)

I also think I'm still not used to the night life myself.  Alive by night, asleep by day. I just can't get used to that. As a result, I am always sleepless or I don't have enough sleep everyday and because of that, I am always restless, a bit jumpy, and I am prone to mood swings. Not the dangerous ones though, just the normal mood swings but people find it weird somehow because of how easy my mood changes. I am not bipolar or something. I am just moody or maybe cranky.

Because of my job, I don't have much time for myself too. Not enough time to rest and recuperate from the stress. Not enough time to relax. Not enough time to be with my family and friends. I miss out on a lot of things in their lives and I don't want that to go on for a long time.

I know you must think and you want to ask why did I even take this job in the first place if I'll whine like this right now. I have my reasons back then and all I can say right now is that it's like an experiment or trial and error if I describe it more accurately. I don't feel any regret of getting hired there to be honest. It's just that I had these realizations too early.

I've been looking for a new job lately because I realized this early how mundane my work is and I think I feel like a junkie with my lifestyle. I am not a quitter, okay? It's just that I felt this early that I am going nowhere with this and I need to be in the field I am really acquainted with and I need to apply the skills I acquired in my 4 years of college education. Because in my current job, I can't apply these skills. Obviously.

And now, there's this opportunity I want to take. It's a 5-day job in a film production. Why five days? Because they only have five straight days to shoot the film and I guess it'll be one long and exhausting shoot but that's how things work in a film production especially in an independent film production because you only have limited budget and resources and you can't afford to waste so much money with the budget you have on your hand for production.

Anyway, my point and my problem here is should I stay or should I go. Should I take this opportunity that comes sparsely or should I stay and wait for the right time to get out of my work permanently?

If I take this chance, I'll miss a week of work but I am satisfied because I will learn a lot of things from the production especially since it's one of my fields during college. I'll probably get the fire or creative passion back in me again.

 If I stay, however, then it'll just be the same mundane days where I'll whine for some segments of that day and wait for Friday night to come to feel better and it's on repeat until I decided to throw the towel.

This is a conflict of passion and practicality. Which do I choose? An opportunity where I might earn little money but I'll learn and get a lot of things out of it or a job so mundane but the compensation is a bit higher than the former though it's still a bit too low for general people's standards? And I only have today to decide because the production starts tomorrow.

I hope that with the decision I make later, I won't somehow lose myself in regret (or I think it'll happen if I choose to stay.)

Sincerely,

Zepp

My Own Saga: Appreciations

Dear friend,

I had a dream two days ago. I and a significant girl were in a building. I think we were inside our university in my dream. Then suddenly, she just cried and I hugged her to comfort her. At first, it was awkward because we are not exactly in good terms for a while and even until now. But in that dream, I just want to hug her and make her feel better. Then I woke up after that.

I know that dreams sometimes communicate what the subconscious or maybe the mind itself wants to say to you and it manifests like it's bursting out of the balloon. After waking up from that dream, I realize that I think I like her and maybe, I need her after all.

This particular girl I'm talking about has been a really good friend to me during my last year of college life. Then, she revealed to me after college that she likes me. I don't know if she still does after what I did to her which I deeply regret. Anyway, she and the rest of my college friends made my college days awesome but I made a lot of awesome memories with this girl because she made me experience things I've never done before we got together and hang out.

She took me to watch foreign films for free in some mall during the summer vacation before college graduation. She introduced me to a lot of things and schools of thoughts. She gave me a deeper insight about art and life. She took me out of my shell. And the most significant and sweetest thing I have ever received from someone is that she made me feel I exist and I'm a significant person.

She accepted my flaws and understood my lunacy. 

And I think that's a rare thing to happen because I think I'm totally messed up and an emotional wreck.

I don't want this post to become an emotional one and pour out all my regrets here. I want this post to be memorable to appreciate her for all the things she did for me. I deeply regret what I did to her, for hurting her feelings to be exact and I want to redeem myself and start over with her. I think I am ready. I just hope she forgives me and we'll take things from there.

Sincerely,

Zepp

My Own Saga: Incoherent Crap

Dear friend,

We all know that emotions enhances the experience of life. It sort of gives more life to the experiences and encounters during our lives. But sometimes, emotions derail us from logic and rationality. What's worse is that I'm emotional. I'm actually too emotional for a man's standards or maybe, the ideal level of emotion for men if there's such a thing or maybe, I'm rambling on like an idiot, saying things that don't exist.

I'm having troubles reaching out to people these past two or three days. I suddenly doubt if I really belong to where I am right now or maybe I should just loosen up and open myself to others. But it seems hard especially when other people see this other side. I'm thinking too much about what happens if they see me that way. Will they just go on with their lives or will they leave me behind?

I used to think that being alone is a nice thing because it helps me think and understand more about the things I'm trying to process but when I reached the senior year of my college life, I realized that I need friends to lighten up, help me comprehend what's happening, and even give me an orientation of the things I haven't experienced in my life.

You see, I've been spending my time too much in my shelter. I give in to my fears and I hate myself for that. When I see or hear people experiencing new things or they know these things I don't, I feel bad for myself to the point of regret and beating myself up for not doing these things.

That's why I need friends these days. It's because I don't want to think too much anymore. When I think too much, I spiral down to the point of breakdown and I don't want it to happen anymore. I want to move on and get out. I want to enjoy life with other people. But because of the fear, I hesitate and pull out and I want to punch myself so bad that I almost want to hate myself for being idle and for giving in to the fear.

I apologize if this post is so incoherent that you will get lost in this mess of mine. I just want to let this out and I can't express this vocally. I always end up hesitating when saying these things out from my mouth. I just want to write these things all out. I know the effect is not really that much and I know that I think no one or only one person reads the crap I'm posting beside myself.

I just want to improve and adjust. I want to understand. I want to get out.

Please. 

Sincerely,

Zepp

My Own Saga: What's Going On?

Dear friend,

Remember my post about starting with a new job? Well, I am happy to report that I am having a good time so far.

I'm currently a trainee for the job. I am not yet a regular in the position but I'm fine with it because I'm using the training as an adjustment period for myself, especially for my body clock since the job involves a nocturnal lifestyle or in simple words, I have to stay up all night which is really new for me.

When I go to work, the sky is dark and the moon shines in the horizon. When I get out of the building, the sun is already rising and my eyes are heavy and tired. But when I reach home and my bed, I can't fall asleep easily. I still have to do things to exhaust myself for a nice and uninterrupted sleep. I'm not whining about it, okay?

Anyway, I find my co-trainees cool and awesome to hang out with. At first, there's an air of awkwardness between those who just joined in and those who already met during the job offer. But after two or three days, I think, we all sort of blend in harmoniously though there were some ripples along the way because we're still trying to read and grasp the limits of each other.

There's also no feel of competition luckily among us and it's a good thing because we are trained to work together as a team. We're not in some reality show where it's every man for himself and I find it actually cool to learn from my co-trainees too because we're all different from each other and I want to learn and experience new things from them and with them.

The training itself is a blast though I'm still grasping on some of the topics because the job I'm about to delve into is pretty new and a bit far from my field but it's okay because it would be nice to be exposed to new things. I even experienced culture shock this past week because of the information being discussed during the training.

I still have a few weeks before the training period ends and the real challenge begins so I have to make the most out of the training because I think this will be the only time where I can bond with my co-trainees freely. Because once the real work begins, our time will be squeezed and I am a bit nervous about the things that lie ahead.

I really hope I can pass the training too and hold on to this job for a long while because I really need to do something for myself and my family.

Sincerely,

Zepp

My Own Saga: Starting Over

Dear friend,

As you can see, this is my first post for 2013. Hooray. But it's not really a breakthrough so we can scrap the confetti aside and just get on with the point.

For several months since my graduation, I have been struggling to get a job and stay in one. It's not that I quit so soon from my previous job because I can't handle it. There's another reason which concerns about the salary that made me stop and technically, my "job" is not really a job but more of a side project. But I enjoy my three or four months there.

The people who were my workmates were pretty nice and cool. They are all older than me and most of them have families of their own so when I work with them, there is this feel that I am their youngest brother or something. They are not really too serious because they know how to have fun and when to crack up jokes but when everyone's serious, they are all dead serious about what they're doing.

But the end inevitably came a little soon. I had to stop coming in because I was getting a bit underpaid. I am not the only one who faced this problem but every one of us within that group has that problem. The cause lies within the clients who are not paying punctually and fully.

I think they still haven't paid my workmates even after I left. I felt bad about stopping and sort of abandoning them but I can't ask my parents for travel expenses for long. I also can't ask too much from my boss there for my salary because the salary comes from his own wallet and not from the budget that was supposed to be filled up from the clients' payment.

So I stopped coming there. It was easy to get out because there's no contract involved about my work there. The only thing I signed there is a confidentiality contract about the project we worked on during my time there.

Well, looks like I told too much about one of my previous predicaments last year. Let me move on to the new deal.

I'm about to start with my new job this coming Monday and I am both excited and nervous for this one. I am excited because of a lot of new possibilities inside like new friends and new things to learn but I am also nervous if I can handle this or not. By the way, I can't tell the specifics but I can assure you that it is legal.

My friend who referred me to that job and company tells a lot of stories about her working experiences there and at first, she seems to enjoy it but as her training ends and the real nature of her job started, she slowly started to get stressed and from stories of enjoyment, her stories turned into stressful moments about the job.

I listened to her stories because I'm being a friend and she wants to let out her stress from her work but her stories affected me to the point that I question myself if I can handle the job as soon as training ends. I really hope whatever I learn during the training will stick with me for a long time.

Besides the anxiety, I am also excited like I said before because this is a fresh start for me. With a fresh start come new possibilities like new friends and new experiences. I'm also excited for the lessons I'll learn during the training. And I actually want this excitement to dominate over my anxiety. I don't want the fear to ruin this new opportunity for me.

Speaking of new opportunity, I want to take this job as a springboard or introduction for me to the concept of having a job with a decent pay. I would like to use the job to get the feel of the possible kind of environment I'll encounter in the future when it comes to offices and workplaces.

I also want to think about it as some kind of a memorable experience where even if this is not my dream job, I manage to have fun while working because of the people I will be working with in the days ahead.

I just hope I'll last long in this job and if I slip, I'll stand up and be on my feet quickly because there's no time for grasping the situation when it comes to working. You have to be fast on your feet, be flexible, and be prepared for everything that comes along the way.

Wish me luck in this new start and I wish you luck with your current and future endeavors and challenges.

Sincerely, 

Zepp

New Year's Resolution and Shit

I only have a few more minutes to accomplish this and I still don't know how I'll pull this one off. You see, 2012 has been one hell of a year for me. Most days are not dull and there are days that are indeed dull. I don't know if I learned a lot of things this year because even if I did, this crazy mind of mine keeps making me the same mistakes I want to avoid for a long time. I hate my mind. I hate it for making me do these stupid and illogical things I can't even explain to myself why I did them.

Instead of being outside, I opted to stay in my room and try to get this post over with. I have been struggling to write this post for a while now. I don't know why I can't write what I should have written a few hours before and even things I should have done before. WHOA. Where the hell did that statement come from!? See!? My mind is now playing tricks on me. I am really sorry for being unstable. Honest. I really am sorry.

I can see a lot of beautiful fireworks going off in the sky so I better get this over with now. So where should I start?

Well, first thing is the transition. I struggled to change and adjust to a lot of things and I think I have failed to adjust to most things, especially to love. I blame my unstable and messed up emotional state for this. I had a withdrawal to what is supposed to be my first significant relationship with the opposite sex and yet, I don't know if I blew it or not. I don't really know if I really like her or just admire her for who she is.

There's also the delayed adjustment from being a student to a young professional or young adult (since I still have yet to experience a job next year). I had some attempts to get my life started on being a young professional and yet, the grip seems to be weak so it somehow let me go for an immature amount of time because of some circumstances and controversies (and no, I am not involve with the controversies around).

Third and possibly last is my fragile and unstable mind state. Not just the emotional state but also my mental state. You might think I am sort of a lunatic right now. You be the judge. But I am still troubled on a lot of things that I cannot explain and enumerate what things are bothering me right now because I am distracted with the time pressure and the fireworks outside. You have to forgive and believe me. (Why am I saying this thing if there is no one reading this crap I am writing?)

Okay. I think I may have written too much about what's on my mind this concluding year. Time to move on to the next part of the post: the New Year's resolution.

***

I am once again here writing a New Year's resolution that I don't know if I can accomplish all of these or maybe most of these in the coming year. But I really hope I can fulfill them without hesitations and without fear because I really could use to change. 

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION 2013

1. No more tears and fears for the new year. I don't want to hesitate on doing most things I want to do except if I know that it will lead to a mistake. I want to fully live my life without the fear of having a lot of regrets.
2. No more impulsiveness, no more recklessness. I have been too impulsive (to my idealism) this concluding year and because of this, I have become reckless and somehow irresponsible for my actions. Thus, I think of myself as immature, still and unfortunately. I don't want to be in this state anymore. I need to grow up.
3. Make responsibility an ability. In connection with the previous item, I have to responsible with my actions to avoid more regrets in the future. I have already blown some opportunities and experiences to myself. I do not want to torture myself anymore because of the regrets and stupidities.
4. Less whining, more living. For the past year, I have been whining more and living less. I failed to live my life to the fullest. So in the spirit of the new year, I will try my best to acknowledge life how it should be acknowledged and throw away the whines.
5. Be emotionally healthy.  I don't want to torture myself anymore. I don't want to be conflicted and confused because of my frail emotional state. If I need to talk to someone, I'll have to find someone from now on. I don't have to keep a lot of things to myself from here on.
6. Consideration will sometimes be an option. This item is a little weird because I am not sure of the construction of the sentence. From now on, I have to consider some of my actions especially if these actions will affect a lot of people and not only that but if they will have a huge effect in my life.
7. Love thy self. This is in connection with number five. If I need to be emotionally healthy, I must learn to accept my flaws and love myself first. 
8. Lurking is not helping. Lurking and dwelling in the past has never been helpful to anyone, not even to me. I know that a lot of people have said this to me and I should have moved on a long time ago. So in the spirit of the new year (again), I'll be leaving a lot of things behind and just embrace the new year.
9. Prove them wrong once in a while. People sometimes talk like hell that drags me down. This coming year, I would like to prove them wrong and I would love to see their faces after. It's not an issue of pride, okay?

Once again, if I forget some things, I will try to add them here later but I only have two minutes before 2012 is over so I have to get this over with.

For those who stayed with me until the end, thank you. For the new friends, it's nice to meet you and I hope to see you people more. For the people I admire, improve and stay awesome. For the people I love, I love you all eternally. 

Thank you and a Happy New Year!

My Own Saga: Consistently Inconsistent

Dear friend,

I am really getting consistent at being inconsistent. I have these constant headaches and maybe I get them because of thinking too much. But what am I to do? I can't stop thinking. I mean, we all have got to think in every day of our lives, yes? If you're planning to tell me to stop thinking, perhaps I should tell you right now that I won't stop thinking. Not that I don't listen to my friends' advice but I think my world revolves around thinking.

But due to thinking too much, I think my mind starts to get tired with all the thoughts, especially those things I should not even ponder about. I can't enumerate them all here because I can't remember most of them right now and I do not want to share them here because 90% of them are personal and 10% of them are absurd.

As a result of my mind getting fatigued, I have become more forgetful than ever. There are moments where I go out of my room to get or do something and as soon as I go beyond my door, I forget the thing I'm supposed to get or do.

There are also times where I am getting inconsistent with the stories I tell to my friends, especially when I tell about something that happen on a particular day and I tell it later to my friends but it ended up being skewered because I forgot some of the details already. I can still tell my friend the gist of my stories but some parts went missing.

Another inconsistency is my mood. Sometimes, I want to get out and spend time with my friends but there are times where I lock myself in my room all day long. It is not supposed to be a big deal but it is now because I am bothered.

My guts is another thing that flickers inside myself like a dying light bulb. I have days when I feel I can take on the world but these days also fade away and my courage goes down to scratch. Why can't I be consistently brave or courageous?

I am also having troubles keeping focus at things lately. I think my attention span has decreased because I can concentrate before but now, I get knocked off-course with a blink of an eye and I really, really do not want that anymore.

Because of these inconsistencies, I end up hurting people unintentionally, including my friends and family. The bad part is that I never know that I actually hurt them until they start to avoid me.

I just want to discipline myself, you know. I want to grow up and get my mind in its right place. I want it to be at rest somehow and keep it stress-free. What I mean by "grow up" is to take things seriously and with responsibility because I am really messed up and I've been f***ed up for a long, long time.

I don't know if leaving my room, the house, and my family for a while will help but there is a strong chance that it will help because I can use the peace and silence. The house is really kind of noisy when my family's here, especially with all the shouting and loud talking. By the way, they're not shouting because of fighting but they can't hear each other sometimes. They're not all deaf too, okay? They are just jumpy and somewhat overreacting at times, like me. I guess.

I've also thought of talking to a psychiatrist or therapist to help me here but where in this particular shithole can I find such people? And there's a big chance that I cannot afford their services. I consider talking to my friends but I can't find the right words to say because they might not understand what I am going through and what is wrong with me. That's why I really want professional help.

I really hope that before 2013 comes, I can get this ordeal over with and move forward because I really don't want to get stuck in here for decades. I've seen people get on with their lives and I believe I should move forward too because there is no point in staying in one place especially when the people around you are fast on their feet and I do not want to be left behind somehow.

Sincerely,

Zepp