Note To Self: Letters from our 2015 selves to our 2016 selves

Dear 2016 Jhun,

First off. How was the road trip?!?!?! I seriously want to know. Were you able to make it? I hope to god you did because if you didn't, I promise I'll swear you off to the deepest darkest ends of the earth. Just kidding. For a moment. :P

So kiddo, how are we? I wonder where you are currently seated right now while you're reading this. Are you still surrounded by the books we've collected all these years? By the same walls that we've painted and written poetry on just a couple of weeks ago? Remember how you felt when you started repainting these walls and your heart just twisted a little bit because you knew that you're letting go of a part of you to the backseat of this ride because you felt that you have to do it to make space for new memories? I remember that after finishing this room and I looked around, it felt like the room became too small because my roots have finally grown too big for this place and they're longing to spread themselves in another place. So what did you do about it? Did you ignore that call or did you listen to it? What were your reasons? 

I wish you had yourself get lost. But not lost in the sense that you didn't know what to do with your life. I'm talking about getting lost in living - in fully experiencing your life not just by surviving it. When you let your own self decide where you want to go without the help of planned maps and  unwarranted advice. It doesn't hurt to listen to them from time to time, but I hope that the choices you've made are the ones that you wanted to do in the first place.

So where are we working now? I'm kinda curious as to where we've finally landed our feet on. Did you miss working in school? The holidays and class suspensions? I hope you didn't turn yourself into a workaholic idiot though. :P

What did we do? Any grand vacations that we had? What are the new things we've tried? Tell me your story. I promise I will be here to listen.

Yours,

2015 Jhun

P.S. Another weird coincidence. Because you wrote this post at home last night where the internet connection's still down (raawr) and was about to post it here in the office and when you opened up Tyler Knott's blog, this was his typewriter for the day. Need anymore signs my dear? :P

***

Dear 2015 Jhun,

I can't believe it's been only a year since I wrote you this letter. After everything that happened, it felt longer. So where do I begin. Ah, I remember. Let's start with our 2015 yearender. We weren't able to join the tour because sadly, they ran out of slots when we were about to reserve. Don't be sad though, because we still managed to have that long needed vacation that we've wanted for a very long time. This time, we went to Baler. It's a camping adventure less the hassle of setting up our own camp and preparing our own food. It's more of a relaxing staycation with the perks of staying in a hotel, but instead of having a room in a high rise building with elegant foyers and fine dining restaurants, we stayed in a tent beside the beach. We were able to catch a wonderful view of the sunrise and caught glimpses of shooting stars falling from the sky. It's one for the books, that I can be sure of. :) 

As for your next question, yes, we're still in the same room that we painted a year ago. Same walls, same texts written on walls, same books and more. And yes, I can still remember how we felt suffocated in this place back then. And now I understand more why you did. Because everything felt too repetitive for us already that's why we felt the urge to move along. And I fear this will be an ongoing trend for us. That we cannot stay put in the same place for long periods of time, except maybe for this place that we call home. I don't know what to make of it, but for now, we're just going with the flow.

Because of this, we finally left our previous work last March. It felt surreal during that time beacuse everyting happened so fast. I know we've decided for months that we would leave by the end of the school year, but when the time came, I still couldn't believe that it was our last day. 

Now to our present work. The funny thing is, it's something (slightly) new. :P We're still working in a school, and it's a different one, but still a school (surprise!surprise!) so we didn't get to miss the holidays and such. Hahaha! But now, we're working in an inclusive school where we work with both typical kids and children with special needs. Let's just say we got carried away by a friend from our previous work that's why we got here. ;) 

Truth be told, this time around it felt more fulfilling even if our pay wasn't that high. It felt more like what we're doing means something more. And I guess this was what was lacking from our previous work. The real purpose. More than just making enough money to get through the day. The work is more tiring but at the end of the day, I appreciate how I spent my time. Don't get mad if I say that we turned into a little bit of a workaholic though. Because I'm telling you, what we're doing is something worth spending all our extra hours on. (I still can't believe how you were able to foresee what we're going to do even if we do not make any concrete plans for ourselves. 0_o)

As for now, I'm preparing for a three-day out-of-town trip for tomorrow. I forgot to tell you, maybe also this is why we felt too confined last year because this year, we're making a lot of trips between our current school and the other branch that we're building in another place. Let's just say it's a school within a nest of very, very old trees, situated in more than an acre wide land. Do you think it's wide enough for us already? ;)

I hoped you were happy with the things we did, because for me, I sure am. :)

Yours,

2016 Jhun

***

Dear 2017 Jhun,

How's life? I hope you're doing fine. Seriously, as of this moment, I can't think of anything to say to you. It's like I'm afraid to ask you, and of what, I don't know too. Blame it on the hormones, I think? 

Okay, just so I can think of something, let's do a round of Chuwariwap. Right now Kodaline's One Day is playing. Somehow this part gave me the goosebummps 

"You've felt this way for far too long

Waiting for a change to come

You know you're not the only one

And life passes you by
Don't be wasting your time
On your own"

Now let's wait for the answer to the reason what's in it for next year...

and it says...

Ten Feet Tall by Afroack 

and I still can't comprehend why.

the next one is...

Beating Heart by Ellie Goulding

as for the last one...

The Sound by The 1975

now this cheered me up just because it's one of my faves

Let's just wait and see how your year will go. ;)

Seriously, even after all of this, I'm starting to get anxious again. It's like the coming year, I'll spend time waiting, for what, I hope you'll know the answer by then, once you read this. I hope you're still listening to your guts my dear. Trust them as much as I did, because as far as I can recall, it has never failed us. Go with the flow. See where life will take us. Believe.

I'll be waiting for your story soon

Yours,

2016 Jhun

*****

Letter of 2015 Me to 2016 Me

source

Hello there 2016 Me!

Oh my goodness! My hands are quite trembling and feeling cold and somehow teary-eyed but all these feels are really in a good, good way.. because just typing every a,b,c's of this letter to you just makes me feel giddy and happy and excited all at the same time to finally write to you.

Let me share with you something. You see, when we went to Quiapo Church 2 years ago while we were closing our eyes and having this heart-to-heart conversation with the Big Guy Up There.. I don't know if it's a vision but 2016 popped into our mind. We don't know what's with 2016 exactly but it's just so funny that the 2016 Olympics will be held in Rio. How cool is that right?! I mean, is it just a coincidence or is it also a sign that great things will happen for us. 

Ah.. this feeling I'm having right now like having joyful tears and tearful joys and my heart feel like exploding because of all the blessings that is coming our way. I'm sure that we will be doing great than ever and we will be getting where we should be.. where we are meant to be. I'm so positive of this. 

And here's what I want to tell you that hopefully will surprise you when you read this..

Let your dreams (both when you're asleep and awake) guide you towards the path that you needed to take. Let every decision of yours be aligned to God's will. 

Take every sign (literally and figuratively) that you come across along the way as your life guides.

Pray for discernment.

Take those leaps of faith, I promise it will surprise you in a really, really, good way and in ways more than you expect it. (Best surprises ever ;) )

Say YES more often. (This somehow came from your inner voice like an instinct. So I think, you must follow this.)

Just as you learned to let go and have your inner happiness grow each day, you will blossom into a woman you always needed and wanted to be. 

Smile and stay graceful despite the adversities. C'est La Vie. ;)

Be grateful every day and savor each day and each moment because all that you have is a gift and a blessing from the Big Guy Up There.

There's good in every day.

Have that joie de vivre in you always. like romanticizing each day as if it's your last. 

Have that great balancing act.

Hello's are coming your way. So say each Hello with a smile and embrace it. ;)

New beginnings it is indeed. ;)

Pray always my dear. No matter how simple it may be as long as it from the heart and from every fiber of your being.

Always have a review of your goals to see how far you've come and set new goals from time to time. It's the only way we know we grow and blossom. ;)

Have more adventures, wherever that might be. (Hello there KaRhiAdventures, Moon Sisters Moments and all other adventures) ;)

Believe and Have Faith all the days of your life. :)

I know this has gotten quite long but I think I just wanted you to be really prepared and well-equipped. Somehow, we are currently loving the mysteries of life (balancing it to our gift of quite predicting things) to leave room for the surprises that life has in store for us.

Ah.. so many words are quite popping in my head right now.. surprises, yes(es), hellos, beginnings, going places, miracles..

I will not have any questions for you young lady, but do tell me the stories of how our 2016 is. I'm pretty sure it will be wickedly awesome and far much better and one of the best years of your life. Like literally (and figuratively)  jumping and taking those leaps of faith one day at a time. Because we just know. ;)

And we are already getting there. I promise! ;)

So, to ask you again..

what would you do if you can do anything at the moment? ;)

Peace, Love, Light and Happiness,

2015 Rhio

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Reply Letter to 2015 Me from 2016 Me

Dear 2015 Rhio,

How are you? I know what you feel. You are most likely in this transition stage of your life when things are about to unfold. Don't worry, you'll totally get there. I just hope that somewhere in this alternate Universe, you can feel the good vibes and positivity that I'm sending you.

Anyways, I just read our letter. And up until now... I can still see that vision clearly and feel the feeling we had when when we had that vision. 2016 is totally and wickedly awesome!!! This is definitely one of the best years of our life, something that will forever be etched in our mind and heart. Something good that we can go back to. 

This is the year when we got healed, whole and complete again - through God's grace and by our determination and willingness to be the better version of our previous best self. So, high five for that!

This is the year when our happiness comes from within us - in awe and always grateful for all the miracles in the mundane that is happening in our every day life.

This is the year when we committed ourselves to take care of us - listening to our body, doing a weekly exercise, eating more fruits and veggies and from time to time indulging and doing exactly nothing and knowing when to push our limits without compromising our health.

This is the year when we got to go places - places we never thought we could but we did. We always have this feeling "we just knew" but not always knowing what exactly it was until we arrive to that exact moment our 'feeling/intuition' had always been telling us. So yeah, we should always trust our guts and instincts for that matter.

This the year when we found one of the things we wanted to do that makes us feel alive. It felt like a full circle. But at the same time, there's this one thing that we feel like exploring too. So let's see how things will turn out for us.

This is the year when something was stolen from us just we went to that big trip of ours but guess what? Just when we said that we will let go of it altogether and just let things be... The Big Guy Up There returned that something that  was stolen from us the next day we decided to let go of it.

This is the year when we get to learn a little to read the signs and discern just quite a bit what it meant; that some of our dreams still do come true quite literally and quite figuratively, too.

This is the year when we follow more our mind than our heart, but, I hope we don't tilt it much on one side that we forgot to balance it out with the other.

This is the year when a lot about ourselves change. Like we are this totally new person but at the same time, it still us. You get it?

This is the year when we have so many stories to tell.

Oh 2015 Rhio. I feel like giving you a good and tight hug right now.

Thank you for everything that has been and cheers to things that will be....

I love you to the moon and back!

I got you, okay?

Peace, love, light and happiness.

2016 Rhio

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Letter from 2016 Me to 2017 Me

Dearest 2017 Rhio,

So, how's life lately? Tell me. What are we up to these days? Any significant things that happened? 

Honestly, I still don't know exactly to tell us. It's like our mind is having this blank canvass waiting to be filled up by surprises and whatever it is that we decided to do for the year. And so far, I'm just having a good and steady feeling... so I'm quite certain that things will turn out alright and great for us.

But here are some nuggets of wisdom that I'd like us to have:

1. Save up. I don't know why, but, just do it. 

2. Balance work with school. Know how to prioritize and learn when to say yes or say no so as not to overwhelm yourself.

3. Balance our heart and mind. I know that we've been following our mind mostly for this year, but, I guess, this year, I hope we give our heart a chance once again. Listen to it even if it is quite irrational for telling us things. Leap of faith, remember? ;)

4. Pray unceasingly. No matter where we are or what we do, be it for the little things or the big things. 

5. Be grateful.

6. Do one act of kindness a day. It changes things or anyone else for that matter. A lot. 

7. Who knows, this might be just our lucky year. ;)

8. Take chances. 

Oh and here are our clues for 2017 according to our playlist:

1. Heart Like Yours

2. Season of Love

3. Words Meet Heartbeats

And to ask you again...

- what would you do if you can do anything at the moment? -

Peace, Love, Light and Happiness,

2016 Rhio 

Random Conversation 3

Grey and Yang met earlier today. They went inside a bookstore, looked around and when they were at one of the shelves... 

Yang scanned the books on the upper part of the shelf while Grey stumbled upon a book, at the lower part of the shelf, she hadn't seen for quite awhile. Then, Grey grabbed the book and told Yang, 

"Uy, may nagpaparamdam" (Look, something is getting your attention) 

and unknowingly, Yang also took out a book from the upper shelf and told Grey, 

"May nagbabalik" (something is going back)... 

And when they both looked at the books they were holding... Tadaah! It was like Universe played one of its tricks again that both Grey and Yang laughed hard with each other. For it was another weird moment because they were both holding "Before Ever After" by Samantha Sotto. Hahaha! And they both said something that meant exactly the same thing.

Could this be another clue for them about something?

Oh well, let's see... 

Baler Diaries

Finally. Yang and I, or better known as the "Moon Sisters", had our very own adventure outside the hustle and bustle of the city, sometime before 2015 ended. This wasn't exactly the original plan, but I guess Universe had its ways. It made sure that we were meant to have our last hurrah there because the peace and quiet that the place offered was what we needed before the awesome 2016 began.

It all started when Yang found this newspaper article about camping out with nature but it still had the comforts that we were looking for. It's called Easy Adventure and it's located in Aurora, Baler. We booked for 3 days and 2 nights and the fee we paid for was totally worth it as it already included 4 full board meals in a day, which means we have breakfast then snacks then lunch then snacks again and of course dinner. We definitely didn't go hungry and their home-cooked meals are to die for. No kidding! 

Totally salivating just looking at this picture. It may seem too simple but wait till you taste it. 

Of course, just like any Moon Sisters adventure, it's never without in-between interventions from The Universe. Hahaha. The above picture was actually our breakfast before we head back to Manila. Earlier that day, I woke up Yang because I wanted to witness the sunrise again. But before she even hop off her bed, she was having "weird feels" and as some of you may know, we have this game called "chuwariwap" - where the song that plays randomly will be the answer/sign to whatever it is that you may ask or think about. So before we head out to the seashore, we asked The Universe why Yang is having her "weird feels" and it gave us the song "By Chance (You and I) by J.R.A." where one of the lines in the song says "go grab some lunch and eat some cucumbers" which I tell you is one of the lines that Yang dislikes. Hahaha. Funny because she said: "Don't tell me there's cucumber in our meal later..." I just laugh at what she said and quite replied... "I don't know, we'll see." And true enough after our sunrise session when breakfast was finally served... Tadaaaah! We were both laughing because there goes the cucumbers. And we were like "Seriously?! Weird feels for the cucumber?". Hahaha. Which we later on realized that maybe it was just Universe's way of telling us to just believe and not to ignore it. Hahaha.

Anyways, let's rewind this story a bit. 

Days before our trip we bought our bus tickets going to Baler. We decided to take the late night trip via the Joy Bus of Genesis so that we could sleep through the whole trip and can arrive at 10AM. What I love about Easy Adventure is that it we were able to request for a free ride that would fetch us from the bus terminal going there. 

Our fun and free ride going to Easy Adventure

The ride took minutes but we inhaled it all in especially the fresh air and the simplicity of life around. 

As soon as we arrived at Easy Adventure, we were welcomed by Ate Baby Jane, one of the friendly caretakers of the camp, and lead us to the viewing deck looking over the sea and where we sneaked in some bit of sleep as we were still groggy from the night trip. We were then awakened and thereafter lead to our very own tent. 

One of our neighboring tents located near the river

Yes, our tent is near the river which by the way goes straight to the sea. I love how metaphorical is the meeting of the sea and river. It's like how life or The Universe or the fates or serendipity works - that no matter which way you go, you'll always end where you're meant to be. Add love and "The One" at that. Hahaha. ;)

And this is how our tent looked like...

We chose to each have a bed and we were more than amazed that it's complete with furniture like chairs and table and even a loudbasstard for some music plus magazines. Yang and I had this rule that since it's a vacay, we need to do something different. So I told her, no reading of books but we can do some coloring and some outdoor activities that Easy Adventures has to offer. Hahaha. So after settling ourselves and our stuff and choosing which bed to sleep in, we changed our outfits and had some fresh buko juice which is their welcome drink for us and then had some lunch. Afterwards, we went back to our tent and ended up having an afternoon sleep. Hahaha. Good thing, one of the caretakers woke us up for merienda. 

All smiles to start our first luna adventure

After having merienda, we carried our cameras and off we go around the dock, the bridge, the seashore, some sunset viewing and waited till it's dinnertime. Oh, life! 

I was a bit cautious walking on the bridge the whole time. Hahaha.

We took everything in... the sea, the waves, the wind and everything around us. All while we were thinking that this is exactly what we needed to cap-off the year. A breather. From just about everything. 

On the first night, we end up just sleeping along the sound of nature and the cold winds. We were planning to spend some time at the viewing deck but since there are some people there, we decided to just stay in our tent. 

Surprisingly, by the next day, I woke up first. And I think it's all because I have this thing with sunrises. As much as I love sunsets, I'm quite more drawn to sunrise. And which made me wanting to always wake up early since then even if I don't have a view of the sunrise anymore. Just waking up to a brand new day is something that I always look forward to and find myself more than inspired to do the things that I needed to do for the day. 

There goes Mr. Sun finally up and about along with the crashing of the waves...

It was an awesome way to start the day. After which, we had breakfast and then merienda and did some coloring. By lunch time, we contemplating on what to do. Good thing during the time we were there, there weren't much guests so it felt that the place were all our own. Hahaha. 

Some coloring while the songs from my phone's playlist randomly play...

We decided not to take a nap as we don't much to waste our time from just sleeping. 

I took advantage of the time and wrote with ink and paper some thoughts of mine while Yang having fun with Kuya's GoPro camera. Of course, I wrote with some music alongside of me. Hahaha. After a few minutes, Yang decided that we should start exploring on foot. 

I think I was talking to her about something all while making sure I won't have mud on my feet...

So we took a walk along the muddy river since it happened to be a low tide at that time. I just followed Yang actually all while I keep on rambling because our slipper-clad feet are caked in mud already. Hahaha. Then we went to the grassy area and lo and behold we found our "pride rock". 

Here's the story behind "pride rock". Before we head out our tent, we read this article in one of the magazines.  

The lines from that magazine article that inspired our "pride rock" photo shoot. Hahaha.

The article was written by a dad about the vacation he had with his family. I just love how he described his daughter having fun at the beach. Melts our hearts.

Still all smiles even after our feet were caked in mud...

Tadaaah! Our very own "pride rock". Hahaha. 

Which I think is Universe's way of telling us... "go have some fun". Hahaha. After our mini photo shoot, we went back to the camping area for our much awaited merienda of fresh buko juice and banana cue. 

And yeah, I continued my writing again. Luckily, the tides took back the waters in the river and we were able to do some kayaking which I had a difficult time rowing. Hahaha. So there were occasions wherein I got stuck somewhere while Yang is somewhere far off already and enjoying it. Hahaha.

This is Yang enjoying her view while I struggle somewhere... LOL

We had some good laugh and funny lines of me getting stuck or struggling to move. Hahaha. Afterwards, we find ourselves back at the viewing deck till before dinner time. Yang brought her cards and we played chuwariwap. We were quite looking forward and surprised at how the night turned out. But first, dinner.

And dinner was served by the table near our tent. After that sumptuous dinner, we went straight to the viewing deck which luckily for us, was something that we had all for ourselves that night. You see, what really lured us to go to Easy Adventure was to unplug from everything and just breathe and relax - away from some bit of routines for a while. 

Then, slowly but surely as the night falls, the fireflies started to show up. And this is where and when Yang and I had our usual conversation on just about anything. This was definitely one of the best nights I've ever had. We lie down the viewing deck and watch the stars while fireflies are around us. Then add to that - the moon rising. Which sadly, we didn't had a picture of but something which I'll always have etched in my mind. Of course, the surprise fireworks across the distant shores. Which I think really made that day one for the books. Everything felt so surreal. Then there were some shooting stars. Okay, as an exception, we each had a bottle of beer of some imported brand which I can't remember which I tried hard to finish. Hahaha. Of course, our conversation won't be complete without the songs from my playlist as our background which played along with every thought of our conversation. Oh Universe! Hahaha. 

We slept past midnight.

Then, as usual, I woke up earlier than Yang and that's when she had weird feels which is connected to the cucumber story. We again witness for the sunrise and had our breakfast before going back. Then the butterflies showed up just before we go. Butterflies mean something to me as they usually carry messages of some sort (they are my spirit animals while Yang's would be the pied fantail bird).

The days off were something that was right for us. Not too long nor too short. Just enough for us to have a breather and be refreshed, a last hurrah before we welcomed the new year.

Here's to more Luna Adventures alongside The Universe.