Author Archives: Issa

Be Still (I Cannot)

September 21 12:54 pm ,

The Art of Being Still

I behooved my mind – be still. 

But my mind keeps wandering off – to where, I am not sure.  It just needs to meander about and hop from one idea – question – thought – decision – realization – to another.  I cannot stop it.  I cannot keep it still.  It has to ponder the blueness of the sky or the crispness of the winds (yeah right) or what I have to do next.  And before I know it, I am standing up, or jumping about, or talking on the phone, or tinkering with my computer keys, or ruffling the pages of the newspaper or a book – anything but still.  It will not be still.

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Posted in: Random Thoughts , Tagged: , ,

What to Do, If You Can’t

September 11 1:34 am ,

Cloud Bursting

You are writing.  You want to be shaken to your core, inspired beyond belief, get your thoughts flowing but the words won’t come.  Today is one of those days, you tell yourself, brows furrowed, while trying to figure out what it is you are supposed to do now.  How do you get to the zone?

If the experts are to be believed, there is no zone.  There is only you.  And that you are blocking you.

Or you are blocking your chakra.  And It could be stress, fear, insecurity or worry that are the culprits – negative emotions that are of your own making but ones you think you cannot heal or overcome – at least at that point in time when you are calling upon your inner genius.

But there is something you can do.  You can tap.

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Posted in: Financial Education, Health, The Secret , Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Go to (the Right) School, Be Successful

August 31 10:51 pm ,

Towards the Path to Success

I look at my daughter and I see an entrepreneur.  Okay, it is all in my head, but I want it with all my heart.  Because entrepreneurs are the ones who find their passion, do something about their passion, rake in all the money and success and (have the potential to) make the world a better place.

I want that for my daughter.  So I transferred her to another school.

It was a summer and I was learning about and loving finance, and the idea of a different school for my 9-year old daughter kept growing (gnawing) in my head – an entrepreneurial school that would give her a love of finance and help her find and inflame her passion.  The next day, I started interviewing other schools.  She was, at that time, enrolled in a traditional school – rigorous daily classes, heavy assignments, a bag with wheels that would make her shoulder stoop, teachers that taught but did not really teach.  She had the burden to understand concepts that were taught to her in 30 minutes or less, and the burden to ask mother for help, yes, me, while I also tried to remember and understand concepts that I already buried in the annals of my memory.  We were a mess.  Well, me mostly.

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Posted in: Children's Stories, The Philippines , Tagged: , , , , ,

Chakra and Getting to Rich

August 25 11:57 pm ,

Whorls of Energy

The chakra.  I am intrigued and seduced by it and I think it is because it has its origins in ancient India, the island of mysticism and the Kamasutra.  And because harnessing its power can get you what you want – it can even get you very rich.

It is fascinating to imagine the chakra – as whorls of (colorful) energy from the base of the spine to the crown of the head (chakra, after all, means wheel or “turning”) – from the ovaries/prostate (Base or Root Chakra), the spinal cord (Sacral Chakra), the navel (Solar Plexus Chakra), the heart (Heart Chakra), the throat and neck area (Throat Chakra), the pineal gland (Brow or Third Eye Chakra) and the top of the head (Crown Chakra).

It first flirted with my consciousness when I read Dr. Tuesday Lobsang Rampa’s book, The Third Eye.  Now, he is an interesting man.  During his first life as a lama in Tibet , a hole was drilled into his forehead to enhance his third eye chakra and this allowed him “to see people as they are and not as they pretend to be”.

It was quite disturbing.

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Posted in: Random Thoughts, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

How I Survived Two Weeks of Not Eating Out

August 22 10:05 pm ,

Perchance to Eat

I ingest recipes and then imagine cooking them in my head.  And then I forget about them.

Because I eat out – we eat out – a lot.  And those recipes lose their allure to gastronomic treats in restaurants with ambiance that is well worth the money.  And I do not have to clean up (look, ma, no dirty hands!).

It is because of experiential eating.  And when I say experiential eating, I mean Sonya’s Garden, which entered my reality more than ten years ago.   Because of that one fine afternoon when we got lost looking for what would be our wedding reception venue, I found out that eating should not just be about good food.  It should also be about having a great experience – a meal amidst a lush garden, fine bone china, rose petals in the salad, sheer white gauze in the windows, dew on the flowers, a singing dog (believe me) and a goddess in a flowing chiffon gown…  And since then, we have been on the search for “the dining experience”.  And the Manila restaurant scene did not disappoint – there is Antonio’s (Tagaytay), Ugu Bigyan (Quezon Province), Bale Dutung (Pampanga), Abe’s Farm (Pampanga) and the other places that have been getting acclaim – the so-called best-kept secrets.

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Posted in: Recipes for Frugal Nights, The Philippines , Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Beg, Steal or Borrow

August 18 2:26 pm ,

Still

I was young and found myself in an acting workshop – my first – given by my school organization.  Someone was telling me – me – to beg, steal, or borrow.  But I could no longer make out the face behind the booming, drill sergeant’s voice.

But I can still hear it now, still see the room with faces both young, and afraid and shell-shocked, still smell the woodsy smell of the dried palm that enveloped the walls of our little theatre stage, still feel the sting of the first slap that I delivered in a scene, still feel the delicious words that rolled out of my mouth and the thunderous applause at the closing of the imaginary curtain.

I am not sure I got the principle, though, although I remember that it was repeated often – too often, in fact.  But even then, I was not sure that I could do it.  Begging seems too desperate.  And stealing – how can anything be justified by that?

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Posted in: Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , ,

Connect

August 13 2:35 pm ,

Looking Through

I am within a sea of people.  No one is looking at me.

And I am not looking at anyone.  Or at least that is what I would have done if I have not looked up and around and performed this exercise.

I have observed – in large crowds or even in intimate spaces, people do not look each other in the eye anymore.  It seems that everyone is absorbed in their own realities, in their own present and everyone else dissolves or is absorbed by the void.  Oblivious to everything. Are people just not interested anymore?  Are they too scared to share a moment, however fleeting, that they let themselves be wholly and completely consumed by their thoughts, or going to what they perceive is their goal (although at times, really trivial)?

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Posted in: Random Thoughts , Tagged: ,

Free is Good

August 10 9:38 am ,

Yours for Free

Free is wonderful.

So I spend about 5 minutes of my time everyday signing up for free stuff.  I do not even have to look for offers of the free stuff, it comes to my e-mail box every day.  And all I need is time on my hands (and for most free stuff offers, a US address).

See the picture on the left? I got all of those for free.  Included there is a big can of baby formula, baby magazines, lotions, creams, diapers, shampoos, conditioners – yes, most of them are minuscule and in sample form but I still got a giddy feeling getting them (weeeee! and you have to agree – they are great for out of town trips).  And I got coupons too, lots of coupons.  I am not sure I will be able to use everything, but the feeling of free is good.
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Posted in: Financial Education, The Basics of Finance, Wealth Attraction , Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,