Hi Guys! 🙂 Merry Christmas! I won’t keep you long today because I know you’re celebrating with your family & friends. Well, enjoy the Noche Buena and worry about shedding the holiday pounds later! *I really hope none of my Plana Forma teachers get to see that line.* But, if you’re waiting for 12 midnight for the family bingo or something, read on. 😉
Anyway, I was buying some gifts the other day and I just realized I didn’t actually buy any gift for myself. Well, I was just thinking, I already bought a lot of watercolor paper and postcards during our recent trip so I might as well give myself something intangible. What are they?
1/ A Cleaner Workspace – I’m so happy I finally had the time to clean some parts of the house this morning! Days and nights and midnights of not being able to go home because of endless parties just made our home messier than usual. Our schedule has been crazy ever since we got home!
2/ Time to Read – I was buying some workshop materials yesterday and picked myself up a copy of Senator Miriam Santiago’s Stupid is Forever. I started last night before waiting for my workout class and finished the rest this morning. It’s an easy read and it definitely has a bunch of lines that shall help us get through the new year!
“The second important lesson that life has taught me is this: there is no template for the meaning of life. Instead, the meaning of life is that you choose to make it mean.”
You’ll find that on page 118. 😉 I know, I still earmark my books and underline my favorite lines until this day. Well, I’m not really a big reader but in this day where everything is instant with status updates reduced to 140 characters and a peek into someone’s life summed up by a square photo you get to double-tap, I miss being able to read someone’s thoughts.
3/ Precious Time Offline – You don’t have to be a blogger by profession to understand this. You have to admit thirty minutes just passes by unnoticed with us scrolling down on our social networking accounts. When I got home last night, I didn’t even check my phone. I slept and took a peek at my phone this morning and that was it. I ended up painting and cutting paper and wrote down really fast my goals for 2015. I also made sure that I ignored all the rules I knew about watercolor because that would only make me frustrated.
I was actually surprised why I was so contented with my life lately. Then, I realized, I haven’t been online as much as I was compared to the days before & I’ve been spending more time with the people I love. Of course any blogger, Instagrammer would want you to spend more time online so you could see or like their posts but I say try becoming less dependent on your phone and it’ll do wonders about how you see your life. You’ll start becoming more grateful about what you have an you’ll start comparing less with what is being presented to you by the internet.
Well, that’s it guys!
Have a meaningful Christmas!
XOXO,
Tipsy 🙂
More Christmasy Reads:
The Thing With Holidays
What Not to Give This Christmas
My Grown-up Christmas List
Last Christmas I Gave You My…
Christmas Season: Mixed Reactions
…and some stuff to prepare you for 2015:
Make Things Happen
Why You Should Travel Alone
[…] We finally made it to the Vatican just in time and Ponggo was running towards the crowd like crazy, I was afraid that I might lose him! People were gathered in St. Peter’s Square. In my mind, I’d like to call it the “St. Peter’s Circle” just because an architect by the name of Lorenzo Bernini created these two half-ellipses that look as if it was hugging the audience. On top of it are statues of saints. You don’t need a ticket to get inside the square but if you’d like to visit the museum, you’ll need to line up at the other side of the wall. Days later, when I met up with fellow Big Blog Exchange Finalist Agrippine in Paris, she told me, “You REALLY saw the Pope!” Then, I realized, what I published on Instagram was a photo from Ponggo’s camera taken with his zoom lens that was resting on top of my head while Pope Francis was giving a speech. So, let me give you an idea of where we were standing. Below is a #NoFilter photo from my iPhone. Hahahaha. Can you spot him? This made me realize that from time to time, I should supply you with backstories on how we take pictures or how much weight we’re carrying around or how much stuff is strapped to us (see photo below) while walking around Europe thanks to the hubby’s obsessive compulsiveness with his lenses. Anyway, enough about us and let’s go back to the Pope. Just imagine that the empty space behind us was filled with people just a couple of hours ago. We arrived just in time when the flag was unfurled and the crowd got excited. Pope Francis appeared and everyone clapped. I’m so sorry for the lack of comparison but he had the charisma of a pop star and more. He said “Buon giorno!” and the audience answered back. I surprisingly found myself waving and greeting with the crowd. He said the Angelus in Latin. Afterwards, he called the groups of pilgrims from allover the world and they waved their flags and banners! It’s so amazing how overwhelming his presence is! Apparently, when you’re in The Vatican City and the Pope is home, almost every Sunday at 12 noon, he says the Angelus at the St. Peter’s Square. We didn’t even know about this until Ponggo asked our guide out of curiosity as to where the Pope usually appears. We assumed it was the main balcony of the St. Peter’s Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro). So, thank you to Irene of AboutRome for this vital info! Ever since my hostel manager in Vicenza pointed out that names of places shouldn’t have been translated into different languages, I almost always feel compelled to put their names in Italian. Why not? It sounds more beautiful and historical. He pointed out that Philippines should not actually be called such and it should be called Pilipinas like we Filipinos would. #FoodForThought I thought the Vatican post was closed on Sundays but there was a satellite makeshift office that understood the need of tourists like me. During the first part of the trip, I was afraid to take photos of people and I didn’t know how I could be subtle about this. Anyway, above is a child carelessly looking at a book about the Vatican. Since I was using my zoom lens that day, I took advantage of relishing the tiny details of the place. This is the bell from the upper left of the St. Peter’s Basilica. My eyes easily dismiss huge structures as a shade of sandy yellow but every single time I zoom into the details like I did in Milan & Venice, I feel humbled. I was in front of this same wreath under the statue of St. Peter the day before and I don’t know how much time I spent staring at and figuring out how the berries were installed in the middle of the leaves. It’s just too pretty!! This also explains why I inserted berries here and there in my Christmas wreath here. […]
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