The world will never be the same as 20 years ago or for as long as we can remember. We will never escape the comparison of our childhood to our children’s present experiences yet our life’s lessons will always be relevant to their lives. We may never be here once more and when now has come to past, we may never be able to tell that everything really happened.

Above the blackboard in our forth year high school classroom wrote, “The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.” later on learned that Ralph W. Sockman wrote it. The quotation lay there all year round and as I glance at it each morning, I memorized it by heart but the wonder of it never stopped growing. Another quotation beside Ralph’s was, “Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.” by Eleanor Roosevelt. If I wondered about Ralph’s message, Eleanor kept me or rather taught me how to avoid talking about people. However, the wonder of not talking about people made me realized that often events occur around or within a group of people and the same goes with ideas that are meant for the advancement of humanity. Again, the wonder of Ralph’s idea kept growing within me. Then one day, the wonder of it all came together. Small minds are those people spreading gossip and fabricated stories to destroy other people’s reputation. Small minds are envious, insecure, pretentious, and vain but most of all unreal and conniving. Beware of small minds for they are everywhere and they are the hardest obstacle to conquer. Once we develop the skill to experience the people around us, choosing a crowd is never difficult. There are still the occasional mistakes to allow room to err, getting mixed up with the wrong crowd and end up wanting to get out. How we get out would be the best way to define it. However, I still wonder about the average and great minds but I know that my friends are a mixture of both.

I have always wondered what it would be like to have a smaller island capable enough to accommodate only my instincts to live. To only suppress a portion of life’s problems and reduce it to simple day-to-day chores. To not care about how the small minds would react around me. Be unaware of wanting material things that most people desire.

I have seen such people and I have experienced them. They are the people I envy the most because for me they are the most genuine. Despite the inner beauty they bear, the public tries to avoid them. It may be because people perceive them as stupid, ignorant, poor and they are always out fashioned. We just do not realize that they are richer, more contented and a lot happier than the rest of us. Richer because most of these people are debt free, more contented because they have lesser care to the outside world and a lot happier because they get to spend more time with their family.

I grew up in the province where when I was a small boy all the main roads are underdeveloped. During these times, trees per square meter is thicker than the houses situated in a barangay (barrio) and carabaos (water buffalos) are still used as a mode of transportation. Often carabaos pull a pasagad (sled) to carry a stack of hay or accommodate more people, often, family members. It is always a joy to see a small family having fun while riding a pasagad. I once spent an entire day in a hut in the middle of rice fields with a small family. The father worked the fields in the morning while the mother prepared for lunch. I used to be very fussy at what I eat and usually I only eat meat. When lunchtime came the ulam (entree) was dinengdeng (Ilocano dish similar to pinakbet) and it was all uggot ti camote ken marunggay (sweet potato and horseradish tops/shoots) and I have never seen such an appetite with the kids. It was as if they were so famished with a site of an expensive dish. To this day, I still think that the happiness and love they had for each other had infected me. Since that day, I learned to appreciate eating vegetables. And, I still wonder how small is their island that wonder cannot be accommodated in their hearts.

In my failure to write an article these previous months, I sought comfort from one of my first educators, the television. When I was a little boy, the television is the only free visual resource that has immediate access to the world. In present times, technology offers a wide range of medium to access the world.

World information is, however, not what I am interested in but the universe it offers. As a child, I used to watch movies and TV shows to the point that I become the main character itself. I immerse myself into the fantastical world that the world I live in cease to exist. I remember my grandmother calling to me for dinner and not a sound of her voice is heard. The only way to get my attention was to actually touch me. One of my favorite shows was MacGyver. It brought out my creative and resourceful nature. Childhood days also reminds me about Jackie Chan movies, Drunken Master and all. I’d jump from the chair with a flying kick. When I got the chance to apply it in a street fight with another kid, I got beat up. Damn, that kid was good in boxing! How could he not be, he spends most of his time working in a Slaughter House where he gets to stretch and strengthen those limbs. That day I learned to retreat and fight another day much like the part where Jackie Chan hasn’t met his master in the early part of his movies.

I have been experiencing great stress at work for a few months now. It is very depressing and tiring when you begin to go to work for the salary and without the fun of it. It is sad to think that there are people who enjoy making others lives miserable when in truth; they just want to drag other people in their miserable lives.

Here are a few of the nice TV Series’ I currently indulge into (in no particular order):

Heroes

Life

Dexter

House

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Animation)

Fringe

Eleventh Hour

Recently, I tried reading Harry Potter books 6 & 7. I had to stretch the limits of my own creative imagination again. It takes me longer to read a whole book than the average person. I am the type of reader that visualizes everything that is described in the story before I could proceed. In my opinion, what’s the point of reading a book for just its story if you cannot imagine the world it is trying to present?

I some instances, I’d read a certain scene a few time just to complete the picture in its slightest detail. For me, it is easy to grasp on any story, even suspense thriller type of stories/movies. I have a knack of connecting the dots much as I am able to connect the dots of my past to be able to understand the present and hypothesize plans for the future. But to picture each scene that an author wants you to see, it is entirely a different thing. You can assume that my imagination is as good if not better than the technology in the movies we have to date.

What I would like to impart to you is to develop your imagination. Make it as wild as you can, venture to the unknown, stretch it to its limits. And when you do, you will have better and clearer dreams. Your goals will fall into place and can even open your eyes on things that you have been lacking or refusing to see all this time. It will give you an entirely different perspective of things that are already in front of you.

A day’s hard work or petiks mode at the office sure is stressful and being married deprives me of many things a bachelor can do. But at the end of the day, there’s nothing more beautiful than seeing my angels. Being married to a goddess, how could I possibly complain? I would never trade my family for the pleasures of this world that I cannot spend with them.

I don’t believe in marriage and I certainly don’t believe in love at first sight. It is because these things are only make-believe and merely ideas from ancient civilizations. But I believe in two people taking all odds headstrong without fail or threat of separation.

I am against abortion; it is the most sinful crime I could think of.

I approve premarital sex. You shouldn’t deprive the needs of your body because of religious and cultural conflicts or whatever the society you live in dictates. And besides, your body is God’s greatest gift and its main purpose is to experience all sorts of things. Utilize it in anyway you could.

I hate governments. They are the only legal syndicates in existence. They rob you upfront and still tax you to death.

I believe in eating honey everyday. It repairs your body from all the harm that you’ve caused it.

Fantasize about all the sinful deeds you can think of. Accomplish one or two to satisfy the appetite of your midlife crisis. When fear of loss sets in, you can celebrate because you’re cured. I am probably sure you’ll never try to do it again and see the world in an entirely different perspective.

Take the time to read but take more time to write your thoughts and stories so you do not lose your own style and identity. And more importantly, you leave a lasting impression to history in case you die famous. Who knows!

Your will is the most powerful force you can wield. Use it to your advantage from reaching the top of the world to gaining or losing weight.

Watch television while bonding with your family at home, it is one of life’s free education. For field training, travel by foot through the streets in all the cities you can visit.

“Cause and effect.” I don’t support terrorists but I certainly can’t blame them either. They are the products of governments. They are just the rest of us, only that they choose to fight for their idiotic ideals. They are just advertised as the villain by the media that is manipulated by the government. We are just collateral damage caught in the middle.

I believe in my grandmother. She rants dreadfully but she only tells the truth. And in each irritating word is furnished with wisdom.

I believe in conserving our drinking water, it is the largest percentage we’re made of.

I also hate religion. It is the only “legal” drug in the world and it is not for free. As a matter of fact, it is the most expensive drug you’ll ever want because it can cost you your soul. It is the most powerful thing that could stop us from dreaming on our own viewpoint. And it can easily bend our will from believing in fate to suicidal frustrations.

I look forward to death. It is the single event that holds the answers to half of the biggest questions I ever thought of.

Try anything once, possibly for a while. But before you get hooked, check for side effects.

I definitely believe in life long friends, their bonds are thicker than blood, like molten lead. These are the only people we can choose unlike our relatives.

Exercise for a healthy bloodstream. It is the only thing that can fuel your sexual drive.

I dream of an educated nation but I resent what education have become. They extort our sons and daughters from their innocence in such an early age and rob them from their childhood. No wonder it is a branch of the government.

At least own an e-mail account and a blog site. It is the best way to save trees.

I am the living proof of my parents, a walking signature of their genes, a spitting image from both sides, and a historical legacy of their existence. Whether we like it or not our natural talents, certain characteristics, mannerisms and intellect did not come from breast milk or formulated food supplements. The way I see it, love them for what they are and sometimes hate them for what they’ve done. But most of all learn from their mistakes and forgive them when they’ve become grandparents. Teach them a lesson or two when they get older but never lay a hand on them.

Masturbate even when you get older. It is the handiest stress reliever available and it’s free.

Above all else, I believe in the family I helped create. It is my greatest achievement and contribution to society. To my lifetime partner who has done the greatest job of keeping me by her side.

Lastly, never give up on dreaming. It means you still have control over your will.