Building Back Better (Again) in The New Normal

As I was recalling what I wrote in the first Write-to-Ignite Blogging Project, I can't help but recognize the progress that I've made. To give you some context, I had a mixed year 2020 with extreme highs, as well as extreme lows, and then after that came the global health crisis.

 

As I was writing at that time, which was around June and the unfortunate events did not stop and more unfolded. A couple of friends of mine died and I had to attend an online mass and burol. I lost a couple of projects. And the emergency fund that I prepared ran out and was forced to take out money from my investments (which was almost depleted as well).

 

It still took a while to get out of my despairing mental state but with the help of friends and family, slowly I got out of it.

Me & my online gaming friends posing within Ragnarok Mobile: Eternal Love
- which in part kept my sanity in check

 

No matter how bad you think you have it, there’s somebody that has it far worse. And of course, there are people in this world that are going through some hard times now. I know the world is in a bad shape right now, especially in my province. But perspective can help you go through a mental health rut.

 

Looking back, that act of self expression served as a sort of self-encouragement for myself as I documented what happened during that period of my life while also trying to scrap whatever motivation & positivity I had left in me. And I believe that somewhat worked whether you believe it or not!

 

Relearning from that process, I decided to seek out positive information as all I have been experiencing were negative or just some scary news. I wanted to find hope, some source of positivity and inspiration, similar to the experience I got during the writing project's online gathering while listening and hearing other bloggers' struggles and challenges.

 

So I had the idea and had to execute it. I had an existing podcast, so I decided to create a segment just for this impulsive project of mine. And the result? Six (6) podcast episodes featuring people or groups doing the good work on the ground amidst the global pandemic! Check them out below.

PH Bike Situation: Is Cebu Ready for Biking?

We discussed alternative mobility during the health crisis and the new normal with individuals and group guests from Manila & Cebu. 

 

Wear a mask, save a life campaign PH

"Wear A Mask, Save A Life" Campaign by the Filipinos for the Filipinos. Aims to bring awareness, FREE masks, and donations to Filipino communities in this pandemic. 

 

Meaningful business in the new normal with Enrique of OMG - Oh My Genie!

OMG has online stores and services like Oh my Grocery, online pharmacy, online loading station, online bills payment, and airline-hotel booking.

 

 

Kapawa para sa kapwa, community learning hubs with Ladiyawan Youth in Government

We explore local government initiatives by young people in the new normal with SK Samantha Yap (Brgy. White Plains, Quezon City) and Vice Mayor Justin Gatuslao (City of Himamaylan, Negros Occidental, Philippines)!

 

Ambag Project with Abellana National School Cebu batch 2009 Alumni

We follow the story of a group of public school alumni gathering together to help out their almamater on the educational needs and challenges they faced with the shift to blended online learning due to lock.

 

SK initiative TeleTutor with Chatch Calderon

We talk about another education initiative at the barangay level with SK Official Chatch Calderon.

This passion project brought some much needed hope and joy in my life. Although I wasn't necessarily volunteering on the ground (which I used to do in the past), nor did I donated money -- I still was happy that I was able to help spread the word about these people's campaigns and projects through my platform and social network. 

 

I was surprised that the mainstream media was not covering such initiatives but nevertheless I did my part in my own little way. You don't have to survive on your own. You can survive by also helping others.

It is amazing what a change in one's mood, perspective or even a paradigm shift can do to your outlook in life. One of the lessons I re-learned in this past year is to not self-reject while in doubt.

 

Don' think you deserve the job? Apply for it anyways.

Don't think your article is good enough? Publish it anyways.

Don't think they'll reply to your email? Send it anyways.

 

As an additional update from my first writing project, after so many rejections I managed to get some more work gigs which also leading to a stable full-time work-from-home online job which I enjoy a lot! Another update is that I grew my hair long (like in the 1st image above) - which is a first for me. Yay for first time experiences! :D

Sometimes, courage simply means not losing the will to try again. It may seem small to some, it's not a grand gesture. But it takes STRENGTH to keep going, no matter how small your steps are or how bleak things may seem around you. And no matter what the world may tell you, you are strong and courageous!

 

I'm only getting started as I build back better again. Re-building my finances, my confidence, and hope for the future. Starting from scratch again is not too bad.

YOU and I have failed before and will fail in the future BUT we also managed to recover so many times already. We fall, we break, we fail. But then, we rise, we heal, and we overcome.

That's about it for my survival story, it ain't much but hopefully, you learned or got value from this. :)

 

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