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Homeless Serenity

Filed Under: travel by Liza Mae V. — Leave a comment
2010/07/20

I wrote this last week but never truly finished it but here it is …

Today I woke up and I felt sort of down because we have to move again.  I have lived in so many places in 2010 I feel like I have no home to just relax.  My timeline really started in 2009 where I’ve been moving place to place, today will be the 10th new place I will be moving into. I’ve been living out of my suitcase ever since I arrived in China in March 2010. This may be part of the reason why I am feeling kind of lost.

During the time I’ve lived in different places I’ve left a part of me … mentally and spiritually. Some days I find myself day dreaming of the places I’ve been and faces I’ve encountered. The little boy on the street still haunts me now and then, even typing it makes me teary eyed.

When I first arrived to Manila, Philippines, my Tita Heidi picked me up from the airport. She weaved in and out of chaotic traffic filled with different types of vehicles such as Jeepney’s, Tricycles, Motorcycles, and of course pedestrians. It was humid and hot and I was grateful to have been in an air conditioned car. We finally pulled up to a stop light and a little boy, age no older than 4, put his hands on the driver side window and peered through the tinted glass. He looked like he didn’t shower for weeks and he put on the saddest face I’ve seen. Though it may have been an act so that you would feel sorry and give money to him, it still left a bad taste in my mouth. He was about the age of my nephews and I would never imagine them ever begging for money on the streets nor have I seen that on the streets of Toronto.

Part of me is heart broken and only one person truly understands what I am going through … x 10. People understand but don’t really go through the emotions as I have.

(unfinished thoughts)

- Liza Mae

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Sea of Opportunities: Story of Expecting the Unexpected

Filed Under: Dreams & Inspiration, travel by Liza Mae V. — 1 Comment
2010/06/12

Something happened to me when I was in Sipalay, Philippines which I thought was profound.   I went swimming in the beach and I decided to walk out in the middle of the sea.  I’m kind of paranoid of moving creatures or rocks I could step on especially since my cousin Karen had stepped on a sea urchin the day before.  The sand was brown so the clarity of the things below water were not visible.

I was really far from the shore but the water only reached my waist.  Then as I walked further I saw something bright white under water like a piece of paper.  So I stopped to take a closer look and stop the waves from moving around me.  The water is clear and I thought it was money.  I didn’t want to swim down for I was wearing my contacts and didn’t want to open my eyes in salt water.  So I called the girl with the ‘googles’, as she would pronounce it, to dive down to pick it up.  As she came up from under the water, she held a 100 pesos in her hand.  I was shocked for I thought it was impossible to find money in the middle of the sea.  She handed it over to me and I yelled over to the people on shore,

“I found 100 pesos in the water!”

In disbelief I swam to shore to show my findings to validate that it was real and it was.

This incident made me think, that anything is possible and  sometimes we just have to keep our eyes open for an opportunity can be waiting right in front of you.  In my case, I found money.  Maybe it is sign of fortune to come (crosses fingers) but whatever comes your way, expect the unexpected.

Now I carry the bill with me and it will remind me of the lesson I learned plus it smells like the sea.

- Liza Mae

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My Journey | Leave it All Behind to Live Life to the Fullest

Filed Under: Dreams & Inspiration by Liza Mae V. — 1 Comment
2010/06/09

It is my last day in my birth place, Bacolod City, and I am not anxious to leave at all. I feel my time here has just begun and now it is ending … for now. Many people back in Toronto believe that I’ve been away a long time but 3 months isn’t very long when you are having fun. The adventure has to start somewhere and this is just the beginning of the journey.

Liza Mae

- Sipalay, Negros Occidental

When I first arrived I did not know what to expect nor did I know what I was going to do. So whenever any one had asked ‘when’ or ‘where’ I was headed, I had no answers for them because all I knew is that I go back to Toronto, Canada on June 20th, 2010 from Shanghai, China. I booked my flight to Manila the night before and the same for Bacolod City. Now I have booked my flight for Manila yesterday and will be leaving tonight at 8:25pm. It seems things have been moving faster than I anticipated but I learned to let the wind blow and let my heart follow.

The first few weeks I was here I thought things moved so slowly here but I realized I was so used to things moving so quickly that I didn’t know how to keep my mind still. Sometimes when life is fast-paced you don’t really have time to think or appreciate your days. Consumed in my 9 to 5 or more like 7 to 6 Mondays to Friday, I never really had time for myself and being in a place where things are slower I have become more aware of my surroundings and realized how beautiful life is. I used to dread waking up in the morning but now I wake up refreshed at 6am because there is so much beauty to experience that I just don’t want to miss out on living.

As I gaze through my friends photos on Facebook of their 1 week vacations costing thousands of dollars and compare my 3 month mini-retirement which probably cost about the same, I would always choose the latter. I don’t believe going away for a week is an actual vacation for when you get back to work, your workload just piles up and once again you become stressed out and overworked. With companies limiting the number of employees, most likely the amount of time you were away equates to the amount of work you have missed therefore your ‘vacation’ is just a distant memory which you want to relive. I say why make it a distant memory when you can decide to live that life daily. That is our current goal – to live life to the fullest!

Though this chapter is ending, a brighter chapter is ahead.

Rainbow

- Rainbow in Sipalay, Negros Occidental

For more pictures you can view them in my FaceBook Album.

- Liza Mae

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Defining Moments of Clarity

Filed Under: Other by Liza Mae V. — 3 Comments
2010/06/03

As I try to come up with the words to describe what I am feeling or thinking I stumble for I can only explain so much. I have been going through extremes in the last few weeks and at one point I thought I was going to lose my mind with anxiety then something calmed me to the point of sleep. As I tried different things to take away the anxiety like yoga stretches, laying in bed listening to soft music on my iPod, nothing seemed to work. Then I saw the little red book, the Bible, at the edge of my eye and I picked it up. It was like the answer to all my questions at that defining moment. I read a part that really struck a cord in me which calmed me to the point I relaxed then went to bed peacefully. Excerpts from Philippians 4:

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

After that defining moment I realized anxiety is due to my fear of the unknown and I have always tried to pave the path before walking but now I am walking on rocky roads barefooted.

I have narrowed the gap of my extremes and have been more in the middle, also known as being content. When I realized that I need to stop controlling things I became more aware. Now everything that I saw in black and white has turned into vibrant colours. I have gained an awareness that I have never felt before. Matthiew 6:

22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

- Liza Mae

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