wabi-sabi

All photos tagged under photography, © Bianca Urrutia

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Soufeel: our experience

Soufeel review

*I am writing this for the benefit of those who will buy from Soufeel that is from the Philippines. I had a hard time looking for reviews about their actual purchasing experience, since most of the reviews I saw had Soufeel send their products for free.

Soufeel Jewelry is a company which sells sterling silver accessories that range from earrings to necklaces. Their specialty is the charm bracelet, a lot like Pandora (like a lot) but cheaper by at least 150%.

My mom wanted a Pandora bracelet for her birthday, but the really steep prices threw her off. Facebook might have monitored her searches or whatever because she saw a sponsored post from Soufeel. Their prices were real low, and their bracelet was on sale at only Php750. Charms ranged from Php200-2000 at the time, so she was really into buying. Hell, I wanted one too. I’ve been wanting a charm bracelet since forever. :)))

Long story short, we bought a simple bracelet, a bangle, and seven charms. Because we reached the promo minimum, we had free door-to-door shipping, a free necklace, and a free charm. Well ain’t that amazing!

We placed an order August 11 and it was immediately charged on the credit company. Shipping took about 7-10 working days according to the company, so we began counting down the days. However, the status on our order was still processing after 2 days, so my mom emailed them about the tracking number, just so we’d know that our order was shipped out. They replied the next day, on a Saturday (Aug 15), and told us that one of the charms we ordered was unfortunately, out of stock. They asked us to choose another charm to replace the one that was unavailable. We checked our account at their site, and the charm that was out of stock was removed from our order, and the free charm that we chose was replaced as well.

That got us agitated and a little bit frustrated because why didn’t they contact us immediately if there was a problem with our order? So we replied with the replacement charm we wanted and asked if the free charm could be changed back. We didn’t hear from them again so on Wednesday morning, my mom emailed them again asking how to refund because she was getting impatient (scare tactics haha). Later that day, they sent an email saying they’ve made the change and was going to ship out our order later that day. I communicated with the live chat available at their site to confirm whether our order was indeed going to be shipped out later that day. They said they were going to do it ASAP haha. However, true enough, they sent an email that night notifying us that our order was shipped out and provided us the tracking number and where to track it.

Being the obsessive people that we are, we began worrying about our precious charms and bracelets: whether it will be delivered straight to our door, will it be picked up at the post office, will there be tax, and whether it will even arrive at all. I asked around people who posted on Instagram and on the Soufeel Jewelry Facebook page (that was from the Philippines) about my concerns (I know, desperate). They told me they waited about a month before the charms arrived, they picked up the parcel from the local post office, and some of them had to pay tax (from Php100-1000) and one didn’t pay at all. I asked Soufeel about the tax before we ordered, and they said free shipping will be tax free. I was real wary since I had previous experience with the post office and customs (ugh) that made me think they’re gonna charge us a lot for it.

But after 7 days since they shipped it out, we got the bracelets on August 26! It was shipped right to our door like Xend. We were really surprised since we expected it after 2 weeks.

It came in this little envelope lined with bubble wrap.

Inside the box was a cleaning cloth and a black velvet pillow. Under all those were our bracelets and charms!! Yayyy!! We were too excited to take pictures of the actual unboxing haha. So no, we did not have the gift bag that was included with the sponsored reviews, but we did get the fancy white gift box with ribbon.

In the end, we got everything we expected. The seven charms we ordered with the replacement charm, the original free charm, the free silver necklace, and the bangle and bracelet.

Quality wise, the charms looked gorgeous and way too cute, bracelets were easy to operate, necklace was a standard chain necklace with the option of having it at three different lengths. The charms and bracelets felt like real 925 sterling silver and was heavy enough to be real silver (but we haven’t checked yet with an expert). In short, we loved everything and are still currently obsessing over them. If we spent the same amount on Pandora, all we could’ve gotten were just a bracelet and at most 2 charms.

My mom’s. That little gift opens up too!

Mine hihi. At the back of the sun is a moon because binary opposition haha.

My beef with Soufeel is they tend to not attend to their customers ASAP unless you live chat with them, email them, or comment on their Facebook page. In the end, they delivered better than I expected (since I was expecting the wort case scenario) and we got our order right away. Another thing I don’t like about them is the inconsistencies they have with their customers, that some get their orders right away while some wait weeks or even months to get theirs.

TL;DR: Soufeel is legit. Customer service needs improvement. We love our bracelets.

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Art and healing

As I searched through UP CRS for classes on the second to the last day of enlistment, I was frantic. I only had six units and needed at least nine more. I was saving my Monday from 1-4pm should there be a slot opened in one of my majors, because I really didn't want to take the 4-7pm class. In the end, I had no choice but to enlist in the evening schedule and since I didn't want to waste my Monday waiting for that sole class, I enlisted in Art Studies 197 entitled ART AND HEALING, which tackled arts-based psychosocial healing. I really didn't know what to expect on that enlistment day, just some art appreciation and stuff about the emotions art made you feel. Little did I know we’d be changing lives, not only others’ but ours as well.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This includes the emotional and psychological, and social aspects of the self, not only the biological aspect, as part of general well-being. With trauma and disease, however, comes infirmity not only in the shape of pathogens or viruses, but within the mind and soul of oneself. There are several ways to address this, such as therapy, but one cannot always directly talk about issues about themselves so freely. That’s where arts-based psychosocial therapy comes in.

Arts-based psychosocial healing is an approach to cultivate general well-being through art. As cited in The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health: A Review of Current Literature, Camic described arts as being used “to heal emotional injuries, increase understanding of oneself and others, develop a capacity for self-reflection, reduce symptoms, and alter behaviors and thinking patterns”. Numerous studies have been made delving into the potentials of this approach (Daykin, McClean, & Bunt, 2007; Spaniol, 2005; Stuckey & Nobel, 2010; Yohani, 2008). Though we cannot be sure as to what the extent to which it actually heals, we know that this approach helps participants create a better understanding of themselves and has positive effects on well-being.

Photo from GUGMA CLAY ART by Haiyan Children

Art therapy isn’t new but not really well-implemented in the Philippines right now. There are programs, however, that use this approach, such as Gugma Clay Art by Haiyan Children, facilitated by Gem Apar, a psychology graduate, and Aba Dalena, who finished in fine arts. The program is conducted for the victims of Yolanda (or Haiyan, as it is internationally known). Apar shares that each child has his/her own story to tell about their experience and they share it through clay (Dizon, 2015).  In the class, we also participated and conducted workshops of our own, with the same goal of general well-being. We participated in movement, music, and visual arts-based healing, while we conducted a movement workshop for a target audience (ours was call center agents) and an integrated workshop for the children in the CP Garcia community, with the help of Ms. Alma Quinto.

During the workshops we participated in, I had no idea what I was in for. Ma’am May gave us an idea as to what we should expect, but of course what you’re expecting is often far from what actually happens. In the movement workshop conducted by Sir Albert Dimarucut and Sir Jaime Santos, I was nervous at first since I don’t dance. However, Sir Albert emphasized that dance movement exploration was not necessarily really dancing as we know it, but about exploring your inner self. The music workshop with Ma’am Krina Cayabyab was really informative as to the different levels of listening involved in life. It was also enjoyable and relaxing as music therapy was not only about listening to music, but also creating it by singing or playing instruments. We sang Chandelier by Sia as a class, and though time was limited, we had a great time.

The workshop that stuck with me the most was Ms. Quinto’s visual arts. Even though I missed the first session, I felt the most with the workshop. At first, we participated in the workshop with the children of the CP Garcia. We played games with them, they toured us around the Stud Farm, picked up objects lying around, and made art with the found objects. It was refreshing to see the children create things out of the objects at hand, I marveled at their creativity and resourcefulness. They also showed hope and playfulness, all the qualities a normal child would have. In some ways, they are more privileged than children who are more fortunate, as they have a richer childhood of playing in the streets and interacting with kids their age. The next session after that, we were tasked to be the ones to conduct the workshop.

Photo from Bea Mariano

After initial observations of the children’s creativity and willingness to participate, we crafted a workshop that integrated movement and visual arts. Though the workshop can be said to have been a success, there were things that could have been improved. The kind of movement exploration we did with the children was not as successful as it could have been; they already had a hard time thinking of something or someone they wanted to be, much less reenacting it through actions. We actually had one kid cry because she was too shy or uncomfortable with the situation, however during the drawing and clay activities, she opened up and was more at ease. Another observation, not just by our group but by the whole class, was that the children liked to copy things that already were. For example, in our group, a lot of the kids copied the drawing on Lex’s (my group mate’s) shirt. In the other group, the kids copied the paintings on the walls. Ms. Quinto pointed out to us that this was the way of teaching in public schools (where most of the children attended). They encouraged the children to copy, conform, and obey, instead of creating and spreading their wings.

Subsequent workshops could address this problem by stimulating the children more on their creativity. Their status as informal settlers should not be a hindrance to the activities but rather as a stimulus for their creativity. They have claimed the place as their own, and through their daily activities, made the place their own. By integrating the location as their playground and territory, the Stud Farm could very well unearth talented young individuals. Through art therapy, they can express themselves more freely with a more conducive medium. The children could enjoy themselves more with art at their side, and not focus on whatever problems they are facing as a family. However, one cannot ignore the fact that there are problems to be faced, and though these children are young, they are aware of it. Through art, they can express their frustrations, dreams, hopes, or what worries them. With the help of those conducting the workshops, the children would be able to (hopefully) create a positive outlook on life and to be driven to be the best that they can be, because they have the potential. In the end, the goal is always for them to feel better (if not the best) than they were.

Before I started writing this essay, I had to consult previous lectures and readings. Though the readings in class were helpful in establishing the framework of ginhawa at dalamhati, readings about arts-based psychosocial healing were not sufficiently represented. The connection between art, healing, and public health: A review of current literature presented a quick overview of art therapy over the years, as it tackled literature about the subject. Even though I didn’t have full access to this article, Creating an ecology of hope: Arts-based interventions with refugee children had an introductory snippet of a personal anecdote about the intervention the author did; it was very touching and an eye-opener. Obtaining the full article would seem worthwhile. These articles (and others included in this essay) would have been a huge help in understanding arts-based psychosocial treatment first, before actually participating and conducting workshops with this approach. In addition to that, perhaps if we were asked to reflect upon ourselves at the start of the class, as to what healing was about and what we did by ourselves to heal, we would have a more concrete and practical understanding of healing. Though at the start, I may have understood the concept, applying it to myself and reflecting upon it would create a more established connection with the topic.

To be honest, I’m a bit sad this class has ended. Though my experiences with it were not always pleasant (the workshops in Stud Farm were unbearably hot, the trip to Naga wasn’t able to push through, going out of my comfort zone), I truly enjoyed everything we did. Add to that the fact that the class was small, the experience felt more genuine and real, instead of just doing it for the grade. The class presented us with opportunities and a means to change lives, as it did with ours. I can say for myself that I truly felt better after each meeting, and I’m pretty sure my classmates did as well.

 Sources:

Camic, P. M. (2008). Playing in the Mud Health Psychology, the Arts and Creative Approaches to Health Care. Journal of Health Psychology, 13(2), 287-298.

Daykin, N., McClean, S., & Bunt, L. (2007). Creativity, identity and healing: participants' accounts of music therapy in cancer care. Health, 11(3), 349-370.

Dizon, C. (2015, April). Coping through clay. Good Housekeeping Philippines, pp. 98-99.

Spaniol, S. (2005). "Learned Hopefulness": An Arts-Based Approach to Participatory Action Research. Art therapy, 22(2), 86-91.

Stuckey, H. L., & Nobel, J. (2010). The connection between art, healing, and public health: A review of current literature. American journal of public health,100(2), 254.

Yohani, S. C. (2008). Creating an ecology of hope: Arts-based interventions with refugee children. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 25(4), 309-323.

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The other victims of catfishing

We all know that those who have been duped by catfish are victims, since they were the ones directly affected by the catfish’s actions. What we don’t see or hear from are the hidden victims, those unheard and/or unaware: the people whose identity has been stolen, and sometimes, the catfish himself/herself.

Catfish create another identity (not themselves) to talk to people online. With the use of the internet, they have access to other people’s profiles and can easily manipulate images and/or facts to create this alternate self. Usually, the people from whom the catfish get the photos or information have no idea that they are being used for malicious purposes without their permission. Of course, this causes harm to their reputation as it is their faces and identities through which the catfish communicate with. We should always be careful of what we put on the internet; as I’ve said before, it’s public domain.

More often than not, the catfish is usually just a lost person, trying to find someone to talk to that will accept him/her as he/she is. They are usually outcasts, those who feel they do not belong in their own bodies, or those uncomfortable in it, that they feel that they need to adopt some other identity for them to be accepted by society. These people are victims of society’s rules. What we need to do is to be more open to people who seem to need help and talk to them, before they resort to the anonymity of the internet.

Catfishing is bad, but we always need to hear all sides of the story.

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Catfish Infographic

Here’s an infographic I made for some quick facts about the catfish. The main part I’d like to emphasize here is How to avoid a catfish, down on the lower left corner of the photo.

How to avoid a catfish

- Stay away from the super hot models

It was observed in the TV series created by MTV that most catfish tend to say they are models. To be safe, just be wary of people who say they are models.

-If it seems to good to be true, it probably is

Let’s face it - nobody’s perfect. So why should someone on the internet seem as perfect as he/she is? They’re not telling you everything.

-Get proof

If you’re still not sure whether this person is real or not, ask him/her to take a picture with something legitimate like the daily newspaper or a valid ID.

-Skype with them

Just to follow up, asking to talk to them on Skype is a pretty good way to make sure this person is legit. If they’re real and not lying to you, they’ll be comfortable Skyping with you. It also reassures the other person you are real too.

-Check their Facebook page

Their profiles on Facebook would give you clues on reassuring this person is real. If he/she has lots of friends, he/she may be real. However, keep in mind that some catfish create other profiles to interact with each other to make it seem genuine.

-Be yourself and know what you want

Basically, just be yourself. Don’t try to be anybody else (i.e., someone you know other people would like) and people who genuinely like you would accept you for who you are. Also, if you know what you want (i.e., a real relationship), that already eliminates those who are just out to get you.

Basically what I’m saying is, ALWAYS BE CAREFUL ON THE INTERNET! The internet is a public domain so you’ll never know what or who you’ll encounter. :)

Sources are indicated on the infographic.

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Catfishing

I’m pretty sure a lot of people know about this now, but this is for the benefit of those who don’t.

catfish (n.)

1:  any of an order (Siluriformes) of chiefly freshwater stout-bodied scaleless bony fishes having long tactile barbels

2:  a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes

The act of “catfishing” means luring someone to have emotional affections towards you using a fake or stolen identity. This cybercrime is unique from other scams as the perpetrator uses emotions and personal relationships they have built to gain something from the victim. “They lower the victims’ defenses by appealing to their compassionate side,” as stated by Aunshul Rege in What’s love got to do with it?: Exploring online dating scams and identity fraud. The gain is not always financial or material; they catfish for various other reasons ranging from self-esteem to doing it for sport.

The victims are left traumatized from the experience and are left to deal with it often alone.

References:

Catfish. (n.d.). Retrieved May 18, 2015, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catfish

Rege, A. (2009). What’s love got to do with it? exploring online dating scams and identity fraud. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 3(2), 494-512. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/763181753?accountid=47253

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Loaded!! 😄 📷 #filmph #filmisnotdead

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I love tunaaaa 🐟🐟

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Liaaaa u so kulit 😂😂para kang si boo hahaha

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Good old vinyl 🎶

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CUPCAAAAAAAKES from The Cake Rack Bakeshop!! So pretty I could almost not eat them... 😋

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Made a bear/mouse for Lia!! I have newfound respect for those who do #amigurumi

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Scotch likes cats.

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Tengo manía ganchillo. I have crochet mania. I am an old lady.

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I WANT SOME BACON AND EGGS ;__________;

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I have yet to perfect panoramas in my phone but I just had to share this beautiful old house in Taal. It was Leon Apacible's home turned into a museum.

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Basilica de San Martin de Tours, Taal The biggest church in Asia.