irish💕

I let my pen do the talking

[obliviousxdamsel]

An Accident

It was an accident. I wandered around the dark forest, tripped and fell into a pit. The longer I stayed, the deeper it became.

I started to taste the sourness of distress and the bitter taste of false hope Your actions made it even harder to crawl out.

The way your smile melts my soul and your eyes touch my weak heart made me want to stay trapped inside your wicked schemes

Although I know what awaits for me if I remain still, inside the hole that I unknowingly dug for myself, I still chose to stay, even if the thorns could crush me into pieces.

How stupid of me to believe that someday you will spray me the scent of love, that you’ll let me savor the smell of your sweet affection, and that you’ll let me have a taste of what is it like to be loved by you.

But what happened was, You blinded my eyes with your sweet words You left me helpless and torned.

@annereadsanddances

[obliviousxdamsel]

SOUL SURFER: AN INSPIRING TRUE STORY

“I don't need easy, I just need possible.” ― Bethany Hamilton

           It is an inevitable thing for us humans to experience a lot of hardships in our lives – but even if we experience such, we should learn how to welcome them with open arms and be positive about everything. Life is full of challenges, we just have to face and go through it – just like Bethany Hamilton. In the movie, Soul Surfer, we could see how she deals with life.

           Soul Surfer is a movie that is based on the real life story of Bethany Hamilton (portrayed by AnnaSophia Robb), a known teenage surfer from Kauai, Hawaii. She was raised by a family of surfers. Bethany is known for her passion at what she does, which is surfing, and also for being a religious teenager. The movie started with Hamilton winning first place in a surfing contest and her best friend, Alana, in third place. The following day, her father was about to undergo a knee surgery but things got twisted up when her arm was bitten off by a shark when she went out surfing with Alana and Alana’s father. The doctors had considered it a miracle since she was able to survive after losing 60% of her blood. Her injury became a hindrance for her to actually participate in surfing contests. However, she still persevered and was able to come back into the water to catch waves and surf even with only an arm. Hamilton soon tried joining a surfing competition but was defeated by Malina, her very determined competitor – after what had happened, she have decided to join her youth group on another mission trip to help people. Phuket, Thailand was the place their youth group had decided to help out recovers from being devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. It was when she realized that she can use her gift to inspire people when a young boy refuses to dip into the water but soon joined her. It motivated her to take up surfing again. Her family supported her all throughout and soon, she was able to join the national championship but unfortunately as not able to take home the first place. Malina, was amazed with her performance and was already over her differences so she called her up on the platform to share the first place. Then a reporter asked, “Bethany! If you could go back to that day, would you not go surfing?” and she replied, “No, I wouldn't change a thing, because then I wouldn't be here talking to you, I can embrace more people now then I could with two arms.”

           It is very much conspicuous to see that the movie is an inspirational one -- a movie that is definitely worth to watch and is open for any age. It doesn’t show pretty much any of Hollywood’s spice that deals with romance but the film really just focused on what she had experienced and how she was able to move forward with life even after experiencing such tragic event. We could clearly see how she was able to cope up with everything after what had happened to her which made it inspiring. All the workouts and trainings she underwent with the assistance of her family just to pursue what she loves and what she does best was definitely something worth giving one’s time and energy.

           The film Soul Surfer, which was released around 2011, is a marvelous film although somehow Hollywood did add a few cheesy twists there. I don’t really question her or anything else but in my eyes, what you see here is that it became too simple and everything that she wanted was just too easy to rich. Her optimistic mind is very admirable because despite of the thing that happened to her, she remained positive about anything that comes her way and treated it as life’s challenge and she willingly accepted it and was able to overcome her trials.

           Another factor that is commendable about the movie is the effects. Their sound effects and background music was on point. A proof to this was the scene wherein Bethany’s arm was already bitten by a shark -- the music gave me goosebumps because of its intensity, plus, it was able to match the scene perfectly. For the animation, they used CGI to make the shark look real although it was only shown for a few seconds. But to sum it all up, I give the effects of the movie a thumbs up.

           And last but not the least; the movie won’t be a success if it wasn’t for the actors who made a great job in portraying their characters. Bethany Hamilton was played by the famous teenage actress AnnaSophia Robb who was known for starring in the following movies: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Bridge to Terabithia (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), and The Way, Way Back (2013). She also played the lead role of Carrie Bradshaw on The CW's series The Carrie Diaries from 2013 to 2014. The way she depicted the role was magnificent in such a way that her acting was so natural. She really did act out as if she was the real Bethany Hamilton. Her facial expressions were realistic and her delivery of lines seemed so natural. AnnaSophia is a convincing and cheerful heroine in this film. On the other hand, her father in this film was portrayed by a renowned actor who starred in the movies: The Day After Tomorrow, Traffic, Vantage Point, Footloose, and The Parent Trap. Dennis Quaid made an outstanding depiction of a father who is willing to do anything for her beloved daughter. Helen Hunt, the actress who portrayed the role of Bethany’s mother, had successfully illustrated a stalwart and supportive mother.

Despite of being influenced by the cheesy twist of Hollywood and received a couple of mixed critical reception, it is still a marvelous film to watch – a very motivational one, for that matter.

“Life is a lot like surfing… When you get caught in the impact zone, you’ve got to just get back up. Because you never know what may be over the next wave.”

@annereadsanddances

[obliviousxdamsel]

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How Do I Love Thee?

The love sonnet written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is about a lady expressing her devotion towards her significant other. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Is the first line and from here, we could see that the person who is speaking is about to enumerate all the possible things she loves about her partner. As she enumerates it, we could see how deeply in love she is with every word that she drops as she describes her lover. We may also view it as if it was the author, herself, is actually trying to deliver this to her husband.  For her, love is not an earthly concept because she loves freely and purely and to her, her love for her significant other is endless and really deep.

The poem’s mood is sincere and passionate. We could visibly hear or visualize how much the persona is in love. She shares whatever she feels openly and honestly. The tone or meter of the poem is a iambic pentameter. I personally think that the poem because even if it is just a short one, the thought is well presented and is neatly wrapped up. I can feel the sincerity of the poem as I was reading it out loud. We all know the feeling of being in love so I strongly believe that if a person is in love, this could be the perfect way on how to express what you feel towards someone with full sincerity. The poem consists of metaphors -- that is why it captured my attention because I am into poems that have a deep meaning and the fact that I felt the sincerity and passion the author wants us to convey while I was reading it.

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@annereadsanddances

[obliviousxdamsel]

“Caught Up in Dreams & Fantasies”

We were asked to read two pieces of literature entitled “Footnote to Youth” and “When I Was One and Twenty”. Both were having the same idea – it was concerning the youth. As a part of the youth of today, I’ve seen and heard of different stories and even experience good things and bad things that were results of certain things we all have done. The youth stage is known for being the happy-go-lucky stage of a person’s life wherein we simply believe in the saying “you only live once” – for that, we tend to do things that we simply just feel like doing. We just purely live by the moment without thinking the possible consequences of our actions just like what the poem is trying to imply in the lines:

“ ’Tis paid with sighs a plenty,

And sold for endless rue

And I am two and twenty

And oh, ‘tis true, ‘tis true.”

If we try to analyze the feeling that is present in this stanza, the feeling of regret was quite conspicuous because the persona of the poem did not listen nor followed what the wise man have said. Another line came from the short story “Footnote to Youth”. It goes, “It made him feel guilt, as if he has taken something not properly his.” – Again, the feeling of regret is possibly there. We often end up regretting because we are naïve, stubborn and ignorant. We rebel for we may think that we don’t have any purpose at all and nobody understands us; that we are all just a speck of dust within the galaxy. But the thing is, we aren’t just lost stars, we all have our own purpose and we matter in this world and to the people around us. 

I concur with the truth revealed by the two pieces of literature about how ignorant and naïve the youth can be. I, myself, as a part of the youth, encounter situations wherein I disregard few important things so in the end, I feel a deep remorse over that matter. We all end up feeling ashamed of the mistakes we did and still end up committing the same mistakes over again. Considering that we happen to live in a cliché world, there is a great chance that 100% of the youth experience the same thing. The two pieces of literature only proves that no matter what form of literature you’ll be using, you could freely express what you want your readers to know. Even if it’s a short story or a poem, still, you could deliver the message through your written works.

[obliviousxdamsel]

           Euthanasia should not be legalized in the Philippines because it is not the best answer to end one’s suffering. It is also a violation of existing criminal laws. We implemented and follow the laws that are against the idea of killing because as humans, we value our life and the life of others so why implement this kind of law? Killing, we consider it an immoral act but why do we suddenly come up with this kind of proposal that is about ending the life of a terminally ill patient? According to a Canadian study, most health professionals who work with the dying endorse the patient’s right to refuse medical treatment but oppose legalizing active euthanasia because they have observed that if the pain is controlled then there will be a greater chance that the patients would not plead for mercy-killing anymore. It is actually possible to kill pain without killing the patient. If someone’s pain is relieved, that person usually wants to go on living. Some people might even abuse it if ever it is implemented; for example, someone is about to inherit a million peso when this certain family member of his/hers will die, the heir might find it very tempting to nudge the person who is ill to go to his/her direction of accepting a lethal injection. There are ways that could probably be a perfect alternative for euthanasia which are appropriate medical care such as the withdrawal of treatment upon patient’s request just like what the Senate Bill No.1887 or the Natural Death Act had stated. Another alternative way is to dispense drugs as necessary to control pain. And again, we strongly believe that euthanasia should not be legalized in the Philippines because there are no doctors, laws, or organizations oppose ceasing care when the time to die has arrived. Just like what our first speaker stated, our country is a Catholic nation wherein most of us believe that the disposal of life is in God’s hands. “The innocent and just man thou shalt not put to death” and “The innocent and just thou shalt not kill” are the things that the bible says and the things we primarily believe in. Man has no control over life, but holds it in trust. He has the use of it and therefore, may prolong it, but he may not destroy it at will. What is the purpose of the “right to live” if we will also be having the “right to die”?

[obliviousxdamsel]

World Hunger

As I read the essay, I could see the use of the author of persuasion and conviction. The author both used feelings and factual information for the readers to have involvement to what the author is saying and what the author wants to imply or the whole message of the essay. I have read several essays or editorials wherein the author writes his/her opinion. Basically, authors write to reveal their opinion about something. And, I do agree with the opinion of the author for the latter has stated several information for the audience to believe whatever the author is saying.

I agreed as the author used persuasion as well as conviction at the same time with equal amount of information. Most of the time, editorial writers write their opinion with pure feelings for they find it heart-catching while others use several factual information for they think readers would have an idea or wide perspective about an issue.

The author's use of reasoning and stating of proofs were not biased, she didn't focus on one side or type of convincing the readers to be influenced on what the author wrote. There's just one statement wherein I disagree with and that's about helping less fortunate ones. Maybe, yes, we should help them but when they abuse the help of others that makes it wrong. It's not that I'm saying everyone is taking advantage of others but it's possible and they're capable of being dependent to others.

The only thing that we, all, should be aware of was the increase in number of people who are starving and are deprived of food. I, being a person who's one of the important needs is food, should be aware of the loss of others of something that I have. Everyone must be informed and reminded that everyone is not lucky to obtain everything in this world, only a few people are given a chance to acquire something that other don't.

[obliviousxdamsel]

“History repeats itself”

More than half a century ago, an issue broke out concerning the monument of our national hero; now, a similar controversy caught every Filipino’s attention – the national “photo bomber” – Torre de Manila. The so-called ‘eyesore’ that defaced the view of the Rizal monument is under heavy criticism for it has ruined the beauty of the sight and disregarded some rules about the preservation of our country’s cultural heritage. According to the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, under Article 14, contains provisions which protect the country’s cultural heritage. Section 15 provides that “The state shall conserve, promote, and popularize the nation’s historical and cultural heritage and resources, as well as artistic creations.” Section 16 also provides that “All the country’s artistic and historic wealth constitutes the cultural treasure of the nation and shall be under the protection of the state which may regulate its disposition.” But apparently in the year 1961, a project to remodel the monument that is supposedly designed by the first national artist of the Philippines in architecture was planned and it also received a similar storm of public opinion so it is certain that it is indeed not new. We could conclude that it is just another product of the saying “History repeats itself”.

           This is really not much of a huge deal but the reason why we tend to react about the matter as if it is a life and death situation is we value and respect our heroes just like that. But considering that it is already a third time, the people in authority should start making a solution about this matter and avoid committing the same mistake all over again.  It doesn’t mean that we are now living a somehow modernized world, you can simply change something to keep everything updated. There are things that do not need to undergo the process of change; they could stay the same way as they are to serve as a souvenir. If you are to ask my stand on this, I’d say that our country is facing bigger problems that need more attention compared to this matter. So if I were these people, I’ll just concentrate and solve the bigger problems our country is experiencing than the Torre de Manila issue.

[ellien]

Psalm for Helen

As the moon lit up the darkness, I started to have a glimpse at a fallen angel. I take a gander at her divinity and become enamoured by a mixture of anxiety and joy. Her cheeks is so wonderfully soft and smooth as if they were created by the gods and goddesses. I don’t know if its the way she caresses her hair with her soft and tenderly hands or how the luscious silk fabric slid across her skin that makes everything in her defy the beauty of a goddess and there she glanced unto the bushes where I stood, eyes as blue as the Caribbean sea all fixed on me. It stares into my soul that gives me shivers to my spine and oh, her hair as golden as pure honey , as bright as the sun, and as fierce as the ocean. Skin as white as the moon and lips as red as rose. With that, the god of love himself struck my pure, innocent ,endearing heart and in a split second, I knew she bewitched my body and soul.

[obliviousxdamsel]

[likeatown23]

Ray

There is a man who’s been sitting here in Manila Bay all day, his name is Ray. He’s been thinking about all possible ways to make up his day, for his lover left his heart to decay. Mae found a boy named Jay. Ray wanted to say goodbye to everyone, especially to Mae. There’s nothing that should be paid, except for loyalty to obey.

[obliviousxdamsel]

Europe’s Wonderland

           Adventure is what we always seek. It’s probably a part of the bucket list of every individual – to travel around the world. There are so many beautiful places in the world but we are only given few chances to have a glimpse of its beauty, so we have to make the most out of it. A city that is rich in culture, literature, arts and more – definitely something that could satisfy one’s wanderlust. Allow me to borrow your pen for a bit to add up a certain country to your bucket list that is worth visiting: Europe’s wonderland, the majestic city of Greece.

             Greece has a lot of fascinating places such as Rhodes, Crete, Delphi, Satorini, Athens and a lot more. The country’s centuries old structures, cultures, arts and literature are still admired by the contemporary people. You’ve probably had sight at some of Greece’s wonders in some Western films and wondered what does it feels like to be in Greece. Well I, myself, had already experienced days of living in Greece and it was the most amazing trip ever.

 Culture

           Greeks were known for being deeply engaged with religious stuffs. They are known for worshiping different kinds of gods and goddesses which plays a huge part in their literature. When you’re in Greece, you’ll be able to see traces of hundreds of thousands of years old structures and cultures in every corner of the land. The place is famous for being a paradise of cultural tourism for it has preserved its culture pretty well. There are even people who still practice the culture of the ancient Greeks.

             The ancient Greeks considered their men to be very valuable rather than women. In fact, they happen to believe in a saying; and I quote, “If you have a son you bring him up, even if you’re poor but if you have a daughter you abandon her, even if you’re rich.” Men are trained to be warriors and are given a chance to run the government while women had very limited freedom outside their home. The ancient Greeks were also known for their high sense of competition. At a very young age, the men of Greece are trained to fight for what they believe in; for them, winning is everything and second place means nothing.

   Art & Literature

             As I have mentioned previously, Greeks had preserved their culture very well including their art and literature. Greek art is still as conspicuous to us as with their literature. In their world of art, there were four major forms: pottery, sculpture, painting and architecture. Their buildings and sculptures are truly inimitable. The greatest representation of their art is the Parthenon located on top of the Acropolis.

             Homer, Sophocles, Herodotus, Euripides, Hippocrates, Aristophanes, Plato, Aristotle, Euclid and Archimedes are the top ten greatest writers of ancient Greece. Greek literature during the ancient times are considered as one of the longest surviving traditions in world literature. Their works became inspiration to the modern world – some of their pieces were even adapted in films and some were used for educational purposes. Truly, there is nothing more superior to the art and literature of the Greeks.

 Add Greece to your bucket list to fulfill your wanderlust!