Wandering Me

"you can't discover new oceans, unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore"

[quinnsimando-blog]

Sunshine state of mind

“What I value the most as of the moment?”

For the past few months, I’ve been climbing a really steep and rocky mountain of problems, anxiety, and challenges, and it felt like forever to reach the summit. But, with determination and patience, I think that I am at the top of the world at the moment.

Last year was one bittersweet year for me; I’ve experienced both Love and Pain for months until it finally ended for good. I gave myself a peaceful hiatus during my summer break. I traveled to a lot of places with my family and friends which gave me the opportunity to savor my peace. Traveling was the most important thing that happened during my summer break. We went to different places such as Cavite, Bohol, Cebu, and Sorsogon.

During my seclusion. I’ve learned to accept and love my own flaws and imperfection.

I stayed in San Jacinto, Masbate; the place where I spent most of my childhood exploring. I grew up there, people from there know me, and I know the whole place by heart. I can even speak Bisaya fluently. Anyway, I spent most of my summer exploring hidden beaches in the Island. I surrendered myself fully to the warm breeze, fine sand, blue waters, and tall coconut tree of the paradise.

That was the time I learned how to appreciate the value of serenity. Serenity, to begin with, is the state of being calm and untroubled. It might be months already since summer, but I am still holding the essence of serenity. It is also applicable to my life right now. I am apparently a senior high student and frankly speaking, my strand is not that easy as what I’ve expected. I dealt with sleepless nights making projects, assignments, and whatnot. But in the end, I can always handle the stress for I always remind myself to take a break and be in a serenity-state-of-mind.

This is how I meditate when problems are stacking up in my head like my Mom’s laundry.

Lastly and additionally, every time I feel like I am unable to do things because I am down or simply unmotivated, I always listen to Sia’s wonderful motivational song which is “Bird Set free”. The song talks about how a person is able to fight back something that is holding him/her for a long period of time. It is a song that helps people to set themselves out of their own cages and sing for what they love and believe. It motivates people like me, to strive for more and live a carefree life.

Here’s a music video of Sia’s OST of Bird Set Free for the movie The Shallows.

[quinnsimando-blog]

The slaves of 21st century

Communication, news, daily informations, and even entertainment are very important on one's daily routine in the 21st century.

Technology is wide and it includes different types of devices and innovations such as computers, mobile phones, medical instruments, engineering equipments, etc. Without these technological advancements, the human race will most probably rely to nature just like what the ancient civilizations did.

Although, technology is already rampant and used in daily basis that people rely to it so much as if they can no longer survive without it. One good example of this are mobile phones. People tend to feel anxious without their phones at hand or if they cannot check the notifications from their favorite apps. They fear that they won't be updated to whatever is new in the social media. They fear that they might miss something important.

People also do not just rely so much to technology, but they also need it to live day by day. For example, they need hospital facilities that are technology-based for the patients. Engineers also need engineering equipments like pulley and trucks to create buildings.

A random couple asked me to take them shots so they can post on their instagram accounts.

Technology is already eating our independence. It is clearly taking over our lives that we cannot control our limitations to its usage. Because of it, most people are having internet addiction too. They tend to overuse their phones and, as said earlier, they feel anxious and always have the urge to check their phones without any important reasons. There are still multiple situations that happen every day that simple proves that humans are already technology dependent nowadays.

Daily needs are not just the reason why people can not get over technology anymore. Social media account management, fame, trends, etc. These things truly chain people's hands to their phones. A lot of teens these days cannot even last a day without using wi-fi, posting and sharing on facebook, or managing their instagram followers to keep their spotlight.

People always have the need to post their selfies or aesthetic photos on their accounts every hour or so. These aren't even necessary for a person's day to day needs but it seems like people can't live without it.

Which proves that humans are now slaves of the 21st century.

[quinnsimando-blog]

Life’s a beach

Sitting beside the campfire while looking at the dark, limitless night sky, bedazzled with jewel-like stars that twinkle relentlessly must be the favorite scenario of my alter-ego. It is because when I’m serene, I love to watch the sky shine like a blanket seamed with diamonds.

Although, my real favorite place is not a peaceful campfire nor a starry night sky. I am not always pacific like my alter-ego. Most of the time I feel bold and daring. Whenever I’m on my “venturesome” self, I prefer riding a car, have a long drive to a deserted boulevard beside a breezy shore, and explore a hidden beach.

Above is my all-time favorite Cagas Boulevard in San Jacinto, Masbate.

My favorite beach so far is the Astoria beach in Bohol. Astoria is a private hotel with an infinity pool. In front of it is the breezy beach. The sand is honestly fine that if you will put it side by side with a polvoron, you can barely identify which is which.

I also love to have a nice long walk at the shore on a specific time. I prefer long beach walks around 4pm to 6pm. I consider 4pm as the “golden hour” because at that time, the sun emits golden rays of light. furthermore, If I would start walking early, then I would be able to witness the ethereal sunset too. I love walking and bathing under the golden sunlight while talking with someone beside me. At the end of the walk, I want sit down beside the beach, watch the sunset together and wait for the stars to appear. With all honesty, It feels like Taylor Swifts’ music video - Wildest Dreams.

“Say you’ll remember me, standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe. Red lips and rosy cheeks.” - Taylor Swift

My photo from Astoria Beach, Tagbilaran, Bohol.

One more thing I love with the golden hour is that while I walk with someone beside the shore, that person will truly see the genuine me. With the golden beams reflecting on my face, making me look like a luscious glazed donut (plus points if my face is oily). That person will be able to witness the depths of my hazel-brown eyes, the beauty of my espresso-colored hair, and the glow of my bubbly cheeks. Basically I look like a bomb of sunshine and happiness when I’m on the beach. The beach is truly a warm and passionate place to be at.

There are also beaches I dream to visit someday such as Reynisfjara beach in Iceland where the sand is black as ebony, or the rocky coasts of Yesnaby cliffs, in Scotland which is giving me an aesthetic vibe.

[quinnsimando-blog]

Life in Plastic, It’s Fantastic!

Plastics are used in various ways and things that it is almost impossible to live without it due to the fact that we are now in the 21st century where the use of electricity, phones, and other technological advancements are important in one’s daily life. Polythylene terephthalate or better known as PET bottles, are basically one of the most common plastics. They can be created into a transparent and thin bottles or they can be made into a simple plastic bag.

“So comfortable, we’re living in a bubble, bubble. So comfortable, we cannot see the trouble, trouble” - Katy Perry

Although, because of the rampant use of this, most people don’t how to properly dispose or keep their used plastics. The plastics, most of the time, end up clogging on rivers, scattering on lands, or even floating in the oceans. Because of this, animals mistake plastics as food and most of the time they eat these and later die of choking. One example of this is the sperm whale that was washed ashore in Spain. It had eaten 32 kilos of plastic bags, nets, and a drum. Furthermore, in 2015, already 90% of seabirds had eaten plastics.

Maria Fe and Jake Snow, a traveling couple, took a photo of Pink Beach in Bali, Indonesia scattered with plastics one year after they visited it in 2018.

Micro plastics are also one of the concerns of scientists. It is the smaller pieces of an actual plastic. It can be a broken piece of a plastic bottle. Micro plastics are present in the ocean which is dangerous for planktons and other sea creatures that may eat it. Micro plastics also travel the food chain all the way to our plate. Planktons eat micro plastics, then fishes and oysters would eat planktons. These fishes and oysters would be caught by fishermen and would be served to us as sea foods. In other words, we have also eaten the micro plastics that was eaten by the planktons which may cause life-threatening diseases such as cancer.

Now, in order to help fight against plastic pollution, there are some simple steps that one can perform. First, people should keep their used plastic bags so that they can still be used in the future to carry groceries and other things. Second, PET bottles can be used to fill with water again. They can also create Do-it-yourself flower pots out of it. There are many creative ways to recycle plastics. Lastly, if they don’t want to do any of these things, at least they should know how to properly dispose wastes. They should throw it away in the trash bin, specifically in the non-biodegradable one so that they can segregate the wastes.

These steps might be simple but it is a big stepping stone to help the world fight plastic pollution.