Heed My Call

She walks around with a heavy heart, desperately hoping that it will all work out in the end.

[thewordsneverspoken]

Hurt Like I Never Knew Before

Mother, when you ask me where it hurts

I lift my arm and wince as I reach for my back.

The physician with eyes paid to care

traces his palm on the curvature

and I tell him how my spine always buckles—

rivalling Atlas condemned to keep the heavens aloft.

Mother, when you ask me how it hurts

I thrash and wail about my meek shoulders—

Too plump to be picturesque, too frail to be athletic,

yet always willing to bear the heaviest brunt.

The pain feels like I’m being stabbed by daggers,

but lying down only twists the blades in even deeper.

Mother, when you ask me when it hurts

I weep about how nights are the worst;

of how my heart is being crushed by my ribcage,

and how every breath feels like the reaper’s loan.

The moonlight no longer gives me comfort

for it is a stark memo of the hourglass running out.

Mother, when I ask you what causes it to hurt

All you give me is your dimpled, calming smile

as you reach for the medicine cabinet.

I drown pill after pill with a glass full of water,

but nothing makes the ache in my chest and my head disappear.

Why does each capsule, each tablet only seem to make it worse?

Mother, when I ask you why it needs to hurt

I am left with a pulled plug and a flatline.

The doctor tells me that it was painless.

My pastor lectures that life is borrowed time.

But if the maker had tried to teach me a lesson,

it was that none of the hurt

would prepare me for this ultimate sorrow.

[thewordsneverspoken]

Requiem for the Wanderer

Here lies the lone vagabond named Carey;

Truth’s purveyor, jailed by inconsistence.

Her penchant for voyage and novelty

Left her in eternal state of transience.

Like Icarus, she longed to soar great heights—

Flew past triumphs, trials, peace, and strife.

Her sight was focused on the next sites,

So her eyes were shut to her present life.

Yet dearly beloved, her fates have turned—

The one leaving was the one left behind.

And perhaps this was just what she deserved;

For while her mind sharpened, her heart declined.

And when she joined the highest gods above,

The gravestone did not say that “Here lies love.”

[thewritersarchive]

This is an ultimate masterlist of many resources that could be helpful for writers. I apologize in advance for any not working links. Check out the ultimate writing resource masterlist here (x) and my “novel” tag here (x).

✑ PLANNING

Outlining & Organizing

For the Architects: The Planning Process

Rough Drafts

How do you plan a novel?

Plot Development: Climax, Resolution, and Your Main Character

Plotting and Planing

I Have An Idea for a Novel! Now What?

Choosing the Best Outline Method

How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method

Effectively Outlining Your Plot

Conflict and Character within Story Structure

Outlining Your Plot

Ideas, Plots & Using the Premise Sheets

✑ INSPIRATION

Finding story ideas

Choosing ideas and endings

When a plot isn’t strong enough to make a whole story

Writing a story that’s doomed to suck

How to Finish What You Start: A Five-Step Plan for Writers

Finishing Your Novel

Finish Your Novel

How to Finish Your Novel when You Want to Quit

How To Push Past The Bullshit And Write That Goddamn Novel: A Very Simple No-Fuckery Writing Plan

✑ PLOT

In General

25 Turns, Pivots and Twists to Complicate Your Story

The ABCs (and Ds and Es) of Plot Development

Originality Is Overrated

How to Create a Plot Outline in Eight Easy Steps

Finding Plot: Idea Nets

The Story Goal: Your Key to Creating a Solid Plot Structure

Make your reader root for your main character

Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense

Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot

The Thirty-six (plus one) Dramatic Situations

Adding Subplots to a Novel

Weaving Subplots into a Novel

7 Ways to Add Subplots to Your Novel

Crafting a Successful Romance Subplot

How to Improve your Writing: Subplots and Subtext

Understanding the Role of Subplots

How to Use Subtext in your Writing

The Secret Life of Subtext

How to Use Subtext

Beginning

Creating a Process: Getting Your Ideas onto Paper (And into a Story)

Why First Chapters?

Starting with a Bang

In the Beginning

The Beginning of your Novel that isn’t the Beginning of your Novel

A Beginning from the Middle

Starting with a Bang

First Chapters: What To Include @ The Beginning Writer

23 Clichés to Avoid When Beginning Your Story

Start Writing Now

Done Planning. What Now?

Continuing Your Long-Format Story

How to Start a Novel 

100 best first lines from novels

The First Sentence of a Book Report

How To Write A Killer First Sentence To Open Your Book

How to Write the First Sentence of a Book

The Most Important Sentence: How to Write a Killer Opening

Hook Your Reader from the First Sentence: How to Write Great Beginnings

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing and the Red Hering

Narrative Elements: Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing and Suspense

Foreshadowing Key Details

Writing Fiction: Foreshadowing

The Literary Device of Foreshadowing

All About Foreshadowing in Fiction

Foreshadowing

Flashbacks and Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing — How and Why to Use It In Your Writing

Setting

Four Ways to Bring Settings to Life

Write a Setting for a Book

Writing Dynamic Settings

How To Make Your Setting a Character

Guide for Setting

5 Tips for Writing Better Settings

Building a Novel’s Setting

Ending

A Novel Ending

How to End Your Novel

How to End Your Novel 2

How to End a Novel With a Punch

How to End a Novel

How to Finish a Novel

How to Write The Ending of Your Novel

Keys to Great Endings

3 Things That End A Story Well

Ending a Novel: Five Things to Avoid

Endings that Ruin Your Novel

Closing Time: The Ending

✑ CHARACTER

Names

Behind the Name

Surname Meanings and Origins

Surname Meanings and Origins - A Free Dictionary of Surnames

Common US Surnames & Their Meanings

Last Name Meanings & Origins

Name Generators

Name Playground

Different Types of Characters

Ways To Describe a Personality

Character Traits Meme

Types of Characters

Types of Characters in Fiction

Seven Common Character Types

Six Types of Courageous Characters

Creating Fictional Characters (Masterlist)

Building Fictional Characters

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Character Building Workshop

Tips for Characterization

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills 

Males

Strong Male Characters

The History and Nature of Man Friendships

Friendship for Guys (No Tears!)

‘I Love You, Man’ and the rules of male friendship

Male Friendship

Understanding Male Friendship

Straight male friendship, now with more cuddling

Character Development

P.O.V. And Background

Writing a Character: Questionnaire

10 Days of Character Building

Getting to Know Your Characters

Character Development Exercises

✑ STYLE

Chapters

How Many Chapters is the Right Amount of Chapters?

The Arbitrary Nature of the Chapter

How Long is a Chapter?

How Long Should Novel Chapters Be?

Chapter & Novel Lengths 

Section vs. Scene Breaks

Dialogue 

The Passion of Dialogue

25 Things You Should Know About Dialogue

Dialogue Writing Tips

Punctuation Dialogue

How to Write Believable Dialogue

Writing Dialogue: The Music of Speech

Writing Scenes with Many Characters

It’s Not What They Say …

Top 10 Tips for Writing Dialogue

Speaking of Dialogue

Dialogue Tips

Interrupted Dialogue

Two Tips for Interrupted Dialogue

Show, Don’t Tell (Description)

“Tell” Makes a Great Placeholder

The Literary Merit of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Bad Creative Writing Advice

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do

DailyWritingTips: Show, Don’t Tell

GrammarGirl: Show, Don’t Tell

Writing Style: What Is It?

Detail Enhances Your Fiction

Using Sensory Details

Description in Fiction

Using Concrete Detail

Depth Through Perception

Showing Emotions & Feelings

Character Description

Describing Your Characters (by inkfish7 on DeviantArt)

Help with Character Development

Creating Characters that Jump Off the Page

Omitting Character Description

Introducing Your Character(s): DON’T

Character Crafting

Writer’s Relief Blog: “Character Development In Stories And Novels”

Article: How Do You Think Up Your Characters?

5 Character Points You May Be Ignoring

List of colors, hair types and hairstyles

List of words to use in a character’s description 

200 words to describe hair

How to describe hair

Words used to describe the state of people’s hair

How to describe your haircut

Hair color sharts

Four Ways to Reveal Backstory

Words Used to Describe Clothes

Flashbacks

Using Flashbacks in Writing

Flashbacks by All Write

Using Flashback in Fiction

Fatal Backstory

Flashbacks as opening gambit

Don’t Begin at the Beginning

Flashbacks in Books

TVTropes: Flashback

Objects in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear: Flashback Techniques in Fiction

3 Tips for Writing Successful Flashbacks

The 5 Rules of Writing Effective Flashbacks

How to Handle Flashbacks In Writing

Flashbacks and Foreshadowing

Reddit Forum: Is a flashback in the first chapter a good idea?

Forum Discussing Flackbacks

P.O.V

You, Me, and XE - Points of View

What’s Your Point of View?

Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid “Stepping Out of Character”

How to Start Writing in the Third Person

The Opposite Gender P.O.V.

LANGUAGE

 How To Say Said

200 Words Instead of Said

Words to Use Instead of Said

A List of Words to Use Instead of Said

Alternatives to “Walk”

60 Synonyms for “Walk”

✑ USEFUL WEBSITES/LINKS

Grammar Monster

Google Scholar

GodChecker

Tip Of My Tounge

Speech Tags

Pixar Story Rules

Written? Kitten!

TED Talks

DarkCopy

Family Echo

Some Words About Word Count

How Long Should My Novel Be?

The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test

Writer’s “Cheat Sheets”

Last but not least, the most helpful tool for any writer out there is Google!

[thewordsneverspoken]

2AM Headspace

I’ve always been the type to let fate take its course instead of taking charge of my own destiny. This is probably the reason I let go of people easily, thinking that our parting was destined, that it was written. Most of the time I fear that I’m beginning to trivialize people, treating them as lessons instead of actual human beings with real feelings.

This is especially the case with a particular person whom I used to care deeply for.  We lasted for about three years but I thought that three years was nothing compared to the rest of my life so I began to take advantage of him. That was the beginning of the end of us. I began ignoring him and shooting down his efforts to connect with me. I didn’t give him the time of day and always had an excuse for my indifference. The worst part is that I was fully aware of what I was doing to him. This lasted for a while, until I finally came to my senses and ended it between us.

You’d think that after making him suffer once, I would have learned my lesson. However, I fooled myself into thinking that I wasn’t going to repeat the same mistakes. We rekindled whatever it was we once had and made a pact to be better than we were the first time around. A voice inside my head told me that I was just lying to myself, but since I got him to believe me, I dismissed my thoughts and focused only on what I was feeling. However, my feelings for him came and went like the waves crashing hard against the shore and then retreating quickly back into open water. I was going back into my old habits, but this time quicker and harsher. Most people say that only a fool would make the same mistake twice yet for some reason, I still did. I was engulfed in the sea of emotions inside of me and as I tried to swim back to shore, I ended up sinking deeper into the dark abyss.

Call me a fool all you want but the three years of ups and downs with him made me wiser. My fickle mind may be unsure about most things but one thing I’m sure of is I don’t regret setting him free from the leash that we both didn’t realize I had on him. Letting him go was probably the only good thing I ever did for him. What I do regret, however, is not making him feel that he was special to me. Every day, I am being torn apart by guilt for not giving him the effort that he deserved. He was clearly more invested in us, and I was unable to reciprocate his intensity. I’ve tried avoiding having to write about him for the longest time in fear that certain suppressed feelings would creep their way back onto the surface, but I’m glad that I finally decided to address them head on.

Writing this has given me the real peace of mind and solitude that I needed. Wherever he is now, I hope he’s sharing the light that he possesses with people who are deserving of him. Through all of this, I realized that although we have a pre-determined destination, how we get there is entirely up to us. We have the freedom to make mistakes but it is our responsibility to learn from them and use them to become better versions of ourselves. I have the rest of my life ahead of me but it’s about time that I start forging my own path instead of navigating through the stars.

[thewordsneverspoken]

Open Letter to a Dictator

Dear Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr.,

Can I call you Macoy? I’m going to call you Macoy, whether you like it or not so you don’t really have a choice. Does it sound familiar to you–not having a choice? Because to me, as well as to thousands or even millions of other Filipinos, dead or alive, we’re well aware of how that feels, all thanks to you. You’ve opened my eyes to a lot of things; therefore, I’m writing to you now, at 1:30 AM on a Monday, to thank you for your outstanding work as the 10th President of the Republic of the Philippines.  

As I’m sure you would know, provided that you always seemed to have eyes and ears everywhere, you’re stirring up quite a commotion right now. Who else could be dead and still manage to make a whole nation turn against each other? I’m afraid that only you, Macoy, are able to do that. In fact, I need not to say that you truly are one of a kind. Not everyone can handle being president of a country such as ours for 21 years, and for that, should I applaud or salute you since you were a soldier, if I’m not mistaken? Thousands of soldiers fought for our nation, but you were the Medal of Valor awardee so I guess the jokes on them.

May I just say that I admire your work? Whenever we pass through the South Luzon Expressway and North Luzon Expressway, I always think that if it weren’t you, we might not be able to travel as easily as we do now. Your loaning from bigger countries to build infrastructures for us was a smart move, even if you pocketing most of the money led to us having to pay for your debts until 2025. However, those infrastructures weren’t your magnum opus. Sweet Macoy, I ought to say that your best work will always be declaring Martial Law.

You were a figure of power and discipline, just as a president should be. President Rodrigo Duterte’s “kamay na bakal” would not stand a chance against your iron will and incontestable decisions. How is it that although thousands of people have tried, they could never measure up to you? Oh, that’s right–you had 70,000 of them imprisoned, 34,000 tortured and 3,240 killed. You had the military and the police go against their motto “to serve and protect” the people because they needed to learn to keep their mouths shut.

As far as presidents go, you were the most influential, so thank you for all that you did. Thank you for falsifying your war records and cheating the 1969 and 1989 elections, which in some messed up logic, makes you a hero worthy of being buried at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani. Thank you for shutting down media showing any semblance of propaganda, and essentially becoming the media yourself so that only good news about you were broadcasted. Thank you for not only robbing us of our money, but also robbing us a chance to witness an entire generation of Filipinos who would have been brave, capable leaders. Thank you for rewriting history books and brainwashing me to believe that you were the greatest president our country has ever had.

I once thought that you were the epitome of a leader, but now I am no longer blinded by your decorated, albeit fabricated accomplishments. I now see you for what you truly are: a corrupt, cold-blooded, downright awful liar and dictator. Your 21-year dark reign may have come to an end during EDSA 1, but it seems that you still have a lot of people under your twisted spell. Despite the atrocities that you put Filipinos through during your regime, people are still apathetic and have the nerve to tell Martial Law victims to move on. Don’t worry though, your precious name will live forever for we are never going to move on.

If there’s one thing I’m sure at, it’s that the Filipinos are never going to forgive and forget. No matter how much rolling you do in your grave, your son is never going to become president for the youth have learned our lesson and we are not going to commit the same mistakes. Dear Macoy, sit back and watch as we rise from the ashes of your reign of terror while you rot six feet under the ground.

Love your local temperamental brat,

Carey

[thewordsneverspoken]

I'm learning to accept my mediocrity.

[thewordsneverspoken]

Unfazed by Laughter

Besides having a voice of our own, another ability that is distinct to all of us is our laughter. Some people have hushed chuckles with the occasional shaking of the shoulders, while others have loud guffaws accompanied by roaring claps and gasping breaths. Whatever laugh a person may possess, one thing is certain: we laugh because it feels good. It’s human nature to do things because they make us feel good. Oftentimes, this can lead to reckless decisions, but with something as facile as laughter, our judgement tends to get clouded.

To me, laughter is many things: it is the linchpin that binds a group of friends for life, but is also the screw that falls out once an offensive jape is made; it is the scrapbook of memories we formed together, but is also the flame that used these pages as tinder; it is the light at the end of the tunnel, but is also the rushing car that leaves me pummeled; it is the medicine that numbs my worries, but is also the trigger to my insecurities. Jokes and laughter are harmless acts most of the time, but like the Chinese philosophy Yin and Yang, they must have balance in order to avoid hurting other people and to be able to develop a harmonic relationship with others. In doing so, an important thing to remember is that laughter is not the absence of misery for while our faces display a smile, somewhere inside of us are woes that are just waiting to seep through the littlest cracks in our façade. 

 Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist and civil rights activist, once said that she doesn’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh. I share this sentiment with her for to me, as well as to most people, our laughter is a part of us. It is a part of the little kids that break free whenever they play out in the street with their friends. It is a part of me that unleashes whenever I watch Shakespearean tragedies such as 10 Things I Hate About You which features a strong female lead who is seen as a shrew by her peers, and Black Comedy films such as Heathers which depicts the social hierarchy of a local high school and how a wish gone wrong could change everything.  Notably, it is also a part of the Filipino people that transcends whenever we are able to crack a joke amidst a calamity. 

 There are positives and negatives to laughter but we can all admit that a life without it would be lackluster. Each day we are faced with struggles that make us fall to our knees. But through laughter, we are able to stand up taller than ever. There will be times when we want to crawl in a hole due to immense embarrassment. And when that time comes, all we can do is laugh because once we learn to laugh at ourselves, other people’s laughter will no longer faze us.

[thewordsneverspoken]

Kaawaan ako ng Diyos

Musmos pa lamang ako, tinuruan na ko na ang Diyos daw ang sagot sa lahat ng problema. Kung malungkot ako, magdasal lang daw ako at magiging maayos ang lahat. Kung may manakit sa akin, magdasal lang daw ako at matututunan kong magpatawad. Kung pakiramdam kong pasan ko ang mundo sa mahihinang balikat ko, magdasal lang daw ako at pagagaanin ni Kristo ang aking hinanakit. Kung umabot ako sa puntong gusto ko nang mawala sa mundo, magdasal lang daw ako at mamumulat ako sa katotohanang mas masarap mabuhay kaysa mamatay.

Alam ko at naiintindihan ko na mas magandang mabuhay ngunit alam ko at naiintindihan ko rin kung bakit may mga taong nagpapakamatay. May mga taong nagsasabing kasalanan at kahinaan daw ang pagkuha sa sariling buhay pero ano pa bang magagawa natin? Una sa lahat, patay na sila at walang kahit anong pangaral ang makapagbabalik sa kanila. Pangalawa, kung ang mga taong kanilang pinakainaasahan ang mismong babalewala sa kanilang nararamdaman, ano pa bang magagawa nila? Magdasal, magdasal at magdasal nang magdasal hanggang sa mawala ang mga demonyong onti-onting umuubos sa kanilang hangaring mabuhay? Kaawaan sana sila ng Diyos. 

Hindi ko na alam kung anong nangyayari sakin at hindi ko na alam kung anong masasabi ko kaya ngayon pa lang ay humihingi na ko ng tawad kung may masabi man akong hindi kaaya-aya. Napakaraming mga tanong sa isipan kong hindi ko inaalam ang kasagutan dahil natatakot akong hindi ko sila magugustuhan. Nalilito ako kung ano o sino ang paniniwalaan ko dahil maraming mga daliri ang nagtuturo sakin sa tamang landas daw. Natatakot ako dahil kung sakaling sumagot ako ay siguradong hindi ko kakayaning makipaglaban sa mga banat nila. Naiinis ako sa sarili ko dahil pinili kong magpakalayo. Nalulungkot ako dahil baka isipin nila’y binabasura ko lamang ang kanilang tinuro. Nanghihina ako dahil alam kong ang iba sa kanila ay magbabago ang tingin sa akin.

Ngunit mas mabigat sa damdamin kung pilit ko itong kinikimkim. Inaamin ko, hindi ako relihiyosong tao. Katoliko ako pero hindi ko alam kung kakayanin ng konsensya kong sundin ang lahat ng kanilang bilin. Hindi sa tinutukoy ko ang lahat ng mga Katoliko pero may iba na talagang sumosobra na at nagiging hipokrito. Tatawagin nilang mahina at ikakahiya nila ang mga nagpapakamatay pero pauupuin nila sa Malacañang ang taong walang ibang sinabi maliban sa, “Papatayin ko sila!” Sino ba namang hindi maguguluhan diba?

Napakaraming hipokrito sa mundo. Isa ka na roon at mas lalong isa na ako roon. Pumapasok ako araw-araw sa isang Katolikong paaralan habang tinatanong ang sarili ko kung tama pa ba ang aking pinaniniwalaan. Subalit may makapagsasabi nga ba talaga kung ano ang tama o maling pananampalataya? May pitong bilyong tao sa mundo at ang bawat isa doon ay may kani-kanilang paniniwala. Nakakalungkot isipin na nagiging sagabal ito para sa ibang tao upang magmahalan, kaya kung ako’y papipiliin, palagay na ako sa kung sino at ano ako ngayon.

Musmos pa lamang ako tinuruan na ko na ang tunay na kaligayahan daw ay mahahanap lang natin sa Diyos. Ilang taon din akong naghanap ng kasiyahan sa kabila ng lumbay at may mga pagkakataong muntikan na ko bumigay. Marahil ay isipin ninyong naligaw na ko ng landas pero walang humpas kong ibibigkas na PUTRAGIS MASAYA NA KO! 

Masayang-masaya na ko at walang hinagpis ang hindi ko matitiis.

[curiousgemstone-deactivated2016]

Reblogs > Likes | It truly does make a difference for us

[thewordsneverspoken]

You think it's cool to hate things. It's not. It's boring. Talk about what you love and keep quiet about what you don't.

Liberal Arts (2012)

[thewordsneverspoken]

[thewordsneverspoken]

Happy birthday to you.

She was just a baby The day she was born was indeed a happy one. Her mom couldn’t stop crying because even if the last nine months weren’t easy, Holding you there in her arms, she knew it was worth it. Her dad was watching them with a smile When her mom beckoned him to take her. At first, he was holding her in an awkward manner But when he finally got it and gazed on her delicate face, He was overwhelmed with emotions and all he could say was “I love you.”

She was just a kid All she wanted to do was play with her toys, Unaware of what the world had in store for her. Whenever she cried, her mom would hug her and tell her that “Life doesn’t wait for you to get it together. So cry all you want. But once the tears run out, you get up and you carry on.” At her young age, she didn’t know what to make of that. But with parents who loved her deeply and would do anything for her, She thought she was invincible.

She is now a teen She’s burning the midnight oil studying for a test, Which she would eventually ace (as she always does). But she was in high school, And we all knew how crucial this was. She understood this, but unfortunately, this caused her to put too much pressure on herself. “Pressure is not turning me into a diamond,” she once said. Little did she know that she was something far more exquisite than a stone.

She will become an adult Soon she will go to college where she will meet new people, Encounter professors that will make her want to tear her hair out, Acquire an immense workload that will make her laugh at her high school self, And pity the young girl who once thought that she was invincible. She understands that things will not always go her way, But some days, it will get too much for her. And whenever it would, she will remember what her mom used to tell her

And she will carry on.

[thewordsneverspoken]

“This is what I wanted,” he tells himself for the umpteenth time. It’s been months since they last spoke, But he knew she wasn’t leaving his thoughts anytime soon. Whatever he was doing, Whether it was staring at the gibberish on the board in math class Or at the dining table telling his parents how his day was, Memories of her would slither their way from the spaces between his fingers that once fit so well with the spaces between hers, To his tense shoulders that would automatically slump whenever she touched them, Then to his lips that felt like they were specifically molded to connect with hers, To his eyes that have never seen anything as beautiful as her, And finally, to his brain which would process all these memories and almost instantly, Make his heart wrench.

Anatomy taught him that heartbeats were involuntarily, Yet somehow, the mere thought of her would kickstart the beating of his heart. He hated how she had so much leverage over him When he was the one to break things off. No one really understood why he did what he did. She didn’t know what went wrong. His friends told him he was crazy for letting her get away. Heck, his mom even thought that she was gonna be the one he would spend the rest of his life with.

But that’s where the problem stood. He didn’t want any of that. He didn’t want to get married. He didn’t want to wake up in the wee hours of the night to the sound of a baby crying. He didn’t want to drive his kids in a mini van to and from school everyday. He didn’t want his daughter to remind him to not embarrass her in front of her friends. He didn’t want to go through the awkwardness of having the “talk” with his son who just turned 16. In fact, thinking about this may just convince him that he did the right thing.

However, he couldn’t deny that as the days passed, He longed to talk to her and ask her how she was. At one point, he was even gonna call her to say that he made a mistake and to ask if she would take him back. But the more reasonable part of him told him that she didn’t need to go through his mess again. She deserved someone who wouldn’t think twice to put a ring on her finger. And while the thought of her walking down the aisle to someone that wasn’t him felt kind of odd, He stood firm on his decision. He knew settling down wasn’t for him, But not even that could stop him from wondering,

“Why am I the one falling apart?”

PS. He said he was sorry for putting his skeletons in your closet.

[thewordsneverspoken]

Faux Conclusion

I could see it in your eyes that have lost their sparkle, In the tips of your smile that fail to reach your ears, In the way your shoulders slump as if the weight of the world was on them when you walk, And how your outfits now always include a sweater, No matter how hot it was.

At first I thought you were just having a bad day. But then days turned to weeks and I couldn’t see you like this anymore. So I told you that whatever it was you were going through, You didn’t have to go through it alone. You were hesitant when I said so, But you knew I had good intentions. Sadly, good intentions didn’t mean That I knew what I was doing.

I thought I was helping you by keeping you company When your parents were away, Or by watching your favorite romcom with you about a million times, Or by making you mixtapes of songs that your ears would bleed to. I also thought that I was helping you by telling you that I loved you And that I wanted to be with you.

Naïve little me thought that I was some superhero Who would swoop in And save you from the villains that were your own. But only you could do that. Naturally, you turned me down and said you had to take some time alone to work on yourself.

I still saw you around though, But only for a few shared glances. Eventually, you started to look like your cheerful self again. Scratch that, you have this glow around you that I’ve never seen before Seeing you like that, I wanted to kiss you And tell you how happy I was for you.

But I didn’t.

And I couldn’t.

I was wrong to expect that you’d still need me after you’ve done all that by yourself.

[uniquehairstyles]

👌👌👌👌😎

[thewordsneverspoken]

Working abroad, choice or necessity?

This was originally for our school’s magazine but it felt kind of timely, so why not?

———

Millions of Filipino workers choose to go overseas in hopes of finding a job that will earn them enough money for their families back home. While being an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a noble deed, it seems that with every passing year, people are left with no choice but to follow suit.

This is mostly due to the fact that there are simply more job opportunities with higher salaries abroad compared to here. Living in a third-world country, it’s not easy to find a job that can keep up with the disproportionate cost of goods.

Another factor is the high unemployment rate in the Philippines, meaning only a small percentage of college graduates every year get a job that don’t undermine the true value of their abilities.

However, less job opportunities and a high unemployment rate aren’t the only reasons why Filipinos decide to take their talents abroad. For some, working abroad gives them a sense of superiority over their fellow countrymen.

Time and time again, it is programmed into our minds that the only way to have a comfortable lifestyle is by fleeing the country and getting a job elsewhere. This lazy mindset drives people to go overseas, only to be shocked that they’re not in the position that they were told they would be in.

At a young age, we are taught that there is no future for us here and some girls are even told to just marry a wealthy foreigner, instead of being encouraged to hone their abilities in order for them to make a living for themselves.

Even in the media, we are told only white skin is beautiful and if someone has brown or dark skin, he/she must use whitening products to “correct” it. You see, it is not just the country’s economy, it is also our obsession with imitating the Western culture.

Now, with a new administration set to hopefully lead our country to a brighter path, it is imperative that they focus on providing more job opportunities for Filipinos by establishing business hubs in locations outside Metro Manila.

Also, we must stop parading international brands that only feed our elitist desires. We must learn to patronize our own products because this does not only help raise our economy, but it also helps Filipino creators make a name for themselves internationally.

With a collaborative effort, we can turn working abroad from the only option to the last resort.

[thewordsneverspoken]

I'm fucking stuck.

April 24, 2016

One month into summer and I have no idea what the hell I’m doing with my life.

I stay up until sunrise doing God knows what and wake up damn close to sunset. I used to think sunsets were comforting, a beautiful mix of hues to signify the end of yet another exhausting day at school. Now, however, I just envy how they always look so full of life, while I feel like I’m slowly losing a big part of who I am.

Writing was something I took pride in. I’m not much of a writer, but I knew this wasn’t just a hobby. Besides music, writing down my thoughts would always make me feel better. But now, I struggle to form a coherent sentence to describe what I’m actually feeling or thinking.

I feel fucking pathetic. And while there’s that voice in the back of my head telling me that I’m not, I just can’t help but think otherwise. Honestly, I have no idea where I’m going with all this, when I used to be able to write with ease, always knowing what the next word was and how I would end a sentence.

It sucks really – and I’m absolutely terrified. How else would a person feel when the one thing that they thought they were good at seems to be slipping away?