Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Nightmare

Could a person really be strong enough against the greatest of the greatest fears he’s had for years?

I didn’t watch Pinoy Fear Factor when it aired on TV. Hell, I wasn’t even a fan of the original version, so I think it is a no-brainer to expect me not watching this show. Though I think the “edgy sports” challenges are cool, those challenges which are downright gross turns me (and the TV) off (or I may just have hit the remote button into another TV show). But that’s a good idea really for a reality show really. Pushing people off the edge for money, making then face what they fear the most, and showing the craziness that would occur when different personalities mix.

I do have some fears on my own. Let’s see. I HATE flying cockroaches. Really, I can’t see the non-immediate harm they cause when they are crawling around (mainly because you can just squish them, pour alcohol on them and set them on fire). But of course they are spreading all those icky germs that could make you sick and that’s invisible to the naked eye (that’s why I can’t see their non-immediate harm!). But once these crawlers turn into flyers, uh-oh. We ought to run for our lives. It’s weird. If they end up “landing” on you, it’ll give you goose bumps, you’ll fell their hairy appendages, and of course, those icky, downright dirty germs would directly “land” on you. Eww… I already feel weird, icky, and disgusted just by thinking about it.

You may be going like “flying cockroaches? C’mon man!” I’m saying the same thing to myself in fact. No, a silly flying cockroach is not the greatest of my greatest fears. Like I said, I could just wait for it to land and crawl, hoping it would not “land” on me, and the cockroach is history.

It is uncertainty that I fear the most. I know, it sounds overly dramatic but it is what it is.

I had been feeling this fear for the past weeks; it was around the end of February when it started. I just had a deeply personal heartbreaking experience then, and after that I started questioning having a fulfilling future. From that moment, the days seemed an eternity of questioning what tomorrow will bring, whether my life’s goals would be complete, will I ever find the one for me. It was amazing that none of the people around me noticed my out-of-placed smiles.

That is, until last Wednesday, when the fear of uncertainty crept within my very soul. My fear reached its peak. From the moment I woke up, I just had this dread, gloomy feeling. I didn’t feel like moving at all. But, like Freddie Mercury said, the show must go on. And I did put on quite a show that day reporting to work. Everything was normal. I laughed at the jokes. I even made one or two. It was business as usual, and business it was.

When I got home, my defenses were faltering. My roommate noticed the drastic decrease in cheeriness. Back then, I just couldn’t force a laugh anymore. I couldn’t even give a decent laugh. I know, he was trying to act concerned, and maybe he really was, I don’t really know, but I just brushed it off my shoulders. Something’s wrong with me, and anyone around me who isn’t dead could feel the weight of what I am feeling then. My mind could not rest from thinking and overanalyzing, I cried myself to sleep. I even had nightmares that night, though I could not remember anything about my nightmare.

When I woke up I knew, my consciousness had been through enough of those worries, my subconscious mind had to deal with my issues through those nightmares. And it was a better day; a better day indeed. I remembered this one day coming home from school back then, crying to my mom about how I fear uncertainty so much. I guess, things haven’t really changed much since then.

Maybe I will just have to deal with it. And wait. And accept life’s uncertainties, its twist and turns as I go along. Maybe one day, I will definitely be strong enough, courageous enough, and brave enough against this fear. I just have to remember that the next time that the fear of uncertainty, that paralyzing dread seeps under my skin, I just have to let it all out and breathe.

I’ll be doing it secretly, of course.



Monday, March 16, 2009

Mga Bulag

I had a meet up with my college dabarkads, Karla. Eksena Saturday night...

Dagger (Talking through CP): Saan ka na?


Karla: Dito na.

Dagger: Saan nga? (Lakad kaunti pakanan)

Karla: Sa may Watsons.

Dagger: Ano ka?!? Andito rin kaya ako. Saan ka ba? (Sabay lakad ulit kaunti pakaliwa naman)

Karla: Nakikita mo ba yung mga ahente ng bahay?

Dagger: Oo.

After that, nagulat ako kasi lakad din pala ng lakad si Karla, at iniikutan namin yung mga ahente ng bahay for the past three or four minutes. Tawa ako ng tawa dahil dun. We ate, we had coffee, and we talked a lot. Got home by 4 am na, naubos lang yung oras naming catching up.

Friday, March 13, 2009

The Stupidity of Staying Still

Hindi ko alam kung maiinis ako o matatawa nung marinig ko ang kwento ng kasalukuyang status ng lovelife ng isang kasama ko sa trabaho. Sa totoo lang, narining ko na ang istorya niya waaaaaay back, kaya lang lasing na ako nun sa alak at honestly, hindi talaga ako interesado nun sa kwento niya kaya kinalimutan ko na lang agad (instant amnesia??). Narinig ko na lang ulit ang kwento niya (at naalala) nung mag one-on-one inuman kami recently. Mas expanded ang naging detalye ng kwento niya nung minsang nakapagkwentuhan kami ng matagal-tagal kung saan parang gusto ko na talaga siyang banatan sa pagka-irita sa kaartehan ng love story (or lack thereof) niya.

Paano ba naman kasi, sa dalawang taon na nagkahiwalay sila ng ex-girlfriend niya, ay hindi pa siya nakakamove-on. OK. Wala namang problema doon, kasi hindi naman talaga panahon ang sukatan para masabing naka-move on ka na sa isang previous relationship. I mean, you could take a gazzillion years and still have feelings for a particular ex (T-Rex ba ang ex mo?). Ang nakaka-iritang part ng kwento niya ay WALA siyang balak mag-move on. Ayaw niya.

Siya naman kasi ang kinalasan nung ekis nya. Seloso kasi siya masyado. Alam ninyo yung lyrics nung You Can’t Do That ng The Beatles? Ganun yung drama niya noon. Meron din kasing pumoporma pa na guy dun sa ekis niya. E nagkataon, nagkaroon ng isang pagkakataon na nakapagsolo yung isang guy na yun at yung ekis niya. Overnight yata with their friends. Di ata siya kasama. Or talagang hindi siya isinama. Di ako sigurado. Basta. Ang punto, e nasakal yung ekis, ayun kinalasan siya. Nag-uusap pa naman daw sila paminsan-minsan. Pag may okasyon, ganun. Pero di na daw talaga madalas.

Ang ogags kasi, umaasa pa sa isang mala-Chinovelang twist ng kwento niya (Chinovela kasi Tsinoy yung katrabaho ko eh). Ang sabi ko naman, e bakit pa niya pinatagal ng ganito? Two years na. Two freaking years. Ang sabi niya, nung magkipagbreak daw ang ekis niya, sinubukan niyang makipag-reconcile. Ang sabi daw sa kanya, e parang kakabreak lang daw nila, tapos yun nga galit pa daw si ekis sa kanya, tapos nag-eexpect siya na magbalikan sila. Kung magbabalikan man lang daw sila, hindi sa mga oras na yun.

Natuto na naman daw siya sa mistake niya na yun. Fine. Aminado naman siya na, nagkamali siya. Pero pinanghahawakan pa rin nya yung statement nung ekis niya na kung magbabalikan man lang daw sila, hindi sa mag oras na yun. At this point naawa na ako sa kanya. At nainis. He’s pathetic.

Sa totoo lang, may bentahe itong mokong na ‘to. Natatawa nga ako, kasi nung maabutan kami ni Roomie noon sa aming one-on-one inuman, naitanong sa akin ni Roomie after kung sigurado daw ba yung kaibigan ko na yun na straight siya. Sinabi niya naman, kung nanaisin niyang magka-gf ngayon madali lang. Kaso nga, he’s still hung up sa ekis niya.

E di sabi ko, e ba’t mo pa pinatagal ng ganito? E di kausapin mo na siya ngayon din mismo para mapahiya ka na at gustuhin mo na na mag-move on.

Di siya kumibo. Ihanda ko na lang daw ang sarili ko na magulat sa pagbabalikan nila.

Pero hanggang ngayon wala pa rin akong naririning na direct move siyang ginawa para makipagbalikan. Iniisip ko tuloy na malamang natatakot siya dun sa senaryo na sinabi ko, ang mapahiya siya at kailanganin ng mag-move on dahil ayaw na ng ekis niya sa kanya. O baka nga talagang mas gusto niyang magtabi na lang ng larawan ng ekis niya sa wallet at cellphone niya. Hay naku. Ang pagiging miserable pala minsan choice din.