Reuse our Christmas list

As a flashback post, I look back to December 17, 2016 (https://annaswhatnots.blogspot.com/2016/12/im-anti-scrooge.html?m=0)
when I quoted a Rev. Fr. Ed from St. Patrick's church:

"We might consider putting on our Christmas list the following--
To your enemy, forgiveness;
To your opponent, tolerance;
To a friend, your heart;
To a child, a good example;
To yourself--respect."

Confetti

If you are not aware, www.pexels.com has a wide variety of free stock photos like the following image (this is not a sponsored post and is an obvious attempt to sandwich a ranty post between two sweet posts--like a Nutella sandwich except that the bread is the Nutella and the thing in between is a raw and bloody piece of steak...oh, yes, this is supposed to be a sweet post...):

 

Image contributor

Have a wonderful holiday season and have a smidgen of that decadent treat that you only have on special occasions. You deserve that. xx

Recurring theme of dolor

Oh well, my rainbows/unicorns/stardust previous post was dampened by a usual theme of you-must-think-I'm-an estupida coocoo. I have a (insert sarcasm) lovely decade-old post about preferring to swim in my own putrefying remains (sheer poetry *applause*):

 

Notice my post entitled 'true.' Alas, it is easier to say sorry than to give a heads up. Hypothetically, it's easier to gaslight and pretend that doing googly eyes with another humanoid in a swimming pool offering a massage, or being discovered in a photo whilst in a hot tub with another humanoid, or being professed with ti amo by another humanoid, or receiving lavish things from another humanoid, or paying for a pair of humanoids' meals, or taking a humanoid to dinner because said humanoid is a person-of-authority, etcetera etcetera....are simple acts of kindness and need not require informing the other party with whom one has co-ownership. 

Friends, friends, friends....don't do that. Don't permanently damage a person's self-esteem by making that person question his/her/my sanity. Don't be...I can't believe I'm about to say this...don't be Mary Poppins (but heaven knows I love her)...

Image source

You might want to check this provocative article about how Mary Poppins is a sociopath:

https://www.themarysue.com/disney-mary-poppins-returns-sociopath/

Go on, read it, spit spot!

*ouch ouch ouch*

Gaudete!

 Rejoice! We are about to move towards the 20th year post-Y2K and we are all still here...no massive shift in plate tectonics as in the movie 2012; no godzilla-like alien monsters trying to take over the planet via portals from underwater volcanoes; no zombie-forming outbreaks. Technological advancement, however, has been so rapid that whilst I write this post on my smartphone’s browser (after taking a photo of a box of chocolates that I edited and watermarked using the same smartphone), I could not help but look back when the sound of dial-up internet was what I considered  the mark of hi-tech. 

So what is the theme of today’s post? Rejoice! Celebrate the “now” that we have. The present is a present. Such a beautiful realization, isn’t it? All that we’ve been through, our hopes, thoughts, and things that motivate us to wake up each day—those things that we idly speculate about...the things and experiences that we wish for—these all make up this wonderful gift of self-awareness and existence. 

I resolve to experience and feel and think healthy things and become hyperaware of the amazing things that exist. In short, I shall “carpé diem” all the days that follow after today. 

Sapagkat kahit ang kahapon ay nakaraan na, ang ngayon ay atin pati na ang bukas na ating haharapin.

Warning from what has been about what is

After watching an inspiring set of videos, it dawned on me that while generosity in sharing one’s insights and knowledge is a virtuous thing to do, be wary that there are wolves in sheep’s skin that will reuse what you have imparted and obnoxiously yet subtly show the world that they are the vessels from which said insight and knowledge originated. Gil Grissom from the original Crime Scene Investigation (CSI: Las Vegas) series is known to have said the lines, “cite your source.” Also, on the topic of communication, I cannot trust someone (0) who says one thing to me (1) and then another thing to another person (2) and another individual (3) and then conjure the impression to all parties that the idea came from either 1,2,3 but never 0.
The thing is, historically, the entangled information mess created by our hypothetical 0 or 0s always eventually reveals itself. I have witnessed this so many times. Those of us who have been scammed don’t even need to do anything despite our naivete and default notion that people are inherently good and can be trusted—the wheel of fortune keeps the balance. Be cautious. Or as I operate, a la Shakespeare’s All’s well that ends well—‘Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.’ And call out bovine excrement (aka b.s.) in graduated stages: mild to moderate (1-2x) one-on-one and in severe cases...formal discussion with all parties be it kin, friends, or acquaintances.

Intuition and dreams

I blame cold and allergy medicine for my lucid dreams. Hah. The gist is that my dreams have encouraged me to pay attention to red flags—both subtle and blatant. When the feeling is odd, there is certainly some underlying sinister machination. Squint one’s eyes and pile up the brick wall of protective and healthy boundaries. Continue to be kind, lean on the truth, do good...the divine will light up the difficult yet right path. Have fortitude and rectitude of intention.

“LLAP.” ~Spock