Reality Check

          MACBETH --- another masterpiece by William Shakespeare. It is considered to be the darkest and most powerful tragedy. For those who doesn't know, let me tell what it's about briefly. It  tells the story of a man who let his greed for power take over himself, eventually dethrones the king's position by killing him and everyone who he thinks a potential threat to his power. Macbeth was a very brave, good and noble at the beginning  but once the three witches revealed their prophecy about Macbeth being the king of Scotland in the future, he then started to do such merciless crimes.

            The play started with the conversion of the three witches (Act I, Scene I) where they talked about their plan of talking to Macbeth and mentioned the words "FAIR IS FOUL AND FOUL IS FAIR" afterwards. Seven simple words yet it could sound enigmatic. However, I still came up with some simple words to explain what this means which is what appears to be good is bad and what appears to be bad is good.

            "FAIR IS FOUL" - Things are not always what they seem. People are not always who they seem. When Macbeth and Banquo first encountered the witches, they described them as withered-looking and crazily dressed.  But after Macbeth has heard their prophecies, he considered them "fair" just because of the pleasant things they have said, without them realizing that in reality, the intentions of saying such is something that is a "foul". In my opinion, some things would only appear to us like an illusion. We have to understand them first, not to think that seeing is believing but is also deceiving. Let us put it this way: the prophecies are revealed for Macbeth to understand them as riddles but not to be taken literally. It served only to suggest what awaits him in the future, not to affect it. The three witches predicted that Macbeth will become king, but not kill the king. He may seem such a great man at the start, but nobody expected that he'll go against the king. Although these are brief and absurd prophecies by the three witches, it still affected Macbeth's life by turning his life upside down.             

            "FOUL IS FAIR" - Perhaps the last move by the English people is what gave justice to Duncan's death and even Macduff's family. What Macbeth did was such an unforgivable act. It took the lives out of somebody's loved ones. At the end, revenge prevailed. It may seem bad to the eyes of some people but it definitely has to be done. Macbeth deserves to die, for he has done things a person shouldn't do. It's legitimate. It is for Macbeth to pay for murdering people who has done good deeds to him.

            Once again, "FAIR IS FOUL AND FOUL IS FAIR" --- a lesson which I can surely keep in my life. For me, it could simply teach me not to judge a book by its cover. Admit it, we already have judged a person by his/her appearance and most of the time, we do it with the person whom we doesn't know the story of. People have their own stories behind their appearance, smiles and tears. One word and you'll never know how much you can hurt a person. Also, make your eyes wide open. Sometimes, seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing. Do reality checks. Seek for the truth. Again, things are not always what they seem. Don't let evil thoughts take over your mind and heart. Always think before you act for you will never know what would be the result in the end. I may sound I am going so far from the main point of what I was saying at the start but I believe those seven words are our key to some lessons we can use in REALITY.  

           

            

Pointing out the Turning Point

           For those who doesn't know, A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the strangest and most delightful creations William Shakespeare has ever created. This play is categorized as a comedy. According to the presentation I have heard of, it is the learning and the expansiveness of Shakespeare's  imagination, which includes the mythical creatures -- the FAIRIES. It was said that how a fairy is described today is a product of Shakespeare's imagination. That is why, for me, because of this play, Shakespeare has finally proved his versatility as an actor once again.

   

         I wasn't that interested in reading the whole story since I thought I would be able to understand it by just listening to its summary. But I admit it. It is absolutely confusing, especially the happening between the four Athenian men and women. This is what brought me to finishing the book. And I tell you what, IT IS NO DOUBT WORTH MY TIME.

           I did not only completely understand the playwright but of course I was able to satisfy my curiosity about it. For this post, we were asked to identify the climax of the story. Climax, as we all know is the most intense, exciting or important part. It is said to be the PEAK of the story, and honestly, I felt the same way in this part:

         It was the quarrel between the lovers found in Act iii, scene ii. After Robin had mistaken Lysander as Demetrius, the whole situation turned upside down. The two Athenian men who were first in love with Hermia are now crazy over Helena. What made Hermia's anger trigger was when she thought Demetrius killed Lysander. On the other hand, Lysander was expressing his love for Helena but she believes he was making fun of her. When they all got together, the two men fought over Helena so she thought they were all determined to gang up on her. Meanwhile, Hermia didn't believe with what she was seeing. She said it was impossible for Lysander to leave him just because he hates her.

        This is what started the fight between the two women: Helena was so enraged, accusing Hermia as the one who conspired the two men to provoke him with playing tricks on her. She even mentioned her extraordinary friendship with Hermia and how she wants to destroy it by joining the two men to insult her. Eventually, more harsh words were thrown, leading to the demand of the two men to get into a duel.

            See what Robin's mistake had caused the lovers? It was indeed a messy trouble to consider. However, after all the confusion that has happened, it was a huge relief that everything was solved in the end. How? Robin removed the spell he gave Lysander, turning him back to normal. In the long run, Lysander and Hermia got married, together with Helena and Demetrius, who was still under the spell.

Revenge and Regret? Why not FORGIVE AND FORGET?

♫♪ Didn't anyone tell you yet that...to forgive is to forget ♪♫

            This is what honestly first came into my mind when we were informed about what this post should be about. This is actually my favorite line from the song, "THE PAST".  I may now sound to agree with that line but I honestly can't make up my mind. It's quite obscure, quite complicated. By now, I'm telling you that my heart and mind is having a serious conflict, saying several statements that may never seem to match. But maybe I can start by showing this to you:

            Now this is what made my mind mess up. In my opinion, there's only one message this picture is trying to express...SAYING SORRY IS NOT ENOUGH. It isn't done in two steps, wherein one apologizes, then the other one accepts. It's not that simple. Some people may consider it "bitterness" but pain changes people. Pain teaches people to be stronger and tougher than they were before. Because forgiving a person who have done something wrong to you takes a lot of time, courage, understanding, acceptance and even a little bit of love. Yes, love! Don't get me wrong.

            Am I making myself clear now? If not, I can tell you something really personal that happened to me when I was about 8 or 9 years old. It's not actually all about me, but something about my parents. We all know that arguments between a married couple cannot be avoided and of course, even committing a mistake. From a small misunderstanding to a real fight, it really happens. I can still remember a bit of what happened back then. I was crying inside our car while watching my parents fight. I didn't know the whole story but I cried a lot as if I really know every detail. Everything were becoming intense. I can't help but cry and feel afraid, for I was thinking everything could fall apart in just a snap of a finger. I came out of the car and ran out to them, yelling, "tama na! nay, tay wag kayo maghihiwalay, please!" They still shouted at each other after that and I can't barely remember what happened next. All I remember is that my cousins and sisters were trying to comfort me after what happened.

            I was definitely affected a lot by that big fight between my parents. I was so affected that it had an impact on me. Not by physical means but by emotional. How? by teaching me a lesson, and that is THE BEST WAY TO FORGIVE IS TO FORGET. My parents forgave each other by forgetting the past and putting it all behind them and it only proves that if you are ready to forgive, then you are ready to forget as well. Now, I realize that there's no point in putting all the blame and anger to the person who have done something wrong to you. Saying sorry, for me, is just the first step of telling that you really want to apologize to a person. The important thing is to make it up to him/her despite of what you have done to them. Know in yourself that you committed a mistake, although most people repent too much that they forget to forgive themselves. Once again, understand and accept. Let God be your inspiration in doing so. He unconditionally loves us that he is always ready to forgive us with whatever our sins are, so is there any reason for someone not to forgive and forget?

            Lastly, just love. Choose love. Share love. Learn of love. Grow in love. Pray for love. This is no doubt the best thing that my parents taught me without uttering any words. If it wasn't for them, my family tree would probably include nothing but our names and a broken heart in it.

Mind vs. Body

      An athletic individual and an academically inclined person, for me, are two completely different things.  These two skills that a person can obtain are both gifts and talents, however, they actually contrast each other in some particular reasons. Basically, an academically inclined person is someone who has an exceptional intellectual abilities or in short, INTELLIGENT. By this, it simply means that this kind of capability of a person includes the skills that our mind can do. I have once read an interesting article wherein you will know if you are right or left brained after taking a simple test. Because of that, I have known that the number of skills that our brain can perform were far beyond what I actually thought. Logical and analytic thinking, reading, language, creativity, visualizations, auditory or listening were some of the skills I remember upon reading the article but I know there are definitely a lot more to mention. When it comes to being an athletic person, of course, it is also under the skills that our mind can do but is more on the ability or capacity of the human body. Not all people are physically fit and have the components which makes a person to be as such.  Before, I only thought that people are considered physically fit if and only if they can move energetically without being tired easily, but I knew that there is a much broader basis for that. There are these components of physical fitness such as speed, agility, balance, power, flexibility, muscular strength, etc. Therefore I can simply say that being athletic can also be defined as healthy, energetic or sporty.

            Aside from those opinions, I have also thought that these two skills also have their own similarities. I guess it can be a natural talent right from the start we were born but then as I think deeper, attaining these skills both takes time to learn.

            As for me, I consider myself an average person; neither sporty nor clever like what I usually notice with some teenage girls. I did not actually grew up enjoying myself with outdoor games and definitely not with reading and other stuff as well. Instead, I spent most of my time singing, dancing and doing some artistic things. Since first year high school, I've been having a hard time in Math, but not totally struggling too much. To be honest, my weakness is with numbers, shapes and patterns. Now that I am in third year, most of our subjects include Math so it's much, much harder that is why there are times that I want to suddenly burst into tears, get out of the room, let it all out, take a deep breath...and never come back again.

            If I had the chance to be reborn, without a second thought, I would definitely choose being academically inclined. Having this kind of skill, for me, is what I can use more in the future. I am not saying that athletes have less future but since I've been wanting to be a doctor someday, this skill is where I can benefit in order for me to have what I desire. This will also serve as an application of all the knowledge I have earned from years of study. Some people might think that being an athlete is great for you will be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle since health is wealth, as they usually say. But for me, it is not that necessary at all. By that, I mean, I will be completely satisfied with having an intelligent mind for I can simply live by the principles of having a healthy lifestyle. To make myself clear, in short, I prefer being academically inclined person rather than being athletic. But then again, I was born to be this way. Of course I cannot change the way it was before but if I certainly want to achieve something, like I what I have said a while ago, having or obtaining these kinds of skills TAKES TIME TO GAIN AND LEARN.