Say A Little Prayer

I took a day off from work last week.

After running a few errands, I managed to finish early and decided to pop in St. Patrick's Catherdral for some much needed meditation and prayer time.

This cathedral is a marvel, and everyone knows it. Unfortunately, every single time I've visited a different part is under renovation. I do hope that one day I will have the chance to see this landmark in all it's renovated glory.

The gothic architecture in St. Patrick's always reminds me of one of my classes in university, MARKET1, where our professor held a one-off special lecture about art in advertising. We studied all kinds of art movements and how they were reflected in modern advertising. We even had quizzes and had to bring examples of which advertisments we thought was influenced by which movement (it was a nerve-wrecking exercise!). 

I bring this up because I think about it a lot when I look around, not only St. Patrick's Catherdral, but in New York city in general. It is a melting pot of art influences and artists. I love being smack-dab in the middle of it all!

Another thing I about churches (which are often gothic in design) are the stained glass windows. Take a look at these beauties!

I often stare at them during mass and just wonder about the process of making them. Who conceptualizes them and just how is glass stained and molded to fit the panels? I'd love to take a class on the principles!

But my main purpose for the visit was prayer and it's exactly what I did. I find that even if I don't consider myself a devout or religious person, being in chirch or going to mass is a meditative, reflective experience. It gives me time to think and yet not be stressed about my thoughts. I've gone to chapels and churches for ten minutes of prayer since I was in college. It really helps me think and feel comforted. Perhaps someone, God, is really listening and taken the burden away from me. 

St. Jude is the patron said of desperate causes. I cannot tell you how much I believe praying to him has helped me over the years. Anything from a lost bracelet to a midterm exam, defending my thesis to finding a job for me and my family--I have always prayed to him. It felt good to offer a prayer here through him.

Every now and then, we need some time to reconnect with ourselves and our beliefs. In my case, prayer helps. Sometimes, we forget to pray and only do so when we need something. But it is also good to visit whenever we can to just reconnect and give thanks. :)

Tuttah,

Mishie

An Outdoor Perspective (On Running)

Three weeks ago, I signed up for a 10K. Even when I think about it now, it seems farfetched and ridiculous, especially coming from me--one of the laziest, indoorsiest people I know! 

I was talked into it by a coworker and, to be honest, as much as I am freaked out by my impulse decision, I am determined to accomplish it!

And today, as I had a day off and been itching to gauge how I would do in running in the elements, I ran outside (not at the gym)!

Pictured above was my running route today. It really was a blessing in disguise. I've lived in this area for three years now and today was the first time I stepped foot in Hudson County Park. 

The track immediately surrounding the pictured frozen lake is almost exactly a mile long--so doing my 3miled was easily achievable despite my freezing fingers!

Not only was the atmosphere refreshing, but running outside gave me an oppotunity to think differently from how I would at the gym. At the gym, I'm fixated with numbers, counting down the seconds when I can dial down the speed and lower the incline. The only thing I could think of is "When will this run end?" 

For the first time since I started training for the race, I thought "I want to go farther and further." 

And the more I ran, the less I thought that I was applying those thoughts to running. I thought of all the things I have been going through lately and how I wish I could just put a halt on things and push them aside, sleep and not have to deal with them anymore. 

But today I thought: "Bring it on. I'm excited to go through and over them." To be able to say that I took a challenge head on and conquered it--that's how I choose to look at this now.

So maybe I should run outside more often. But first, I'm gonna need to pick up some gloves.

Snow Day

They're calling it Snowmageddon2015 or Blizzardof2015 on Twitter. I'm just calling it a regular ol' Snow Day. And as it turns out (at least in my area) that's kind of how it turned out to be anyway.

I'm not one to panic over weather no matter how grave the situation may seem. Living in a typhoon-infested country for most of your life will get you used to that.

And since you're given an additional day (in the middle of the week no less!) to do whatever you desire, I think it's time to catch up on some things (TV series and books!). The chilly weather outside is perfect for snuggling up in bed too!

On Finding Myself

Hullo all,

I struggle to find the words to begin this blog, probably because I haven't written in so long. I don't mean that I haven't written a blog entry in a while (which, okay, I haven't) but also in general. The past few months have found me writing, at the most, To-Do Lists for work or little notes. 

But, I realize, I'm probably grasping for words because I don't really know what I want to say. That's something I realized about myself recently. I've felt a little bit lost, restless and not totally myself. I've experienced a lot of new things in these past six months that I feel have been a bit overwhelming (mostly positive, some negative, but nevertheless overwhelming). And along the way, I set aside some hobbies that I've told myself now I need to get back to. 

What I ask myself now though is, am I still passionate about the things I like? Loved? I still love the thought of books, of drawing and of writing--making video blogs and coming up with creative projects, but I just haven't done anything as of late and it makes me wonder--what now?

I feel really torn. I don't know what to pursue or what to prioritize. Sometimes I wish someone would just tell me what to do in my life, what goal to set and gun for first. Maybe that way I would get a lot more done. But no, all I have are scrambled thoughts that I sometimes don't even want to face because I'm afraid of becoming even more confused. Most days, all I want to do is to workout, go out and socialize, spend my time with other people and less with myself. 

But maybe that is exactly where I need to start: myself. I need to stop being scared of looking at myself and asking "Who are you, Mishie?"

I grimace at the thought of my Life Cliche. Finding myself? That is just about the lamest thing I've told myself I would do this year--and it's only January! 

There is just no more room for confusion, restlessness and uncertainty in my life now. If I want anything to really happen to me, I have to do something. I have to start putting my life back in order, and maybe once I've done that good things will fall into place. 

Did that sound vague? I will learn to use my words more again. I must.