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Of Chrysalis and Fireflies, Birds and Sirens- Songlight, a Book Review #TheWriteReads #UltimateBlogTour

DISCLAIMER: THE WRITE READS PROVIDED ME A DIGITAL COPY OF THE NOVEL Songlight BY MOIRA BUFFINI IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.Book Info

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Songlight is an extraordinary debut from a renowned screenwriter. A cinematic masterpiece in storytelling, the explosive first book in the Torch Trilogy – the hottest release of the decade!

They are hunting those who shine . . .

Don’t be deceived by Northaven’s prettiness, by its white-wash houses and sea views. Many of its townsfolk are ruthless hunters. They revile those who have developed songlight, the ability to connect telepathically with others. Friends, neighbours, family will turn on each other in an instant. Lark has lived in grave danger ever since her own songlight emerged. Then she encounters a young woman in peril, from a city far away. An extraordinary bond is forged. But when power is everything, how will they survive?

An extraordinary new trilogy from an award-winning, internationally acclaimed screenwriter, Songlight promises to set the world alight!

Buy links:

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

About the Author (from her Goodreads profile)

Moira Buffini is one of the UK’s leading playwrights and screenwriters. Most recently she wrote the screenplay for The Dig (directed by Simon Stone), which earned her a Bafta nomination, and co-created and showran the Hulu TV series Harlots, which ran for three seasons. Moira’s other film work includes Jane Eyre (directed by Cary Fukanaga) Tamara Drewe (directed by Stephen Frears) and Byzantium (directed by Neil Jordan). She has also written four plays for the National Theatre, including Welcome to Thebes (Writers Guild Award nominee), and Dinner (Olivier nominee), which later transferred to the West End. Her other plays include Handbagged, for which she won an Olivier Award.

On Songlight

We’ve seen it before in the X-Men Franchise, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, the Harry Potter series. People with special abilities are often ostracized. The challenge has always been to achieve a balance between the familiar and unique. What sets Songlight apart from these works?

Primarily the ability being explored in the novel.

Songlight is a telepathic ability that helps a small number of people who possess it connect with each other emotionally and perhaps spiritually. Exposing one’s Songlight equates to showing vulnerability- akin to sharing a dark secret. What’s interesting about this ability is it’s inherently good until a person or group of people with bad intention come in close proximity and influence the possessor of the ability. When revealed to possess such ability, a person either gets to establish a strong bond with a fellow possessor, or gets persecuted- or worse, used- by the community.

There are two elements of the novel that fascinate me: categorization and characterization

Chrysalis and Fireflies; Birds, Torches and Sirens

There are two faction that are put in juxtaposition in the novel: the Insects, and the Birds. On one hand, we have a group of hunters that have a strong resolution to eradicate the world of what they perceive as evil. On the other, we have a group being hunted – they want to have the freedom to exist but they live in hiding.

Brightland, a promising nation at war with Ayland, is hellbent to indoctrinate its citizens of the danger of songlight. The horrors of the Chrysalid House are testament to how Brightland tortures those it labels as unhumans, people who possess this ability. Here’s the thing: chrysalis are meant to nurture insects and not birds. It is no wonder why some prisoners survive as empty shells of their past selves whereas others are forced to hunt in order to survive.

Under the same faction, Fireflies are Brightland’s fighter planes that require the prohibited firefuel to fly. One of my favorite parts in the novel is when Piper flies a plane as part of his training – how it starts as an exercise, how he pushes forward and experiments, how he experiences freedom, how he thinks in the middle of crisis, and how it makes him feel that flying for him is natural.

If in the next installment, there was a faction called Moths or a term for those who couldn’t help but be attracted to Torches but get burned so they wanted to control them, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Lark, Nightingale, Kingfisher, Swan– these are the codenames of those people who possess songlight and for some reason they are named after birds. Birds are free to fly and to make music (songlight, anyone?) unless they are caged. Take this with a grain of salt since the characters Crane, Curlew, Heron, and Redshanks have bird names as well but they don’t possess songlight. It’s important to note that They are good characters in general and resist indoctrination.

Torches are unhumans, who possess songlight so strong, they are able to use astral projections to ‘travel’ and to an extreme, they can control people’s minds.

The Sirens in the novel are Torches who are forced to work for Brightland in luring their fellow Torches. In Greek mythology, sirens have bodies of birds and head of humans. Coincidence? I think not.

Lark, Nightingale, Swan

We as readers can’t help but root for protagonists, or more recently, anti-heroes – characters who have relatable albeit pronounced flaws. I would have wanted Elsa, the protagonist to do more and be more. Listening to the constant whining about how dreary and how unfair to women a society, paired with inaction and doublemindedness, is exhausting in real life much less in a fictional world where I’m supposed to sympathize with the character. And as a reader who makes clear-cut decisions most of the time, this is where my conflict arises with this character. Her world is already small, her society’s collective mind even smaller as shown by how they believe young girls only serve as wives for warriors- she knows this, but she can only whine. The best of her resistance is shown by her tardiness to choir practice and snappy exchanges with the other pretty girl in town. She wants to leave Northaven but she doesn’t until much later, with people who love her.

Attachment to people is both Elsa’s strength and weakness. She understands the value of feeding a community but at the same time hates the same society she is in. When Rye is being unfairly punished for being an unhuman, she can’t help but follow the rules of Northaven but gnashes her teeth for her helplessness. She picks up the resolve to search for Rye, but she ends up being tied down again, as if Northaven was a gigantic magnet, pulling her. What empowers her is seeing a community that supports people with Songlight and eventually she gains confidence in her ability.

Nightingale, vis-a-vis to Elsa, doesn’t live in a restrictive community but with loving parents. However, it doesn’t mean she has it easy since her father is an Inquisitor- or what they call people who actively search for unhumans to imprison in their Chrysalid House. She lives in hiding everyday. Yet when push comes to shove, she is able to find a way to survive; first is running away, second is using her ability. She might have gotten caught but she still manages to leave her house after a couple of tries. She also shows a mastery of her skill – being able to travel long distances via songlight, and controlling people’s minds. Having Cassandra as a mentor is one crucial element to her survival, unlike Elsa who has not had any training prior to their meeting.

In my not so very humble opinion, the most compelling character is Sister Swan. I can’t help but want to know more how she is going to control the people around her to serve her motives. It’s one of those rare instances when you hate the character one time, then start to love her and understand the reasons for her actions, and come back full circle into hating her. I find that her scenes in the book are the page-turners. That she is a siren came to me as an ‘aha’ moment.

The novel takes advantage of our fascination to be different so no doubt it will be hit. However, the first book gives only but a glimpse of what Songlight is and how powerful it can be. I still have many burning questions in my mind like what happens to Rye, will Piper accept who he really is and serve as a catalyst in the next novel, how will Nightingale help Swan and will Swan finally end Kite’s tyranny. Needless to say, it has left me wanting for more.

My 2023, A Retrospective

A full week has gone by in February and here comes my first ever post for 2024. We have those moments. This blogpost is inspired by none other than My 2022, a Retrospective.

On my Focus Time

Compared to 2022, my Forest trees were 600 fewer, an expected result considering I stopped recording my ‘Work’ focus hours in January 2023. However, comparing my Writing focus stats in 2022 and 2023, there was a significant improvement. Remembering to use the Forest app was definitely a factor but more significant than that was the period I spent working on a personal writing project which I will get into in the On Writing section of this post.

On Language Learning and Proficiency

What better way to sum up the culmination of my language learning but with this post, When in Japan: Overcoming the Language Barrier . In here, I summed up what I thought I should focus on. TLDR version: work on recognizing Kanji and learning business expressions. I had a humbling experience when I had several opportunities to speak with Japanese citizens.

On the other hand, my English proficiency, particularly speaking and vocabulary, was declining. I noticed how I groped for words to describe what I thought or felt. Not just once did I catch myself saying what I think without filters or the exact opposite, stuttering in a conversation, not knowing how to say what I wanted to say. I can’t stress enough how working from home has affected my language proficiency and that I usually use jargons for work. I will just have to consistently watch The Lord of the Rings, Young Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory and House and perhaps have more speaking exercises even when nobody is listening.

On Reading

The only stuff I read in 2023 were light novels. I may or may not write a post on the ones I actually finished and liked. I tried to return to actual books sometime in May last year but my attention wasn’t in it. I even received a thin book from a good friend in June which I haven’t opened yet. Suffice it to say that my all-time novel reading stats was the lowest last year.

I intend to change that. In January of 2024, I finished rereading Tolkien’s The Hobbit– 18 years since I first read it in my college library, 15 years since I got my own copy. I’m currently rereading The Fellowship of the Ring. Though a decline in my reading speed is observable, I intend to power through.

On Writing

I wrote emails and user stories was what I told myself to justify my lack of writing outputs last year, not unlike Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada when she made excuses to her father during their dinner conversation.

In my ten years in WordPress, my 2023 total posts was the smallest number. Far from getting all gloomy about it, I was actually more inspired. Ever since I defined what form of writing I wanted to improve on and measure, I cared less and less about the ‘content-creation’ aspect or that “I have to post or else my view count will decline.” Seeing the total number of words in my 10 years worth of blogposts reshaped my perspective: I may be able to write my next 100,000-word novel in the next decade. I recalibrated around October when I was preparing for my personal NaNoWriMo project — and no, I didn’t stress about hitting the 50k word count in a month.

On Traveling

This category is one of the core reasons I decided to exert more energy in documenting my life through videos. In 2023, I managed to go to several amazing places. Alas, with my current writing output speed, I wasn’t able to blog about any of them save for that one measly post. Once I’m more confident, I’m going to share the vlog channel I created last year. For now, I’m enjoying the anonymity it provides.

In all honesty, I didn’t even realize that I already spent ten years in this platform until I checked my writing stats. That’s indeed a wake up call to shake things up a little bit.

Until my next retrospective, I remain,

Protected: 友だちの話, a review

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When in Japan: Overcoming the Language Barrier

A huge shout-out to my father-in-law who sponsored the trip for us!

Our Japan adventure only lasted for two fun-filled weeks but it’s enough for me to gauge my proficiency. My assessment had been rather different when studying by myself and just watching animes and listening to music. As expected, immersing myself in real-life situations where clicking the pause-rewind buttons was not possible helped me recalibrate and set my expectations and goals better.

Reading

Reading store signs, product labels, or directions in Hiragana /Katakana was easy enough, thanks to consistent practice but recognizing Kanji was still challenging. Fortunately, many Japanese signages or labels have English counterparts and for those that don’t have, Google Translate can be used.

Next step: Focus on Kanji-recognition and continue my progress according to relevance (e.g. household items).

Listening

When you’ve been studying Nihonggo for awhile and suddenly go on vacation to Japan, you will probably feel what I felt as soon as we landed: amazed and overwhelmed. It’s the language I could only listen to in songs, games or animes and all of a sudden I could hear an airport staff/crew greeting me in their native tongue which made me think, “I’m living in their world without subtitles.” I was isekai’d. Thankfully, self-studying Japanese wasn’t in vain. I could understand perhaps 60-70% of daily commute, conbini and meal conversations.

Next step: Continue what I have been doing so far – watching animes and listening to music- for daily conversations as it is quite effective. I have to add professional conversations here and there though to improve.

Speaking

Greeting and asking where to go or what food was best to try were the easiest parts. Not being able to respond immediately and appropriately was the most frustrating one. I have no excuse for this. My first speaking practice was on the very first day when I had to ask a station master which exit was best to take.

Next step: Get out of my comfort zone and look for a speaking partner. I won’t get better at it unless I continue to speak and use the vocabulary stuck in my head.

Writing

I didn’t have much opportunity to write in Japanese but I left small notes for our Osaka host and an Ichiran Ramen shop in Kyoto. I also took advantage of IG stories in those 13 days but I can hardly call them writing practice. Let’s just accept that when traveling to Japan, writing in Nihongo isn’t really necessary nor is it expected.

Next step: Focus on grammar/ sentence construction for practice.

The Japanese residents I spoke with were incredibly polite and welcoming. I received a number of “上手(jouzu/good)” for my conversational skills but rather than be comforted by it, I felt more obligated to study even further. Read this post from Adam of Japanese Level Up and you’ll understand why. Then again, I’m happy to have reached one of my goals for learning Japanese (to travel with little help from translators).

My proficiency isn’t at the level where I can successfully break that barrier but going to Japan for the first time proved that it is sufficient enough to be welcomed to come in and out of the front door.

Series: When in Japan

Together with my husband’s family, I went to and stayed in Japan for thirteen days. I thought about putting a series in this blog to record my learnings and bite-sized experiences in the country, or at least in those places we visited.

Here are some of the topics I wish to cover in the series:

Unlocking Language SkillsTools/PreparationsWish we had _____ in our country; Things in Japan that make sensePlaces that inspire me to write

I will continue to update this list based on the posts I manage to create. All these swirling thoughts in my brain usually just trickle once I start writing them so let’s not be surprised when I can only get one or two posted.

What I chose for my 2023 Digital Planner

This post is quite late but I’d rather post it late than let it sit with the other I-should-have-posted-these-drafts in my folder of regrets.

After setting my 10-year goals (or skill plan), it’s time to write about the digital planner-journal I’ve chosen for 2023–something that will satisfy my need for finishing quick tasks and crossing off items in my checklists and at the same time, provide a place for my thoughts or experiences, be they mundane. I know, iOS has a built-in Reminder app, Google Calendar has Tasks, and I still use Trello for projects, but I’ve been wanting to have a digital journal where I can put anything and everything, even the foreign language vocabulary or expressions I learn for the day.

When I used OneNote last year, I had the freedom because I could create my own templates – yet I chose not to!– and write whenever I wanted to – yet I didn’t! It seems too much freedom isn’t good for me. I enjoyed brainstorming by myself using the tool. I was able to create multiple diagrams–of course not as good as the ones I use for work, but good enough to sort my thoughts. Some sections served as my ‘learning’ notebooks where I jotted notes about career-related seminars I attended or lyrics of songs in the languages I was studying. It was–is a good tool and I still want to use it for studying. However, I noticed I had spent too much time planning the planner template of it, how it would look like, what pen I should use, what line-spacing, etc. Sure, it was nice in the beginning but eventually, I started thinking, creating templates that would help me reach my goal was a roundabout way of doing things. This year, I want to leave that creative side of things to those who are interested in creating planners for other people.

Researching for the best digital planner was a fun experience, similar to online shopping, and wasn’t entirely new to me since I had been inspired by some in creating my 2022 planner. In December last year, I saw a number of Youtube videos and read several blogs before finally deciding on one.

My criteria were as follows:

Minimalistic – so I can still have the freedom to add stickers/photos/ diagrams and they wouldn’t have to fit an aesthetic (e.g. cute, edgy etc.)Month view – again, I know Google Calendar exists.Week view – see #2 noteWriting space – I find using my Pencil very therapeutic so space for thoughts or doodling will be great.PDF format with hyperlinks – I want to have a clickable index that will enable me to quickly access different pages.HiNa’s 2023 Digital Planner

With my criteria, one could argue that any planner would do and I would agree with that. However, this planner from HiNa provides the answers to my needs best. Not only does it have everything I listed in my criteria but also elements that I think are helpful to me for almost everyday journaling / planning.

Free Aesthetically-pleasing PDF Planner compatible with Goodnotes 5

I started using Goodnotes this year to be able to fully appreciate this planner and can finally understand the hype. I’m still using the free account though (3 notebooks) and if this planner helps me become more consistent in planning/ journaling, then I may consider buying the full version at the end of the year.

The overall aesthetic and color-scheme appeals to me. Its simplicity allows me to be more creative. I enjoy experimenting with different pen types, thickness and colors that match with the planner. I also find choosing stickers relatively easy since there isn’t any glaring theme (e.g. cute/ edgy).

It also has hyperlinks (clickable areas particularly the Months) that help me navigate through different pages / templates.

Life Plan template

In my previous posts, I had a simplified version of my 10-year plan. HiNa’s planner has a similar template where I can put my goals, the activities to help me achieve them, and metrics to evaluate them not only for 2023 but for life, or loosely defined here as a longer period of time. This makes so much sense for me in two perspectives: 1) how I plan this year will and should affect the next year/s 2) my long-term plans or what I want to achieve (e.g. by 2033) can be broken into smaller, achievable tasks/ steps. This way, instead of having a digital planner/ journal showing me how productive I can be or have become, I can gauge whether such ‘productivity’ contributes to what I want to achieve in life.

Planning and Feedback / Evaluation pages

As a Business Analyst by profession, I’m used to Scrum events e.g. Sprint Planning, Refinement, and Retrospectives (one reason why Trello works better for me versus Google Tasks/ iOS Reminders), so having this page side by side with the planning month helps me compare what I commit and what I accomplish and make better decisions for the succeeding month.

My incomplete January Retro page ^_^Monthly Planning Page (March)

There’s a Daily version as well which allows for so much flexibility and I have to commend HiNa for this layout. I can still log when I finish a particular activity and compare my progress to my actual plans. This is one of the elements that made me remember my struggles in planning and journaling- scratching plans at a certain schedule and transferring it to another timeslot. The frustration I normally get when I can’t meet the deadline is not as strong as it used to be.

Daily-Weekly Planning Page (March)Undated Journal pages

In HiNa’s digital planner, there’s a spread for weekly journals and doodling. When I feel fancy, I use the larger area for brainstorming, charts and other random stuff. I appreciate digital journaling even further at times when I feel restricted by smaller spaces. I can simply resize a paragraph or a sentence or even use the entire week-page when I want to.

Another advantage of it being undated is I can reuse it next year if I want to –unless HiNa-nim creates a new one as good as this or better.

To know more about this planner, check this video out where the creator shares her vision in making the digital planner and how one can maximize its elements.

Reacting to Syme’s Playlist: Jaz a Decade of Us

Exchanging playlists every year has become a tradition for us and it surprised me when he told me we have been doing it since the 8GB flash drive became a thing. What?

Playlist Title: Jaz A Decade of Us

He says: rightfully titled coz it’s been more than ten years since we met at WCC’s Faculty Room and started our colorful journey as soul sisters, and that needs to be celebrated with a playlist.

I say: It’s in my character to remind him of his age and now it’s circling back to me. Where did the time go?

Oh shit…are we in love? (Valley)

He says: Starting off with a cool laidback song about falling in love that I randomly discovered on Spotify. The song’s vibe kinda reminds me of WCC Music Club days. Moments when we shared our mutual love for blogging (writing) and reading and music… those were “…Oh shit.. are we friends now?” Moment for me. LOL!

I say: This song reminds me of Owl City’s Fireflies for some reason. “I told you everything. You didn’t make it weird” encapsulates our WCC kitchen conversations. We could talk about anything from blogging to music, rant about our colleagues (as any employee would), and share thoughts on our own relationships. “Slow down, no need to rush, back up you’ve been here for months” was definitely us when I found myself sitting at his workstation, listening to the musicals or Glee songs he stored in his device that was already beyond its lifespan.

FALL INLOVE! ( Ena Mori)

He says: A new artist discovery for me this 2022. She’s Filipino-Japanese by the way. I’m so inlove with the vocals and the beats to this song. Sharing her with you, coz I know you love Japanese artists, hoping you’d love her too.

I say: Dang! The persona in this song was so manipulative and couldn’t get over being the one dumped. But I adore how she was trying to be charming. The last part was giving me Taylor Swift vibes. I want to know though if she sang this in Japanese–her execution, the way it sounded as if she was throwing a tantrum at “I still hate you for what you’ve done,” sets the over all tone or mood of the song for me–in my own opinion, I can’t stress this enough, it’s easy to get burned in social media these days. The verse, chorus, and bridge are sung in a light-hearted manner but her bitterness and desire are contained in those parts where she’s using her deeper voice.

Please Don’t Fall in Love (VINCINT)

He says: Figured that I’m all about songs with interesting drumbeats/hooks lately, this song despite the lyrics makes me wanna dance. Mood booster for me.

I say: His voice is like a combination of Enrique Iglesias’s and Aaron Tyvet’s. Wow, the persona in this song is a martyr! There’s something poetic about how the song ends with “please” in different tones- urging, pleading and the last one sounds like it’s already hopeless.

Numb Little Bug (Em Beihold)

He says: Don’t be fooled by the catchy hook of this song, it’s actually a very depressing song that encapsulates my tiredness of life in general, specifically during the pandemic and my last year with my previous job…But well, you gotta survive. Thriving now.

I say: Does it sound weird that listening to this song makes me see numb little bugs in (government) offices, trying to survive? It also reminds me of this scene in the movie “The Intern” when Ben Whittaker is trying to find ways how to spend his time after retirement until he finally sees an ad for About the Fit.

Never Gonna Not Dance Again (Pink)

He says: Our fave, Pink, is back with a new song! If the previous song got you down, this will get you up right back. An automatic fave due to the lyrics and melody. Easily my banner song for 2023.

I say: I’m a bit annoyed that you discovered this song earlier. Just a bit. I like this so much.

BLOW OUT MY CANDLE (Betty Who)

He says: Betty Who’s carrier single for her new album, another uplifting/motivating fight song. This is for us, for not letting our fire be put down by anyone. This is like a part 2 of Pink’s song that’s why put it after her.

I say: A couple of years ago, Syme recommended Betty Who’s You Can Cry Tomorrow to me and I can’t help but think that Blow Out My Candle is the follow-up song sung from the perspective of the friend. I also agree that both this and Never Gonna Not Dance Again is for us who won’t let anyone rain on our parade.

TREAT MYSELF (Meghan Trainor)

He says: I’m discovering cute songs from Meghan Trainor, this one is a love song for one’s self, a reminder that if there’s one person we should prioritize, it is ourselves. Give ourselves the credit that is due to us. Annnndddd… never rely on anyone for our happiness. “Imma give it to myself, Imma treat myself!”

I say: Syme puts extra effort into putting the songs in order that when I was playing this song in the background and Saddest Vanilla came next, I had to check if I actually listened to “Treat myself to the saddest vanilla.”

Saddest Vanilla (Jess Glynne, Emeli Sandé)

He says: I gotta throw in a few heartbreak songs even though my heart is in a very good place now hehehe! I just love the vocals and the lyrics here. I’m just so sold with the cheesy line “Sat at an ice cream parlor, you went and broke my heart, now I’m the saddest vanilla” LOL!

I say: This song is beautifully written and the singers’ voices convey the message so well– who wouldn’t be sad with this metaphor: vanilla, a good flavor (I stand by this!) but often known as the most boring ice cream flavor and taken for granted. Then add the superlative for sad. But corny jokes aside, I really thought the push-and-pull described in the lyrics was too much for anyone and how the persona was discarded was too cruel. Mariah Carey could sing this song and it would be just as painful… or more with her rifts emphasizing the pain.

Drink Wine (Adele)

He says: Well, at our age… this how we celebrate, control our anxieties and/or drown our emotions. Simply put.

I say: The line, “The higher we climb, feels like we’re both none the wiser,” hurts so much. At this point, I think Syme’s just trying to play with my heartstrings.

Underneath the Stars (Mariah Carey)

He says: I’m not sure if you’re familiar with this one but it’s a recent discovery for me. Such an underrated song from Mariah Carey. Such an amazing love song.

I say: I didn’t know this song existed. It’s an easy song to listen to in the evening when you just want to wind down and just chill. Imagine this: you’re at a bar nursing your favorite drink and it’s just you, the bartender, and a few patrons. This song played in the background. You would just spend the night looking at your glass and reminiscing.

Takin’ It Back (Meghan Trainor)

He says: Another Trainor entry, there’s something about her songs that always hits the spot when it comes to hooks. It’s such a bop and vibe at the same time.

I say: He promised me “peaks and valleys” in the arrangement of the songs, so here we are with such a groovy song after a series of heartbreaking ones. We already left the bar and were now at a resto-bar with friends and grooving.

Butterflies (Abe Parker)

He says: This is such a beautiful song, it reminds me of that moment of uncertainty when you’re developing a feeling for someone and you’re unsure if you’ll pursue it or not but you’re already falling so you really have no choice.

I say: I like the storytelling the rhythm makes at this part, “Do you burn the same when I look in your eyes? Do you get butterflies?” It’s like the persona takes a breath momentarily as he looks at the object of his affection and silently wonders if he/she feels the same way. Still with the resto-bar image, this time, it’s a couple of friends hanging out but one is already in a one-sided love affair. One thing I didn’t like though was the sound of insect wings… it crept me out the first time I heard it.

BIG (Betty Who)

He says: Another beautiful fight song from Betty Who, (mukhang maraming naipon si Ate Betty since she came out of the closet). I just love how this talks about never letting society make you small and dim your light just because it isn’t the norm. If you look at Betty Who now, you’ll understand what she’s talking about here. From a sexy popstar image, she shed all to be true to herself.

I say: Listening to this song made me reflect on how people shun those who diverge from the norm yet idolize those they see on TV or social media who exhibit similar characteristics. It’s almost as if they can tolerate difference when it’s something that won’t reach them or disturb their comfort zone. But when it’s in their social circle, they try to crush it. “Everybody must survive (we’re all equal)” is a mask for “you cannot be better than me.”

ALIEN SUPERSTAR (Beyonce)

He says: I’m one of one. I’m number ONE. I’m the only ONE.

I say: “Don’t even waste your time trying to compete with me” That conviction from Queen B! This style is so different coming from Beyonce. I had to listen to it multiple times to get used to it. It’s giving me runway vibes.

Celestial (Ed Sheeran)

He says: This is the theme song from the new Pokemon game, __ actually introduced me to this one. This one I’m very sure you’ll love this one too! So, here’s something from __ and me, to you.

I say: I can’t get enough of this line, “You make me feel like I’m drunk on stars and we’re dancing into space.” I’m grateful to Syme and his partner __ for recommending such an uplifting song.

No Way (SIX)

He says: The only song from a musical on this list. It’s from the musical SIX. Look it up and I feel that you’re gonna love the premise of the musical, parang Music Club and Theater Club collaboration project sana hehehe! Also, I put it last coz a line from the song is my friendship promise to you…. “You must think that I’m crazy, you wanna replace? There’s N-n-n-n- no way!” Lol!

I say: I can imagine our members performing this, who’s going to which line, how they’re going to perform and move the props on the stage. It’s almost as if they were performing in front of me, even their facial expressions!

I’m holding Syme to his promise of eternal friendship so you can expect another playlist review next year.

Recalibration: Setting my 10-year Goals

Infographic from Brian Tracy

The beginning of the year often signals a reset for many people so a number of us are prone to creating resolutions we aim to abide by (at least in the first three months of the year) or goals that we want to achieve. This behavior subjects us to the marketing strategies of journal and planner makers but somehow, it’s become a symbiotic relationship we’ve learned to accept.

I don’t think it’s highly effective for me though. Six old planners collecting dust on my bookshelf can attest to my consistency in planning and journaling for the first half of the year until for some reason, my entries tended to dwindle around August or September, only to be fired up by the new planner releases in November or December. These planners also reflect how some of my objectives were quite short-sighted and task-specific.

For example, I can set a goal to write one article a month and each time I finish one article, whether it be read by someone or not, that task is done. How it contributes to my being a writer in the next ten years is a perspective that is difficult to get unless I can choose to interpret it as “Oh, I wrote 10 articles in 2021 and 12 in 2022 so I must be improving” (by the way, I wrote 18, most of them are book reviews but good ones if I may say so myself). However, if my only basis for improvement is what my dashboard tells me, I might be going on a decline.

Setting a one-year goal is also a trap for me who always finds a new distraction. Just weeks ago I wanted to start playing the kalimba. It came to a point when I wanted to purchase an electrical one. Some might say that I should just go for it and “do what makes you happy.” Then again, anybody can always start a new hobby but not everybody can be consistent at it. What I don’t want to happen is to collect these short-term interests, only to discard them later and realize that I haven’t worked on what really matters to me. I don’t have that luxury of time.

Planning my year still has its charms (I chose a digital planner this year again) but, I have decided to balance it out by keeping my long-term goals in focus. As in My 2022, a Retrospective post, I’m not going to be sharing the plans I consider more personal e.g. finances or acquisition of assets. However, let me share the goals that are relevant to this blog:

SKILL202320282033WritingStart working on a 50,000-word- manuscript.Finish the manuscript.Get published.Language learning Review N5 lessons. (
Finish A2-B1 Lessons in Minato.Reach B1 or near-B2 level in CEFR
Travel to Japan with little help from translators.Write a short story in a different language to be evaluated by a Japanese.ReadingRead and review >10 novels (from book tours, Netgalley) Earn the Top Reviewer and 100 Reviews badges in Netgalley.Earn the 80% Ratio and 200 Reviews badges in Netgalley

Having my ten-year goals mapped out this way puts my mind at ease. This may look like I’m cutting myself some slack but where I’m coming from is I would have reached them by now if I had started seriously working on them ten years ago (e.g. I got my JLPT N5 certification in 2017 but my Nihonggo hasn’t improved since then). I may not be the same person back then nor am I in the same environment but now, I want every action I take to contribute to achieving these goals.

My 2022, a Retrospective

After rigorously choosing the items I am willing to share in this cyberspace, here is how my 2022 went:

On my Focus Time

According to Forest App, or to be more accurate, according to how often I remembered to trigger the application as I went with my activities, I had a good amount of focus logged in 2022, peaking in September. I find that the inaccuracy in this app is caused by my inability to be consistent in using it rather than a lack of focus. Nonetheless, through the app I managed to see how much I don’t use it relatively measure how much time I spent on various activities.

It’s quite obvious that I spent most of my time working. I work 5 times a week, 8 hours a day after all. I’m also painfully aware that I only remembered to turn my Forest App on when I was at work and in the middle of a meeting (who doesn’t get distracted during meetings? lol). Entertainment also took a huge chunk since I devoted several hours binge-watching Netflix (Spy x Family is a must-see) and Youtube videos (Going Seventeen is also a must-see).

I’m a bit proud that I managed to record how long or frequently I read but I refuse to believe that I only spent 91 hours on it.

For 2023, my plan is to work on the other tags I created in the app like specifying what I am actually studying and removing ‘Exercising’ since I use a health application for it. I may or may not touch on this topic in my next post.

On Reading

I only read a handful of novels in 2022 and reviewed some of them. Most of the novels I received for review were so outstanding that I began asking myself why I hadn’t been working on my novels.

As for articles, I decided to lay low and recalibrate. I noticed that I read a good amount of articles to compensate for days when I didn’t have time to read novels but moving forward, I want to have a certain focus on the topics I read and write about e.g. literature, science and tech, and psychology.

On Other Media and Content CreationDigital Art – I might not have posted a number of my drafts on this site but I managed to create colored digital sketches and there’s a huge improvement from my old technique. Youtube videos – Can you believe I created fifteen Youtube videos in 2022? Five of them were digital art related. When I get older, I’ll have videos to watch and criticize lol. On Career

I spent a good amount of time improving my career-related skills in 2022. I wrote about it in these posts:

As much as possible, I contained my training or workshops during my workdays and used the time not alloted for meetings to sharpen my skills instead of my personal hours. In my head, at least that makes sense.

On Writing

I wrote 18 posts in the past year, most of them being book reviews. That number was significantly lower than my 2021 record.

It’s a shame that when it came to my own passion, it seemed that I was burning low. This may sound like an excuse but my younger self had developed a system (e.g. read books/articles, write a review, post) and got used to it that my current version didn’t want to get out of my comfort zone. Saying that there wasn’t anything wrong with the system is a lie. I got habituated so much that instead of proactively practicing my craft, I succumbed to the appeal of efficient content creation without evaluating whether my skills in writing improved or not. A change is needed.

That’s how my year went –or at least some parts of it I chose to divulge. I have another post in the drafts for my plans–in fact, I created it much earlier but decided to post this one first to provide context on what things will change or remain in the succeeding years and why.

Until the next retrospective, I remain,

Blogging Prompts (resources and links) that will hopefully help me get out of my mental funk

I’m recovering from a mental slump. As much as it pains me to say, I’m suffering from the divergence of my personal goals from my professional ones. It was easier said than done when I wrote this post on passion and strengths. Getting overwhelmed by a series of projects taught me that I also needed rest (for at least two months) and that dreams, no matter how ambitious, can be derailed.

To get me back on track and to avoid beating myself up with thoughts of “You weren’t too greedy enough to pursue writing!”, The Devil Wears Prada Andy Sachs telling her father, “I wrote those emails.” I can’t find one lol> I searched for these prompts that will help me generate ideas when I can’t wait for them to come to me.

50 Creative Nonfiction Prompts Guaranteed to Inspire (BookFox)

Creative nonfiction was a genre I excelled in when I was younger–something I was made to believe by the certificates I got from competitions. I hope that by bookmarking this link, I could get to publish not only book reviews but a different piece in this blog.

The prompts I’m interested in are the following:

Choose a location that you’ve come to know as an adult. Compare how you interact with this setting now to how you interacted with similar settings when you were a child. How has your perspective changed?Show yourself in a scene pursuing the thing you want most in the world. Try to show the reader, without telling them, about your character flaws.Take a small, boring moment that happened today and write as much as you can about it.  (This one though I intend to keep in my journal lol) Weekly Writing Prompts (Reedsy)

Reedsy is a writing platform that encourages writers to participate in their challenges. There is a section devoted to prompts where writers can submit their responses and get a chance to win a cash prize. I read a number of wonderful responses and it seems that the platform has built a community among writers and reviewers based on the feedback some pieces have. If I feel more gutsy, I think I can respond to those prompts one of these days. For now though, I just want to use a couple of prompts to get this blog back on track.

The prompts I’m interested in are the following:

(Nonfiction) Write a story where a particular piece of clothing appears three times.(Nonfiction) Write a story about waiting — but don’t reveal what’s being waited for until the very end.(Character) Write about someone who critiques things for a living, or acts like they do. (I’m really interested in this.)31 Blog Writing Prompts to Break Your Writer’s Block (Hubspot)

This site offers generic prompts which I think is pretty handy for writing practice. Whereas in the first two sites, my goal is deliberate practice, in this one, my purpose is to have a regular one.

The prompts I’m interested in are the following:

Choose three photos with different scenes and create a story to tie them together.Reveal a superpower you’d love to have and what you’d do with it.Write about the goals you’d like to work toward in the next five years (Another journal-worthy prompt.)Other prompts for possible content: Create a writing playlist. Day In The Life As A  _________ (Insert Your Career) – Although I already posted a piece about my current career here, I think what I do for a living is so different from what this blog is about. I will try my best to work on this piece though.

These days, fanfiction ideas float around when I’m in a meeting so I take it as a good sign. Just for fun, tell me, how do you get over writer’s block?