Welcome to Pure Inspiration

I am beginning this new journaling endeavour to hone my writing skills which has laid dormant for some time. However this year has been extraordinary. This year has been laden with major transitions, catharsis, awakenings and visions, as you will all see as this blog project progresses in time.

Transitions yes. I lived and worked in Japan for 9 years. My choice to do that, and my choice to leave as well. My life in that country has been one of growth and transformation, of teaching and of learning. I exercised my profession there very well- I taught English in both public and private school systems. I also gave and contributed to the Japanese communities via Charity teaching, as well as to South East Asian countries via sponsorship of children's education. I drank and breathed Japanese life, culture and language with such gusto! I made friends, families and soulful relationships. I had fantastic opportunities to travel internationally, and to live a quality life and, yes a lifestyle. Naturally, as there were ups, there were downs. Homesickness and loneliness were my frequent visitors. Twice, heartbreak overstayed its visit. Culture shock came and went annually. But, overall, my life in Japan has been a beautiful part of me. This love affair with this extraordinary country that adopted and accepted me shall remain forever embedded in my heart.

However I also saw and felt that my gig in Japan was going to be over at some point. I knew there was a purpose to being there and that I would be given another reason to move on and move forward. In this case, it meant deciding to physically and emotionally leave Japan.

The decision was two years in the making, as I recalled. I was feeling restless and in dire need of change-whether that inner noise meant a new place to live, a so-called direction, path or to go deep here, a vocation in life, I didn't know. But something needed to change. Partly I was looking to heed my calling: service to others. As a teacher I am naturally driven to help and impart knowledge. I loved teaching, and learning from my students and colleagues! And partly, I was thirsty for something new: I wanted to learn and study.

It didn't take me very long to realize that I should try grad schools. Because of my experience in the ES/FL (English as Second/Foreign Language) field, as well as my international humanitarian volunteer work, I was accepted at the very international and very prestigiously cool SIT(School for International Training) Graduate Institute, in Vermont USA. I thought... aha, this is good. This is very good... a *grand* sign that I should move foward!

When I finally bid Japan adieu this April 2008, I was utterly ready. Completely rarin' to go! With my newly-found impeccable decision, I also decided to go traveling for 3 months. For those of you who know me, I have an incurable wanderlust-itis. Eeek..Or is it an addiction comme le vin rouge? Anyway, I did a 2-month roots-searching jaunt in my birth country, The Philippines ( there will be another post on this story later on), as well as a month's gallivanting in Europe with some of my top soulfriends in the world (again, there will also be some future retrospective posts on these). What a perfect opp to seize when one is transitioning! Traveling was such a high, an adrenalin fix of orgasmic proportions: I was in bliss, day in day out!

However, when I came back to Canada in July this year, I was stricken with yet a sudden change of heart. A change of heart that took more than a month to admit and acknowledge: I didn't want to go to grad school this year! Somehow, I felt tired, consumed, depleted of any energy reserves. I prayed for an answer and miraculously the reply became crystal clear (you know, from the depths of you, must be THE inner voice as 'they' say): "defer your studies Joon". So, deferred I did and believe you me, more miracles and epiphanies presented themselves and I and awakened to some new realizations in all that time I decided to stay in Canada.

Being here therefore was inevitabitable to want to re-establish human relationships as well. As my home is Canada ( gratefully and proudly carrying my Canadian passport wherever I go), I wanted to bond with my family. My family meaning my parents and my siblings + 1 dog. Also wanted to reconnect with old friends and connect with new ones. And and perhaps take a course or two, in photography and writing: 2 latent passions waiting to ooze with so much fire!

Believe it or not it took awhile to adjust being back here in the home country. I had read about reintegration issues to one's own country- repatriation- yet I didn't foresee my emotional rollercoaster at all. And I knew it wasn't even PMS, ha ha! I was in limbo: I didn't have anything with me. Not the security of my salaried job, nor my Japanese family and circle of friends, nor my own place nor my own bicycle (!). I had only 12 boxes sent to Canada- of my books, CDs and favorite wears. Nothing else. The unbearable lightness of being :-)

And as much as I was feeling out of sorts at this point, I also felt incredibly light, metaphorically. I had not much baggages nor 'stuff' (another metaphor, ha ha), just a clean slate, a Life Anew waiting to be fulfilled. With these processes that took place, I busied myself with spending quality time with my parents- particularly bonding and catching up with my Mom and my sister Veronica- and pursuing studying various interests. It was this thirst for new knowledge that prompted me to get certified as an NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) Practitioner. A new dream in the making- with NLP as a background- is to be a Life Coach. I started to explore possibilities.

So I kept on exploring. Exploring and exploring until one day, OMAN called! I am simplifying it here how I got my post there but that's another blog entry. There will be another post on this later on, as I feel I need to make themes for every single event (preeminent ones, I may add!) that's happened over the span of 5 months here in Canada. Interestingly, I embraced Photography once again in my life. I finally began to make the intention to improve my craft in capturing life's essence with my lens. And of course, it has also become my mission to write and record what all my senses can experience, even my 6th sense! Hope this blog site serves as that platform.

It is therefore with so much Pure Inspiration (English translation of Pura Inspiração for the Portuguese-challenged among us ) that I am beginning this blogging project. I am tapping my creative writing genius to awaken to a Life Anew. It is starting here now in Alberta, Canada and I intend to continue the passion in the Arabian Peninsula. The unknown.

But I have the Polyanna in me. I trust in the knowing that things could only get better! I am ready, open to anything and anyone that will come my way!

I welcome you to my journey. Please come for the ride. We can share it!