Blog in the Making

A reader commented that Prozac may not be appropriate to use for a blog title, as it connotes drug dependence and psychological incapacity. If you Google the term it will show you results that talk about manic depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety and obsessive-compulsiveness. So, I’ll mention some about the history of the blog title, and why I finally came up doing my own blog.

I used to write for a college paper exclusive to our department – the Psychology Department. I had my own column which was a one-hit wonder (it never had a second issue), which was entitled A Dose of Prozac. Since we’re targeting Psych majors, putting a psychological term on the column title would make it more appealing to the readers, and make that distinction with the other departments. I remember my first (and only) article was about Rico Yan’s untimely death. The article wasn’t that great, I have to admit, but I was proud it got published and got read by most of my colleagues. Prozac was also a term loosely used on the show Ally Mcbeal which I deeply adored during its era. Several times when Ally was seeing her new therapist, Prozac was mentioned on the series. Because I loved Ally Mcbeal so much and because I needed to come up with a title soon, I came up with, well, the title of this blog.

Nearly 10 years after, I felt the urge to create a blog. I’ve been meaning to create a blog for the longest time, but never went about completing one. I’ve signed up with a lot of blog host sites, but the content didn’t appear until recently when I got the chance to watch Revolutionary Road in HBO. The superb performances in this movie weren’t the triggering factor, but the message that was delivered through those lines was. Many times a movie critic will say that a good movie will inspire you to write a short story right after watching the movie, I’d say a great movie will fuel you to create a blog.

I adapted the title from my college column in hope of reviving my vision for a blog that is crazier than its author. Similarly, I had to evoke the sense of wanting to belong to something so out-of-convention, that it strikes you odd and weird just like what happened to the Wheeler characters in Revolutionary Road. Sometimes, the Prozac you’ll ever need is in literary form, and in small doses, that aims to enlighten you to think out of the ordinary. Not so because you can come to your senses, but to alleviate that little craziness that is expected in each one of us.

And suddenly, Paris came up.

When people say they fall in love the minute they go to Paris, they are not lying. Nor are they exaggerating. There is truly something enchanting about Paris, and it collectively includes the Eiffel Tower, the River Seine, the view from Montmartre, and the generally genial ambience of the city. Maybe it’s just me, but I did not fall in love in Paris, I fell in love with Paris. Many times I thought of being able to go there someday, which was just a thought to begin with, not anything serious. But after watching the life-altering movie (this is a warning) Revolutionary Road, I suddenly had this urge to purse my Paris dream, I mean, to seriously take on it!

I’m confident that most of us daydream (at least those who have active imaginations do), and I frequently think of working as a cashier in Paris (at any of those souvenir shops near Seine) and as a part-time English instructor at L’Accord. I’ll bring my family there, and we will eat crepes for breakfast, ride the ever-busy Le Metro, and stroll through Champs Elysees during weekends. Because Paris is so lovely we will forget about stress, and will embrace the love for art like it’s something we’re obliged to do. This isn’t far-fetched, you see. There are ways of turning this into reality. Why do we need to settle for the conventional? When going against the flow, why do we feel like we’re hurting others and even ourselves? I’ve got an idea, think of that one dream you have, give it an acronym or tag name (e.g. TPP for The Paris Project), then put it as a calendar marker, to-do list item, or pending task, either digital or on paper. Then everyday, do one particular thing that will bring you closer to that dream. You don’t have a deadline, and don’t even pressure yourself into doing it. Just make sure that at least once a day, you did something that will inch (or nano-inch) your way to achieve that goal.

Some decisions, some choices.

A friend has been telling me that he's resigning from work (he's had for 15 years) to pursue something else in a different company. I'd say he should "go for it," but we both knew he will not do this. Maybe he's afraid, is contented, or just simply uninterested, but at least he's vocal about his plan to leave, which remains to be, well, still a plan.

The choice of staying or leaving is completely one's own choice - it's personal, serious, and life-changing. I cannot force him to leave and move to another company simply because I want to impose my opinions, he needs to make that decision. It's more than the risk of getting out of the comfort zone, there's more to it. To stay or leave (or flee, escape, move out, run away, you got the idea) are two opposing actions that have conflicting consequences so it means we need to be certain when we decide on it. Whether it's your job, your relationship, your neighborhood, or generally the lifestyle you follow, a big consideration goes to the bare essentials - what you need in your life - for you to make that step, or not make any step at all.

I might probably talk him out of changing companies someday, and he might really tender his resignation paper and go for that new job, but ultimately, we will laugh and talk about it, chances are we will even drink to celebrate. Whatever decision we make, the bottom line is we live the life we want - life should be one continuous celebration.

MNMLSM

I always claim to be a minimalist, either by context in living my life or simply transforming a chaotic space into complete order. However, minimalism, in full essence, is giving up the concept of order as it reduced clutter to, well, nothing. Which means there's nothing to organize. Like we usually hear from people claiming to be minimalist: simplicity is beauty.

Then we also hear some say "less is more," which we only get to appreciate when we are embracing the minimalist approach. Just recently I started to "organize" the house by eliminating clutter, aka, throwing half of what's inside the house. Possession may sometimes just equate to security, true, and the illusion of security resurfaces when you find that you're keeping something for the sake of keeping it, and you'll survive without having it. I got first-hand experience of this when i threw out the Motorola charger and headset that I kept for several years (way back since 2004 when I got my first Moto phone), upon realizing that the reason was "just in case" I need them in the future, which never happened. Then, I threw at least 20% of what was in the room, including clothes I never used but I've been keeping for donations. But hey, I'm sure someone would recycle those clothes, which reverts to the original premise: donation.

Less is more, and as with Life, you've got to let go of some and focus on the most important ones. Simplicity is the path to minimalism, and the less you think about the unimportant stuff, the more time you have to enjoy what really matters in your life.

The Day of the SPONGE

Spongebob Squarepants is more than just Nickelodeon’s most popular creation; he’s what everyone must look up to as far as work ethics and optimism go. His love for his job is insurmountable it seemed his ridiculous devotion to his work is just anchored to the fact that he doesn’t have a love life, but the question is, what is “love life” for some people? How does one compartmentalize his life into several entities – work, social, romantic, sexual aspects, etc that it becomes too standardized and predictable? Can we all just be like Spongebob who merrily hops around the Jellyfish fields, is fully devoted to his fry cook job, reaches out patiently to his anti-social neighbor Squidward, and who loves unconditionally his not-so-sharp-of-a-best-friend Patrick?

A Dose of Prozac

from Wikipedia: Prozac (Fluoxetine) has been approved for the treatment of major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa and panic disorder.

We have some little strokes of insanity on our daily routines, and all we need is a sort of realization that in today's world, it's just but normal to be crazy sometimes.

I am reminded of the movie I recently watched in HBO, Revolutionary Road. Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicarpio starred in this unsettling movie, which for me is an adjective that I use to describe something so powerful it's become disturbing. While I'm not a big fan of Dicarpio and while I found his acting performance so "I-want-that-Oscar-so-bad-I'm-acting-this-way," I realized that all in the context of this brilliant film, he needed to portray his character to that extent to deliver the message that - WE ALL ARE A BUNCH OF PEOPLE WHO KEEP UP WITH THE CRAP OF SOCIETAL NORMS THAT WE FORGOT TO LEAD REAL LIVES

Yeah, and to keep up with the "crap" and at the same time, still be able to lead the life we want, we need a dose of Prozac to get us into the groove of things