The Extraordinary Introvert

Wow, I can’t believe I just finished College. 4 years surely went by quickly. Let me rephrase that. 16 years in school seems long on paper, but just look at how each year flew by fast. Obviously, I am still on such an emotional high. It is still so surreal that I wore that badass toga, shook hands with Fr. Jett (University President), got my diploma, framed it pa, traded grad pics and took last minute selfies with my fellow batchmates and graduates. With all due respect to this illustrious ceremony, marching up the stage was actually not the ultimate highlight of the week of my graduation. (DISCLAIMER: Please do understand that I’m not belittling the ceremony. As a matter of fact, it was a moment of immortality and euphoria.) The real highlight of this wonderful season that just recently concluded is this blue rose you see in the picture which was taken 2 days before Graduation. Let me explain why. You see, being this very shy and torpe person, I was not even supposed to go ...

Lately, I have been super ungrateful to God. I have spent too much time comparing myself with others. I would lurk on Instagram clicking on stories of those whom I follow. I would look at their day and the activities they post, and from there, envy arises. “How I wish I was doing this! “How I wish I was doing that!” A few moments later, I would scroll through Facebook posts of those with 1000+ likes and 100+ comments. Once more, a sense of emptiness and a feeling of envy would inevitably arise. Indeed, I only have myself to blame for the self-inflicted enemy I created, as well as the unnecessary self-pity to which I succumb on certain times and certain days. I recently talked with my mom about my feeling down on myself, and boy was that the most intense and concerned she was. The tone was serious and the message was clear: she did not want me to go down like this. At one point, she even asked me if I would really rather be sucked into the quagmire of self-destructive feelings...

Yesterday felt like the most depressing afternoon of my life. I felt lifeless. It’s as if the weight of the world on my back was too heavy to carry. It was a slow walk to the car. It was a slow drive home. Walang buhay, walang malay at wala nang paki. I was looking down, not giving a damn anymore of what people would think of me. I didn’t care anymore if people thought I was walking stupid, or if I’m just making up my depression. I was just out of it, and I felt emotionless. However, as I stepped out of the car and into our house, the tears began to flow. This magnificent gift of sadness came to my rescue. The moment I saw my parents by the door, I just let it all out. I was so scared to show my scars to them, but sadness was telling me to just let it all out instead of bottling it all inside. This seemed to be what Riley was going through in the movie “Inside Out”.   As she rode the bus that would take her away from their new home, she felt lifeless and emotionless. Her...

Being an introvert is hard, isn’t it? The fact that you’re all alone in the corner, wondering why you don’t have true legit friends, or the fact that you may seem to have “friends”, but they just come and go as time passes. It’s as if you’re always the “Odd Man Out” all the time, and it can be very frustrating so to speak. I am no stranger to this feeling, and I guess that’s what makes me “The Extraordinary Introvert”, as the blog name suggests. You see, life hasn’t been easy for me in terms of the social aspect of it. You’d think that my childhood was “normal”, given the fact that my family life is not too disruptive and my family members are very supportive of me. It’s just that when I leave home, I feel the more striking effects of my introversion. My grade school days were just classes-recess-lunch-dismissal-repeat. However, the in-between intervals were the lonely hours for me. These were spent either sitting in a dark corner of the classroom or walking along the corrid...

The wind pierces through my face as I watch red heart-shaped balloons filling up the sky. I look down on the ground, pretending not to see couples and lovers holding hands, handing out roses and doing all that other lovey duvey bullsh*t. I watch different guys out there surprising their favorite girls, one by one. We’ve come to that time of the year I super hate the most, Valentine Day. Let’s admit it, we all waiting, don’t we? We hate waiting in line. We hate waiting for our test papers to come back so that we can know our scores immediately. For the SJWs (Social Justice Warriors) out there, we hate on “Waiting for the World to Change” (pardon me for the John Mayer reference). Anyways, Valentines is just a day to remind me that I gotta keep waiting, and waiting, and waiting. But more than that, it honestly makes me feel like an EFFIN LOSER at times. I mean just peep the intro. Girl holds hands with boy here, boy gives balloons and flowers to girl there, “I WUW YEW” posts EVE...

Crush is defined as something you “deform, pulverize, or force inwards by compressing forcefully” (thanks, Google). However, if we switch it up to the romantic lenses, this is what you and I feel when we have that deep infatuation toward someone. You like him/her so much that he/she’s the first and only thing that’s on your mind whether you like it or not. On that same token, that’s why hanggang crush lamang yung tawag sa mga tao na sobrang nagugustuhan natin. “Di naman kayo sa huli.” (swerte ka nalang kung yun yung kaso). “Meron naman yang ibang gusto o sinta.” “Di payag yung mga parents natin.” “Hindi pa siya handa.” I guess that’s why we call that boy or girl we like so much a “crush”. At the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, your heart will get “crushed”. But how did we even get here? What gives us these different emotions? Why are there butterflies every time? Why so bubbly? But most of all, ba’t hindi puwede?  STAGE 1: Pakikipagtagpo (Meeting) I was...

2019 is still very young, and these few weeks have been mostly consisted of rest days for me. However, this down time is much needed, because as we continue on with the year, I will soon be undergoing my own “Birdbox Challenge”. (DISCLAIMER: This is not a movie review and you do not need to put on a blindfold while reading) I’m sure most of you have seen or at least heard of the hit Netflix movie “Birdbox”, starring Sandra Bullock. Honestly, I haven’t been able to watch the film, but after viewing the trailer and glancing over some summaries and movie reviews, I do know that Malorie (Bullock) had to overcome demons, which came  in various forms such as one’s worst fears, deepest sadness and greatest loss.   Now that I think of it, we all experience these. It’s what makes us human, raw and innocent. I understand that we all have our ways to cope with these daily life struggles. However, for me, I picture myself wearing that same blindfold Malorie used to fend off t...

Hey guys. I'm finally back in the Philippines, which means that I'm able to write again in my laptop after publishing the last 2 blog posts in that teeny tiny cellphone screen. As promised, here's Part 2 of my New Year blog series. If the Part 1 served as a recall of sorts to the year that was (2018), this new post will focus on what's in it for me and you this coming 2019. I will look ahead to our 2019 in the form of "Notes to Self" (aka the thing you put in your diaries). By this token, hopefully I am able to talk to you guys as well cos who knows, you may just be able to relate and use some of the self-taught advice I'm about to give myself right about now. Note to Self 1: Soo, Anuna ?  For Filipinos,  anuna is a millenial term for "ano na", or "what now". A perfect word to kickstart the year, diba? We're already a week into the new year, and yet most of us are pretty much at a blank clean slate pa rin. I don't blame...

Sup y'all!! As a novice in the blogging industry, I honestly don't know what my first post should be about. However, I figured introducing to you guys the only way Del Ro can. You see, my name's really Jake (Fun Fact: My full name's Jose Joaquin Carmelo P. Del Rosario, so it really takes rocket science to figure out how in da heck I got Jake as a nickname). It was not until high school when peeps started calling me "Del Ro", short for Del Rosario (my family name). I thought it was just a nice cool moniker that I could use during mini-reunions, casual events, and if God makes it happen, rap gigs (yes, I love rap y'all). However, as I'm about to end my College life in a few months, I figured going back to this dope nickname I introduced myself to 5 years ago. I had wanted to come up with an awesome statement that fits the "DEL RO". Here are just a couple of failed attempts "Don't Envy the Lord, Respect Only" "Dreams...