Article | Top 5 Activities I Enjoy

 By Eurielle 

Written January 1, 2022

Please do not copy or post to another site. Thank you. Enjoy reading.

We are looking at these different legends:

Difficulty: 1- Easy, 2-Normal, 3-Difficult

 Enjoyment: 1-Meh, 2-Normal, 3-Enjoyed

1. Reading/Writing (Difficulty: 2.5, Enjoyment:2.5)

I am a reader. I enjoy reading, and although I say I read any genre - that's not true. If possible, there should be an element of romance. I started reading romance novels - pocketbooks, paperbacks, then hardcovers - when I was in fifth or sixth grade (11 to 12 years old). At first, I read Filipino pocketbooks from My Special Valentine and Precious Hearts Romance. It was harder to find PHR in the wet market back in the day. There were more MSV back then. However, the first romance pocketbook I've read was a PHR because during that time, ABS-CBN, a network in the Philippines, took it in their hands to create live-action of the Bud Brothers Series. Since then, I've gone from Filipino pocketbooks to English paperbacks and hardcovers. Now, I mostly read contents online.

As a reader, I also envisioned myself writing; thus, I have this blog. Reading in itself is easy. I would have ranked it 1, but the writing made things difficult. I don't like the excuse "English is not my first language, so please excuse the poor grammar" because, in truth, English is one of the languages I learned since Kindergarten. Although it was the least used - speaking-wise and listening-wise - we still use it at school.  Writing, for me, is about imagination and creativity. Without those two, I really don't have anything to write about. Grammar is secondary. It is important, very much so, but as long as the thoughts come across, I think it's fine. 

The reason why I don't enjoy reading and writing as much is that stories are sometimes repetitive and it gets boring. I actually read from different genres, media, and forms. I read manga/manhwa/manhua, English-translated Chinese novels, fan fiction, etc. I have a lot to choose from, but sometimes things get saturated and I cannot pick the good ones. I sometimes use my hours looking for stories to read than reading and it makes me want to frown thinking I wasted so much time. I guess that's the part I don't enjoy. 

2. Singing/Karaoke (Difficulty: 2.9, Enjoyment: 3)

Like most Filipinos, I like singing and karaoke. Unlike popular belief, not all Filipinos know how to sing. I can carry a tune, but I make more mistakes than singing songs correctly. At home, we have our own karaoke machine connected to our television. My sister and I love singing together, but sometimes I will find myself singing alone. When I am frustrated or stressed, I like to bring out all the built-up tension inside me by shouting and moving around. I go crazy doing karaoke at home. 

It is difficult because I breathe heavily after only about 4-5 songs, maybe even less. By the time an hour passed, I'll be stretching my throat and the organs in there just so I can get a note right (or belt... whatever). But I always end up enjoying the activity. Singing and listening to music come to me whatever I'm doing, especially cleaning/organizing. For me, a day without music is like a month of a depressed soul - it is sad and too quiet. 

3. Painting (Difficulty: 2.7, Enjoyment: 2.5)

Painting is more like a hobby than a habit. I only paint when I am totally free from other responsibilities (read: summer and winter vacations). I love painting because I like to see colors. I love colors because I see symbols and patterns. To me, painting is like a metaphor of life - white canvases are really great to look at, but when colors touch the surface, magic comes alive. Painting is part of healing. Painting is calming.

The difficulty is a little bit high because I'm not a good painter. My painting pieces are really just practice pieces in which I follow YouTube painters online on how to paint. The difficulty comes with not having the tools or colors, or the technique is very sloppy. I get frustrated while painting. It's true that painting is healing and calming, but sometimes, when you don't follow through the steps and end up with something questionable, it's really hard to be calm. However, in the end, like I said, it's a hobby. I enjoy doing it, but not something I do most of the time. 

4. Arts and Crafts (Difficulty: 3, Enjoyment: 1.9)

I love arts and crafts. I have had different projects over the years - arts and crafts that don't have anything to do with painting. Some projects were failures some were successes. Then there were those I ended up abandoning because it didn't make sense to continue.

Usually, I find myself in the arts and crafts part of YouTube, and they inspire me to do things myself. I think it's sad that I don't have a crafts room where I can put all my art supplies and crafts supplies. The difficulty comes from not having all the materials needed. I think the most difficult one I created was a brick house made from cardboard boxes. The house turned out great, but not the best. I created it for days and I was all over the place because I didn't have anywhere to put my supplies. Anyway, I still like how it turned out. It was really cute. Sometimes, crafts are really easy. There are a lot of DIY crafts online and on YouTube that is easy to do, but I always find myself doing the hard ones. I enjoy them, but sometimes, I'm more like meh, a waste of my time.

5. Cleaning and Organizing (Difficulty: 3, Enjoyment: 3)

Like painting and arts and crafts, cleaning and organizing only come to me once or twice a year. Sometimes, for example, even when I see my room in so much disarray, especially the laundry, I don't have the initiative to clean. However, when something strikes me, I enjoy cleaning and organizing so much. 

Yes, the difficulty is high. The reason for such a high score is because I am the type of person who takes everything off from the room as much as I can, clean up all the surfaces, then put and organize things back together. When I cleaned my room about a week or so ago, it took me the whole afternoon to do it. I don't clean the whole house, too. Truthfully, I don't have much motivation unless there's some music as well. This week, last Thursday, my mom and I cleaned up the kitchen. I actually cleaned up the refrigerator and the pantry. I like organizing things, but sometimes it's frustrating because, after a week or a month, everything is in disarray, which kind of dampen the efforts, then it takes months before I get inspired to do cleaning/organizing again. 

Article | Going Back To...

 By Eurielle

Written on December 26, 2021

Please do not copy or post to another site. Thank you. Enjoy reading.

I found myself enjoying painting outside our back porch even though it was in the middle of a chilling December afternoon. I had fun setting up my working table, putting magazine papers all around to prevent acrylic paint from dislodging on the table's surface and crevices. 

On the 23rd, I painted this painting of a night sky and mountain ranges covered in snow while pine trees and forest of greens surrounded it. I added "splashes" of white acrylic paint to make it look like it was snowing. Actually, I am not a good painter, I just do it as a hobby. I usually follow Jay Lee Painting and Wow Art because their tutorials/painting videos are really awesome. Both painters are really amazing especially when they're using unconventional painting tools like cotton buds, pieces of a cotton, fork, and paper tape. In truth, back in elementary, I used cotton buds (or Q-tips, if people don't know the generic name) during art classes for painting. In addition, I used papaya and/or banana stalks for watercolor painting. They're really beautiful - these stalks. You have to cut the stalks and use the pattern part to dip on the painting, then stamp it on the paper to create a beautiful painting - abstract paint or whatnot. Sadly, there are no papaya or banana plant available at home. 

Today, the 26th, I painted the cherry blossom tree among the wildflowers' garden. I envisioned it as a field of flowers, then there's that one tree that happened to be a cherry blossom. To make the field look wide, I added those pine trees from afar and a wide, cloudy sky. Generally, this one was easier to paint than the first one, not only because of the size of the canvas but because I wasn't really copying either Jay Lee Painting or Wow Art this time. The idea was from their videos, yes, but I didn't have a particular video I was following as opposed to the painting above.

Also, the above painting, if you look closely, has a black moon. I didn't intend to do that. I was having a hard time using my white acrylic paint because it became so watery (I actually just needed to shake the bottle really, really hard), so I was painting with a runny white paint. Then, I had trouble painting the mountain. I felt like I wasn't getting the right shape or not following Jay Lee's "instructions" at all. Even now I still feel like it wasn't good enough. When everything was said and done, I looked at it, and there in the middle was black paint. I agonized a bit, but I thought, "Why not make it into the moon?" so I used a fine tip small brush and spread it clockwise to create a perfect circle.

I always enjoy painting although it was only a hobby. I put my paintings inside my room where no one really come inside. I like being crafty and artsy and I feel that this hobby is another way for me to relax. In addition, I like learning things - and the best way to learn is through a hands-on one.