I've been putting this off for quite some time now because I didn't want to talk about it without the finished product up and running and now that it's finally here, I can be (somehow) proud of the outcome!

Skillshare Team Reaching Out

A few months ago, a Skillshare Teacher Support reached out to me via e-mail and asked me if I was interested to create a class under their platform. Of course, this was a little surprising knowing that there are lots of really cool people on Skillshare teaching about lots of really cool stuff. I didn't know if I had anything else significant to offer but Camisha Brown, the Skillshare Teacher Support who continued exchanging e-mails with me, urged me to still push through with a class.

Eventually, I remembered wanting to pursue a personal branding series on this blog which didn't push through anymore so I thought, maybe I can work on it again this time on a bigger platform: Skillshare! I told Camisha about it and she loved the idea but one thing stopped me from pursuing it -- I was told I had to do a video! I browsed through Skillshare's website and saw like 90% of teachers talking in front of a camera and I knew right then and there that this wasn't for me. I refused to film myself teaching a topic I am not personally much of an expert in and having to sound extremely confident about it.

I dropped the opportunity and told Camisha I might settle for being a student instead. She was nice enough to respect this decision but told me to still keep in touch should I change my mind. It was roughly just around 2 weeks after that time when I attended a few webinars and got the idea of doing screencasting.

Immediately I sent a new e-mail and asked about it. Fortunately, Skillshare allowed screencast types of video lessons! Camisha sent a few links my way to get me hyped up and that's when I knew this was an opportunity I shouldn't drop anymore.

Challenges and Almost Giving Up

I spent a year stumbling around the internet and posting dilly-dally just to meet certain checkpoints and cross out bullets on my to-do lists but if there's a one lesson I learned from all the late night hours hopping from one blog to another, it's this:

Ever felt the crippling sensation of encountering something that once fueled you and gave you life, but is now just another mundane thing that exists? That's exactly how I feel when I pass by bookstores and see those books on shelves. A few years ago, I wanted nothing than having my work on those shelves, too.

For years, I believed that writing is my OTP -- my one true passion that would fuel me for the rest of my life. I believed I would always be in love with it, that one day, I will really get to that point of having my own book alongside the works of many others who aspired like me. I believed in it so much that every time I felt myself going astray, that I was actually "falling in love with something new", it gave me the feeling that I was betraying my one true passion.

I thought Pau Pursues Passion would be a blog about writing tips or journaling tips or many other tips about some things that give me life but I realized that having to rely on those will actually kill this blog... if it hadn't already.

I felt crippled and lost because I know I can't spurt out content and keep this blog alive if I don't pursue my own passions. It's super ironic because I wanted this blog to be about being able to pursue passions despite the realities of life but like... I can't even do it??? Wow, it's a hell lot harder than I thought it would be and one of things that contributed to the lack of enthusiasm to keep this blog running is the fact that I no longer knew what my passion was. Well, I do, but the denial is real. I've always told myself I am a creative soul. My hopes were high in inspiring other young professionals to continue pursuing their creative lifestyle despite having to thrive in the real world but hell... I realized that who I intended to be is different from who people see in me. I want to be this and that but they see another this and that in me. Funny, huh?

A few months ago, the team at Skillshare saw potential in me to teach any marketing-related course in their platform. In line with this, just recently, a former classmate in the writing workshop I attended years ago messaged me to help her rebrand her blog. It made me think that who I forced myself to be is just for the sake of it, for the sake of not abandoning the familiarity of the comfort zone. I was hesitant to admit to myself that maybe, just maybe, there's already something new that's fueling me up. It took others to see it first before I welcomed the change with open arms.

I've always thought writing gave me power. It did, and for what it's worth it still does, but accepting the fact that I want to pursue something new is liberating.

Writing will always be a part of me and the fact that I've hit the 500-word-count by now shows that but I've also come to terms with the idea that pursuing bits and pieces of marketing (digital marketing + branding / brand management) also fuels me.

So if you're starting to have sparks for something entirely new that goes beyond what you're accustomed to, fuel it up and let it ignite! You never know how much you and/or other people would benefit from your new light.

On a parting note, always remember this beautiful description of passion I saw online:

I'm not even going to deny that April ended up becoming the most stressful month of the year. Towards the end of March, my laptop died down on me (hence the absence!) I had tons of reports to work on, an actual consultative reporting to prepare for, and endless articles to write -- all while juggling to make ends meet between using an old device and the laptop I use in the office. It was crazy, you know, like it was one of those moments when I wanted to simply sleep everything off and hope that when I wake up, all of these worries are gone.

Thankfully, there was a way to do just that!

Well... the deadlines are still there, my to-do list is still endless, but hey, I felt them all slip away, at least, for an hour.


A few weeks ago, I tried the float therapy at Recovery Spa Ortigas. You can choose either 60 minutes or 90 minutes for this and in my case, I chose the 60-minute one for my first try because, to be honest, I was a little apprehensive. Floatation therapy is often synonymous to "sensory deprivation" and "experiencing nothingness" so I thought the 60 minutes would be so damn long. In fact, I found it hard to believe that some would actually choose 90 minutes for this!

Before starting the therapy, I was quickly briefed about some simple protocols. This included taking a full shower using Recovery Spa's own unscented and organic soap, shampoo, and conditioner. I was also told to be cautious and careful with the water inside as it can sting the eyes (kinda like what saltwater does) but there's no need to worry because just right outside the pod is a spray of clean tap water to freshen up the face or the eye area in case of such instances.

Once inside, you will float. Regardless of what you do, regardless of how you move, you will float effortlessly enabled by the 18 sacks of epsom salt mixed in the water.

This is the point where the experience becomes different from person to person but for me, the only thing I did was to let go. 




I floated, literally, and allowed my mind to wander to where it wants to wander. I didn't expect anything. I didn't count the seconds. Instead, I closed the lights inside the pod which the scaredy cat in me didn't want to do at first. I wouldn't know about you guys, but to me, I ended up yearning for that "total nothingness." I ended up craving for that peace without actually anticipating for it.

I didn't exactly know at what point it happened. I just knew that as the therapy went on, I somehow knew I was awake but everything else in my body -- especially my mind -- was asleep. The soft spa music seemed like it hummed from a great distance though I knew it was just right at the other side of the door. I was awake for sure because my body felt like it. The feeling of the water touching my skin was so evident that I knew for a fact that I wasn't literally sleeping, but my mind drifted off so far away that, for more than half of the time, I was in a thoughtless state. Believe me, it felt so good. I badly wanted to stay in that state, I almost ignored the indication of when my time was up. I needed more of that feeling -- the feeling of being thoughtless and worry-less, like nothing absolutely mattered.


Right after the float therapy, I took a quick shower to rinse off the epsom salt on my skin before having my 60-minute Swedish massage. I personally think the float therapy is enough but to maximize the experience, the massage goes very well with it.


Overall, my first float therapy at Recovery Spa at The Upper Deck gave an extraordinary hour of feeling a kind of calm I've never ever felt before. I was told it was rare to feel that at the first session so when I was asked what I did, I simply said, "I let go."

So if I were you, if you're planning to try out The Pod float therapy at Recovery Spa, let it all go. Charge it to experience and allow yourself to float away. You may have your expectations and fears before entering, but really, you'd end that first session wanting more -- so, so much more.

I knew I did.

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Recovery Spa is located at The Upper Deck, Pasig City. Head over to their Facebook Page for more information or contact 942-4585 local 107 for reservations.

Hey, everyone!

Just a few days ago, I renewed this blog to run for another year. I'm not entirely sure why, at the moment, but somehow it still feels right to continue this. The plans for this blog is not yet definite, but I'll try to come up with quality content despite everything -- lack of motivation, mostly. I guess that's part of the journey, huh? Pursuing passions isn't an easy journey.

Around a month ago, I wrote about being insanely demotivated. That post was probably one of my rawest one on this blog in which I became fully transparent about how I thought. I wrote that bit at the very moment the doubts were attacking. I didn't know if this whole blogging thing is really for me despite the efforts already put into it -- I'll get back to this some other time, probably -- because the blogging industry in the Philippines is not exactly kind if you don't fit  a certain criteria including being fashionable or being able to travel a hell lot. I guess I ended up comparing myself with those well-established individuals and knew I'll never be like that, but hey, maybe I'd get to be someone else entirely and continue pursuing passions so that this blog or my writing can be the reason why someone didn't give up or ended their self-comparison with the local "social media influencers"

... Again, that topic should be for another article entirely.

Anyway!

I'm typing without thinking again so I'm probably blabbering on and on too much, but for now, I'll end this simple update by putting one note-to-self out there: