Moments of Joy

Amidst all this piling of academic workloads, accumulation of papers and lesson plans to be written and humongous preparations for an opera recital only a month away, I'm grateful to be allowed to have time to recharge even in little ways. :)

Moment No. 1

I went to photocopy a few pages from this ancient book in the Filipiniana section of the MainLib (specifically a chapter on "fan language," as our opera director wants me to use a fan... very "Pamaypay ng Maynila," haha!). The xerox lady was aghast at the pitiable condition of the book, and took time to apply scotch tape on the crumbling pages. I exclaimed, "Book lover po kayo, no?" to which she replied in the affirmative. "Sana po lahat ng librarians, may ganyang pagmamalasakit sa mga libro," I said. "My dear, I'm not a librarian. I'm only a xerox lady. But I own the business," she said matter-of-factly, with a warm smile. We had a short conversation, I was sorry it couldn't be longer since I was in a bit of a rush. She then handed over the two pages I had photocopied, and stapled an orange sheet of paper on it. "What's this?" I said, and she told me it was a copy of the Student's Prayer. The last part goes: "Master, show me the treasures of Your wisdom. Enlighten my mind and expel from it all darkness of sin and ignorance. Give me a diligent and obedient spirit, a quick mind to grasp ideas and a retentive memory. Above all, assist me with the light of Your Holy Spirit so that I may apply my studies for Your honor, for my salvation and for the good of others. Amen."

That made my day! And I had a warm fuzzy feeling inside of me several hours after that short but blessed encounter with a stranger.

Moment No. 2
Ever get those inexplicable urges that make you go inside a certain store, only to find something that you've been searching for, for a long time? Or only to see your crush? Hehe. This happened to me. Not the crush part. The "oh-my-gosh-what-a-huge-find-and-to-think-it-was-just-sitting-there!" part.

Following my gut instinct, I entered the SC bookstore yesterday and found the rare sci-fi. trilogy by C.S. Lewis, consisting of "Out of the Silent Planet," "Perelandra," and "That Hideous Strength." They're quite rare, and it's more astounding because I found ALL THREE AT ONCE. And I had just the exact amount of money left over from my allowance to buy the set. Wheeeeeee!!!

Moment No. 3

This is in connection with Moment No.2. In between typing papers, I crammed reading "Out of the Silent Planet," the first book from the series, this morning to prepare for our monthly org meeting later on in the afternoon (pics to follow!).

To my amazement, my orgmate Richard showed up WITH THE SAME BOOK for our booksharing session.

What were the odds, right? A-m-a-z-i-n-g, indeed!

Moment No. 4

My family and I were FINALLY able to set foot inside the much-acclaimed FULLY BOOKED flagship store in Bonifacio High Street, Serendra. But before that, I happened to bump into my friend Keith who was out with HIS family, who flew in all the way from Cebu. :) What a pleasant surprise!

It seemed to me that the toffee nut latte from the Starbucks inside the bookstore seemed so much more delicious than usual, as I lazily sipped at my drink while allowing my gaze to alight on all the beee-oooo-teeee-ful tomes prettily arranged in the shelves.

We browsed to our hearts' content for over an hour, and although I was quite impressed with the massive collection of books they had for sale, I must confess that it was their classical music CD collection that had me feeling faint and weak in the knees.

THEY HAD 5 ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER ALBUMS AND 4 IAN BOSTRIDGE CD'S!!!! Needless to say, their collection was the biggest one I've ever seen, probably the most expansive one in the country.

I also remember seeing a boxed set of J.S. Bach's entire WEIHNACHTSORATORIUM (which I WILL save up for), as well as several opera recordings and rare albums.

Hay naku. If only I was a millionaire. Haha. I would have bought everything in their classical music section.

I was also very happy to find yet another book that came highly recommended, "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. :)

Moment No. 5

This afternoon's booksharing session was the highlight of the week, for me. Each session just keeps getting better and better! (I'd say funner and funner but my English-teacher-of-a-twinnie would only correct me, hehe)

Two hours zipped by so quickly, we were amazed when our cellphones started beeping to remind us that it was time to adjourn for the day. Time really flies when you're having fun! And what fun we had. There's nothing like spending time with good friends, bonding over delicious coffee drinks and excellent books. Tata even brought a deck of Talecraft, and we had a grand time listening to TJ's impromptu tale of a congressman who had two sons by an encantadia, and how he had the power of persuasion because of a magical talisman: a lock of hair. He wouldn't tell us how it would end, grrrr... next session na lang daw. BITIN!

So there. My To-Do list is a mile long but I don't mind. I'm not half as stressed as I think I ought to be, hehe. I thank God for these little rejuvenating moments. I hope you have such experiences in your own week, amidst all the hustle and bustle of our fastpaced lives.