I was so excited when my co-teacher asked me to model for a gown shoppe that her sister owned. I, together with my two co-teachers and a friend, modeled for DuRu Vestidos' gowns. We went to Mountain View, Busay, Cebu City for the photoshoot. I, Michelle, Hannah and Janelle went with the owners of DuRu Vestidos. They have such gorgeous gowns for weddings and debuts! Below are their gowns for debuts. We weren't able to do shoots for the wedding gowns because we ran out of time and sunlight (lol).
It was my very first time modeling for gowns! The same goes for my co-teacher friends, too. We were all so nervous going to the place. "What if we fail at this? What if we don't give them great photos and do injustice to their gorgeous gowns?" Thoughts of anxieties filled us as we fake-smile our way to Mt. View. We are so lucky and blessed that the owner of the gown atalier is so kind and encouraging. She told us that time that it's going to be a fun and light shoot and that we don't have to worry-- we just have to feel the vibes of the gowns we are wearing and release our child-like wonder. We are so lucky, too, that our photographer was very patient to us during the shoot, considering that it's our first "gig" as models lol. We were so happy it didn't rain-- as the gloomy clouds have been covering the sun the entire morning. All's well indeed! We were so delighted with how our photos turned out-- wow, they really do know how to take photographs that strike beauty and bliss.
I was so happy when my good friend Gena chose me to be one of her wedding's bridesmaids. It was my very first time being part of a wedding entourage! Ayel, Zel and I went to Bohol for this big January wedding, yay! Our gowns were simple wrap-around long flowing dresses in a light pink-to-almost- white hue. We stayed in Bohol Tropics for three days and two nights. So here's a little backstory: my friend Gena broke up with her long-term boyfriend for 4 years. She was a bit depressed. In the months of her "heartbreak sadness", as fate would have it, she met Eljer, on a random chance occasion. Gena confessed to us that there was something about this guy that she cannot quite put her fingers on. There's really "something". So she decided to get to know him better. Fast forward a couple of weeks, they dated as "official" couples. In about more or less six months of dating and being together, they decided to get married. Yeah, I know, many people would say, "Wow how fast", including me and our other best friends. To that, my friend Gena would respond, "Time would not matter when you've found the perfect person for you." You'd probably join me in saying, "Wow SANA ALL." Haha. Theirs is a love story true to both of them. And also it may be a familiar plot in our K-drama binges lol.
Behind the gowns, behind the clothes, who is this person in the mirror?
Recently I've read from a book about the concept of a "secret life". As what i understood, this "secret life" is the "real life" we have because it's a collection of our most vulnerable, authentic, honest, raw, unedited and unfiltered moments. What we have when we are just ourselves-- with no one to judge how messy our lives might look like from the outside. When we're done with putting up a "happy face mask" for everyone to see. When we can cry our hearts out without minding whether we look like garbage. When we don't mind sobbing and crying for hours on end because we're allowed to cry and feel sad without being guilty about feeling sad. Or when we laugh like crazy when we realize the crazy choices we made, we laugh so hard that we don't even care whether we actually look this-level-of- crazy to others. Or how about when we scold ourselves to-death for all the times we've made the wrong choices at the right moments.
I paused for minutes which felt like hours. When was the last time i took care of my secret life? When was the last time my life felt authentic and true to me? When was the last time i gave myself a chance to just be with me and my thoughts?
We get so caught up in trying to live and make a living and taking care of others and working our butts and hearts out-- "busy", as we simply call it. It seems like when we're not busy we feel like we're not productive and when we don't feel productive we feel like we're useless and therefore of no worth whatsoever. It seems like we placed our value in being "busy" that whenever we get a few minutes or hours that we don't get to do anything, we always try to make ourselves "busy" by scrolling thru our phones, watching videos, listening to podcasts, reading ebooks or paperback books, etcetera. It seemed like society aka the corporate world has implanted this thought in us that our time should always be productive and that we should always be doing and doing and doing. Doing. Doing something. That we almost always forget we are human beings. Beings. Not human doings.
When was the last time we were actually human beings and not human doings?
‘Til the next post, hivers! Remember that you are loved beyond borders and beyond time & space. Okay? Okay. 💛❤️
Ciao for now! 🤗🥰
Hive-llo, everyone! Welcome to Jong's little buzz-y corner in Hive. Jong believes that every person she meets can teach her a thing or two (or three, or more) about life. She shares her love for life here-- the captivating beauty of life! To be more specific, but not necessarily in this order, she's interested in: wisdom, love, poetry, single life, books, travel, health&fitness, fashion, gratitude, unspoken hurts, heartbreaks and healing. Lastly, she loves Jesus.
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