My Introduction in the HIVE Community - WHO IS JOSEJIRAFA?

I am a Registered Nurse by profession. I graduated and subsequently passed my board exams in the year 2018. Afterwards, it took a lot of courage, hard work and determination for me to pursue my field. The healthcare profession is a very taxing and gruesome job and I ironically wanted to stay away from it after I took my oath. However, by the grace of whatever mystical force encouraged me to take on my profession, I am currently working as a Staff Nurse. It was definitely an unexpected turn of events as I initially wanted to become a financial advisor.

I am constantly reminding myself the reason why I took up healthcare. As of the moment, I no longer see my job as terrifying as I used to. Instead, I am looking forward to grow in this profession. I now find value in my work despite the challenges - especially in light with the current pandemic. Hopefully, this road will take me somewhere and would inevitably deliver me to where I ought to be.

It would be an understatement to say that I love traveling. Frankly, it is safe to say that I live to see places, to see the world. A large portion of my savings are dedicated to travel. Living in Cebu City, I have visited the usual travel destinations both in the North and the South. Waterfalls, beaches, mountain tops, camping sites, scenic views and breath-taking experiences are the things that keep me sane (despite a hectic work schedule). I have only begun to conquer places outside my hometown - Bohol, Siquijor, Bacolod, and Siargao to name a few. I have also ticked off international travel when I had a vacation to Japan last 2019. Needless to say, traveling fills me with so much joy.

I find it rather distasteful though, how the Philippines with all it's natural wonders is yet to be known worldwide. Our pristine beaches, magnificent waterfalls and exciting mountain heights are nothing short of world class quality. While it has grown a reputable stage in tourism, this industry is still at its infancy. As such, it would be an honor to contribute to the promotion of Philippine tourism. I hope to explore more of my country soon. As they say, "It is more fun in the Philippines".

I enjoy being in the water - be it seawater or pool water. There is something about swimming that makes me feel a sense of liberty. You see, I used to be a varsity swimmer in my university years and I take pride in that experience. I gained a lot of friends along the way and was even paid to teach children how to swim. After I had the chance to compete on a national level, it gave me an assurance that this is something I have to incorporate in my lifestyle. Since then, I tried kayaking, surfing, skimboarding, joined underwater clean-up drives and continued to improve my swimming strokes.

I have just recently taken an interest in freediving. I joined a freediving group late 2018 but had not really maximized it. Nevertheless, I got the chance to learn the basics and commended myself for it. It was thrilling experience to see the fishes and corals with my own eyes. Never in my whole life would I ever support ocean parks and massive aquariums. If we want to behold the beauty of the underwater world, shouldn't we be the ones who need to make an effort to see them? I hope to swim with sea turtles and sharks in their natural habitat if the opportunity is ripe.

Additionally, competing in a triathlon is something I am looking forward to achieve. As I already bike a lot, I hope this sport would not be a massive adjustment for me. These are all just foresight but I know myself enough to not doubt my capabilities.

---

---

---

And as you can see, I enjoy taking amateur photos of nature. The sunrise and the sunset by the beach have a deep appeal to me. It is as if the earth wants to remind me of silver linings - that there is beauty in the horizon if you wait for it at the right moment. Much more, it is the beauty that you find in the most conspicuous of places. I fancy sleeping overnight at the shores and waking up the next day with a marvelous work of art by God himself. Just thinking about it makes me feel a sense of appreciation for life.

I have only touched the surface of who I am but those are some of the basic things that you should know about me. I feel like I have redeemed myself after I failed to encompass myself in my first introductory post. I am grateful for the opportunity to start anew here at hive. I hope I am welcome here.

EXPLORING MY NICHE

Now then, let me break down some of the things I may contribute here in HIVE. To be completely frank, I have yet to discover my "personal brand" as a content creator. From my previous experience at blogging, I would usually post about whatever comes to mind. I consider myself a jack-of-all-trades because I love to diversify my interests. As such, I am left with a myriad of ways to brand my blog. But fear not, as I have a made a personal commitment to making sure that I at least try my best to stick to the things that I may be good at.

1. Travel blogs

Knowing myself to be a travel junkie, you can expect to see the world through my camera lens. As I mentioned, I have only begun to traverse various places which I have yet to share. One of the things that pushed me to have a comeback here at HIVE is because of this. I love traveling with family and friends and this platform is the perfect medium for that. It is my honor to share scenic views with all of you here at HIVE. Hopefully, this will turn into a repository of travel memories which I could always look-back to in the future.

2. Philosophy, Politics and Movie reviews

---

If you are well aware of the Myers-Briggs classification system, I belong to a personality type called INFJ. This pertains to people who tend to be mentally active, constantly questioning and pondering. May it be the intricacies of how to properly live life or the question of who should rightfully govern, those are ideas I enjoy to entertain.

Aside from that, I am a sucker for mind-f*ck films. It may be a reach to say this but I have an aptitude towards decoding cinematographic elements. When I look at a movie, I try my best to observe the slightest nuances, the faintest symbolisms and the grandest plot twists. I love how films inject asubtle idea for people to digest. If you know any movie or series which tickles your brain and makes you say "What?" then feel free to recommend them for me.

I am no expert of course but I enjoy composing a detailed account on some point of view I would like to convey.

3. Health and Wellness

---

I had previously created posts with regards to health and wellness in Steemit. I enjoyed making health education posts as it allowed me to make use of the topics I learned in nursing school. As a member of the healthcare field, it is my responsibility to debunk folk myths and tell-tales concerning the human physiology and medicine. Some days I would like to correct a misconception which I wager is vital to society. What better means to further my advocacy than through HIVE.

4. Art and Contests

---

If you were to scroll through my previous entries, I enjoy making contests. I launched my #clayartcontest since I enjoy looking at how art comes to life. The objective was simple, make art and share your story about it. It was really fun. I also had a fair share of entering contest from various groups and users. This included @anomadsoul's video and writing contests, @surpassinggoogle's Ulog entries @sanmi's Caption contest, @thegaillery's Confidence Project, @air-clinic's Writing contests, @terrycraft's Poetry contest, @opheliafu's Doodle Doodledayeo and some others which I may fail to mention. My point is, I enjoy contests and maybe it is something I could be doing from this point forward.

APPRECIATION

Special thanks to @ybanezkim26 for the slight nudge. It has been a while since I intended to make a comeback at blogging. The intent and opportunity was already there, but I needed the affirmation that it isn't too late to join the buzz. He has always been a good friend and a consistent quality content creator. I look forward to creating more content here under his wing LOL 😂. Head over to his blog to see for yourself.

---