communication is an art + jb44 *wink*

jb44 batch '06

i browsed through my former classmates' blogs, and tagged nevertheless, a while ago. it felt good rekindling ties. ties which i hope will stand the test of time. heck, though inevitably we will meet some others which we will get attached to, it is nice to know that we will always be there for us.

and it doesn't hurt to know where i came from.

the moments we had will continue to make me strive for what i want, since they provide me with the needed information and inspiration to move on. the relationship we have is stellar above others since it is a friendship built not on just laughs, but on sweat, trials and tears as well. but given the misunderstandings, we were able to get back on our feet and show others what we were made of. and we (well, most of us) are not made of effin' plastic, just as they presumed we were. diamonds in the rough are we for we still have yet to fulfill, and hopefully exceed, our potentials. proof? just look at the grades, for instance. dean's listers, scholars and the like cling to your names, and hopefully mine too. look at the faces, and aesthetically speaking, our looks are not mediocre. it's not bragging or anything, it's just reality. i think.

of course, if i just base my judgments on these, then they would be nothing but fatuos, unsound views. what makes 44 really 44 is that we (well, most of us again) never aspire to be within the norm. we dream big, and do big. constrained thinking is not fit for us since we were not brought up that way. it's not just about the academics or the physicality of our beings, but our passion, our desire to be. we were given potentials, but potentials only. it is up for us for those potentials to be concrete, admirable skills, abilities, and talents. i am not writing this public display for others to get quirky at our pride or get irritated at the scrupulousness of the cream (since it is definitely a far cry from all that bluff), but for the 44 of us to realize how blessed we are that we are given the change to help people, change lives, and most importantly, change ourselves.

i miss most of you! be realistic. you can't miss everybody, can you?

in keeping with this, it finally hit me how powerful the art of communication is. everything around us is communication, non-verbal, displayed, or spoken it may be. a corroboration of this is the power of words. notice how three, overused words, i, love, and you, never fail to make a person cry, laugh, and feel something new. one word, die, can cut off a person's life, while another, live, can make the person hang on to what breaths he has left. notice how the power of words can greatly affect us? we do not really need the power to manipulate fire, or telekinesis, or whatever supernatural power there is, to express our feelings, because our words are powerful enough to move mountains, be it in a song, a poem, a novel, or just plain chats.

i cannot ever imagine life without communication, because i think that this is an obvious impracticality. given that we are stripped off of our speaking skills, all that we have left is our actions. the mere placing of the hands to the lips and directing it to one's wife, or the act of entwining one's arms with another and letting that person feel the warmth you've longed to share -- that still is communication, even without words. even the evergreen trees, the lanky houses, the concrete roads, the formidable paintings, the dormant mountains, and many more, they speak to us of what once was, and how that was became an is. they tell us of a past, however distant or contemporary it may be, and of its stories which behold lessons for us to decipher for the betterment of our beings.

everything we see is communication, but it is latent. i repeat, latent. communication is a two-way process, and the former i've stated are just merely one side of the argument. the other side, of course, is ourselves, and that is where the art part of is comes in. we must know, with driven passion, that the stories and experiences that these characters and figures long to impart will cease to exist if we do not listen. we should practice the art of communicating for this is the only way for us to share our knowledge with those in need, inquire about bothering philosophies, learn about new ideas, and know more about life. listening will help us know what we longed to know, and sometimes those we wish we didn't. and more importantly, with listening comes understanding, which is one of the goals of communication. if all of us knew how to understand, then as passe as it is, the world indeed, will become a better place. understanding is not a walk in the part, for it requires one to talk less and listen more. i believe in the egoistic saying that we can never be selfless, but that does not necessarily imply that we cannot be empathic.

you have a voice. use it.

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haha, la lang. walang magawa. to all the comm arts blocks (x2, x4, c3, and c5), kaya natin toh!!! kahit 1 lang ang major natin next sem, astig pa rin tayo!!! haha. :)