No secret remains hidden forever, even the unknown Mt. Secret reveals itself to us. And now that I conquered the heights of Mt. Secret, I believe it will strike its popularity among tourists around the world anytime soon.
The first question that came into mind after hearing the name of our next target mountain to climb is why it was named like that and the same question also came out from my friends when we were already having a conversation with the organizer of the joined tour. As far as I could remember we did not receive a satisfactory answer. The organizer just mentioned that it was named by the locals or by the proprietor of the land where the mountain was situated.
Mt. Secret barely stands at San Rafael, Bulacan. It is not the usual mountain we draw on a piece of paper with a perfect cone shape. It is rocky and even has sharp surfaces. I can compare its shape to the Nagpatong Rock in Quezon. They both have the same texture and somewhat similar shape, but Mt. Secret is smaller than Nagpatong Rock.
It is also coined as The Hidden Mountain of Bulacan, and I still wonder why oh why. I failed to ask the locals as I was busy tending myself from the heat and enjoying the journey with my sister, friends, and other joiners of the tour. I thought it was named like that because it is private property or it was only discovered recently and unconsciously kept hidden from the locals and tourists coming from the different parts of the world.
It was a short hike and the easiest mountain climbing ever since I experienced the thrill and joy of hiking in the year 2018. In the darkness and cold air of the dawn, the organizer told everyone during the orientation that the mountain's height was 300 MSL something and perfect for beginners. It was a relief on my part since it was my sister's first time climbing a mountain.
There were boulders and small rocks of Marmol on our way to the mountain itself. Most of the self-imposed photoshoot began in that area. It appeared that mining occurred somewhere near the mountain and we were not wrong. We could hear explosions when we were already on the other top of Mt. Secret where we climbed through via rappelling, and one of the coordinators and other guides of the tour did not keep it a secret to us that quarrying and mining were actually transpiring at that very moment.
The place appeared to be dry and on the verge of drought, but there was still a remnant of beauty in spite of the dryness. I was able to capture a picture of a flower I usually encounter from the other mountains I had been and the only tinge of color on the vast space of greens, browns, grey, and white. It is only my observation and maybe already a hush-hush among the tourists and the locals. It is like an open secret to everyone who arrived and captured the remnant beauty of Mt. Secret.
Mt. Secret, the Hidden Mountain of Bulacan, will bare it all to you, the good and its bad sides, the danger and the protection it can provide. All of it, nothing is hidden in the Mt. Secret.
to be continued...
Photos credit to Arra A.
There is a season for everything. There is a reason for everything. And all things happen for a purpose.
Before the day ends, she wonders if her life has any purpose, if she is living the life meaningful. She almost cries tonight with a thought of self-pity and insecurities of growing old alone and lonely. She does not want to blame others, it is her choice not to be in a relationship, and to wait patiently for God's best.
Sometimes she has wild thoughts and plans to make "walwal", to get drunk and run wild. She has this worldly idea that maybe just like others, she needs to go with the flow of this temporal world, to conform to ways of the world, so she can finally find the one.
Sometimes she wonders why people obsessed with being married and having children. Like it is the ultimate goal of life. Like it is a demise if someone would end up alone, unmarried, and without children or even a child.
"You complete me." How much she wishes to say those words to the one. But is it right to tell that to the other person? He might feel the burden and end up destroying her instead of completing her. Remember that humans are limited. The limitations sometimes prevent them to do what they want when they want. Sometimes the things they do not want to do, they do.
Humans are strange creatures, weird even, but they are beautiful. Created in the image of God, they are more than just a replica, they have Spirit, free will, and a purpose. They are not just for display. They live for a reason in every season.
She feels uneasy, though she knows the truth. The truth about her identity. She is more than just a girlfriend material or a wife material or a mother material. She is so much more than the label society gives to clueless human beings. She knows her identity and it is in Christ, a child of God. Forgiven. Saved. Adopted.
The world will never stop telling her lies about her identity. There are times she would believe them, but there are also times she steps on and crushes them under her feet. A victor against the lies of the enemy.
It gets melancholic sometimes yet she knows it is just temporary, that all things shall pass. The joy and the pain in the waiting season will surely come to pass and catapult her to the plans God has for her.
She is getting sleepy from all these thoughts inside her mind. She is an intelligent woman and always seeks Wisdom from God. Life will be good to her, as she journeys and becomes a woman of God, a woman of value, a woman of faith.
Tomorrow will take care of itself. She sleeps safe and sound holding firmly the truth in her heart.
"Life is good because He is good." She thought to herself as she let sleep dwell on her.
To be continued...
Everyone can be creative so says the author, Merlee Cruz-Jayme, of the same title of the book. I had this narrowed understanding of creativity in the field of fine arts. I thought being creative is just for people who have talent in drawing and putting color on the blank canvas, that one should produce a painting to be called creative. Thankfully, my limited understanding of creativity came to an end when I was catapulted to the grown-ups world. As an adult, I discovered that being creative could not be boxed within the corners of a frame of the world's most famous painting.
The author, Merlee Cruz-Jayme, put it simply that everyone can be creative in their very own way. Life has offered everything to us to think outside the box, or even inside the box to find the talent of creativity within us. For sure, it will not be an easy journey finding your own creativity, but life has its ways to always take you back and keep you on track. The simplest thing within our reach can be a catalyst of creativity. Jayme's experience as an ex-nun definitely helped her in fortifying her creativity and it served her well in choosing a career in the field of advertisement. But we do not have to enter a convent and be an ex-nun, so we can find our creativity and a career. We have our own moments of realization and sometimes it takes patience, discipline, and fervent prayer to find what we are looking for.
The book, Everyone Can Be Creative, is a good companion in discovering and rediscovering the creativity within you that may be hidden or just stuck in the corner covered with dust. This book will definitely take you on a step by step journey in claiming back the passion of creativity you may have lost in the process of organizing and fixing your life. It is never too late to get back on track to living a creative life. Be bold and be you.
But first, do not forget to pray and ask for guidance in the new chapter of your life in finding and honing the gift of creativity from above, from the One who makes everything possible, from the source of creativity, the Creator of all things in heavens and in the earth. Get ready and fight a good fight and let your creativity shine like it has never before.
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