Once Upon a Friendster

Ilang taon na din ang nakaraan simula ng mawili ako sa Friendster. Pano ba namang hindi? Sa Friendster na lang ako nakakakuha ng balita sa mga kakilala at kaibigan kong hindi ko na nakikita at malamang ay hindi ko na makikita pa muli.

O sige na nga... chismosa na ako.

Subalit sa paglipas ng panahon, medyo matagal kong nakalimutan ang Friendster. Bawal kasi ito sa mga naging opisina ko. Kahit naman dito. Kung maitatanong nyo kung paano ako nakakapag-Friendster ngayon... sabihin na lang natin na magaling kasi ang mga ka-opisina ko ngayon.

Palibhasa ay Lunes ngayon, likas na nakakatamad magbalik-trabaho pagkatapos ng dalawang araw na bakasyon. Idagdag mo pa na wala ang boss ko, at mamaya pang alas singko ang pagtitipon namin, sinubukan kong buksan ulit ang Friendster at tingnan kung ano na ba ang mga nagbago sa aking limang daan syamnapu't apat na ka-Friendsters. Ang mga ito ay ilan lamang sa aking mga napansin.

1. Sa unang tingin ay hindi ko na makilala ang karamihan sa inyo hindi dahil nag-iba ang itsura nyo kung hindi puro litrato ng sanggol ang nasa profile nyo. Matatanda na nga yata tayo dahil karamihan sa aking mga kakilala ay nagsipag-asawa at may mga anak na.

2. Sa unang tingin ay hindi ko na makilala ang iba sa inyo dahil parang nag-iba yata ang pangalan nyo. O maaring nagkaroon lang siguro kayo ng alyas. Samantalang ako, Kinder pa lang ay Janelle na. Hanggang ngayon, Janelle pa din. Apelyido lang ang nabago. Pero ok lang, pag nakita ko na ang mga litrato nyo, naaalala ko pa naman kayo.

3. Sa unang tingin ay hindi ko makilala ang iba sa inyo dahil... sa madami pang tingin, napagtanto ko na mukhang hindi ko talaga kayo kilala. Inalis ko na sa aking listahan ang mga iyon. Sa lahat ng aking limang daan syampnapu't apat na natitirang ka-Friendsters, kilala ko pa kayo lahat.

At sana ay nasa mabuti kayong kalagayan.

Yun lang po


*also posted on Friendster Blogs

The Circle of Influence

Being a constant worrier, I remember someone told me once about the Circle of Influence. This is an article I found about the subject.

ProjectSteps: The Circle of Influence and the Project Manager

Though this article discusses the Circle in terms of it's application in Project Management, I think the concept can be used in our daily lives.

Focus on Things You can Control

How Could I Have Forgotten?

I have obsessive-compulsive tendencies. And I get those tendencies at the most unusual times.

I was working on something I had to complete for work earlier when I was hit with a strong compulsion to check one of my old email accounts. It was a feeling I couldn't shake and kept bothering me until I couldn't work anymore until I did.

I created that email account in 2005, before I left my first job. The primary purpose of that account was to back up the personal emails that I wanted to save that were sent to my work email account, before it was disabled.

(Lesson learned: never, ever use your work email for personal correspondence... but I was young then and I was proud of my first work-related email account so I used it a lot to email my friendly friends back then)

I haven't opened that email account in a long time and I have long forgotten the emails and most of the people behind those emails. I decided to close that account and forward the emails I wanted to keep to my now-with-unlimited-capacity primary web email. So I started reading through them...

How could I have forgotten you?

Most of you have heard my horror stories.... the reasons that pushed me to quit my first job. Due to the poignancy of those events, I guess it was easy to overlook the small things.

The small things that kept me there for a long time, and in spite of everything that happened, made it difficult for me to leave.

It was all there in the emails I kept.

How could I have forgotten?

The small jokes and how we managed to laugh after a meeting gone bad (...really bad, I think). Small discussions with my boss who had a big part in shaping my professional values (until now, I still have his words of wisdom in my head... and I like to think I'm living them). Stories, small talk, and angst bouncing back and forth between floors when we couldn't talk out loud because we had people breathing down our necks (literally for some of us, haha).

My last few months were the most tumultous, but your old emails reminded me that there were good times. There were friends and good things worth remembering.

I remember now. And I hope I never forget again.