If there is one book I wish I had written, it would be Circe. Its writing is breathtakingly poetic and beautiful. Every page feels like a spell softly whispered. The storytelling is phenomenal, unfolding with such grace that it quietly pulls you deeper into its world.

The book portrays loneliness and solitude in a way that feels painfully intimate and achingly familiar. I especially loved how it painted the aesthetics of witchcraft, the island, and the woods: wild, quiet, and hauntingly beautiful.

What struck me most is how Circe portrays motherhood with such raw honesty, without romanticizing or sugarcoating its struggles. It felt painfully real and deeply relatable.

Circe, to me, is the epitome of womanhood - full of love, longing, tenderness, and female rage. Though a goddess, she feels profoundly human in her emotional needs, loneliness, mistakes, and moral struggles. She loves deeply, suffers deeply, and at times does terrible things when cornered by circumstance, yet her conscience always finds its way back to her.

One thing Circe made me realize is how women have always had to fight to prove our worth and intelligence, only to still be dismissed by men driven by ego and power. Circe’s story shows how women can be powerful, wise, and precious, yet still be underestimated.

Circe is definitely my favorite book of 2026 thus far.

Hello, dear old blog! It's been a while. This is me saying I'm still alive. I'm still here. I'm still striving.

It's been nine months since I left my family and my pug babies - my home in a little town in the Philippines called GenSan. A lot has happened and things have changed. Friends forget, culture shock, loneliness, appreciating the little things, etc. My life right now in Kuwait is the total opposite of my life in GenSan where I hustle hard, working from 8-5 during weekdays and a pile of bring-home paperwork to do on night time, having coffee with my parents on afternoons while having conversation about anything and everything, pug cuddles, constant coffee dates with friends, and gardening in what we call our "secret garden". Yes I was a plantita.

Before I came here, aside from being too ecstatic to be finally with Ali, my mind was busy making plans, I was excited even. I said to myself, I'll finally have time to do the things I've been longing to do like painting, writing and journaling, reading tons of books, the possibilities are endless. But the only thing came into reality was journaling, not the "writing". My journal just contains to-do lists, things happened in a day and a few thoughts and musings. Nothing deep nor poetic. I do almost the same things every day except for the weekend dates with Ali. 

I just applied for a one year vacation leave, there were times that I'd ask myself what if I'll resign and be with Ali here in Kuwait for good? But God, or the universe or fate or whoever is out there made that decision for me. I lost my job last December 2021. Of course I cried, I was in deep depression. I loved my job even though the salary doesn't justify the workload that teachers have, I didn't mind spending my own money fixing and decorating my classroom, and I love teaching and inspiring kids. I know at the back of my mind, there will be time that I have to leave but the way it happened in December was painful. DepEd has kicked me down the cliff. And now that I'm unemployed, jobless, and most of all penniless... What now? 

I am a fulltime housewife now. More than half of me loves being one for I love taking care of Ali but a part of me is heartbroken for I can't be that proud strong independent woman anymore. I have a lot of time to think and overthink now, sometimes it causes me depression. There are days when I can't pull myself out of bed and tears keep falling from my eyes. There are also days where I feel numb and empty. I still take meds, and thank God meds are free here in Kuwait. 

For now I'm still trying to adjust, trying to be a better human being, to find solace in loneliness, to find my place in a foreign country that I must learn to call my second home. 

For now I just have to trust that things are right where they should be. They always are.

I hope in my return to this tiny space, I'll be that person I'd hoped and prayed for.