The Joy of Sharing at Christmas

I am always fascinated at how Christmas season sparks off that snoozing yearning to share a little of what I have to those who are in need.  And this desire pushed me to initiate a Christmas sharing activity which I intend to continue for as long as I live.

I was thinking of setting aside Two thousand  Pesos ( Php 2,000.00)for a Christmas sharing plan.  With a limited funds, I intended to share my blessings to five people only each receiving 3kilos of rice, 3 cans of sardines, 3 cans of corned beef, 3 cans of beef loaf and 3 packs of noodles.

My next problem was to identify the recipients who are supposed to be the poorest of the poor in my community.  So I decided to personally went out with the aim to pinpoint the most destitute family in my neighborhood.  Surprisingly, as I rambled around,  it was so hard for me to find only 5 recipients because there were hundreds of them begging to be included in my list.

a recipient's house

Because I wanted to reach out to as many unfortunate brothers and sisters as possible, I decided to get in touch with some of my close friends here and abroad and ask them if they too would love to share some of their blessings to a number of destitute fellows during the Christmas season .  And quite a number of them willingly agreed to donate some cash and/or goodies which prompted me to finally start off the sharing activity I have in mind.

This activity started last December of 2010.  With the help of some generous friends, we were able to distribute goodies to 80 households. The following year was a great one. In December 2011 the number of recipients almost doubled as donors also grew in number.  We distributed rice, canned goods and assorted chocolates and candies  to 120 households.

December 2010 distribution

December 2010 goodies

December 2011 goodies

 waiting for their turns

Some of the recipients

December 2011 Distribution

 Each recipients’ smile is always a picture to behold.  The beam you get to see in their faces is a reminder we are fortunate in this world.  And even more fortunate not because we have more in life but because we take responsibility to share what we have.

This year might be just  as great. We hope to come up with a larger number of recipients and donors as well.

My sincere gratitude to my partners in this activity. God knows who you are. Let’s continue to be blessings to others.

Rubbing Off Stress

The best way I combat stress is pouring most of my time re-arranging my living room. When I shift my energy on uncovering that little hidden creativity, my stress finds a detour away from me and, surprisingly I come up with a more relaxing setting for that tête-à-tête with people close to my heart.

Re-arranging doesn't mean buying additional furnishings. It simply means relocating existing pieces to create a more dramatic and intimate effect. Color harmony plays a very important factor in achieving such a goal.

You can always switch back to your old arrangement anytime you want to. In my case, I always inject a little modification to an old set-up so it won't look exactly the same.

Lighting Up My Life

Appropriate lighting conveys a very peculiar significance in every home. And since we spend most of our relaxing time in our homes, putting up that minimal touch of lights could spell a great difference.

One effective way to treat your eyes with pleasure while at home is the use of lamps. Lamps do not just loosen up our senses after a day of hectic job deadlines but offer a pleasurable way as well to treat our guests as we Filipinos are known to be fond of receiving guests very often. Ambient lighting plays a very pleasurable importance in doing up every living room where we usually spend more time with our guests and family. 

Lamps are everywhere. We just need a sense of ingenuity to find the right one for our place. One important consideration when buying a lamp is to harmonize it to your existing set-up. If your interior conveys an Asian touch, go for lamps made of indigenous materials.  

Because lamps displayed at some stores are quite costly, I decided to create pieces that would suit my need at a lesser spending. My friends who frequently drop by my place ended up buying them. So my passion started to become a little business. I might finally put up a lamp shop if sales would soar high (hehehehe) who knows...

If interested, feel free to contact me. My lamps come in  very affordable amounts.