Health – Gleniz Da Menace

Nowadays, sobrang nagbi-binge ako sa anything art related na makita ko sa IG and Youtube. Tapos nagsupport pa ko ng mga artists sa Patreon. Nagiisip nga ako kung gagawa ba ko ng creator account sa Patreon pero for sure naman walang magiging interesado. And isa pa, wala naman akong maisip na content na worthy ng money nila. Btw, Patreon is a platform to support artists by subscribing to their paid content. And actually kung tutuusin affordable lang sya kasi may iba-ibang tiers. As low as $1, magkaka-aaccess ka dun sa ibang content. Pero the higher the tier, syempre mas valuable yung maa-access mo.

So currently, andun ako sa $10 tier ni Samantha Mash and Sara Faber tapos nasa $5 tier ako ni Janice Sung. Sila yung mga idols ko ngayon at kino-consume ko yung past posts nila simula nung nag-start sila ng Patreon nila. And meron ding artist like si Samantha Mash, may sticker freebies na exclusive lang sa “patrons” nya. So patrons yung tawag saming mga supporters.

Kaya ako na-engganyo magsubscribe kasi yung paid and exclusive content nila, merong thorough tutorials ng illustration process nila. And sobrang curious ako dun. At meron pang business related tips and advice. So yun yung mga kailangan ko ngayon dahil wala akong ibang source of info. And dito sa platform na to, sobrang generous talaga nila sa information.

Si Sara Faber yung bini-binge ko ang content ngayon. More than a year na kasi syang nasa Patreon and sobrang dami na nyang na-produce na content. May blogs, vlogs, tutorials, step by step process, weekly updates, ang dami talaga. And meron na syang 1k+ patrons. Ang galing nya and parang super sweet and bait nya. Worth it yung money. So yun lang halos yung ginawa ko maghapon.

I’m happy dito sa latest creation ko. Mas gusto ko sya kesa dun sa huli. The colors, shadows and highlights mukang nag-improve naman. Kaso sobrang ngalay yung kamay at braso ko kaya pahinga muna ngayon. 8 hours yung total tracked time so sana sa next mas bumilis ako. Kasi kung commission to, mga USD200+ siguro isisingil ko dito. And hindi ganun kasulit yung 8 hours sa $200 ngayong nandito na kami sa Canada. Kung sa Pinas ang laking pera na ng $200 pero iba ang cost of living dito so sana mas gumaling pa yung skills ko para mas bumilis ako. And to give context, meron kaming grocery shopping (lalo na pag sa Asian store) na ang total babayaran namin nasa $150. Tapos hindi naman ako bumibili ng mga kung ano-ano. Sakto lang. So yung $200 parang ang liit na para sakin. Eh kung sa Pinas yun tapos icoconvert eh di around 10k pesos. Aba mga sampung groceries na yun! Oh well. Lagi na lang ako sinasabihan ng mga tao na “Wag ka kasing magcoconvert!” Ay sa hindi ko mapigilan.

Ay. Naalala ko. Hindi dumating yung package ko. Ngayon dapat yun dadating ba’t kaya hindi dumating. Umorder kasi ako ng backing cards para sa shipping ng stickers ko. Excited pa naman akong makita. Umorder din ako ng stickers ni Samantha Mash hindi pa dumadating. Shipped from US kaya siguro medyo matagal. Sana bukas dumating na.

Ok yun lang. Back to binging na ko. Nasa January 2019 na ko ng posts ni Sara so medyo madami pa. Bukas try ko mag-drawing ulit. Medyo wala din kasi ako sa mood ngayon. Tapos sumakit pa yung dibdib ko kanina hindi ko alam kung bakit. Basta may mga episodes akong ganito na bigla na lang kikirot tapos mawawala after a few minutes. Medyo nakakatakot nga baka heart problem kasi may mga times din na basta parang may naffeel ako sa pagtibok ng puso ko (arrhythmia) tapos bigla akong mahihilo and mahihirapan huminga. Hays ano nanaman kaya to. Kailangan ko nanaman i-remind ang sarili kong mag-healthy living.

UPDATE:

Still reading through Sara Faber’s blog posts and it’s making me feel bad kasi ang problema nya eh sobra syang overworked. Na sobrang stressed sya kasi ang dami nyang nagagawa sa buong araw and mentally drained na sya. Tapos ako naman ang problema ko feeling ko ang chill ko naman masyado. Na parang napasobra naman yung pagrerelax and destress ko. Ewan ko. Actually hindi talaga yun ang feeling ko (gulo), feeling ko ang busy busy ko everyday pero kung ibabase ko yung pagka-busy ko sa napproduce kong art, unproductive ako. Pero kung i-eevaluate ko yung araw ko, hindi nga ako masyado nakakapanood ng Netflix. As in parang twice or thrice a week lang. Pero ang takaw ko sa IG at Messenger. Hindi lang talaga siguro ako magaling sa time management. Subukan ko nga gumawa ulit ng schedule.

Art Day Fun Day + I’ll Be Careful on October 2020

I originally wanted to study Interior Design (Accountancy being the runner up) but ended up studying Nursing to grant my family’s wishes. I can’t study Interior Design anyway since I already made up my mind that I won’t study in Manila because of my then boyfriend (LDR issues). Love can really be limiting sometimes. I took up nursing to please my parents but mainly to challenge myself because they all said that Nursing is a very difficult course. I wanted to prove to them that I can do it and that I can easily pass the board exam (puro yabang). And pass I did. But who am I kidding, really. Joke’s on me because I could have studied something that I really wanted but I ended up studying something else.

Even if being a nurse delayed my plans to pursue my true love (being artsy and creative), I didn’t regret it. I didn’t regret the people that I met and the experience of working in a hospital. But I promised myself that that would be the last time I will listen to other people on what I should and shouldn’t do; the last time that I will let my ego take the best of me just to prove to other people that I can do this and that, even if those things doesn’t really interest me.

That’s a long intro. I just wanted to share what happened last week. 😄 I attended a free workshop from Valerie Chua (one of my inspirations) called Essential Watercolor Tricks. I felt so lucky to be a part of that workshop. She’s really good in explaining the step by step process, plus I like that she’s kind of “kalog” as well which made her less intimidating. Then I was able to meet Abbey Sy too (another inspo)! It was a great event and I received a lot of freebies. Hihi. But the main highlight is really being able to meet Valerie and learning from her. She even replied to my IG story thanking me for being there at the event. *kilig* Okay, that’s enough fan girling.

So after that event in Shang, we (Kenneth) went straight to Burgos Circle to attend another workshop (not free). It’s about brush calligraphy this time and it’s with Paolo Tugano. We (Dyn) were able to learn a different font (he corrected me and said that the correct term is letter form, not font). One activity that I suggested is I’ll write a quote using my own style and layout then he’ll rewrite it using his own style. Here’s his creation:

My favorite quote at the moment

He was so good. I didn’t even bother to take a picture of what I did. 😅 But Art Day Fun Day didn’t stop there. Out last stop is at BGC Art Mart to checkout some handmade goodies. Booths lined up with artists selling their creations (shirts, toys, paintings, etc.). I bought some cute washi tapes for my journal.

Something else happened. Right in the middle of my watercolor workshop, I felt this stinging pain in my right upper abdomen. I just kept ignoring it because I’m having a hard time focusing on what Valerie is trying to teach us. I figured I was just hungry because the only thing I ate is a hotdog and a bite of brownie and it’s already 4PM. I asked Kenneth to buy me shawarma. I didn’t wait until the end of the workshop to eat it, thinking that food will relieve the pain. We came home at around 9PM and the pain is still there. Before sleeping, I rubbed some Vicks (naturally 😂) on my belly and tried to sleep the pain away. When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I noticed is that the pain is still there. I’m beginning to worry because I’ve never experience this before. I knew something was wrong.

I asked Kenneth to bring me to the ER so I can have an ultrasound and get this thing diagnosed. Turns out, I have calculus gallbladder (stones in my gallbladder). Another surgery? Please, not again! I underwent bilateral oophorecystectomy (December 2016) and open appendectomy (April 2015) already. Please please I don’t want another surgery. But unfortunately, I have no other choice. The only treatment for gall stones is to remove my gallbladder. I felt really sad and started to pity myself. I was like, “Ang weak ko. Feeling ko mabilis akong mamamatay kase andaming aberya ng katawan ko, kung ano-anong tumutubo sa loob.” But talking to Arien turned out to be therapeutic. She told a story about their 90-year old patient who underwent a lot of surgeries in her lifetime. The patient even joked, “Wala na nga akong lamang loob.” That made me chuckle and made me feel a bit better. I’m planning to have the surgery done on January next year. Hays.

I also discovered something really weird. I checked out the “On This Day” section of my Facebook and I saw that:

Oct 22, 2011 – I discovered that I needed to wear eyeglasses. Okay sure, no biggie. But I still find it a hassle wearing glasses.
Oct 22, 2014 – I posted a photo of myself showing my stitched wound that I got from a snatcher’s knife. Still the most traumatizing thing that ever happened to me.
Oct 22, 2017 – Yesterday. The day I found out that I need another surgery. Grrr!

These dates are exactly 3 years apart. I’m beginning to think what will happen to me on October 2020. This coincidence is so weird and scary!