Alone is not the Same as Feeling Lonely

There's this wonderful scene in All You Need is Pag-Ibig where Kris Aquino's character talks to that of Derek Ramsay. I wasn't able to catch the script perfectly, but her character says something like "Being single is not the problem, it's being alone" - which I think should be changed to "Being single is not the problem, it's the times when you feel lonely that sucks".

I think being alone is not the same as being lonely. There's a huge difference!

The truth is, I have seen many married people who are very lonely. That's an even bigger tragedy because they are not alone, but they are lonely. But that's a topic for another essay.

I haven't had any problems about being alone. I love being alone. It's a truth about me that I learned about myself when I was 13 years old. Even now that I'm much much older, I don't have problems about traveling alone, or eating alone or doing things on my own.

It doesn't mean I don't love being with my friends, it just means, I need my 'alone' time, when I can just be with me and my thoughts and me and my own 'devices' - immersing in my own world. I actually find myself a very good companion.

I think I can just count myself lucky that I rarely feel lonely. Maybe because I have many siblings and so many friends din. Or maybe because I have too many hobbies to take up my time. And it's always good to make friends with as many boys (or girls for that matter) para just in case you need booty, di gawa na ng booty call....asus, wallowing in loneliness is for losers......

Revisiting Melchor Hall in UP Diliman circa 1960s

To my friends here who took Eng'g in UP, here was how Melchor Hall looked like in the 1960s!  It still looks the same up to now!!  This building had been the site of too much suffering in my case and trauma - and so much joy and achievement as well!!  I never had any middling experiences in this college - it was either ecstacy or agony - and nothing in between!!  

There are days when I felt so privileged to be accepted here - there are days when I wish I could've accepted the Ateneo scholarship - schoolmates ko sana si Kris Aquino and Lea Salonga (yes, we also passed UP and Ateneo same year - and our birthdays are magkasunod - hanggang duon lang ang similarities though haha!!).  But definitely, this place taught me a lot of things which I now find very useful in my life - and the irony is - they have nothing to do with engineering!!