The Random Bibliophile

by Renee Alexis

Renee Alexis
20-something Filipina, an introvert who loves young adult fiction, brush pens, Taylor Swift, and BTS. Coffee runs in my bloodstream.

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2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Renee Alexis has read 0 books toward her goal of 30 books.
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Take the time to slow down and smell the flowers

Take the time to slow down and smell the flowers



[Start of Transcript]

Take the time to slow down and smell the flowers. I have heard and read this passage so many times in my life and I have always reminded myself that it’s okay to slow down and take a break sometimes.

In this fast-paced world we now live in, it's normal to have everything in an instant. Instant food. Instant drinks. Automatic washing machines to do the laundry instantly. Instant info of any kind thru google. Just a few clicks and voila—you can have all the answers you need because the internet is stocked with a plethora of knowledge available to the public. Instant payments online. Everything — or at least almost everything—can be done in an instant. That’s the life that we have been striving to have, to move on from the tedious things and have the conveniences that first-world countries have.

It's great actually and I love how these conveniences are made possible for us to focus more on the more important things.

I was riding the ferry a month ago. I went to the city for an errand and on the ride home. I was just looking at my phone, playing a game and just waiting for the ferry to arrive and bring me home. I got bored with the game and when I looked around me, all the people were doing their own thing like me. Some were also on their phone, some were sleeping, some were talking, and some were looking at the sea, soaking in the view before returning to their hustle.

When I think about it, the ferry ride was a chance to refresh the eyes, a chance to think and mull things over, and also a chance to reflect on things you want to reflect on. And I almost missed it because I was so into my phone. This screen of only 6 inches managed to suck up all my attention and made me forget that there are other things I can do than just scroll down and look and read stuff.

I’ve always thought that I would live my life consciously, that I would have already figured out a balance to things but then sometimes, I get sidetracked and distracted. Things like work and hobbies and social media just take all of my time and at that moment in the barge, as I looked up from my phone, I realized that I need to learn how to take things slow. I need to learn how to just be in the moment, without minding any distractions and just soak in what was happening around me.

It was a moment of epiphany. A fluttering sensation. And I just thought I’d share one of my scattered thoughts here. What do you think? Do you also have these moments of realizations where you just sit and ponder about something that suddenly came to your mind? Or am I the only one?

[End of Transcript]

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