Source: photographyofthoughts.wordpress.com

For six years of teaching, I have been carrying my hobbies along with me. My hobbies are photography, writing, reading, listening to music, and traveling. I call them hobbies for they are not included in my job description as a teacher.

Finding a job that involves my hobbies is possible. There is a possibility to take job of a writer and photographer for a travel or music magazine. That can be so much fun! But I think that would not be my calling. I cannot leave teaching for good just because I want to pursue them. I am actually contented with the fact that I could do them whenever I please even though I could not be paid for them.

I am reminded of the reasons why I should not give up on my hobbies. Learning from my dad who is a hobbyist too, I go back to them whenever I want to. They are like places to escape to and hide in. I once wrote a blog about keeping the things that bring joy, Resonating with Walter Mitty (Not Secretly). Do not ever lose the things that bring you joy. For if you do, you'll end up looking for pieces that make up yourself. Do not sacrifice it for the sake of your job. Because once you get home and you want to relax, they are the ones you will end up doing.

This blog, I AM A-O-KAYE is actually a major example of a place wherein all my hobbies jive: writing, photography, reading, listening to music, and traveling. Whenever I travel, I usually take photos and I write about them. I also write about my experience listening to my favorite band/s. Sometimes, I write about what I've learned from a book or an event. Like many bloggers and writers, I do not earn from this. But I do not worry much about it.

Rommel Bundalian, a Fujifilm photographer stated, "Shoot not for others to like. Shoot for yourself." It's the same in writing. Write not for others to read. Write for yourself. It doesn't mean your writing has no purpose. You write because of your passion instead of your desire to catch attention or please people. Keep on writing even though your work is still amateur or no one reads your work. Everything gets better over time. It just begins with writing for the sake of your love for it.

When I was in elementary, my major hobby was writing poems and stories and drawing about them. The topics were crappy because they were mostly about love, family, and animals. Those writings would not make articles and books. But I wrote anyway. In high school, I joined the school newspaper. Though I quit the year after, I still enjoyed all activities that involved writing. On my third year, I wrote on my English workbook that I wanted to be a writer. My English teacher, who happened to be a rockstar and one of my favorites, told me that I should. I tore the paper out of the workbook and kept it. When senior year came, I signed up for Journalism which eventually led me to a spot in the Yearbook Team. Then, college was a time for me to mature in writing. I wrote about God a lot. I still wrote some crappy poems about love and school. But I think what I enjoyed most was writing about Him. I still do. Academic writing always get in the way though. Thesis it!

Writing is merely a hobby to me right now. I couldn't even call myself a good writer. But if I will have to turn it into a dream, I envision myself getting better at it and making a difference through it. Though I cannot give up teaching entirely, I think writing can still connect to teaching. They say teachers make good writers as well. We'll see.

If God wills these hobbies to turn into a career, then all I need to do is obey and use them in a larger scale for His glory.

There are beautiful stories behind the songs in Switchfoot's 10th album, Where the Light Shines Through. A few of the beautiful stories have already been shared in switchfoot.com/journal. Aside from those stories, I believe every listener also has his/her own story or reflections about the songs as well. So here I am writing how the songs spoke to me. I do not have a deep knowledge on technicality and musicality but I am a big fan of words. And words have a transformative power in a song.

I read the story behind the first track Holy Water. To me, what Jon said about it is true. Indeed, it is rock and roll in a welcome party. When I heard it for the first time, I thirsted for more. I wanted to hear the rest of the album. It is where it should be. It is a good start. "Hold the old me down. Give me the waters that could help me heal."

Float is a life dance. I was drawn to the song when I heard the story about Jon Foreman's friend who was serving the victims of ISIS and other sources of violence in Iraq. I was even more touched when they came here for an intimate concert and shot the music video in my home country, the Philippines. Amidst suffering, this is how we respond. We smile. We dance. We float. This kind of response does not entail oblivion. But it encourages us that we can rise above our hardships and be freed from them. "I'm in orbit like a jet pilot. Ain't no gravity to try to fight it. It's how we float, yeah. We ain't never coming down."

Where The Light Shines Through is one of the first songs in this album that I listened to (Thanks to the preorder releases). This title track was the demo version of the song. It sounds amazing! It shows what they can offer as a band---talent, passion, music, scars, and all. I am even more awed by the message of the song. A scarred state is an ugly state. But in this song, it makes us see our scars as dark stars. It is a reminder to expose those callused parts of us and let the light shines through them. "Ain't we all just Abraham's sons? Saint and sinner with the song and drum? And falling on our knees, we all bleed the same. And the only tattoos that I have are scars. I got your name written on my heart. And the story that brought us here ain't the thing I'd change, no." This song is the core of the album.

I Won't Let You Go is a love song. This speaks about the doubts and fears that surface between two lives or between a person and God. But aside from those doubts and fears, it also speaks about trust and hope in each other. It is promising. "There ain't no darkness strong enough that could tear you out from my heart. There ain't no strength that's strong enough that could tear this love apart. Never gonna let you go. No I won't let you go."

If The House Burns Down Tonight is an ignition. It starts with a mellow voice from Jon, carries the band into an upbeat motion, and explodes into fire. The message is simple: "Ashes from the flames, the truth is what remains." 

The Day That I Found God is an entry to a diary. It is pure and honest. It is something that is first written and sung in a quiet, secluded place. When I listened to it, it made me look around in my room where I had encountered God a million times. It illustrates the times of wrestling and losing the fight but ending up finding God in the process. "And all I know is that I still don't know a lot. I don't know how it ends I'm in the middle of this plot. Yeah and I found grace for the man that I am not."

Heart and start are two words echoing in Shake This Feeling. In times when everything is falling apart, the heart gets broken. Then there is always that desire to start all over again. It is not easy to shake off that feeling. This is why I feel like this song is a desperate wish. "We both started with a broken heart. Admit there's a problem that's a start. And I want to start healing, healing."

The first thing I noticed about Bull In A China Shop is its striking title. It is the funkiest song in the album. At first, it does not make sense to me. What is a bull doing in a China Shop? But then, I remember the cries of the youth. "I want peace and all I got's this war. I want wings and all I got's this floor. I want a shot of what I'm aiming for. Coming in hot but they block this door. So bring me the music for the revolution. I'm singing for more than just a dead solution." I may be wrong. I may still be a bull.

Live It Well is a life mantra. If I can put it on my face everyday to inspire people, I will. "Life is short. I want to live it well. I got one life and one love. I got one voice. But maybe that's enough. 'Cause with one heartbeat and two hands to give. I got one shot. One life to live."

Looking For America is a wake-up call. I am not a U.S. citizen nor am I an American, yet I get the message. America needs plenty change. Switchfoot is sending a distinct message across its people: "America, who are you? Is God still on your side? I want to see a nation rise above the fear and fight that haunts these streets tonight." I feel like throwing this question as well, "Philippines, who are you?"

Healer of Souls is an invitation to home. "We're going down the road gonna find your place at the healer of souls. We're gonna watch these scars just fade away, we're gonna make it home." It tells us that we desire something. But we are all running from our problems. We are limping down the road. We cannot make it home without the Healer of Souls.

Hope Is The Anthem is THE anthem. It is uplifting and it exposes the words of the soul. It asks us to ruminate. Who is your heartbeat? Who is your oxygen? Who is your banner, your home? Who is your future, your song? Where do you get hope? We must find out for whom our hearts beat and identify where our hopes are anchored on. In dark times, who/what is the source of our hopes? "My heart is beating like a blown speaker. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weaker. A distortion pedal and a pair of wings. And an anthem played on broken strings." It discloses the message of the whole album. Hope is the anthem of our souls.

The three bonus tracks were equally as good as the 12 tracks in this album.

I first heard Light And Heavy from an acoustic session of Jon Foreman online a few years ago. It is a weighty song. It comes out raw and personal. "On my pilgrimage, I'm traveling light with a heavy heart." To me, the light and dark moments in life are inevitable. But we do not stop looking for answers. We still hope.

Begin Forever is a reminder to go for our dreams. "It's never too late to try. It's never too late to finally find a way to make it right. " This song makes me smile. (:

When Was The Last Time is an intriguing question. This chorus says it all:"When was the last time that you felt alive? Singing when was the last time that you tried something for the first time? And let go."

Like any Switchfoot album, the songs deliver words of truth and encouragement amidst tough times. The problems of the people in our world do not change. They are the same issues that take up many forms year after year. To be able to sing about these issues is a strength of the band. Every song invites us to heal, to dream, to fight, to seek, and to hope in this broken world.

We may not have the same thoughts on this album. But we may have to agree that this band have tasted the dark and the light. The songs of hope that they sing every night are evidences of these. This new album is for every person who have gone through or is going through the same. 

The Logitech speakers that I won from the Vice Verses Twitter Contest (2011) is still alive. It launched WTLST with an amazing sound.