Small Comforts

How small comforts encountered while working from home lightened my week.

They say it's best to choose a space inside our homes where you can work beside a window. Working beside a window allows us to look out from inside; we can see the sunlight peering through, the trees swaying along to the breeze, and the shadows of leaves playing on the walls. These are small details, but can be a source of comfort and inspiration we didn't know we needed.

Looking out from our window allows our eyes and minds to wander, to appreciate and think about how our surroundings were beautifully designed by God. Seeing green can be relaxing, as we associate it with other meanings. For me I would think of the words silent, living, growing. Genuine beauty after all is simply there, it never demands to be seen or heard. Less talk, more green as I always say.

One time, as I was speaking with my counterpart through a videoconference call, I couldn't help but shift my attention towards my window, as I could hear the cheerful and playful chirping of birds.

"Are those birds?", she asked out of curiosity. "Yes, they are, you can hear it from your side?", I asked, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, totally!", she responded. We both laughed. I used to stress out so much about extra noise for whenever I'm part of an ongoing videoconference, but nothing needs to be perfect now, does it?

My conversations nowadays no longer revolve solely around the work that has to be done. I can say that I've gotten to know my colleagues even better now, as we collectively live through the same uncertain time. We now talk more about how life is, how we're really doing, and in that one instance we found that small comfort of hearing the birds chirp outside my window.

It suddenly dawned on me that I might not get the same experience as for when I'm working back inside our office, in a tall glass building at the center of Makati City where I wish for there to be more greens. Nonetheless, I'm going to enjoy hearing the birds outside my window, and it's one thing I look forward to for as long as we continue with this work from home setting.

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Another small comfort would be that in our daily team huddles, our team leads would usually ask us the question for the day. One of these questions were, what do you consider to be your small win for the week? It took a while for any of us to answer, as it seemed like we were all trying our best to recall an instance when we had a win, or what exactly were considered to be wins, anyway?

It made me realize that such wins will always be subjective, and especially during this time, I think we're all winning in our own small ways. I think we include the word "small" because it's personal and meaningful to each of us, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's insignificant.

Once someone got to share theirs, the ball just kept rolling; everyone eventually got enthusiastic with sharing about their small wins for the week, whether about work or life. In a way, it was a small comfort to be celebrating with everyone albeit virtually.

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Allow me to share yet another small comfort to close this entry. My creative friend, Sab invited me to join a virtual open mic via Zoom on Friday. To briefly describe it, it's a safe space where creatives can gather and share about their works. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but Sab just asked if it would be alright if I would share about my paintings. Without giving it so much thought, I agreed.

Friday night came, and I went in without expectations. Joining in the call, I was greeted by a bunch of strangers; Sab was the only person I knew. I was a bunch of nerves at first, but when the first set came, a guy playing guitar and singing an original song he wrote, I began feeling more relaxed and thought that this probably wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Then came in even more sets of people simply singing, playing instruments, reciting poems, and sharing about their inspiration and reasons to write such songs. Lots of people were on the chatbox simply cheering on the person who was sharing/performing.

It didn't take me too long to realize that the sharing of raw human emotions really connects us even if we are in a room full of strangers. It was a night filled with just appreciation and support.

The time came for me to share my paintings, and I told them that unlike most of them, I didn't really have any backstories for what I paint, though for what I know, I paint because it relaxes me. I paint whenever I have a lot of thoughts in my head, not because it solves my problems, but rather it helps me come to terms with them. I shared more about why I paint here. It's important after all to know why we do the things we do, and it was lovely hearing from all the people I met from that night.

In closing, I want to share with you all this song Sab sang for us. More than a love song, it's a reminder for us that it's okay to stay still for a while wherever we are.

Sabrina Manansala · Dito Na Lang Muna

It's written and beautifully sung in Tagalog; certainly a calm and relaxing listen. It's about slowing down and letting time deal with our emotions, asking for some time to rest until we naturally come to accept how things are now at the present. In my own words, if I were to give it an English title, I'd say it can either be: Let's Stay Here for A While or Here For Now. To my fellow Filipinos, what do you think? :") --- Dear reader, can you share me with your small comforts from the week that passed?  I hope you're doing well, let's look out for our small comforting moments in this coming week, and be grateful for every day we are blessed with.  --- I've opened up my newsletter last week and you can sign up here, I'd love to see you on my list ♡♡♡ Follow