FOR a while, National Book Store seemed on the verge of closing shop after the pandemic lockdowns. Customers were commenting on merchandise that was displayed haphazardly, causing an ambience that wasn’t soothing to the bones. Somehow its loyal fans also understood the reason behind the chaos: lesser staff meant focusing only on the most essential details. They continued to support the store amidst the chaos, thus helping it survive.
Bookworms are most especially affected when such stores close shop since aside from collecting books, they also collect stationery, such as pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, notepads, pencil cases, desk organizers, stickers, journals, washi tape, sticky notes, etc.
I have a drawer filled with notebooks. I’m thinking of writing in them my favorite quotes from books, columns, and pieces. Yeah, right. But they’ve remained empty for several months now. Will I finally stop buying notebooks? That’s the question.
When I was sweet sixteen, I used to collect pens, pencils, erasers, and stationery paper. National Book Store, Gift Gate, and Papemelroti were my fave stores then.
That’s why after college, I wanted to put up a bookstore like NBS. But I ended up with an auto spare parts store instead, which made more than ten years of my life so dark. Whew.
Your passion can be your lifetime work. But if the passion doesn’t pay the bills, a day job is a must. That day job can be torture or heaven, depending on which side of the coin you’re on.
I do give unsolicited advice to people who are about to quit — that they should stay above the noise and focus on their goals. Because it’s all noise — the blah blah blah from the boss, the blah blah blah from the boss’s boss, the blah blah blah from the bosses above them. And there you are, the pitiful rank-and-file absorbing all that noise. Humility is a virtue, though, and that’s how you’ll win.
Each decision is a calculated risk. But the universe does knock loudly until you start listening to it. The universe can be kulit and will bring you to the place that’s meant for you even if your first instinct is to say no. That’s why love at first sight is tricky. Your first instinct is to say yes, only to realize later that it should have been no.
Love at second sight, third sight, fourth sight, even the nth sight may last longer. If only he’d left his letter for you — handwritten on yellow pad paper — with you. But he took it away and tore it into pieces. There goes the love at nth sight.
Yep, your most treasured love letter wasn’t even written on nice stationery paper. It was on a yellow pad. Filled with “Feelings/Nothing more than feelings.” Proving it’s the feelings that count, not the paper they’re written on.
But if you’re collecting stationery paper, do use them for your scrapbook, handwritten letters, gift tags — because paper turns brown once it has reached a certain age. It’d be such a waste if the paper’s beauty is for your eyes only, and it’s hidden inside boxes and envelopes.
