beam me up, hottie

I dreamed that the world was flooding. Some areas were wiped out by water and others by sand. People ran from all directions, fleeing the flood. RD had already escaped and was calling us from 'the other side.' He told his family and me to go up to the highest level of the Centre Point Tower, where he would rescue us. We got into the glass elevator and saw people drowning below us. The water, now turned into a speeding train, circled the tower and eventually crashed into it. Glass shattered and the lift exploded, throwing us into a deep pool - imagine falling into the ocean with dead bodies in it, like in the last scene of Titanic. All of a sudden, we were beamed up and landed in a room that looked like the Star Trek ship.

It was terrifying watching everyone trip over each other, trying to run away from the flood, and seeing people drown from the glass elevator. It looked and felt so real!

his smile

Smiles. Warm, genuine smiles.

Nothing beats the flash of pearly whites. It's like when a flashbulb from a camera brightens up a dark place before a photo is taken.

I haven't seen that smile in 5 days.

Another 16 days to go.

bad haircut

RD and I usually spend Saturdays together, but he was off all day getting his diving certification, leaving me wondering what to do with myself. Normally, I'm not this attached to my boyfriend, but it was one of those days.

So, I took my 5-year-old cousin Alex to my friend's shop opening, then we wandered around until I decided to get a haircut. I often cut my hair out of sheer boredom. Feeling particularly nonchalant this afternoon, I told the hairdresser to do whatever she thought best. Big mistake. Now I have more layers than a wedding cake, and it looks almost like a mullet.

We've all had that salon experience where we leave feeling less than fabulous. I remember being 8 years old when my mother forced me to get a haircut. I squirmed and cried as the stylist snipped away. I made such an impression that, 18 years later, the hairdresser still tells me that story whenever I see her.

I’m starting to understand why my dog, Chino, hates haircuts. He never gets a say in the length and always ends up sulking for hours afterward. His first haircut was a disaster. When I picked him up, my fluffy puppy looked like a drowned rat. I wanted to cry but held it together for his sake. I kept repeating his name to make sure he was really mine. His face looked ridiculous, with his big nose even more noticeable. He literally looked pathetic. When we got home, he ran under the bed and refused to come out until dinner. I think he was too embarrassed to face Sox and the other neighbourhood dogs. OK, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but still.

Maybe I should hang out with Chino for the rest of the day, because at least he could relate and sympathise with me.

If anyone wants me, I'll be under the bed.

beauty is only skin deep

Being a lady, I was taught to take care of my skin, but being lazy, I neglected this duty until recently. I didn't know the difference between cleansing and toning; I thought washing my face with water was good enough. It turns out there is a lot you can do to maintain your skin and other features of your body.

Over the past decades, there has been significant growth in the variety of beauty products and treatments. These range from anti-wrinkle creams to exercise equipment and health resorts. Where once only the rich and famous could afford the luxury of masseurs and the occasional weekend at a day spa, it has now become common practice for many more to take advantage of these services.

Despite the claims of advertisements and marketing campaigns, the truth is that people still age and die. The aging process is inevitable, yet most of us deny it by finding ways to keep ourselves young, fresh, and vibrant. Perhaps there is nothing wrong with maintaining our looks or wanting the sustainability of youth when we're in our late fifties or early sixties. However, we need to question our priorities - is it that important to have an outer shell that masks the truth that the inner self has indeed aged?

Have we become so worried about superficial appearance that we are no longer concerned with the inner self? Are we obsessed with making impressions through visual indicators rather than by how we relate to each other and the values that underpin our character?

Jesus didn't judge a person's outward appearance; he looked beyond that and cared about their inner being, the ideals, and beliefs that drove them. A physically attractive person isn't necessarily beautiful if they are driven by selfish greed and egotism. Jesus warns us about the deception of exterior appearances and reminds us to concentrate on people's actions, which demonstrate their true character and motivations. 

In talking about the teachers of law at the time, Jesus wrote:

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." Matthew 23: 25-28

If anyone ever told you that Christianity is a walk in the park, a bed of roses, or an easy and fun lifestyle, they were lying to you. Yes, it has its perks, and yes, we have the joy of the Lord, but sometimes it's tougher than sitting through a reality TV show. As I grow stronger in Christ and discover how corrupt my flesh is, the harder this walk becomes. It tears me apart inside when I succumb to temptations. I feel guilt and shame, vowing to turn over a new leaf and repent, but do I? Nope, I just keep walking, sometimes even strolling. I constantly run into a brick wall and reject God's rules. It's a vicious cycle, as I surrender to God and get back on the straight and narrow, then stumble and fall again.

My non-Christian friends like to tease me about being a Christian, and even though I have no issues or embarrassment about identifying myself as one, I find myself having to apologise - not for being Christian (please put your stones down), but for being a poor reflection of such a magnificent God. Living out our Christian faith just for show is like applying beauty treatments on the outside only. When we are clean on the inside, our outward appearance of beauty and purity won't be a facade, and our actions will echo both the inner and outer quality of our life and the beliefs that drive us.