A Little Princess

Today, I and my siblings watched A Little Princess, a film directed by Alfonso Cuarón starred by Leisel Matthews. Having watched the movie about gazillion times, well maybe not that much but more than about 5 times, I thought I knew everything this movie could offer. I thought it would no longer touch me like how it did after watching it a few times. I've read also the book where this movie is adapted from and I found the movie enchanting like how the novel brought inspiration to me and kindled my heart.

The story is of a little girl named Sara, who had everything she could wish for. All except she had lost both her mother and her baby sister. She and her father lived in India where Sara spent her childhood. When she was old enough, she was required to attend a seminary for girls in New York. After sending Sara there, her father left for the war, and Sara's fate was left to a cruel and selfish headmaster, Miss Minchin.

Not to put too many spoilers to the few people who haven't watched the film adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic, let me show you the things I learned from the movie and the book.

1. "Every girl is a Princess." (and "All boys are Princes") - I really put this in number one because I believe how empowering this statement could be. It taught me that no matter how many hardships in life you may encounter, you must raise your head up high and not let situations or instances bully you. Because you are greater than what you think you are. Whether you are "in rags and even if you go and sleep in dirty attics."
Well, that's just figuratively speaking, a line from the movie. But the point is, even if you have nothing, you can't just tell your self you can't give more or become someone greater.

2. "Believe in the magic."- This line from the movie is not new to me. It is one of the sayings that we often hear. But do we truly believe in it? If you ask me the same question, Yes. Because magic for me takes the form of God-given miracles. And those miracles are given to those who wait faithfully. Sometimes, things happen because subconsciously, we will it to be. So instead of expecting the worst to happen in our lives, we should be grateful with the blessings that have already happened to us, putting our fingers together and being hopeful and in humility, believe.

3. The power of generosity. - I know perfectly how it works as I've seen many instances in real life depicting genuine generosity. But I can't close this entry without sharing the most touching part of the movie for me...

It was when Sara became an errand girl and was asked to go to the market. Basket in hand, she went on the chilly streets of New York where there were so many penniless people who hungered for food. Sara, with her ragged and filthy clothes, was mistaken as one of them by a little boy and he gave her some money. The mother of the boy scolded him for doing it. Sara tried to return the money but the woman shooed her away. Really hungry that time, she bought some bread from the bakery with the money the boy gave her. Sitting down at a stoned staircase amidst the chilly wind, she was about to have a bite of the bread when she noticed a hungry little girl across the street staring at her eating and looking as if she could taste the bread herself. Sara found out that they were a family without a father as she saw the mother of the girl holding a month-old baby. Beside the girl was probably her older sister, arms outstretched to passersby and holding a long-long stemmed yellow rose who looked as if it had been worn out by the wind. The mother was continuously chanting "would you like to buy a flower?... one flower.. please." Without a second thought, Sara gave the bread to the hungry child and the family thanked her as they handed Sara a flower. On the way home, Sara passed by the house of the old man who had lost his son from the war. Thinking it would cheer him up, Sara put the rose on his front door.

And that was how long that generosity traveled. And her not knowing, (spoiler alert) Sara's father, who had lost his memory from the grim war was adopted by that same old man until he recovered.

And the fourth thing that touched my heart is this...

4. The song lyrics from the movie which said: "Let my heart kindle your heart." Need I explain?

and I just realized I mentioned the "kindle my heart" thing at the start of this entry.. :D

~anamellie 070811

Away from him

Being in a long distance relationship isn't easy. There are times that you want to hug that person you love so badly yet you can't. Everywhere you go, whatever you do, it seems you always remember him and your memories together. It's a painful feeling to be missing him. You often cry yourself to sleep because of it and you seem to be always looking at your phone/email/facebook as you constantly wait for him to get in touch.

I've experienced it. I've had long nights of tossing and turning in my bed wondering how he is at that moment I'm thinking of him, or wondering, "Is he thinking of me too?"

"How is he?"

"Has he already eaten his dinner?"

"Where is he going tomorrow?"

"What time will he be online?"

Questions. Those are just few of the questions I often ask myself as I wonder about him. Questions that at that early dawn can only be answered by my imaginative and playful mind as I look at our pictures together.

Many things had happened in each of our lives as we've grown physically apart. Sometimes, I wonder if we would still be able to connect and relate to each other as we now have lesser common interests and environment. Little by little, distance is trying to make a stranger out of the one I love.

But I will not allow it to happen.

At this time, I learned that being in a long distance is a wonderful experience to know more and explore more about his qualities. Observing him from afar gives me a clearer view of the person I love so much. For me, whoever said that "Distance makes the heart grow fonder." is correct- in a way. Correct, because distance makes us miss the person we love most because of not being with him for a long time. The not so correct part, because distance only makes the heart grow fonder for those who choose to "grow fond".

In the past two months (which seems to me years) that we've been apart, I learned that love is not for the weak hearted, nor it is for doubting souls. Love can never be called love unless it is paired with faith and hope. These three things can work wonders in a relationship. "Also, trust and discipline", he told me. "These two are important for our relationship to work out."

I am confident that we can beat all the odds. One day, I shall be with him again and when that time comes, it will be forever.

~anamellie 052911

Getting My Feet Wet

When we hear someone speak of water forms, sometimes paranoid thoughts that range from freezing in cold water to shark attacks to a human-devouring giant squid crosses our minds. Seeing a giant squid is scary enough but in real life, we have so many horrors when challenged to conquer the unknown. And one of the ways to lessen our fears is to be prepared when we are finally in the face of difficulty... The best way to be prepared is to dare.

We dare to be prepared.

The most common way we "test" the waters when we go for a swim is to touch the waters using our feet. Is it too cold? Is it too warm? Now, is it just the right temperature? Yes? Now take a pluuuuunge! Feels refreshing being able to do that, right?

I named my blog "getting my feet wet" because I feel exactly the same.

It feels exhilarating to be able to start this blog when life often demands to just let my passion for writing slip away. I accepted the challenge to pursue writing despite having fears of my craft being neglected and criticized.

I think fear exists not only because we lack confidence in ourselves. It exists because we feed them with our daily troubles. I feel shy and often in doubt because of this fear eating me up. Isn't it funny that we feed fear in order to let it eat us? But I realize this too, the reason why I'm so scared is because I am affected with criticisms.

After giving blogging a try, I found out that being affected is a good thing after all because it means I care so much about writing.

When faced with doubt, I often think that no one ever took a refreshing bath without getting their feet wet... That is, no one except Achilles (Well, we all know what happened to him). So since I am not him, I need to go to the murky waters of the unknown and face the future with hope despite fear of failures and disappointments and this is how I will achieve my dreams.

~anamellie

About Me

Updated: June 23, 2014

This is the most tricky part in making this blog and I can't believe I'm doing this twice due to an update of who I am and who I was before I first introduced my self here 2 years ago. Well, most of the about me there holds true until now so I'll just make a short introduction. :)

Here goes...

Hello! I'm anamellie (not my real name).

As crazy and as ambitious as this may sound- I want to be a writer. It's one of my biggest dreams since I was a child. Second of which is to meet and greet Joanne Kathleen Rowling, you know, the author of the "Harry Potter" series... and my INSPIRATION. I guess it was after I have read the first HP book that I started writing my own stories and poems. Some are here but others have been lost in void space after experiencing a brutal hard disk crash.    

Aside from writing, I find enjoyment in reading as well. I particularly love those stuff which make me cry a tear or two because I'm quite a sucker for happy endings. Though sometimes, they are sad (If you don't know what I mean, try "The Fault in Our Stars" as an example). I am a music lover and my guilty pleasures include those that are sung by Taylor Swift, Westlife, Backstreet Boys, A1, Sclub7, and Mandy Moore, to name a few. You can also hear me singing Lea Salonga songs and every Disney Princess song (I dream of being a Disney Princess... shhhh...). 

When I'm not caught doing those, I am guilty of loving "Instagram" posts and roaming around "Facebook". 

I am a graduate of Management Accounting. An off-tangent course for my passion and often raises people's eyebrows. It's also a big mystery for me but I am glad I am able to pursue my passion by means of this simple blog. However, due to the demands of life and work though, this blog has been on hiatus for a long time. Luckily for me, it's still happy enough to welcome me after I've abandoned it for too long.

Caution: This blog is an extension of my thoughts so I advise you to read at your own risk. You have been warned. ^_^

Thanks and much love,

Anamellie XXX