Diwa Daily

  • Read before you sign

    I’ve come to believe that important life lessons are learned through either advice or hands-on experience. The latter, more often than not, is the best and most painful teacher. It’s also the teacher whose classes I keep attending with or without intention. ? This week’s lesson I had to (re)learn is to read before you…

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  • I deleted 6,000 tweets in one month

    Every time I log in to Twitter (@heysstef), I get distracted by the 18.4K tweet count glaring at me from the side of my feed. I couldn’t shake off the urge to bring that number down, no matter how senseless and time-consuming the task was. Did I really post that many tweets? What were those…

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  • Bright Books: Beautiful Journals Giving Light to a Child In Need

    Socially responsible stationery—it’s everything a paper collector like me could ask for. I get to bring ideas to life while helping others in need. You can just imagine my joy when I stumbled upon Bright Books by Amy O’Shea. Founded in 2009, her experience in Uganda with the Arlington Academy of Hope inspired her to…

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  • The good stuff happens at the end of 2017 (UPDATED)

    If you peruse through my 2017 planner, you’ll find a section called “Good Things That Happened” where I note down my small-big wins in life and work. The past few months these Good-Things-That-Happened boxes are filled up with all kinds of achievements and events that kept me away. It’s wonderful and frustrating at the same…

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  • 8fit: Get back in shape without breaking the bank

    It was on the third week of May 2017 when I decided to change my lifestyle. I wanted to lose weight, be more active, and prevent myself from becoming sick. Unfortunately leaving the house and going to the gym wasn’t an option for me yet. My 3-year old son throws gargantuan tantrums when he knows…

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  • The loudbasstard eco-friendly amplifier

    While traveling home from our 2013 family trip to Macau and Hong Kong, I stopped by the souvenir shop at the Mactan Cebu International Airport and spotted this blue-green bamboo creation with the name loudbasstard carved on its side. Founded in Cebu on that very same year, loudbasstard is an eco-friendly natural music amplifier cut…

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  • The Viarco Desenho 250 – B Pencil

    Discovering Baron Fig and CW Pencils (New York) last 2017 was like being sucked into a wormhole filled with beautiful notebooks and pencils. These guys introduced me to this world of paper-pencil lovers that feels right at home. I learned about pencils from all over the world, of different colors and brands, pencil grades and…

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  • The art of letting go

    The black elastic bracelet—its wooden pendant carved 04/21/09 I left inside the drawer with printed copies of his conversations. They’re peppered with sweet good-night wishes, promises of a future where we’d always hold hands. I included the pair of innocent silver promise bands he bought for us. These lasted longer than my wedding ring. For some…

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  • My Life Zodiac Wheel (and How You Can Make Your Own)

    Over the weekend, I worked on this small fun project to help me achieve two things: enjoy my passions to the fullest and celebrate life through focus and accomplishment.  I created this to address and eventually silence a crucial personal issue. For so long I’ve felt like a lost hummingbird darting to and fro, dabbling…

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  • Art Bar by Powerbooks Serendra

    My daughter, Holly, loves making art. She’s shown interest since she was a toddler and has improved over the years since the day she learned to hold a pencil. She’s seven now and loves spending her free time making all kinds of colored sketches. I want to continue exposing her to what the art world…

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