I didn’t have any business going to Makati last Friday but I did brave the rain and traffic just to have dinner with friends in the industry. We have been friends for 20 years, through good and bad choices of cars and men.

We were supposed to celebrate the birthday of fairygaymother K but he’s enjoying himself in Siargao. But we pushed through with the dinner anyway.

One friend just registered her NGO dedicated to rescuing cats and dogs but her main advocacy is affordable, if not free, spaying of cats and dogs from the streets and with homes in Roxas City. Another friend adopts and rehabilitates dogs that were given up by people who could no longer take care of them.

Meanwhile, I have cats that come and go to my place. They know they have food, water, and a roof that would shelter them from the elements. I have a tuxedo cat that has become a regular visitor, a tabby kitten with a loud meow, and a ginger that sporadically pops up. Socks and Gorilla aren’t that bothered but Kimchi and Sushi freak out that they spray to mark their territory. It’s super disgusting but I have bio-enzymes to get rid of the nasty smell that lingers even after cleaning up after them. The vet at the pet hospital where I brought Kimchi for anal gland emptying prescribed a medicine to calm down Kimchi when she is agitated when I’m away or when we needed to bathe her after she empties  her anal gland.

We exchanged notes about our animal care journey and my assignment is to ask our home visit vet (the one who does the affordable spaying for community cats and dogs) where can my friend’s NGO purchase anesthesia for animals that are cheaper than off-the-shelf ones. PDEA has been getting stricter so one can’t really have access to such things, especially with druggies now turning to chemicals meant for animals. 😑

It’s always nice and important to make time for friends because when you get older, your circle of friends gets smaller. You will need friends when you get to your senior years to keep you mentally healthy. Humans are social animals and interactions with a wide set of people keep your mind from rotting.

Our friend, B, has been staying in her home province during and post-pandemic as her job allows her to work remotely. Her life sounds like a dream: she lives near the beach, has built her own home as well, and is active with her NGO. She, however, says she needs to go to Manila every now and then (that’s why she keeps her condo in Makati) because she needs more mental stimulation—a variety of people to interact with helps from having brain rot.

A friend, K, chimed in and sais that it is the reason why senior citizens need to have a steady social structure and acticvities so their brains won’t go downhill faster than their bodies. Shuttering yourself in the province in your farm sounds idyllic but you can’t forever garden alone and have your spouse as your only society. She said her parents retired in Cavite and lead a more socially active life in the province than when they were living in Parañaque. She said doesn’t worry about them that way.

So I try to understand my mom why she keeps on dipping her hands into things she shouldn’t be doing anymore, like field studies, research projects, lectures, etc. She is terrified of brain rot because she saw first-hand how my grandma deteriorated because of Alzheimer’s. An uncle (a brother of my father) is also suffering from the same and she brought him to PGH to be checked by one of the country’s best neurologists because she suspected he was not properly taken care of in the US. Because of these, my mom has become more makulit.

Ah it’s ageing. We will all go there.

I went to the community market after a long absence, just to see what’s out there. I bought myself scents for my room because I pamper myself these days. As I told my girlfriends last Friday, the way to heal from all these troubles from relationships and careers is by giving yourself grace and by loving yourself. Allowing yourself these little indulgences that add up make your life beautiful.

And here I am, a true tsundoku… I bought books again even though I still have stacks of them on my nightstand and shelves. One day I will do a book review of the books I finished. One of them is Me Before You, which I finished in one go. Yes, I didn’t sleep, literally, just to finish that one.

Yeah, just indulge in those little things like scents and books. These don’t harm anyone and these obviously enrich my life. Women often feel guilty for treating ourselves with such things but once we start to love ourselves and that we do not merely exist to serve others, then that guilty feelings go away.

As my friend, B, said, we should all learn how to set time for ourselves so we can heal properly. She is now a year into her therapy and taking meds for anxiety and depression. She has cut off her narcissistic mother from her life and she now feels more free financially, mentally, emotionally, and physically. She can now devote time to walk along the beach with her rescue dogs and her organs that were shutting down one by one are recovering.

I started buying myself flowers for the house (before my cats broke my vase) from the flower market near our home. Twin A asked, why are you buying flowers? I replied, because I like them. Why do I have to have a special occasion to treat myself?