The Skipreader

(BABALA: This is a boring post. Walang sisihan kung antukin kayo habang nagbabasa, or mag-'skipread'.)

Hindi masama ang maging isang 'skipreader'.

Ano ba ang ibig sabihin ng 'skipreading'? It is actually a compound word, a combination of two words 'skip' and 'reading'. Base sa aking pagsasaliksik, 'skip' means 'to pass over or omit, either deliberately or inadvertently'. On the other hand, 'reading' is 'a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning'.

Nosebleed? Medyo malalim, pero sa aking pagkakaintindi base sa mga nasabing kahulugan, ito ang aking mga natutunan.

1. Reading is not as simple as you think. First, it's a process, or 'series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result'. Malalim pa din? Para mas maintindihan mo, magbibigay ako ng example. Bago ka makapagluto ng isang putahe tulad ng menudo, merong step-by-step process na kailangan mong sundin. Kapag bumili ka ng baboy sa palengke, hindi naman automatic na nagiging menudo 'yun, 'di ba? Kailangan mo pang kumpletuhin ang ibang sangkap. Kailangan mong hiwain ang baboy at mga gulay sa maliliit na piraso. Kailangan mong mag-saute ng bawang at sibuyas. Kailangan mong magpakulo. At kung anu-ano pa.

Tulad ng pagluluto ng menudo, reading also involves a complex process. It starts from sensation (deciphering letters or symbols by sense of sight) to cognition (mental process of knowing and understanding).

Gets?

2. Skipping, or skipreading for that matter, may either be deliberately or inadvertently. Sa Tagalog, pwedeng sinasadya o 'di sinasadya.

You may be wondering what my purpose for writing this post is. Marami kasing bloggers ang sobrang affected kapag nag-'skipread' ang kanilang mga 'mambabasa'. Sobrang big deal sa kanila ito at minsan pa ay nagiging subject of gossip and harsh criticism.

Uulitin ko, hindi masama ang mag-'skipread'. Ito ang aking opinyon.

Pero bakit nga ba merong nagsi-'skipread'? Let me count those reasons I could think of:

1. Sobrang haba ng post.
2. Sobrang 'high-falutin' ng choice of words.
3. Hindi type ng reader ang subject ng blogger.
4. Nakakaantok ang kulay o design ng mismong blog.
5. Puno ng negativity ang post (rants, complaints, arrogance, etc.)
6. Blogger's 'extraordinary' writing style makes the content of the post not easy to understand.
7. Limited ang attention span ng reader from the start.
8. Limited ang oras ng reader para magbasa. Maaring busy sa trabaho o kaya naman ay merong ibang ginagawa.
9. Pagod o wala sa mood ang reader, but he/she still made the effort to browse your blog or blogpost.
10. Reader has a different interpretation on the post as compared to the real meaning, intention and/or purpose of the blogger.

I will end this post by saying that I myself am a so-called 'skipreader'. And I have skipread, not just limited to bloggers' posts but also newspaper articles, office reports, e-mails, books like the Bible, etc., dahil na din sa mga reasons na nabanggit ko sa taas. Hindi madali ang magbasa ng blog o kaya'y mag-bloghop. As mentioned, it's a complex process. At minsan hindi ko naman talaga sinasadya.

Kaya pasensiya na. Sorry na. Tao lang.

Free Hugs Campaign

Are you familiar with the FREE HUGS CAMPAIGN? If not, then watch this video.

I'm very proud to say that I finally did it! Free hugs! Here in Singapore! During those times when we were trying to figure out how to make our lives more meaningful, I came up with the idea and shared it with my Australian friend. We both got excited to do it so we started inviting our other friends to join us in this campaign as well. On a Sunday afternoon we stayed infront of Takashimaya in Orchard Road for two hours, held our "FREE HUGS" signages, and started hugging people. Almost all of them were strangers to us.

I must say, it was one of my most memorable and meaningful experience. In this world of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, it really felt good to reach out to other people and connect with them. In our case, thru hugging. :)

I'm hoping that somehow we were able to brighten the lives of those people whom we hugged, 'coz it brightened ours. :)

Sometimes, a hug is all that we need.