a HOPE to remember...

          As I was fixing my room the other day, I found some diskettes of projects I made when I was in college. I check them on my computer and I found a book report I had done in one of my classes.

          This particular book report was really special because it really captured my beliefs in life. I was probably very inspired when I was doing this as far as I can remember. I think I was in love with my college crush that time (hehe). This is one of the projects I made in which I am very proud of. My professor even commended me on this one.

         Well, I want to share this to all of you who will get to read this. I hope this will inspire you as it has inspired me. There was a reason I came across it again. Maybe at this point in my life I really need to have HOPE again! I know many of you out there feel hopeless but I hope that after reading this I could have at least given you a glimmer of hope.

         This is my book report on “Hope for the flowers” by Trina Paulus…


"somehow, waiting and not being sure was better than action she couldn't believe in."

         The book Hope for the Flowers is about a caterpillar named Stripe who wondered if there is more to life than just eating and crawling on the grass. Until one day, he saw a caterpillar pillar and decided to climb it and see what is on the top. On the way, he met another caterpillar named Yellow whom he fell in love with. They both decided to come down the pillar and just be together. They were happy but it was only temporary. Again, Stripe felt a need to climb the pillar to see if there is more to a caterpillar’s life. They both went their separate ways feeling sad. Yellow, on the other hand stayed and then he met another caterpillar that is making a cocoon for himself. She then discovered that butterflies come from caterpillars and was convinced that she must become one. This decision was for her to be able to help Stripe realized that becoming a butterfly is the purpose of a caterpillar. Finally, she became a butterfly and decided to come back for Stripe. When Stripe saw this yellow creature, he then realized that there is a butterfly inside of him. Yellow taught him how to become a butterfly and waited for his transformation until finally Stripe became one and they were together again.

         This book for me is very inspirational, young and old alike. This book has a simple story but has a very deep meaning on what life really is. It tells us a very important message of love, courage, and especially about hope. I remember when I first read this book in High School. I felt a certain coming of age because I was starting a new stage in my life. I have learned that a person must change to become a much better person.

         Sometimes in our life we feel like we are being monotonous because other people put us in certain stereotypes that make us afraid to do things in a different perspective. We always do what is expected of us, that the moment we go beyond, we are compelled to explain our actions. Personally, I hate the idea that we are being stereotyped. I believe that a person should be able to do things depending on what he believes in. Also, everyone should be entitled to make his or her own decisions. If you want to grow as a person, you must always embrace the idea of change. As what Confucius said, “nothing in this world is constant but change”. We must always do things differently to break the monotony in our life. Change comes from hope. When you hope for something, you wish to change. Change comes from within a person not from without. If you truly want to change you must be open to the idea. You cannot just utter it but do nothing about it. You must always take action, like what I always do. This is because I have a principle in life to always seize the moment. Meaning, that you must always grab an opportunity when it knocks. You must always find ways to reinvent yourself because it is the way to self-discovery and self-realization. Just like my friend and I say, that we are on our second coming of age. Life is like that, you continuously change as you learn new things and make new mistakes.

         Hope is also an important concept which one must possess if you want change. I told my friend once that the difference between the two of us is that I always make room for hope. Like when I give up on something or someone, I always give even an ounce of hope that maybe someday that person will change and things will be different. As long as there is hope, things will be different. It may not be soon but it will come in due time.

         Life is all about discernment; it is about making the right choices. I hate it when people say that they have no choice because you always have a choice. It may not be good choices that you want but still you have a choice. Let me give my guiding principles in life since I am so inspired in doing this project.

• Always speak your mind! This quality is often mistaken to be bad but the truth is that it is never wrong to speak your mind. Instead, people will admire you for being honest. I’d rather encounter straightforward people than backstabbing ones.
• Take action! Always know and go for what you want as long as you don’t step into other people’s head in the process. Live life to the fullest.
• Love unconditionally! In doing this, you do not only satisfy your romantic muscles but you show the person you love that you are worthy to be loved.
• Believe in the law of karma! What you give is what you get returned.
• Compromise! This is true especially to friends. We all have individual differences but that doesn’t mean we cannot be the best of friends. Friendship based on affinity is superficial while friendship based on respect gives you a different outlook in life.

         Lastly, I would like to stress out the real message of the book, which is hope. We used to have plenty of hope when we were young but somehow lost it along the way when we were growing up. I know this is hard to do especially to those who have given up completely. No matter how unattainable your dreams may seem, you must always keep in mind that as long as you live, there will always be hope. Remember, you inspire hope, meaning, that if you are full of hope then others will realize that they too have hope. The title of the book tells it all. You might be wondering why it is entitled “Hope for the Flowers” not “Hope for the caterpillars”. It is because without the butterflies there will be no hope for the flowers to propagate. Like life, it is a cyclical process. We all benefit from each other, one way or another.

         Life is too short to be living somebody else’s life. Live with dignity, live with pride. Just what our teacher Mrs. Fontanilla told us, “Life is too short, dye your hair”. It means that we shouldn’t be afraid to make choices that will constitute change in our life. One thing, which I think we have all learned in life, is that you cannot please everybody no matter what you do. So go ahead, live from love, live life, and live happy.