Yo !

TLDR: Life hits differently now that I’m older. ( Also, I wrote too many anime references here, and this email will not make sense if you're in your 20s. ) ^_^ 

The other day, the world lost Barbie Hsu - Shan Chai from Meteor Garden - from sudden complications of the regular flu and pneumonia. 

She was only 48.

Back in 2001 when Meteor Garden was the rage, I was this typical college student, mostly clueless about the world, pero feeling know-it-all, often broke, and very impressionable.

The internet was just starting to boom, and digital media was only beginning to trend. 

Though I wasn't the biggest Meteor Garden fan (I was too busy being feeling-pogi that time, hehe), you couldn't escape it.

This 2001 me had a neck and visible jawline pa. Ancient times, hahaha. 

Good lord, I was this kid who thought he was God's gift to humanity - gwapong-gwapo sa sarili. I was too self-absorbed na I used my own face as the main subject while learning Photoshop (it was our version of mind-blowing AI at the time, considered cheating daw vs traditional photography). 

Imagine mo na lang how "seriously cool" I felt nung matutunan ko mag bend ng image into a ball and make it look like the spinning chakra of a Rasengan. (the few anime fans in here will know ahaha)

In reality, it was really just me in my oversized air-brushed shirt, sitting in computer shops for hours, pirating Photoshop 5.0 (sorry Adobe!), and creating the most baduy edits that today’s Canva can do in 4 seconds. 

That thing we take for granted now? The instant background removal? That was voodoo-witchcraft-impossible back then.

Cutting out a San Mig light image to put on top of your photo to make a fake ad was considered lodicakes level na. Juice colored. 

You know that phase when you think you know everything? Yup, that was me. 

Feeling ko noon I was too cool for Meteor Garden kasi I was busy watching "intellectually haunting" anime stuff like Ghost in the Shell. Ito rin yung time na the Matrix, Fight Club, Grave of the Fireflies, Cowboy Bebop, Rurouni Kenshin was really huge, kaya di ko masyado napansin yung show nila Shan Cai. 

It was the time when everything Asian was exploding in the Philippines. 

I don’t know if you’re around my age , but the news about her passing brought back memories. 

Remember?

- Goku screaming "KAAAA-MEEEEE-HAAAA-MEEEEE-HAAAAAA!" for 3 episodes straight on GMA (grabe yung lungs nya)

- Naruto just starting to ninja-run into our lives (believe it!)

- Ghost in the Shell making us question reality

- Nonstop laughs with Da Bin on korean noontime TV

- Stephen Chow showing us how to play soccer with "Buddha's Palm" technique in Shaolin Soccer

Sa computer shops noon, we were all trying to torrent these shows on Kazaa or Limewire, (if you don’t understand these words, it’s because you’re in your 20s, lol) waiting hours for a single episode that might or might not be what we actually wanted.

Tapos minsan madalas may virus pa! 

That, or pupunta pa kami sa Greenhills to buy fake CDs hahaha.

This was our coming-of-age era. 

When we were young, mababaw, mayabang (wow, self-aware kunwari), and everything felt possible.

That was when dialup 56kbps connection felt fast, when burning CDs was a legitimate skill and business (no literally, I bought a CD-burner with one of my best friends Manuel, and we used it for our video editing business nung college), and kinikilig pa yung mga girls nun when you burn a romantic music playlist for them. Hahaha. 

Ah, to be young and think we had all the time in the world.

And now, just like that - one of the icons from that time is gone. Not from some dramatic battle like in DBZ, not from some epic ninja fight, but from something as ordinary as the flu. She wasn't even like sick - na as in sick talaga - just coming back from a trip.

As freelancers, this hits home hard. We often act like we still have as many episodes as a anime to achieve our dreams:

"I'll power up my skills next season."

"I'll level up my business after this filler arc."

"I'll spend time with family after this boss battle."

"I'll fix my work-life balance after this tournament arc."

"I'll start that passion project after I gather all seven Dragon Balls."

Pero life isn't a 1000+ episode anime series (I’m looking at you One Piece). Sometimes it's more like those one-episode specials that end before you're ready. Or worse, like those anime that get cancelled mid-season, leaving all the plot lines hanging.

The best time to start living your dreams isn't after the training arc. It's now.

Hindi ko sinasabing mag-Super Saiyan mode tayo agad. But maybe we need to ask ourselves:

- What dreams are we putting in the "next episode" folder?

- What power-ups are we too afraid to attempt?

- What precious moments are we skipping while grinding for XP?

- What relationships are we putting on "filler episode" status?

Looking back at my feeling-pogi self learning Photoshop "just because," I realize now - sometimes those seemingly random skills we pick up become the foundation of something bigger.

Those photoshop edits got more advanced, then I got into video editing naman, and one thing led to another, tapos to my first online gigs na pala, come to think of it.

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. Who would have thought that the self-absorbed kid playing around with Photoshop would actually be where I am today?

It's a reminder that sometimes life's unexpected twists and turns shape our journey.

Time is the one resource we can't farm, can't grind for, and can't cheat code our way into getting more of. It makes every moment precious.

To Barbie Hsu, and to that whole era that shaped us - salamat. 

You remind us that life is more unpredictable than Stephen Chow's absurd plot twists.

Here's to not waiting for the next episode to chase our dreams. Start today. Start now. No more "loading" screens in life.

Ikaw, , ano yung main character moment mo that you've been putting off? 

That’s all I have for today,

Shoden "No More Fillers" San

PS: Sa mga gusto maging Main Character na finally sa buhay nila, an exclusive LIVE WEBINAR is happening this Friday on how to build a premium freelancing business.

I know you're probably already aware, so I'd really really love for you to share this link with your friends who aren't in the tribe yet.

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Looking forward to seeing you and your friends there!

🎉 Pst. Don't Keep Me A Secret. refer this newsletter to your freelancer friends. This REALLY REALLY helps me a lot, thanks!