CJ Faderogao

The Myers-Briggs 16 personality types If you have heard of the  Myers-Briggs personality test , you may be familiar with some if not all of the  16 personality types . These personality types are based and structured upon hierarchical cognitive functions that determines our attitudes, inclinations, strengths, and weaknesses. Though the test does not encompass all parts of our psyche, it nevertheless produces a profoundly accurate description of our individual psychologies. I have taken the test a few years ago and I learned that I have an INTJ personality type which stands for introverted, intuition, thinking, and judging.  Being  introverted means I am more energized by intrapersonal activities. Intuition shows that I make sense of my experiences based on intuition rather than my raw sensory data.  I value thinking over feeling, and I engage in critical thinking or j udging rather than pl...

Finding a fulfilling career is no easy task. It demands on us lot of thinking and exploration. It also requires life experience and knowledge of our strengths and talents. It is ideal to know and have all these through our years of education. But there are people, especially young adults, who, after years of studying, still finds it difficult to choose what career to embark in.  There are other factors that contributes to this indecision such as lack of opportunities, resources or support. But the most prominent of all is the question of making money. The choice between the conventional or the novel; passion or tradition. It is the feasible choice to find a career that not only yields inner satisfaction but external rewards as well. A work that is rooted in one's authenticity but also provides stability. In the effort of finding clarity myself, I came upon a helpful question that allowed ...

The town of Taal, Batangas has more than the Taal Volcano and Taal Lake. A heritage town just a few hours from Metro Manila, a visit would surely inspire historical sentiment. A feeling of going back to our roots as Filipinos, tracing our identity as reflected in the facades and corridors of the town's Cathedral, The Taal Basilica, the town plaza and the enduring colonial themed houses in the town's Poblacion. My family spent the easter in this historic town. We spent the day marveling, exploring and appreciating the fine things it has to offer. From the historic sites and the delicacies all the way  to ending our day with a close up look of the Taal volcano on our drive home. This was Batangas as we've never seen it before.  The Taal Basilica and Plaza The first part of the town we visited was the Cathedral. It's also the main reason why my mother wanted to visit Taal. Located at the town's center, it not only stood as the town's place of worship but also epito...

Hiking is starting to become one of my favorite sport. I like it because it brings me austerity, challenge, and a feeling of being "on edge." Also, unlike other sports I do, hiking gives me the opportunity to travel. It allows me to explore, appreciate, and reconnect with the marvel that is our nature. Away from the city's busyness into a terrain of untouched lands, innocent sights, and where time seems to pass more slowly than usual. My recent travel brought me to Nasugbu, Batangas. I went to hike Mt. Batulao. This mountain is rated 4/9 in difficulty and involves an open trail, rolling slopes, and a slight rock climb before the summit. It's a mountain for beginners, perfect because at the time, I wanted to take my time to walk, to take pictures, and to just appreciate the experience of being on a mountain. About Mt. Batulao Mt. Batulao is located in the border of Nasugbu, Batangas and Tagaytay city. Its name is derived from a play of  the Tagalog word, Bato sa ilaw, ...

 Men suffer more often in imagination than in reality. -Seneca We are bounded in imaginary chains. We find security in our properties, status or organizations but do they really provide lasting satisfaction? Do they really give us freedom or do they make us servants trapped in a cycle of pursuit? For anyone who have thought about these same concerns, I would say that they would also come to the same conclusion: we're forgetting that much of the things we chase are  means, not ends in themselves, and we become willing slaves if we don't know the difference.  This is why it is important that we become careful stewards of our minds. As we become chained externally to material things, false ideologies, or social pressures-things that conditions us to mindlessly pursue them-we can regain our sense of control by taking responsibility of our judgments. This implies that we educate ourselves liberally: acquainting ourselves with diverse perspectives, thinking independently, and s...

Photo by Lukas on Pexels Freedom to me is not my being free from physical restraints. It is not my being free as a citizen, an employee or as a member of any organized institution. And it is especially not my being free from material or financial limitations. I strive not to cling to all these things because I am realizing each passing day how fragile and temporary they are. I am coming to terms with the thought that I will forever be chasing mere phantoms if I continue to pursue such things for their own sake. For I am realizing that e xternal gratifications can never satisfy the yearnings of my inner world. It is by looking within that I knew what freedom is. It is by realizing the vastness that I have inside me. A part of myself that I fail to tap into each time I focus my gaze outwards, into the impermanence of the material world. Within me is a pure place, free of judgments, beliefs, and conditionings. A sanctuary where there's no need to play pretend, manipulate or lie.  With...

Philosophy, as a field of study, is often conceived as something unpractical. A thing that only has merits in contemplation but has no implication in daily living. However, this notion, just like any other idea, contains only a sliver of truth. Philosophy remains an armchair activity if it is really done only in contemplation. We forget that the other half of the responsibility lies in ourselves, in the way we translate philosophical ideas into real world actions.  Philosophy must have practical implications. Although it involves thinking most of the time, we should not forget that the reason Philosophy is there in the first place is to serve as a discipline that will help us discover, make sense, and interact with reality in a harmonious way. Through it, we know lessons that we can use to live justly, courageously, moderately, and wisely. There is one Philosophy in particular that seeks this same reconciliation. A school of thought that has seen a revival in interest in our contem...