"Bigger" (social) life

Siguro ang isa sa pinaka-significant na developments sa aking so-called social life before 2007 ended was having to finally attend an official Bigger Manila event. It’s a peer socials group I first encountered in Friendster, by and for chubs and chasers. It’s not the first local group of its kind, though. There have been chub-and-chaser social networks that began before this, some are now either inactive or dissolved. There are some that continue to this day, but not as vibrant, as far as I know, as how BM is right now.

As far back as July last year, I’ve already joined BM’s Friendster profile. I remember having texted Ardee, the group’s founder, confirming my interest in attending its events. Pero syempre, hindi ako matuloy-tuloy sa pag-attend dahil palaging nasasagasaan ang mga events ng trabaho. I even missed reading the notification na approved na yung registration ko sa forum site ng BM; end of July pa pala sya approved, towards end of the year ko na nabasa.

Kaya naman nung dumating ang December, I told myself hindi ko na pwedeng palagpasin pa to; aattend ako ng BM Christmas party (or what they called BMX). No regrets adding BMX to my already hectic holiday sked - kahit nagpatung-patong na ang commitments with the organization, friends and family, kahit na dinagdagan ko pa ng kapaguran ang sarili ko, kahit na naipit pa ko sa kakaibang traffic sa South Superhighway on my way to the BMX venue. Attending BMX last December 27 was well worth the effort.

Ang result: well I’ve a "larger" set of friends now, beyond my so-called "inner circle" (terminology courtesy of Gregg), beyond the immediate community that our organization works with. Several members I even helped looking and renting a place near where I live - o di ba, instant neighbors na rin!