About

My name is Karla Veronica Mercado. Some people call me Karla, but most people call me by my childhood nickname, Roni. I was born and raised in Manila, Philippines, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Development Studies from Ateneo de Manila University. After a five-year corporate and teaching stint, I found my true calling in elementary education.

I now live in the spicy Southwestern part of the United States, the Land of Enchantment, New Mexico.

That's me with my mom. I take a lot after her. She is, after all, also an elementary teacher.

I have two awesome siblings I also call my best friends. Niña, my older sister, is a psychologist in Manila and all-around girly girl. My younger brother, Marty, the baby of the family, is an aspiring Mad Man, and works in advertising in New York City.

That's my dad. I definitely got my artsy side from him. He's a disc jockey and music and talent consultant based in Manila.

My 4-year old baby, Cooper. He's one of the three beagles currently in the family. We have a thing for beagles.

My blog

Although at first glance, this blog might seem like a self-help blog, it would be great if you'd call it something else, haha! I really don't like that term; it reminds me of badly written "inspirational" books. I don't claim to be the best writer in the world, but I'd like to think of this blog as more than just a self-help blog. It's more personal than that.

My philosophy of finding the many magical aspects of your inner self comes from the recent discovery of my calling. At 27, I feel blessed to know exactly what makes me happy and fulfilled. I feel like I'm not too young nor too old to know exactly what I want to do with my life. 

Discovering my calling to teach wasn't easy...

I never, in a million years, imagined myself working so closely with kids. I never imagined myself spending the rest of my days in a classroom. But when I let myself look deep within and figure out what would really feed my mind and soul in the long run, I realized that teaching did precisely that.

The philosophy of this blog, to allow yourself to look within and celebrate whatever it is that makes your spirit happy and free -- whether it's eating ice cream, traveling, biking, organizing charities -- was the kind of attitude that made me discover true happiness and fulfillment. And it's not the happiness and fulfillment self-help books preach about; it's the kind of happiness and fulfillment that is, at times, flawed, but is genuine. And I'd rather have that than blindly chasing after something that either doesn't exist, or isn't meant for me.

I hope you find that within yourselves, too. Happy reading!