The Lived Experiences: Commuter, Teacher, Vendor

This qualitative research paper documents the lived experiences of a self in three (3) roles namely: commuter, teacher and vendor. The documentation as well as the narratives are language-mediated which carries cultural and personal significance for a Filipino urban-based individual within the city, school and informal economic milieu. This study focuses on the self as an observing individual in continuous and meaningful dialogue with social and cultural realities. These realities are encapsulated in words of indigenous language which forms part of a microcosm of a larger world of society, economy and politics. Ethnographic and reflexive analysis are also employed in certain degrees as the experience of the evolving and living self would allow. Some experiences acquire meaning and transcendence not only within the disciplines of sociology, anthropology or psychology but also the domains of Christian spirituality.