My BTS Inspired Reading List for 2025

 

ARMY Glow-Up Goal: AGU Recreation D-50 for Jin's Return

 

@titazeeh7 #ARMYGlowUp2025 #AGU_Skills #AGU_Recreation ♬ suara asli - 71nseokjin

ARMY Glow-Up Goal Work in Progress: Handbuilt Pottery

Dear Jin,

You said in Awake: I can't touch the sky / Still, I want to stretch my hand out / I want to run, just a bit more. There are things I can no longer do at my age, but your song, Awake and the lyrics you sing about motivated me to pursue a recreational activity that is therapeutic. Also, it bolsters creativity. You see, I went back to pottery in September 2023 inspired by the ARMY Glow Up campaign of Titas of BTS and ARMY Connect PH. Here I am now, proud to share with you my journey which include the blocks and bumps I encountered along the way.

1.     My ARMY Glow-UP Goal Pillar: ARMY Glow-Up Recreation

2.       My AGU_Recreation Goal: My goal is to relearn the basics of handbuilding in making pots, mugs and trinket dishes from earthenware and stoneware clay into useful pots and ceramics. In pottery and clay art, I find the space and time to calm down and decompress. Handbuilding and pottery sessions with a small group of friends and peers is a bonding session where we share the joy of creative play and companionship.

3.       Steps and strategies I have taken: I went back to my notes and art journals/blog entries on clay and pottery. I got in touch with friends from the pottery community and asked for the rates and costs of glazing and firing services. Because our school community opened an alternative class day and health and wellness programs, I signed up and became the proponent for pottery. I cleaned up my old pottery kit and bought new ones. I have a dedicated schedule for handbuilding and when the opportunity presents itself, I gather friends to “clay together”.

 As ARMY, my inspo for the designs, form and structure of hanbuilt pots and mugs are BTS songs, music and content. The ARMY Glow Up Campaign of TOB and ACPH became an avenue to share this experience with friends in TOB, old and new.

   4.      How do I know I am making progress: I have a rubric for pinch pots and basic handbuilding techniques. I follow the criteria and success indicators when I practice and do the actual shaping, sculpting and design of the products.

5.       Facing the blocks and bumps in the journey: Clay and the tools for handbuilding are fairly inexpensive. It is the glazing and firing processes that cost a lot. Since the benefits of clay and pottery outweigh the cost (at least for me), I have learned to schedule, plan and program my pottery sessions individually or with ARMY friends. There are days when I feel so anxious I need to sculpt and shape clay. I give in and just be. Now I have a box of pots, mugs and plates kept in the house. When the funds arrive, I select which of the products are for glazing and firing. I send them to my potter friends who collab with me on the color, the glazes and enhancement of the designs. Some products I generously give as gifts to friends and family. Most of them I sell for fund raising and for my AGU goal and recreational therapy to continue.

6.       Where am I now: Pottery is art. Art takes time. Handbuilding is an imperfectly beautiful technique to master but principles in design, symmetry and balance apply. As much as it is art, it is also discipline. In clay and pottery, I realized that the process is a continuum of the life-death-life cycle. I am learning to be patient. I am able to look at endings and beginnings of life journeys.

 As for skills in pottery, I am confident at making a plate or dish from slabbing techniques. I have yet to develop competence in creating an even mug with engravings and surface decorations. I am now capable of painting on my products using under glazes. I take pleasure and honor in sharing all the things I learned so far with friends, ARMY or non-ARMY.

7.       Where will I go from here: I will continue developing handbuilding techniques such as coiling and pinching. I need to study design and structural principles of sculpting clay. To learn wheel throwing and setting up my own pottery studio is a long-term plan; a dream I hope to actualize before retirement. ARMY daughter encourages me to sell in bazaars and art fairs. I am putting that in the short-term goal or a plan to be realized in three months’ time or less.

So, this is my work in progress, Jin. I am stretching my hands and running. Just a little bit more.

😊 It’s just me, Tita Zee 😊

ARMY Glow-Up Goal Recreation: Work in Progress

Seeing the glazed and fired projects give me a sense of accomplishment. Making them is my therapy. An act of creation that leads me to a quiet space to listen and just be. I trust the potters who walk me through this journey of healing through engagement with the elements: water, earth, air and fire (yes, mala-Avatar levels — not kidding) until I get my own studio with glazes and kiln. I ask for your continued prayers .

Thank you @potterynuvali and @studio_mari.ph!

I have something to tell Seokjin when he returns!

My ARMY Glow-Up Journey: BTS X ARMY Inspired Pottery and Ceramic Art

Titas of BTS and ARMY Connect PH are asking for Glow-Up stories to share with Jin when he returns. Here is a progress report on the pottery journey I set out to do last September 2023 falling under #AGU_Recreation.

Together with friends from Titas of BTS, we have had three AGU Recreation activities in November 2023; December 2023 and January 2024. The first one was in Persaro's in Ortigas; the second one was in Sonoma, Sta. Rosa Laguna and the third was in Gyud Fud UP Diliman, Quezon City. Although the first AGU Recreation activity was a session on Pabalat Art, led by Prof. Anna Marie Hernandez Bautista, it inspired us to explore hobbies we share in common. The Pabalat Art session was attended by members of the TOB Book Club Sonyeondan and the TOB Southietas tribe ( a group of TOBbies living and are based in the South of Manila and Southern Luzon.

For the Sta. Rosa and UP Diliman pocket events, we had a joint session on Pabalat and Pottery, plus watercolor painting! We were joined by new members from TOB who thoroughly enjoyed the activities. These sessions have given us an opportunity to bond and express our fangirling in creative ways. Speaking for myself, I have had the honor and privilege to meet and interact with women in my age group. We come from different backgrounds but we are ARMY. The camaraderie and friendship we share are rooted in BTS.

@titazeeh7 Pottery, pabalat and watercolor fun with Tita ARMYs. Thank you @Poochie Tablan 😊💜😊 #AGURecreation #AGUSkills #AGUMindPower #ARMYGlowUp2025 #BetterARMYsforBTS ♬ Good Day - BTS

Learning pottery alongside TOBbies makes me confident. I strive to be better at my handbuilding skills. Using the handbuilding technique, I have made pinch pots and trinket dishes. Moving up one level higher, I attempted to make a pen holder using the slabbing technique with surface decorations.

At the time, I was missing Jin so much I made a half moon and seven stars to embose on my pen holder. I am thankful to potter friends in the pottery community for helping me glaze and fire my projects as I have yet to make my own kiln (when circumstances allow). Clay, pottery and ceramic art have been therapeutic for me. A hobby that has given me the space to be calm and patient. To breathe and just be.

Right now I have more than fifty ceramics! A hobby that began as a way to relieve me off anxiety is turning out to be a small enterprise I am slowly growing and developing. Visit @silver_linings_t.zee on Instagram!

What is your Glow-Up story, ARMY? Do tell. TOB is a safe space we all share.

Walking for Wellness

 

My goal is to lose 10 lbs in 4 months. I started walking for wellness last year and failed miserably. The New Year came and I was rejuvenated. It is still a struggle. Hormones at this stage of menopause is a factor. But, no excuses. I am now 126 lbs. Let's do this!

@titazeeh7 #ARMYGlowUp2025 ♬ original sound - TitaZee

ARMY Glow Up Goal Update

Smoother surface, in and out; handle is blended well on both ends; consistent thickness in circumference. #progress #handbuiltpottery

@titazeeh7 Smoother surface, in and out; handle is blended well on both ends; consistent thickness in circumference. #progress #handbuiltpottery ♬ = (Equal Sign) - j-hope