Coined by the author, from two Filipino words: utak (brain) and laya (free or freedom).
Utaklaya; to have a wandering mind. It refers to someone who let themselves taken by flow of ideas. Almost the same as daydreaming but trust me, they are different. To daydream is to indulge in positive thoughts; mostly fantasy. Utaklaya is greater than that. It also explore the dark side of things. Ideas can go higher or deeper; they could also go smooth and calm.
Utaklaya also refers to those who try to ignore the norms; to have a variety of views. It should not be confused with being open-minded. Given an unusual idea, you do not want to reject it right away; if you want to be open-minded, you give it a chance to defend itself. Put simply, it's just being fair. If you are utaklaya, you could be fair but it doesn't stop there. From that idea, you can branch out towards another set of ideas; almost related to the previous one. It seems like an endless chain reaction taking you as far as it can. You can go back and create another branch. You can even go up and look at the current state of your growing tree of ideas. You can't help but to repeat this process; when you finally stop, you will ask yourself, "how did I got here?"
Utaklaya means pondering on ideas to discover a lot of possibilities. Sounds like thinking outside the box, yes? But then again I tell you, they are different. To think outside the box is to look for another way; usually better than the usual. From those possible solutions, you choose the best that suits you or the given situation. Being utaklaya; you leave the box, look at it and try to approach it from different angles all at the same time. Doing that, you either clear or mess things up. You can also destroy that box and just create another. Or maybe, it's better not to create one. What are we doing in that box anyway?
This blog is the embodiment of utaklaya. Here, focus is both present and absent. Being lost is no different from finding your way.
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[1] Antimoon. The sounds of English and the International Phonetic Alphabet. [Web log]. Retrieved from http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm
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