An Open Letter to Dot Dot Dot

Hello •••,


You should seriously not say things like that. Yes, I mean my album.

Your subtlety is not welcome anywhere other people would notice it. It's not an ethical thing to do to publicly taunt your friends with remarks that are deeply undesirable to them (or their families). My maternal family (of which many members are in the same photo album) has no idea who you are and if they ask me, I'd be compelled to tell them the truth. I'd be bound to tell them that you're a friend who's doing something to me that I don't really like. Mind you, they DO NOT LIKE the idea that someone is taunting me undesirably. We're both already very good friends and I don't intend on introducing myself to you again the next time we meet. You know what I mean. I've been through it. It's weird.

I have no problem, whatsoever, with you teasing me in private. I have high tolerance for those things and I understand you. Just remember that I'm the one you need to direct your messages to. They're not for the visual consumption or intellectual scrutiny of anyone else. I need you to know that a LINE does exist. This line I'm talking about is not very hard to cross. I am also not God-like. I am not eternally lenient and forgiving. I have emotional limitations, too.

Please do not take this negatively. My attitude towards you will not change after clicking send. This is something that we'd both giggle about later if you adhere and understand. We will always be good friends who laugh and pinch each other and talk on the phone and text and what not.

I know I'm being too idealistically positive about my infatuation towards Δ. You may say I'm dreaming the impossible dream, but I don't care. I'm not expecting anything in return. It's just that this feeling exists for me and me alone. I don't mind if it isn't reciprocated by Δ. I'll just make it linger until it burns out. It's not harming me, anyway. It's not affecting my life in any relevant way. My ability to function isn't hampered. I'm not obsessed with Δ. This whole thing does NOT involve lust in any sort of way. I'm not being a vulture; I'm not casting spells; I'm not making elaborate photo collages; and I'm not trying to get Δ's attention. In fact, I'm even doing the complete inverse. I'm avoiding Δ because I'm aware that I'm never going to achieve what I desire. I'm just allowing the emotion to fly free. It's just a feeling. It's been just an infatuation since the beginning. NOTHING MORE! I wish it'd go away, but there's no use trying to force it to die. It's hard to combat ◊ years of admiration, you know--especially if it has this kind of logical and rational backing. I'm just letting it be.

I believe you can resonate with me.

You can go on with your teasing all you like. Just direct them to me--NOT publicly and not uncouthly. Please! I don't like losing friends. I don't like losing YOU as a friend.


Sincerely and with much love,
Ludwig

Co Jordan with Mamalol, Daddy Butch & Mommy Cris

This was an impromptu trip for me. Mamalol wanted to go to Cebu and she tagged me along. Cool, huh?

We hung out with Daddy Butch and Mommy Cris.  I already knew she's very good at pampering, but I didn't know she'd shower her mother-in-law that lavishly.  Another beautiful new bag and pair of shoes for grandma.

The only thing I think I wasn't crazy about regarding that trip was the condition of their house.  It was undergoing renovation, so the roof wasn't very good yet.  It rained, so my suitcase got wet.  No problemo, though.  I meant just externally.  Everything else was awesome!  It was such a cool trip.  That was a nice alternative set of Cebu memories--on top of the vice-filled once I normally associate the island with.

Before we left, they took us to a place called Co Jordan in Consolacion, the same municipality where they reside. It was an establishment on water where oysters and milk fish were farmed. It was such an awesomely spontaneous experience bonding with them.

Son and Mom

Son, Mom, and Grandson

Son, Mom, Daughter-in-Law, and Grandson

All Smiles

Mangrove Patch

Strollin' around...

Mama Lol and I

Fish pens

Fishing

Boats

Mommy Cris

Grandmother and Grandson

We took the 6:00PM Oceanjet trip home, but it left at 6:45 without prior notice of delay.  In addition to that brouhaha, one of the engines failed and the cooling system got busted!  And more so, I met a European guy on-board claiming to be a member of the Dutch Legionnaire Army and the next King of Belgium.   Darn Oceanjet!  See?  See?  Stuff like that are the reasons why I always choose NOT TO CHOOSE Ocjeanjet.  If it were up to me, I'd have chosen Weesam or Supercat!  I had a meeting with my writers' organization scheduled at 8, which I was able to get to only at 9:26.  Imagine that!

Nonetheless, today's impromptu Cebu trip was awesome!  It was the getting back here trip that totally wasn't!

My First Christmas Blog

It's Christmas!  HAPPY, HAPPY DAY!  It's zero-sarcasm day, so you won't find a trace of it here.  Well, go figure!

Today is probably the happiest day for Christians all over the world--and even for those who aren't.  It's been said that the Christ Jesus of Nazareth was born on this day, 2010 years ago.  Awesome, isn't it?  And although this is a Christian celebration, a lot of my friends who aren't Christians also celebrate it.  They can't help it!  There's just too much love in the air to deny themselves a festive mood.  Be it the year-end sale of the holidays, the exchange of presents, the log burning in a fireplace that people rub their hands over, or simply just the image of Santa Claus on his sled--a smile is inevitable for the bearer of a heart that knows how to love.

I celebrated Christmas with my maternal family.  We kicked the day off at the Bohol District Jail for some gun firing exercises.  It's not something I'm particularly proud of having tried, but I did it anyway.  I wanted to know what it feels like to hold a gun, not to learn how to kill.  No way!

Why did I include that in my entry?  Well, even though I'm not proud of it, it was still a FIRST, so I consider it significant.

The celebration really started at dinner time when Mama Bimbim and her family came over for dinner.  Even though there were so many missing (Daddy Butch's and Uncle Czar's families), we still, somehow, felt complete and comfortable with the number.  The exchange of presents came shortly afterwards.

Alen giving a present to Alek

Alec giving one to Aileen

Jepoy and Mommy Joyce.  Mother and Son...

Alen Jairus Migriño Caseñas

From Auntie Emmie

For Mama Lol

(Once again... Yes, the hair is real!)

Who's it for, Mama Bimbim?

Joel, Mama Lol's chauffeur!  Of course he got presents, too!

Bilu, Alika, and Jes

Mom

Mommy Joyce got another one!

And I later found out that Alec (behind me) told Janggo to bite my chin... just in time for Jepoy to click on the shutter!  Crazy witch!

Me, Janggo and Mother

Those were specifically the moments of the year that made me wish growing up was a choice.  

I went with the rest of my Roman Catholic family to hear the Misa de Gallo to greet the strike of 12 at the Roman Catholic house of worship.  I went not for tradition's sake, but because I really did want to go.  I didn't mind being there at all.  I believe anyone can pray anywhere as long as mind, heart, and spirit are offered the right way.

National Youth Congress On Good Citizenship - Day 2 (December 17, 2010 - Yesterday)

Okay, yell at me.  I was tardy for yesterday's session.  The whole thing was scheduled to begin at 8:30AM, but at that time I just finished singing the last line of Being Alive after turning the shower flow off.  You can't blame me completely, though.  I had a late night dinner meeting the other night and I came home pretty late.  Oh, well... That's life for me... At least for now, I guess.


Kristine decided to tag along today to represent TULAY Cooperation Circle.  Plus, she made a commitment to Sr. Sandra that she'd show up.  Her last academic exam finished at 8:30AM, so she was all set by 9:00AM.  It was at that sharp hour that we arranged ourselves to meet at the office, but I didn't conform.  Sad.  I left the house at 9:45; passed by the office to pick my lady cousin up; stopped over at Adrienne's  to pick her up, too; and headed straight for the retreat house.

When we got there, I was disappointed--again!  I thought John had already finished his talk.  It turned out he didn't show up at all.  He sent a proxy to deliver an excruciatingly long palaver of a presentation.  My goodness!  Over a quarter of the people in attendance were literally asleep.  And it wasn't their fault.  I totally hold each one of them free of any blame.  I mean, who, in his/her right mind, would give a group of young people a two-hour-long Powerpoint Show of bureaucratic natter detailing the achievements of a certain section of the local government unit?  I have nothing against bureaucracy and pride and foreign investment, but come on!  That was a bit too much.  No, that was way too much, actually!  Didn't Day One's incident drill a hole into the organizers' heads?  I understand that in order to get the seed, one must learn to climb the tree and consume the fruit, but that principle got a bit too abused.  She just went on and on and on and on saying, "we did this; we did that; we're doing this; we're doing that; this is nice; that is nice; it's all nice; we're so nice!"  Plus, to top it off SHE DIDN'T HAVE ANY PICTURES!  Hello!  Pictures are always necessary!  Goodness gracious!  She wasn't soporific; she wasn't even bad at what she was doing.  It was what she was doing that was bad for our mood.

Engr. Liveta's hypnotic chant the other day should have made the behind-the-scenes people realize what a gargantuan mistake it was not to have oriented the speakers of time limitations and *ahem* the need for actual useful content.


Thankfully enough, she finished.  Not the same sarcastic applause was awarded to her, though.  Most of the kids were to weak to put on that kind of theatrical performance.

Next up was a guy named Rex.  I never really heard of him before, but he happens to be an exemplary young citizen and a very good youth leader.  One could define him in an activist context as a mover seeking a difference of true sustainable development.  He and his organization were honored as one of the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations of 2010 by none other than President Noynoy himself.  He founded PYAP (Pag-asa Youth Association of the Philippines) as an avenue for out-of-school youths to be able to utilize their home-grown talents and skills to benefit the society instead of resorting to drugs and what not and becoming part of the statistics of social menaces.  I especially liked how he started the partnership culture among the members of his organization and the people they work with.  Instead of calling them beneficiaries, they're referred to as partners.  It does make people feel better about themselves, doesn't it?  The way I see it, his activities empower the under-privileged by making them aware that they are capable of making big differences, too, and that they need not be casted away from the scene of general society.  In more ways than that, his organization is something that many such NGOs should emulate.


Rex shared many success stories--both personal and organizational--but there was one in particular that I liked very much.  He shared of how he enacted an engineer friend's idea of creating a concealed dike-like drainage system using buried hollow blocks to slurp away the nasty Cebu floods.  It's something I'm particularly interested in learning how to do.  They employed the hands of a couple of tambay boys to help them excavate a sizable width of land down to the level where sand could be felt.  After which, they...  Wait, why am I talking about this in detail?  Now, I'm the one making a palaver.  To cut it short:  After digging, they installed hollow blocks in a certain sloping position so the water would seep into the sand through the holes, and then they returned the soil.  Of course, they didn't cover the holes, too.  Duh!  That would have killed the purpose.


It was not that they gave a facade of a plain need for manpower to complete the activity; the whole thing was something that the tambay boys, who would have otherwise been spending more moments as ne'er-do-wells, felt they were part of.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with a sense of pride for doing something good.  Such activities encourage people to do more good if laid down the right way.


So, yeah.  I don't even know if I got that whole process right.  That's just my recollection.  If you want to learn, go ask him yourself.

After that, we had lunch, and then we had June.  June is a guy from Bayawan City.  He's 19-years-old and and has already achieved a considerable heap of accolades.  They're a lot and they're all very impressive!  I'm sure of that because I found myself oohing and wowing.  I just simply couldn't recall the specific names of the awards, though, so go ahead and sue me.  I'm certain they're well-deserved.  He probably worked his a** off early on and got very little sleep in ratio to the number of years he's been serving his city.  Why do I infer so?  Well, consider this:  He didn't look like he was 19 anymore.  That's just my opinion so don't diss me for it!  I'm sure many of you will have something to say about my being outspoken, but a man is entitled to his own opinion.


For the record, June was excellent.  His talk had a tinge of bureaucratic weehoo in it, too, but he knew how to keep us all alive.  He had such an imposing presence that one couldn't help but cooperate.  For about an hour and a half, he gave us a fruitful, action-filled, justifiably proud presentation about the growth of Bayawan as a city.  Every once in a while, he would ask us all to stand up and yell and clap and do crazy stuff.  We gladly did.  We allowed ourselves to loosen and there was nothing wrong with it!  We all didn't mind.  Adding to his innately humorous way of presenting himself, he would often blurt out Bisaya terms code-switched with Tagalog which he was obviously struggling to be able to speak straight.  That gave us more reason to stay awake.  Not that we would have chosen otherwise, though.

The best of the lot, in my opinion, was Sr. Sandra.  Good old Sister Sandra!  She's still, to me, the best, most liberal, most rational, most utterly cool religious sister in the world.


She kicked her time off with an unconventional environmental awareness exercise by sending us out in the open lawn and letting us scour the space directly in front of us for the different life forms we could identify.  After that, we did interpersonal examination where she made us stare a partner in the eyes so we could both look deeper into each other's souls.  She moved on to making us hold hands to feel the spiritual connection.  A number of us couldn't help but shed a few tears upon empathizing with the emotional burdens they discovered their partners were carrying.


As a conclusion to the lawn activity, we all did a Japanese martial art-inspired wordless environmental movement prayer.  Of course, most of us enjoyed it.  It's something Kristine and I are quite familiar with since Sister made us do this during November's Regional Meeting--not to mention the Beyond Differences concert where everyone in the audience did it.  It's just sad to note that a number of people didn't take it very seriously.  I don't know if they had any issues with the bone structure of their spines or if they were just plainly uninterested.  I suspect the latter, though.


What followed was Sister's talk.  She kicked off by relating to us how she came to make the decisions she made as a beautiful and sought-after young woman--of how she left her boyfriends in favor of the religious life in a structured convent.  She then proceeded to a structural dissection of how youth movements are initiated and how they are sustained.  From her, I learned the importance of making each one a key person instead of maintaining just a single entity who delivers the orders and methodologies of how they are to be carried out.  It's from that lecture that I learned specifically the value of inculcating in each member the idea that each one is as much a leader as he/she is a grass root.  It's interesting how she employed the story of Genesis to convey her messages and share her ideas.


I was really impressed with the way Sister very firmly but subtly introduced the principles of the United Religions Initiative in a context that some would regard as secular and irreligious.  The best way to do it, indeed, is to live it and show it and be proud of it.  How many nuns and members of religious mission orders would recognize Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Witches and accept the existence of each culturally-influenced faith tradition as a river flowing towards a single ocean?


I love the way she said, "Whether you use the name God, Allah, Yahweh, Elohim, or whatever name, it's the same God we're all referring to, because we all have just one--one God with many names."  The eyes of those who used a term other than conventionally "God" were lit up with brightness.  Their inquisitive expressions quickly turned into smiles of amazement and reassurance that they were accepted and regarded the same way as everyone else by no less than a woman who devotes herself to the service of the Roman Catholic Church.


Sister was just one person and we were over a hundred.  There was no way she could, at a single instance, give us the hug that she wanted to give.  She then added something to the effect of the common URI statement saying that each religion is a different way of communicating to a single Absolute Being.  Also, one could never forget, "I am your sister; you are my brothers; you are my sisters."  That was enough for all of us. It was a hug in the form of loving words.  It's really not something you hear everyday.  Indeed, it was the perfect fundamental foundation to her statement of youth empowerment--that each one be made to feel that he/she is brother/sister to every other.


Enough said, Sr. Sandra was awesome!


Following Sister was Adrienne's departure.  Yes, she had to leave early to attend a Christmas party of some other organization.  The funny thing was she messaged me less than half-an-hour later expressing how her yearning grew for her new found...  For her new found...  Geez, I don't even know what term to use.  Well, I'll just say she was yearning for her new found Doodle-Hoozle.  [LOL]


Kristine and I stayed and ate dinner there.  So-so food, as usual.  Then a cultural presentation by BISU (Bohol Island State University) was arranged for us as a treat.  There was a cool medley of Philippine folk dances where the dancers would leave the scene after a number and return after the next one dressed in a different outfit.  It was really good.  Then of course, there were modern and ballroom dance forms which I didn't pay much attention to.  Don't ask why.  A man has the right to be busy with normal concerns at 8:00 in the evening.


The part of the show that displeased me quite significantly was the vocal flaunting.  Much of the musicality was stripped off the songs in favor of rising an octave higher to show the audience that they could do it.  Of course, the performers aren't to blame and neither are the audience members.  They are non-musicians (or if they are, they don't know singing in its real sense) raised with the collective social mentality that belting means good singing.  I don't know why that is.  They think living dangerously is something to be praised and encouraged.  Of course, for the likes of Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Regine Velasquez, Jennifer Holliday, Idina Menzel, Eden Espinosa, Joanna Ampil, Lea Salonga and who they be up there, it's quite obvious that they know what they're doing since they've been trained properly.  However, I know, for a fact, that belting, no matter how easily it comes for a non-seasoned singer, is very dangerous.  Two belt-filled numbers in a day is enough, but to raisin the performer into doing more than that is quite murderous--even for a fat grape.


Anyway, enough about that show.  We had one last speaker--Bro. Hermie.  I think he was interesting.  Yes, I believe he was quite fruitful, but I was just too darn drowsy to pay attention.  The lights were killed in favor of the LCD projector.  The slideshow served as a night light with an ever-changing spectrum of colors as more than half of us dozed off to Wonderland.  We were awakened when we were asked to sing Power of Your Love--a faith-neutral praise song.  Why did I say "faith-neutral"?  I said so because it doesn't use the word "Jesus" or "Christ," meaning a few other faiths could sing it, too.  I initially didn't sing properly, but the song got into me somehow and I found myself really singing after a while.


To conclude our day and our congress as a whole, we all sang One Little Candle together, holding a candle each, while making our way to the concrete ground where bonfire fuel wood was piled ready for ignition.  We lit it and began what seemed like a Wiccan birthday blessing--minus the sacred oil and the ornaments and the food offerings and the incense and the spells and what not.  A lot shared words of wisdom, emotion, and encouragement.  We all sang Let There Be Peace on Earth as we each received a certificate.  It was a remembrance for being there--a constant reminder of the cause.


Finally, to conclude the evening, we all joined arms and sang If We Hold On Together as we watched the fire flicker, rise and fall--symbolizing how we'd support each other and our country even as the times go weak.


Okay, I'm done being romantic!  That congress had a lot of HUGE points for improvement, but it was very good, nonetheless.  I had no regrets whatsoever that Bohol Goodwill Volunteers, Inc. provided sponsorship for it.  It was indubitably something that we will forever be proud of being a part of.  It was an amazing way to start a trend for future activities like such.  I'm sure the mistakes will be learned from and next year's congress will be a lot, lot better.


'Till then!

National Youth Congress On Good Citizenship - Day 1 (Just a few hours ago)

 

I never really had any intention of attending the whole thing.  I initially thought the only part I'd be going to The Mercedarian Retreat House for is Sr. Sandra's  lecture tomorrow.  It turned out yesterday, however, that Kristine of TULAY CC, the participant to represent Bohol Goodwill Volunteers was showing signs of bailing out in favor of her preliminary semestral tests.  More so, my dad had asked me to attend to represent our sponsorship.  Of course, I didn't have any argument against Kristine's decision, but the predicament I was in was the fact that I was asked by dad to join the entire thing like a participant myself.  I was like, "whaaat?"

Thankfully, though.  My trusty co-leader, Adrienne, agreed to tag along.  Thank goodness she isn't employed!

So, yes, the 3-day congress began this afternoon.  We both went there for lunch and joined the opening session.  We, of course, didn't want to be eccentric about the endeavor so we purposely blended ourselves in.  Unfortunately, no matter how hard we tried to like the so-called inspirational talk given by CHED's (Commission on Higher Education) resource speaker, we couldn't help but feel extremely drowsy.  Imagine an hour-long lethargic palaver by a man with a very soporific pace and tone of voice.  In addition to that, he mispronounced a lot of English words.  Some found humor in what he was doing, but to have ridiculed him for his mistakes would have been a heavy chip on my plate of principles--so Adrienne and I opted not to.  We nearly fell asleep while everyone else tried their best to be polite about the situation.

When he finished, I heard everyone's sigh of relief in unison after the forced applause.  They were obviously clapping their hands because he was FINALLY done, not because they liked his message.  There was nothing inspirational about it at all.  It was a rant of purely bureaucratic hullabaloo that no one in the room was interested in hearing.  I even forgot the man's name!

Due to that, Adriennne told me she was leaving to attend to a prior commitment at around 3:30.  I think it was the sheer boredom that the man brought into the atmosphere that empowered her decision even more.  I felt wary about her statement for a while since I didn't know anyone there except Benjie and a couple of hi-hello heads we met while dining.  It wasn't until Liza arrived that I felt some sort of relief.  I told myself, "finally, I'm not going to be alone later."  As a plus as well, Sr. Sandra arrived.  HAPPY DAY!

The rest was very good.  Next to that drowsy episode was a welcome remark from Dr. Serena Bolos, my aunt.  She was there proxying for the governor, my uncle, since he's in Manila right now and couldn't make it.  It was really good, though.  She was a former educator herself (and a favorite of many at that) so she really had her way of addressing the youth.  She managed to bring the temperature down when the wax was on the verge of melting.

We had a short snack break after her talk.  Liza and I walked Adrienne to the gate, where, to my dismay, Liza also announced she was going to be leaving as well.  There goes my relief!  "Well," I said, "at least Sister Sandra's here."

After the break was Commissioner Baltazar of the I-forgot-what commission.  I apologize for forgetting and lacking information here.  I left my program kit in dad's car so there's no way for me to find out right now.  She was very good, nonetheless.  Her passion for social change is something to be reckoned with, I must say.  There's no one more qualified than her to talk about encouraging good governance from a grassroots level.

The last to deliver a talk was a very good speaker and youth action initator whose name, once again, escapes me.  I did, however, remember what his talk was about.  He delved on 12 Little Things a Filipino Youth Can Do for the Country.  It was also quite long since his presentation was packed with a lot of experience stories and videos.  He was only 26 and rather techy, so go figure.  It was really, really good, though.  His skill even led to a complete sell-out of some planners he had with him.  Of course, it was for a good cause so the participants were more than happy to whack out an easy three hundred.

Well, 'till tomorrow then.  I'll be hitting the hay early tonight.  Don't argue!  12:00AM is early for me.

Over all, it was a fair day.  I made a couple of new friends, refreshed old insights and gained a lot of new ones.  Tomorrow's going to be a lot different from this, though.  I'm really looking forward to what Sr. Sandra has in store.

'Till then!  Toodles!

Is It An Absolute Necessity To Tell Everyone?

Of course it's not!

I'm not just speaking for myself here, I'm speaking for everyone.  Well, I bet you don't have the slightest idea what I'm talking about so let me explain in my next paragraph.

Waking up yesterday wasn't pleasurable AT ALL!  One:  I woke up on the wrong side of the bed; and Two:  I found myself sneezing like nuts.  It was the perfect combination for a perfectly bad day.  I had a lot of errands to run, but I didn't want to do even one.  Of course, I ended up doing them, anyway.  Like I had a choice!  It's not like me to make excuses about discomfort or anything like that.  Plus, one of them was a matter of life and death so I had to attend to it.

I'm just glad the day ended the way it did.  Usual dinner with dad (who wasn't feeling 'okay' either) followed by a prolonged conversation with a close friend about my ULTIMATE INFATUATION!  Heck, no!  I'm not going to tell you who it is!

Today isn't showing any signs of getting as good a conclusion, though.  I haven't done anything productive or interesting.  I spent most of my day sleeping and I only cared to get up at about 4:00PM.

I had four pre-mature wake-up calls this morning.  First was from Janggo who wanted to get out of the room;  second was from Mama Lol (grandma) who had a question about the car which I didn't really understand.  I think my brain went on autopilot then 'cause I asked her about it a few minutes ago and she thanked me for my answer.  Yeah!  So, the third episode was when my mom woke me up and invited me to go SCUBA diving with some sub-marine robot; and last was when my dad's chauffeur brought me a bottle of Belladona-based potion.

Is my father a Wiglaer, too?  Yes, he is.  His potency runs through both genders, though--unlike my maternally acquired abilities whose strength runs only through the female bloodline.  Why am I even talking about this?  Wait, no.  This is an appropriate topic.  Next question would be, "is it working?"  Yes, it is!  I'm feeling relief right now, but in approximately four hours, I will have a three-hour-long convulsion and then all this will disappear completely.  That's how it works.  It's been that way ever since and it has always worked.  So, go figure!

Anyway, I still haven't explained the title.  Here goes:  Shortly after waking up, I tweeted: "Sick!!!"  Yes, just that one word and three exclamation marks.  After clicking the tweet button, I contemplated on composing an elaborate equivalent to post on Facebook since I'm afforded more characters to use.  So, I went ahead and typed.  And then I asked myself, why is it even necessary to let the entire world know I'm sick?  Would anybody even care?

After a while, I came to the realization that it doesn't matter whether or not they care.  I'm also not in a condition in need of third-party healing so I trashed the idea of sharing that piece of information.

Let me put it this way:  Saying whatever the heck you want on Twitter is fine.  People follow you because they actually want to know how you're doing.  Saying things on your blog is also A-Okay, too, since people who don't care about you wouldn't read your posts, anyway.  However...  Facebook?  No way!  It's just not the same concept.  You get why.  If you don't get why, then go figure!

It isn't going to gain me sympathy to let people know I'm in a condition less than good.  Even if it does, so what?  It's not good for my karma that people are fussing over my negative condition.  A little tip:  Let people know when you're healthy.  History shows it's always better that way.

URI Southeast Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting 2010 - A Review -

For Auntie Shakun and my United Religions Initiative Southeast Asia-Pacific Family


Dear Auntie Shakun and my SEAPac Family,


First of all:  I'm enjoying the new auntie & uncle thing going on!  I believe it's essential in making one feel that he/she belongs to THE family.  It certainly has that sort of effect on me.  I have Ate Jamel and Auntie Jessiee to thank for this. 

The SEAPac Meeting wasn't quite how I expected it to be.  I visualized an entirely different scenario.  When dad encouraged me to join shortly after my return to Bohol, I never imagined that the whole occasion involved a conference table or a projection screen, for that matter.  Me and my ideas!

Regardless of what I had thought it to be, all my expectations were bested!  I not only liked it, I loved it!  So much has changed since three years ago when I attended the country meeting in 2007.  My CC was very young back then and I was only 18.  We didn't have as much to delve on, but great ideas were brought to the fore.  Of course, the number is expected to grow as new CCs materialize all over the region.  That in itself was impressive, not because I enjoy bureaucratic set-ups, but because it meant that a lot of people actually care and are serious enough to act upon it.  It was a real pleasure meeting old friends and making a lot of new ones.  It put a genuine grin on my face getting to know young people who are involved in the cause - Filipino and foreign alike.

About old friends; I was hoping to see Tita Marites, too.  I found it rather strange seeing Auntie Shakun without Tita Marites.  To me, they are the real dynamic duo in this movement.  Along with my father's encouragement, it was their talks during the first VPAR (Visions of Peace Among Religions) Workshop I attended that led me to this path.  I miss those deeply intellectual conversations with them both involved.  Meeting Auntie Shakun and Tita Marites led to meeting amazing people like Dad Musa (whose peace work in Mindanao, I predict, will be a major catalyst in the healing of wounds made by centuries of animosity), Orlan (whose commitment and dedication to the cause is something I believe everyone should emulate), and, of course, Sister Sandra (the coolest, most youthful religious sister ever whose indefatigable encouragement to me and other youths has been a driving force towards good choices, and the one who reassured me that God doesn't smite people for their choices of who to love).

As for new friends; meeting you turned the rest of the days of being there into days of celebration.  To name them:  Ate Jamel (who reoriented me with the idea of using honorifics and taught me that there exists a combination of decency, benevolence, and utter imperfection), Peter (whose work in Melbourne has given me a couple of ideas pointing towards sustainable development and who managed to direct that awesome show in less than two hours), Auntie Jessiee (who bears words of wisdom that one could never possibly grow out of and who taught me the importance of personal address in respect to nurturing the feeling of being in a family), Uncle Dya (a sage who has proven time and again that humor need not be dirty and whose remarkable voice, which I could clearly tell emanates from the heart, can move mountains), Uncle Indra (whose exceptional spiritual abilities, sheer humility, and peaceful nature I am, up to the present, greatly in awe of), Anggra (whose ability to fit into a very tight corset and still move as swiftly as he did during his dance showed me how spiritual mastery can subdue physical limitations), Dr. Amir (whose talk on Interfaith Dialog led me to brood over and create a personal solution on how to channel the aspects of a formidable challenge and transform it into a helpful opportunity), Sam-An (whose cause-oriented activities that developed into sustainable forms of self-aid have become bases for my plans for my CC's projects), Sidon (who has made me realize that being a young CC doesn't mean entitlement to excuses of not taking initiatives and whose organization has become a model for our work in 2011), Kuya Eric (who taught me that communication barriers need not threaten the amount of dedication you have for your plans and that patience is something that does not actually have to burn out), Sharon (who, as much as Kristine, has exemplified that school does not mean one needs to forgo the goals one has aimed at satisfying the greater good), and Ishilta (who has illustrated to me the value of friendship and togetherness in a band of people working for the same cause--whether it's something developed before or after formation).

Without a doubt, I was deeply struck by something more than acquaintances and numbers.  It was essentially the sheer dedication of heart that the new leaders gave to the cause of peace-building that greatly moved me.  I can't fathom why I decided to go on that hiatus in the first place.  There is so much to do where I am and there isn't that strong an initiative.  Well, that will change very soon.  URI of Bohol WILL BE the initiative.  The walls of culturally- and religiously-motivated hostility are strong, but The TULAY (Trust, Understanding, and Learning Among Youth) CC and Bohol Goodwill Volunteers CC are the forces that will lead to its demolition.  We will tear it down brick-by-brick and replace it with perpetually-opened doors and windows of understanding and brother/sisterhood.

The concert that Peter and Orlan put together was nothing short of inspiring.  It was one of the best diversity-and-peace-themed productions I've ever borne witness to!  I'm quite certain that a lot of those in the audience told heaps and heaps of their friends (who weren't in attendance) that they missed a lot for having missed that concert.  I've been involved in productions with audiences over five times that crowd, but never have I been able to generate reactions close to that.  The finale where everyone stood up, held hands, and sang "we are all connected" in unison was the most amazing thing ever!  Such powerful harmony of hearts!  I loved it and I could tell back then that everybody else loved it, too.  The power of grassroots action is great, indeed!

Speaking of grassroots, we have collectively decided that my leadership of TULAY CC be turned over to Kristine Genita.  She is a very good leader and she has done a lot in my absence despite being a full-time student.  It's the most appropriate initial course of action to get things moving again.  I'm now handling BGV CC.  It's not that I didn't want to share TULAY CC with Kristine; I just felt the need for Bohol Goodwill Volunteers CC to get in motion.  I care and that's my reason for taking over it.  My father is a very good leader, but his line of work compels him to miss a lot no matter how much he wishes to be involved.  Members now tend to ignore the existence of the cooperation circle.  It's sad to know that BGV CC has become less of a priority to the people whose names are very clearly and honorably listed as members.  All that is going to change.

This year's regional meeting has inspired me to do more.  No, my motivation does NOT, in any way, involve any driven attitude or form of competition against other CCs.  They have simply inspired me and opened my mind to the possibilities that actually exist in my locality.

Over all, I'm glad I attended the SEAPac Meeting.  It was a much-needed wake-up call.  It encouraged me to make a lot of changes (that have now started to take place) in my lifestyle and my attitude towards the world and all beings.  It has been said by Mohandas K. Gandhi that we must be the change we wish to see in the world.  "We" is a collective term, but in order for a collective to form, action must take place first in the self.  I firmly believe that examples encourage influence and that is why I have decided to make myself a good one.

Bheannacht go léir timpeall.


Ludwig

ORIGINAL MESSAGE RESPONDED TO:

---

From: Shakuntala Vaswani <*************@*****.com>
To: SE Asia Region <**************@***********.com>
Sent: Mon, December 6, 2010 4:59:21 PM
Subject: [uri-seapacific] Higlights of SEAPac Meeting & THANK YOU [2 Attachments]
 

Dear SEAPac Family,

I trust this finds you well.

It was such a pleasure to have 3 Regional Trustees and 13 CC Leaders here in Manila for the recent Regional gathering (November 24-28, 2010).

Thank you all for making time from your busy schedule to be here to share your stories of successes and challenges and participate in strategic planning for the region to grow in impact and sustainability.

I hope you will make time to share the learnings from the meeting with you CC members and will be becoming up with a calendar of activities for 2011.

We will put the information together in a Regional Calendar of activities so CCs can link with each other for any collaboration/support.

Thank you for sharing about your CC programs at the Forum on November 27 with our various friends from Embassies, International Funders and NGO partners in peace building. We hope it increased their awareness about the URI   work and its relevance to peace building in the region. We hope to benefit from the encounter.

Thank you also for the gift of your talent at our cultural night “Beyond Differences”. Each presentation was colourful and unique. It was commendable how the whole show came together with the direction of Peter Mousaferiadis. Thank you Peter!  It was a joy to watch the program. The audience also loved it. Congratulations to ALL!

Attached please find the Highlights of the meeting. 

Any additions, corrections are welcome. The full report is under preparation.

Best wishes &

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Shakun

United Religions Initiative
in Southeast Asia-Pacific

Shakuntala M. Vaswani • Regional Coordinator
Email and GoogleTalk: ********@***.org • Skype **********

Phone: (***) ***-**** • Fax: ***-****

www.uri.org     www.uriseapacific.org

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