Ads at heart

I was strucked by an ads which goes like this, " The heart doesn't tell a lie. The heart doesn't grows old. The heart doesn't loses hope. Each line slowly fades as the next line appears on the screen.The simple ads leaves something to the audience.

Do hearts really lie? I don't think so.We cannot conclude whether it's telling the truth or a lie. What motivates the heart could possibly be the gauge. But motivation itself is something personal.No one could read a person's motive, unless expressly manifested by actions, which may or may not be what it ought to represent.

Do hearts grow old? Contrary to the life cycle wherein all living things get older as they age, the heart doesn't. It's the same unfatigueable heart that pumps blood to the body and vice versa,from the time the body comes into being until it goes to the grave. Most old people that I have talked to, majority of them say that they still feel the same just as during their teenage years. This might be true. They could still feel love, hatred, envy, happiness, sorrow and other affections that small boys and girls, adolescents , middle aged alike feel.

Do hearts lose hope? It probably encompasses the other two.Considering that hearts do lie, and it grows old, but it still boils down to the value of hope. Hope, a strong positive word that implies light at the end of a dark tunnel. It reminds us that failure and defeat is not the end of everything, there's still something worth living for. Ergo, take out hopelessness in your vocabulary.

I just remembered a story about a blind couple separated unexpectedly on the busy street of a metropolis. The wife saddened by the happening, cried silently as she sat in a corner across a fastfood restaurant.Passers-by tried to comfort her. Hours passed. The sun goes down and darkness enveloped the place where she was sitted.

A scavenger asked her " Do you think your husband will look for you Lola?" She smiled and replied, " I have been into this predicament a lot of times and my husband found me. I don't think he couldn't find me this time."

Amulets and Potions

Days from now, the entire country would mourn for the death and eventually rejoice on the resurrection of our Saviour.It might be awkward to say but another interesting festivities will happen on these holy days, which a common christian doesn't know. 
 
Right at the heart of the Visayan Islands, the place known for it's mysteries and magics, where I was born and raised. The mystic island of Siquijor.The province itself is unique. It is endowed with much natural beauty that would surely capture tourists and fills the craving for vacationers. Despite the positive image that the residents and everyone who have roots in the place, try to portray to the visitors, lies still the hesitations and worries that they feel. They fear the unknown which they say is taking place on this rocky island. That being so, every time somebody hears Siquijor, the first thing that comes to their mind is, witchcraft! voodoo dolls! How funny.

When I heard such feedbacks and reactions from people , I just smiled. I could not instantly convince them that it's just a product of imagination.I usually tell them to uncover the mysteries themselves and see what's really the truth behind those gossips.
 
Based on the stories that I've heard , it is on these holy days that faith healers across the country trooped to the island, unknown for the rest of the year, to gather medicinal herbs and plants,endemic of the place. These are processed, specifically on a Good Friday, into herbal medicines and were claimed to heal varied illness and diseases.
 
It is also on these days that potions are made. The juices extracted from the stems, the roots and barks of the plants abounding the locality, go into a tedious process. These are mixed with oils and other matters to come up with a concoction, and said to spell like magic. I could not say it's effective since I haven't tried it myself.
 
In another occasion, my grandfather told me a story about persons having amulets. He said that once he/she possesses this kind of extraordinary "power", he is capable of marching into a battle unscathed since bullets will not hurt him. Sharp things would not even scratch his skin. One source of this so called "power" he said, is when somebody gets the eye of the whirlwind, a very remote thing to happen.
 
If my memory will not fail me, I can recall a unique ritual which I personally witnessed on a Good Friday night, in one of our neighbors. Early on, the members of the group danced around a bonfire. Singing an unfamiliar song. The event highlighted with the head/master stepping and dancing on the fire unburned. The trick was not an illusion at all. We, the spectators saw it in our bare eyes.
 
It is through these much-see events that Siquijor attracts tourists during this month of the year. People eager to conquer their fears of the exaggerated stories portrayed on horror movies.
 
I'm not bragging but it's true, when you set foot on this famous island, especially on Lenten season, the medicines, the amulets and potions you want to get hold of, would be totally put into trash.

It's a little piece of paradise.

Graduation time

While boarding a jeepney to the office where I worked,traffic started to go worse. It was the early morning scenario I've seen for the past two days. 

Neither an accident happen nor any event that would hamper the flow of the vehicles. Magnifying what was going at the end of the road I could see vendors with baskets of corsage and garlands, rushing here and there trying to outdo each other, chanting to passers-by and convincing them to buy their flowers. I realized instantly that it's graduation time. A university in the city held it's graduation rites that morning.

This month of the year makes the city livelier. The influx of people from nearby provinces and cities as well added, to the already crowded streets. 

Primarily, most of them will attend their son/daughters graduation rites. Our enterprising fellow countrymen had their part too. Vendors sprout everywhere, near the vicinities of the graduation venues, they sell corsages, garlands, native fans and of course, water.

It has been the yearly tradition which I think will continue as long as there are graduates, as long as parents continue to value education for their children, and as long as teachers are still eager and willing to mold the minds of the youngsters. I have no doubt this tradition of ours will not end.

Who will forget the delicious foods prepared for the entire family and the wishes from relatives and friends? Doing away with your usual school paraphernalias which you hated most. The burning of midnight oils during exams and cheating. You will miss your friends , favorite teachers, and somebody close to your heart.

Graduation marks another milestone in our life. It's not the end but the beginning. It leads us to another level of our existence.To the real world and the real battle. To put into action what you've learned within the four walls of the room for the past four or five years. Let it be your shield and armour from this day forward.

I myself tucked the memories of my graduation in a special part of my cranium, where I want to, for once in while I can open it with a smile.

High-tech fasting

Nowadays,everything is so simple and easy. The product of mankind's continuous search for the latest technologies. No wonder one could see new models of cellphones, computers and electronic gadgets almost every corner in town. They grow in leaps and bounds.It penetrates to even the most remote place in the country. It became part of our daily lives, just like the other basic needs.Can you imagine without these conveniences for a day or two?
 
The pronouncement of the Vatican for a high-tech fasting is a challenge for us this Lenten season. Minimize but not prohibit. Do not be a slave to this world. 

Perhaps, the message encouraged everyone to fast in a modern world. For instance, if one texts fifty times a day, he can reduce it to half. If somebody enjoys facing the computer the whole day, maybe he can have it for an hour. These are just simple things, feasible for everyone to do.
 
Having accustomed to all these caprices for quite some time now, I know isn't an easy decision. It's like taking away from a child a toy valuable to him.
But the bottom line is sacrifice. Haven't we survive many years ago without these necessities at hand? If we had made it through before then there's no reason why we can't do it now.

Instant speaker, anyone?

To speak before a group of intellectuals hasn't been my comfort zone. I admit, I'm not good at communicating to people.But the barrier within me, has slowly been tored down and I'm beginning to conquer this fear.
 
With barely five hours before the actual activity, I was informed if I could speak on the updates of taxation, as an eleventh hour replacement due the unavailability of the resource speaker. I initially decline. The topic needs a lot of effort. Presentation slides, handouts and other materials to make an efficient and effective delivery takes time to prepare.
 
The discussion to pursue or not was cut short when a co-employee offered his PowerPoint presentation on the topic. Right on that very moment I said yes.
Without wasting time, I scanned the files. Studied every page of the slide. It took me sometime to fully grasp the details, for majority of which tackled on computations,basically dealing with numbers. I tried to crack all parts my cranium, in order to absorb all what I've read, in a short span of time. I tried to recall the stock knowledge that I have, and integrate them on the slide presentation laid down.
 
Questions like, "Can I deliver what these people ought to know?" What if my fear overpowers me, what would I do?.These made me more awkward and uneasy as the clocks strikes to signal the start of the activity.
My knees trembled as I approached the podium. The seminar room though seemingly cold but I perspired. I felt goose bumps all over my body. I whispered to myself, "This is it." I tried to gain my confidence and focus , thinking of something else to ease the tension that I felt, which prevailed for a couple of minutes.
 
The discussion started me giving the participants a brief background on the topic. The confidence that I am armed with, was boasted by the nod and inquiries of the participants, who were interactive this time contrary to when I began delivering my piece. Lively exchanges inside the room lasted for an hour.
 
Wrapping up my presentation, I could hear them clapping in unison. I received positive feedback from them. I was even mistaken as a real personnel from the internal revenue bureau of the government.
I've gone out on my comfort zone. The thing which fears me most turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I have discovered another side of me. With right attitude and determination, I guess I will go far on this. Being a speaker. 

Anyone?
 
However,Robert Stevenson said and I quote, "All speech written or spoken, is a dead language, until it finds a willing and prepared hearer.Right?