Life to Life

Ever had one of those moments when you share a subjectively profound experience with someone over email, and all you get in reply is "thanks"--nothing more.

Sometime it gives me the impression that I have just rudely entered their day and they give a short, amiable, safe answer like "thanks" to give you the impression that they have read it and move on to the next mail. Makes me wonder why I bothered to send the mail in the first place. Perhaps it's the best thing they could do under their very hectic circumstances.

But we all know that if it is really important, people will give time to it. The rest are simply...the rest.

The funny question is, why do I do it?

The answer: To connect.

In the billions of people in the world, not everyone will understand and accept you. That's why it's a blessing to have real friends. It gives me a great sense of gratitude to some people who really went out of their way to listen to me--Nanay, Ate Flora, George, Alvin, Mych, Ray, Carol, Shai, Ruth, Ness and Joel, and most especially Lei. These people were neither born to sustain my emotional well-being, nor did they understand me all the time, and yet, in certain circumstances in my life, they were there.

They were just there.

And their PRESENCE was the best gift I they have given me. Whether it was in the email, or text, or coffee conversations, they made their presence felt. Not just automatic responses, they actually made you feel that you are talking to a person and not an answering machine.

And to them, I say, THANK YOU.

Human

I heard one preacher say that we need new heroes. For the country. For God.

But when we put these "heroes" on a pedestal, we find out in a bittersweet way that they are human after all.

Flawed. Like the rest of us.

They can be heroes if they want to.

I just want to be more human. Because that's where it all starts. Because that's how God created me to be.

Human being.

Being human.

Finding Your Balance

"He who would be serene and pure needs but one thing, detachment."
-- Meister Eckhart

We are the ocean -- vast, deep, powerful and rich. Nourishing and nurturing. Dive down into the dark stillness of being. Sense the rising and falling of surface thoughts and emotions, sometimes gentle, sometimes violent.

Always shifting.

Always in motion.

Draw back and watch the waves of your life at play. Know you are the unfathomable depths -- surface agitations can't disturb you.

Know that you are bigger than the little things that aggravate you.

"It's best not to get too excited or too depressed by the ups and downs of life."
-- Dalai Lama