Happily Sleepless in Galicia, Spain

At the moment, I am still pinching myself just to check if I am indeed here in Spain. I am deeply thankful to the universe for this gift. The power of dreams is great and so is the power of words. I remember that I had already told myself years ago that if I'd be going to Europe for the first time, then it would be in Spain. Years came by and I had forgotten about it. And then this Seminar on Sustainable Cultural Tourism here in Santiago de Compostela came, and then I am here, and I am awed. As soon as I held the invitation letter in my hands, my heart beat faster, and I knew then that I had to apply. I had to go through some seeming obstacles, but then a moment came when I knew that the universe is dead serious in proceeding with its gift for me, asserting itself at each opportunity, and is merely checking if it was indeed me at the other end receiving, wide-eyed and ready. And I realize that I am ready for it. And I am thankful that I've attracted back this dream at this point of my life when I am ready for it. And more than ever, I am deeply thankful.

So, I am here in beautiful Santiago de Compostela and I had the chance to connect with 20 plus other people from this side of the planet and from Asia (with my co-participants in the seminar from Vietnam, Cambodia, East Timor and Sri Lanka). Again, I am deeply thankful.

Interestingly, on Oct 25, on my 9th day here, I received this amazing email from my good friend Annie Luis (who also wished for me to get this Spanish opportunity), sharing a blog entry by Jason Mraz which resonated deeply within me:
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Rei,

Just wanted to share this blog entry from our gorgeous Jason Mraz! Hoping Spain's great! Enjoy!!!!
-annie


4 Leaves Left

“I thought about one of my favorite Sufi poems, which says that God long ago drew a circle in the sand exactly around the spot where you are standing right now. I was never not coming here. This was never not going to happen."
— Elizabeth Gilbert

I’ve never been lucky enough to find a four-leaf clover. I’ve been gifted plenty, but I never found one on my own accord down on my hands and knees. Then again, I’ve never committed to a long look. But I will admit that in all my years in this child body, whenever I found myself stooped in the grass, fingering between blades of green and those greener, I always hoped that that day’s first charmed discovery would be made by me.

In all of life, failure in the finding never got me down. The upset shows itself as a sign that that my luck would show up as something different, and perhaps a much larger version of itself. So, there was rarely a need to squander a precious moment and/or add a rare and mutant flower to the vision board.

I apply the same theory to never winning the lottery. I know I’m not supposed to get my millions for free. For this I am always eager to earn it.

There were plenty of jobs where I wasn’t hired, many of them in music and theatre. Rejection left me bouncing off of so many NO’s that I learned to be encouraged by the defeats. I found I had more talents to cultivate, more songs to write, more moxie to move. I was always complete in knowing I was moving in the right direction.

Yesterday I sprawled across an infinite patch of tropical clover on a near deserted stretch of one of Maui’s sacred shores, basking in a pink grapefruit sunrise. I warmed and awakened every sense and chakra taking sips of the new day, gulps of air and gasps of soul soothing ginger as tea. In my mind I harmonized with the crow of the cock and purred along with the hush and shush of the swaying palms in a Pakalani filled paradise. I pulled wild hairs from my eyes and allowed my body to dry itself of the sweat fostered a few minutes before in the steamy pre-dawn sauna.

Naked, I acknowledged the elements for granting me such a blessed life. With nothing to offer the world in that moment, my naked newborn self offered up love, laughter, and gratitude. From far out to sea, God, on a cruise ship perhaps, sighed as if to say “well done” and returned the love and gratitude in a breeze, and, on my behalf, cleverly kept the world as it is.

My gaze turned to the clover and I quietly remarked at how it wasn’t the traditional Irish Shamrock I usually familiar my eyes with. This tropical ground cover was so expansive you might miss it over its normalcy. Yet, what I noticed was how each and every little stem had only two pairs of pedals popping out of the sprout. The deeper I looked through the filter of appreciation, the more I realized I wasn’t just sitting on a grassy knoll, but resting rather, almost retired in the enlightenment, enveloped on a prairie in perfect company among thousands of 4-leaf clovers.

Luck is all around me.
Love is all there is.

May every situation be summed up in a smile.
-Jason
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Cheers to you Annie! Cheers to you Jason! And cheers to all those who find the love around them!

Beyonce Wins 2009 Video of the Year and Shows Real Class!

Wow! For those who watched the recent MTV VMA, we all know the stunt pulled by Kanye West over Taylor Swift, stealing her precious thank you moment when Swift won the Best Female Video. But before everything's completely ruined, Beyonce herself got the chance to go up on stage to claim her Video of the Year (Single Ladies)award, made her thank you speech short, called Taylor Swift from backstage, giving Taylor Swift her moment. Classy classy Beyonce!

Here's the video:

A Unique & a Joyful Wedding Entrance!

Wow! I came across this video of a wedding dance. And I was so happy watching it! The joy of the dance was so infectious it made me dance in front of my monitor. Haha. :) Am sharing it here and I wish you happiness as well! The title of the video is JK Wedding Entrance Dance.

On Loving

I was reading through an entry of Migs in his blog:http://manilagayguy.net/ titled "Twenty Four and Loveless Yet," and I was particularly happy to read about the response Migs posted culled from the blog http://corpcloset.blogspot.com:

Here it is:

--
"its also sad that some people feel that romantic love is lacking in their lives. and some complain of being lonely, lonesome, alone...

perhaps some of these people focus too much on what they don't have, i.e. no love in their lives. and whining about it just makes the thought expand. always mentioning this will just reinforce it further, a vicious cycle.

so turn it around. stop thinking you don't have love. stop focusing on what is lacking in your life. start by recognizing that there are so many people around us who love us and whom we can love back! family, friends, people we work with... then you become thankful sincerely of what you already have: this wonderful people around.

Then start loving. It's an action word. start focusing your energies on making people you love happy: your father and mother, especially your parents, your grandparents, your officemates, your friends and barkada. spend time with them, make them laugh, make them feel appreciated. then extend to other people in dire need of loving: the poor, the elderly, the abandoned, the orphans and widows. just keep on loving and loving.

this way, you stop focusing on what you don't have and you start focusing on loving people around. you end up sending signals of love to the universe. and that is what the universe will give back to you. love, in all its forms, perhaps including romantic love.

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All together now, say with me, "I love love love!" :)

My Niece's Drawings

Last Sunday, I had a fun time with my niece Hannah, 4 years old. She had her pen and paper with her, and so I asked her to draw things randomly. After drawing one, she'd show it to me, and then ask me for another thing to draw. And I was amazed by the mental images she had of the things I told her to draw! Among other things, I was floored by her rendition of McDonald's! I try to take her there whenever I can, and she always waves a goodbye to the McDonald's arch post outside when we leave. And yet, for the local fastfood chain Jollibee, she opted to draw the mascot itself. Also, there is her perspective of the airplane (which now, I recognize as the plane that she frequently sees in the dreamboard of her Tita Erel pasted on the room's wall). And the horse! I taught she'd find it very difficult. But she showed me her horse and I was awed.

I am speechless. And proud. :)

Here it is (click image to enlarge):

A Camel in Ilocos

When I was a kid, I recall that my early surprises in my zoo visits were seeing a long necked giraffe, a tiger, a lion, a hippo, an alligator in Manila Zoo--these were never before seen animals for me, animals that were only seen in books and National Geographic tv features. They were all, should I dare term it, Overseas Animals (OA)! Then also, two years ago, I remember my very first sighting of a brown bear and a llama (a llama! imagine that!) in Tagaytay.

On my recent trip to Ilocos with my friends (April 15-19, 2009), I was surprised to see, this time, a camel! :) This was in Ilocos Sur, in Baluarte Zoo, the once private resthouse of Gov. Chavit Singson now turned into a zoo open to the public.

So, here's my photo with a camel. Yes, the one eating the grass. Haha.:)

Ivan Roxas

This last Lent, I took to reading the book Understanding Art and I came across a hundred and one artists (French, Italian, English and American) from the 14th to the present century. I was amazed, among others, by Paul Delaroche's The Execution of Lady Jane Gray, and specially by the virtuosity of John Singleton Copley for doing portraits that appeared so real. I wondered suddenly if there was any Filipino artist, dead or living, who even had a bit of Copley or Delaroche in him. Then I remembered my officemate and artist Ryan Arengo telling me about seeing an Ivan Roxas painting up close, one that made the hairs on his arms stand. And today, googling Ivan Roxas, I came across this self-portrait: Died Broken Hearted. The silk around the man's waist so fools the eye, I am reminded of the curtain painted by Adrian Van Der Spelt (Flower Still Life With Curtain,1658) that looked so real one could thumb it. And the red cloth on the woman in this Roxas' painting recalls a familiar painting. Running through the other works of Delaroche, I saw the painting: Joan of Arc in Prison, 1824.

Here, I've posted Roxas' painting and that of Delaroche's.

Ivan Roxas,Died Broken Hearted


Paul Delaroche,Joan of Arc in Prison, 1824.


Ivan Roxas was born in Tanay, Rizal, Philippines, on June 26, 1978 and graduated at the University of Sto. Tomas, (a fellow Thomasian), College of Fine Arts, Major in Painting in 2000.