In A Canon's Cloak

I will always remember my friend Sophia and the question she answered during a “Would You Rather” when we were young. It goes: “Would you rather be rich but lonely or poor but happy?”. She answered the former. A few hours later, I cornered her and asked the reason for her answer. She said, “Because I have always been that way.” Is that it?

I spent the rest of my college days being curious in capturing the spirit of wealth and happiness, their meanings, the disparity, as well as their connection. For years, I always wonder, if you can give your excess riches, even just a portion of it, to the poor and the poor gives you his extra happiness, then wouldn’t it be perfect? Wouldn’t it be a win-win situation?  I mean, this is what we are aiming for, right? I sometimes asked myself. This is what Management classes taught us. Strike win-win! But one thing I learned, win-win does not exist solely in the realm of business, of maximising profit and minimising costs, but there is this other world. Reality. And that world is complex, fast, modern, and ever-changing. 

Modern day realities (such as globalization, modernization, and infrastructures) paves the way for faster, direct, and more convenient way in improving one’s lifestyle, entertainment, and access. No wonder it is no surprise that humans, in a way, are caught inside their own realities. We set ourselves apart on becoming what is truly human. We tend to forget that reality is more than what the retina screen projects and that our realities are different from those of the poor. Ours are the one filled with purple Dome blooms. Theirs?  Theirs can only be dreams that are equivalent to our reality. We must do something. 

There is no harm in eliminating the gap between the rich and the poor. Saint John Baptist De La Salle further validated this when he said, “Real wealth is the ability to think and to feel not to be possessed by possession, to receive, to share. Children know this and there is no class distinction among them. If I can open their minds and let the sun enter in, if enough can do this, if we can only reach beyond the boundaries of the marked rich and poor, if we can open their minds to this light, the world will become a brighter place, closer to peace, closer to human fraternity.”

Doing so doesn’t require a title of a saint. With our intentions of improving their “reality”, we can always wear a cloak just like St. John Baptiste De La Salle and be simply like him -   

As a Dreamer who desires to transform violence to discipline and as someone who, at the same time, fulfills the dreams of others;

As a Leader who will start the spark for positive change and will support and guide his fellows in achieving the ultimate goal of opening the minds of people, especially of the youth, that the rich and the poor can be united;

As a Volunteer who doesn’t ask for anything in return;

As an Educator of the less fortunate whose literacy is a common struggle and as similar as difficulty of putting food on the table and providing shelter;

As a Humble Servant of God and His people, promoting kindness in all classes of people; and

As a Giver who gives something in return to a society that gives him more than enough because he believes that with great power comes great responsibility. 

Recomposed

“What have you done?”

On the reason behind ‘On the 24th’, the concept of time, and one’s impact to others. 

My first blog was born in February 2012. It was a space dedicated for all my creative juices flowing freely with nowhere else to go. It was a manifesto, a public declaration of all my opinions, mostly about fashion and style. Most importantly, it was a medium meant to support the local fashion industry.  Fast forward to a year later, in the month of March, over expectations and constant commentaries regarding what subject matters were ought to be cognitive and professional, I shut it down. It was a sad reality that the apparel market, which is among the world’s largest industries, with a value of US$1.7 trillion in 2012 and employs approximately 75 million people (fashionunited.com), was regarded as something that was not serious and relevant by some people. 

So, why am I saying this? 

It is because I am hoping that this time, this blog, unlike the first one which I gave up on, will succeed in becoming an archive of perspectives and reflections from a person who connects and traces the lines of her life on the scattered points of time when she touches others’ lives. ‘On the 24th’ is inspired by the poem I wrote when I was in senior year in high school entitled, “Life on the 24th”, which focused on the idea that a person’s lifetime is measured based on the number of lives he touched and the level of impact he made until the last 24th hour of his life. 

In many ways, I know that that concept of mine can never be a wishful thinking. Social responsibility, once instil, can be an inedible mark in development.  I know that through unwavering support and strength, goodness can be evoked. And that at the end of the day, if there is a single question that we want to take, it will be this: “What have you done?”.