Fight

                                                     (photo: Encyclopedia Britannica)
"Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle, do not deserve to live."
                                                           - Adolf Hitler

Looking at the weary eyes of the people around, you seem to see a weariness: a collective tiredness of being alive. M. Scott Peck aptly said that life is difficult. So, what is there to do but to fight back and motivate oneself with what he or she considers as meaningful actions? Some psychologists warn you with the so-called repressed depression. This illness manifests when one constantly gratify the self with material things and "good time" with friends and even strangers...

Teachers complain about the burden they carry with the job of nurturing the holistic growth of the learners. The learners air their side by saying that teachers are exposing them to too much work they now fail to learn but just beat the deadlines. The politicians are telling us that legislation is not working since it is difficult to implement them. The majority is saying that the government is not doing something for the common tao. It seems that the 4 P's scheme is still not enough even if other countries consider such as dole out.

But isn't life war in itself? Sun Tzu's masterpiece "The Art of War" is being used not just by companies, organizations and political parties but individuals as well. The wisdom he offered resonates with one's daily struggles. "If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles," so the sage reflected. Therefore, it is but proper to look at your armor and weapons and look for more if you see that you are less-equipped. It is also necessary to know the enemy and look for ways and means in defeating it...Else, it is going to be your weaknesses that could topple you down.

The holocaust told us stories about how Hitler devoured the weak. He even terminated a bunch of people since he considered them as "useless". He dreamed of a generation full of brilliant and physically-endowed persons. He wanted to make a valid contribution to the world by eradicating the ones he considered as unworthy. One would wonder, if I was there at that time, did I die or spared?

You fight. By living the day and putting up a good fight is victory in itself. With all the difficulties looming over us, one often surrenders to defeat. But not for the brave and courageous. Those self-righteous villains will fall but the strong and silent ones are waging their wars in their own ways. Their victories might not be heralded as good but it does not matter. Everything will be fine as another war is going to be faced.

The world needs those people who rise above the challenges. We need leaders who think for their pack. We are rooting for teachers who will do their tasks in molding the young instead of oppressing them. We love students who learn and equip themselves to become future leaders. We dream of political figures who will serve others over themselves... But best, we are aiming to become individuals who are like the phoenix, a beautiful bird rising from the ashes of hot challenges around it.

There will be Hitlers in our midst. But always, they will just become another figure in the history of the brave.

Balsam

                                                  (photo: Manila Bulletin)

Another promise, another seed
Another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed
And all the green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined,,,
                                                                             (Muse, Uprising)

Refugees are getting sick in evacuation areas. Children are having skin rashes and some elderly are getting weak. Worse, decent bathrooms could not be used by the hundreds who got displaced by the conflict in Marawi. Some critics noticed the uneven percentage of attention given to the war compared to the well-being of the so-called bakwit. They say that staggering resources were spent in the offensive than in keeping the people caught in the crossfire alive.

According to reports from the local leaders, there were also people who ate cardboard and blankets just to stay alive...

Generous and empathetic as we are, Filipinos went outside of the comfort zones and extended their time and efforts in gathering relief goods. Some doctors went near the war zone to extend their services for humanitarian reasons. Groups of friends raise funds to be sent to Marawi to be of help for the suffering. There are those who forget themselves for the common good...

Still the darkness looms and won't allow light to dominate. Recently, we saw how a policeman beat an alleged drunk with a rattan stick. His seething anger is all over the social media and one could not help but to cower every time he beats the hell out of the "suspect". Also, officers of the Bureau of Customs and the BIR were caught red-handed in extortion...

Indeed, social macrocosm could be difficult to fathom. It seems that there is a continuum of the battle between good and evil. Literature dating back in time allows us to see the clash of the gods in Olympus. In the bible, we read leaders oppressing a generation for power. We hear about family feuds in the news and a lot would enjoy asking who is the "kalaban" in the latest telenovela.

So what is there to ponder? It is always one's role with his journey on the space where he is situated. Is he a hero; an anti-hero; a villain or simply a supporting cast on the play called INDIFFERENCE?

The situation in that part of Mindanao must make our eyes wide open to the things we can and can not greatly affect. Concerted efforts of allowing the light to envelope us like halos drive the darkness away. It may sound impossible but there is always hope and it would be nice to try. Our individual actions to make little things in order might radiate to ease others' sufferings.

Might as well continue to be aware. The concepts, ideas, thoughts and insights are syntheses of ones existence. Meaningful actions could become agents of change and even a simple balsam to the pains of the inflicted.

There is always a start.

Wonder

You squirmed on your seat. The visuals depicted war: children crying as decapitated bodies decorate the background. Women trembling hugging their babies rushing to nowhere while debris exploding like ugly fireworks...The scenes were staged, filmed. But the surreal images played like a vision in your head. These images were real somewhere in Mindanao!

Then, a voice sliced the silence: I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind. But then, I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their light. I learned that inside every one of them, there will always be both... so quipped Diana Prince.

You continued to fidget on the cushioned seat. You realized the truth on her ideas. For how could one stage a war without enhancing his own darkness? There has always been a Cain in all of us! But then, the musings continued to deepen your thoughts: Why linger on the dark side when goodness could heal and evil begets evil?

For years now, you often juxtapose good and evil within. People could be the culprit or the hero; the predator or the prey; the black or the ethereal. You understand that it is difficult to carry out a life without anchoring oneself to something. This is when the self-understanding must be enhanced. What direction are you going to take? What is the mission of your being and becoming? Without these, there is always a longing, a danger to be taken over by the basic instincts of being an animal or the prevalence of egotism.

Daily, you see people battling their own wars. The parents become individual heroes as they toil hard for their families. The children also sweated out their best in their educational endeavors and the young adults contribute to the development of their communities. But there are also those who make their homes as dysfunctional as it could be. There are students who take their studies for granted....And instead of molding their communities, some young adults are the harbingers of destruction themselves!

But who are you to dictate people? They have the rights to live their lives. They have the freedom to chart the meaning of their existence. There could be a room for being righteous but what if your "right" is wrong to them? That is the reason why we as human beings must meet on a common ground. There must be a universal platform that connects us all.

On the technical side of the film, you sometimes feel that there are loopholes in the storytelling, You were not so familiar with the background of Diana Prince like that of many other super heroes... Her naivete and the quick movements that could be considered as a hybrid between technology and mythology could oftentimes become difficult to merge. But these technicalities seem to be clouded by the main theme of the story: war is anti-people.

Your mind has then gone astray. Probably the flick has its box-office success since the theme is meaningful to the people here. There is war being waged in Marawi and the viewers seem to hope that a hero would stop the killings and oppression. Her sincere concern to the women and children trapped in war reverberates in the hearts of many and her powers seem to be the only solution to stop the escalating side effects of the deaths and bombings.

Your eyes then became glazed. Like a zombie, you thirsted for what this woman of wonder is trying to infer in your mind: The choice to  be good or evil is in each of the persons to make for themselves.

And that was the time when you found that common ground you were thinking about when she said these lines:

It's about what you believe. And I believe in love. Only love will truly save the world...Something NO HERO will ever defeat.

Imprints

                                             

I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I'm breathing in the chemicals

                    - Imagine Dragons (Radioactive)

There was a heaviness in my heart as the names and ranks of the fallen soldiers were mentioned on national television one by one. As the faces were flashed onscreen, I felt the pain and loss of the children, wives and parents of the heroes. Why is it that they have to die for the sake of ideals? Are these beliefs more important than lives of human beings?

The blitz of the state-of-the-art mall seemed to become jaded as the news that Marawi was under siege was announced. The president then proclaimed martial law in Mindanao that I fumbled for my phone to alarm my brother who went home ahead of me. Did he brought with him his ID? Things like these covered the mind even if I was surrounded with happy faces.

Then, images on TV started to be aired. People scurrying around like terrified rats and the escalating number of fatalities were newscast... Social media sites were then flooded with a myriad of emotions and reactions. But blaming the authorities and posting stupendous comments won't solve anything. They could not even heal the pained hearts of those people who lost their loved ones.

Maute, a terrorist group claiming to be affiliated to the Isis, raised hell against the Christians to invade and proclaim their religious convictions. One would then try finding answers on this ideological askew. Their highest "being" is glorified through death and oppression? The sight of debris and the sounds of bombs and gunshots are beautiful to their aesthetically-deprived minds? Where could one situate himself in such chaos?

This situation should allow us to go deeper in reflection. If such scenarios prevail, what is the use of the education that we toiled so much? Would the moisturizers we dab on our skins, the hair serum, the multi-vitamins count? You see, we are doing the minute things in our daily existence count since we see meaning in our lives. The services that we could offer to our small communities like our families and work place are things we see as essential things in our different journeys. So, why should our freedom be curtailed by ideologies which could not be considered as universal?

Bigotry is not welcomed by me. I adhere to the belief that each of us is free to believe in things we find authentic and meaningful. But such beliefs must not be insisted on others since adults have their own ways of learning based on their convictions. Besides, democracy is in the air that we breathe. But then again, these convictions must not violate universal values like respect and human dignity. The rotting bodies on the streets of Marawi had spirits in them nourished by love and affection from their loved ones yet the extremists allowed this reality to be placed under the barrels of their guns and glorified their god.

So what then? Deep in me there is an urge to tell my friends and those who understand me that our concerted efforts to strengthen the inner person is important. We could be instruments in cascading these strengths to the small communities that we belong. Our influence could be small but the belief that love, affection, respect and inner peace could be radiated to others which could make ripples of such outcomes will probably leave positive imprints.

Inside my bedroom is silent. Save for the usual hum of the old air-conditioning system, the thought of trembling and cowering in fear due to the impending threats of an air strike is unnerving. Let me then proceed to the next town and allow that undernourished kid to eat pizza which is alien to him. This power, I think, has more meaning than the power I would feel when I smash the religious images inside a church to smithereens.


(.

Imprints

                                      (photo: dzrhnews.com)

I'm waking up to ash and dust
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I'm breathing in the chemicals

                    - Imagine Dragons (Radioactive)

There was a heaviness in my heart as the names and ranks of the fallen soldiers were mentioned on national television one by one. As the faces were flashed onscreen, I felt the pain and loss of the children, wives and parents of the heroes. Why is it that they have to die for the sake of ideals? Are these beliefs more important than lives of human beings?

The blitz of the state-of-the-art mall seemed to become jaded as the news that Marawi was under siege was announced. The president then proclaimed martial law in Mindanao that I fumbled for my phone to alarm my brother who went home ahead of me. Did he brought with him his ID? Things like these covered the mind even if I was surrounded with happy faces.

Then, images on TV started to be aired. People scurrying around like terrified rats and the escalating number of fatalities were newscast... Social media sites were then flooded with a myriad of emotions and reactions. But blaming the authorities and posting stupendous comments won't solve anything. They could not even heal the pained hearts of those people who lost their loved ones.

Maute, a terrorist group claiming to be affiliated to the Isis, raised hell against the Christians to invade and proclaim their religious convictions. One would then try finding answers on this ideological askew. Their highest "being" is glorified through death and oppression? The sight of debris and the sounds of bombs and gunshots are beautiful to their aesthetically-deprived minds? Where could one situate himself in such chaos?

This situation should allow us to go deeper in reflection. If such scenarios prevail, what is the use of the education that we toiled so much? Would the moisturizers we dab on our skins, the hair serum, the multi-vitamins count? You see, we are doing the minute things in our daily existence count since we see meaning in our lives. The services that we could offer to our small communities like our families and work place are things we see as essential things in our different journeys. So, why should our freedom be curtailed by ideologies which could not be considered as universal?

Bigotry is not welcomed by me. I adhere to the belief that each of us is free to believe in things we find authentic and meaningful. But such beliefs must not be insisted on others since adults have their own ways of learning based on their convictions. Besides, democracy is in the air that we breathe. But then again, these convictions must not violate universal values like respect and human dignity. The rotting bodies on the streets of Marawi had spirits in them nourished by love and affection from their loved ones yet the extremists allowed this reality to be placed under the barrels of their guns and glorified their god.

So what then? Deep in me there is an urge to tell my friends and those who understand me that our concerted efforts to strengthen the inner person is important. We could be instruments in cascading these strengths to the small communities that we belong. Our influence could be small but the belief that love, affection, respect and inner peace could be radiated to others which could make ripples of such outcomes will probably leave positive imprints.

Inside my bedroom is silent. Save for the usual hum of the old air-conditioning system, the thought of trembling and cowering in fear due to the impending threats of an air strike is unnerving. Let me then proceed to the next town and allow that undernourished kid to eat pizza which is alien to him. This power, I think, has more meaning than the power I would feel when I smash the religious images inside a church to smithereens. 

Censoring the Censors

When she gyrated on stage with some inches of clothing left on her body, I remember asking the question: With her talent and wit, is it necessary to shed off her clothes? Mocha and her girls dominated the stage with splits, hair-toss, sensual moves and a lot of sexually-suggestive words to the horror of the conservative viewers. I was tasked to direct the different shows during the town's fiesta and some teachers approached me and asked to "censor" some acts next time like those which were done by Mocha.

I had the chance talking to her. I could sense that there's substance in the ill-clad woman. I could also understand that it is a marketing strategy for them to promote their product by doing what they term as "sexy" presentations. But then, like all other products, they are all subject to the scrutiny of the consumer. The product could suffer rejection or could enjoy being patronized. Being an open-minded person I welcomed their "act" but could I bend the beliefs of those who cried foul when she and her companions seemed to copulate with some volunteers from the audience?

Mocha Uson then become a blogger. The good thing about the internet and the social networks is the freedom of writing.You could write anything you want even if your syntax is that of an imbecile. Even fashion designers are complaining since a lot of fashion bloggers thrive in the internet without the background of the industry. I'm not saying that Mocha does not have the right to write. But I have a background in journalism and I just had my certificate in Creative Writing so I could tell whether her articles are journalistic endeavors or simply amateurish and gibberish.

Purists in the written art, especially the literati anchor their convictions to the gods of literature. They devour the works of these personalities and juxtapose their thoughts and ideas with the concepts from Iliad or the reflections of Henry David Thoreau. When the bloggers claim that they impact on societal matters, the literati may keep their quite but something is brewing in them. Pop culture which includes pop fiction and the colloquial terms could sometimes scandalize them that they are not exposing themselves to E-articles...

What is the point? It does not mean that if you blog you are automatically considered a writer.

Lately, Mocha Uson is appointed as a board member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) a watchdog of the government to protect and maintain the moral fiber of the public from the two media. How could a soft-porn star say that she will protect the children from being exposed to soft-porn in TV? Didn't she remember the times when she almost finger-fucked herself in an audience with children on them?

I don't have anything against her. In fact I appreciate her talent. I could not even sing that good. But let her do what she is good at. Public service is public trust and that could be the trigger of the aforementioned ideas. In Human Resources Management, we need to place the right persons suited for the job.

Isn't she a glaring supporter of the administration? Her appointment to public office might be the onslaught of future questions like: Is change really here? It seems that the same old song is being played over and over again.

Congested

Netherlands will close 19 of its prisons over the next few years because the cost of maintaining them is too high. The reason why the prisons aren’t cost-efficient, however, is something of a national blessing: thanks to the country’s steadily declining crime rate, thousands of prison cells are going unused. (ultimatefmonline)

There are people whom I know (even former students) who are now incarcerated mostly because of drugs. Some of them were known drug pushers and some are new to the trade but got busted: nipped in the bud. The number of detainees in the BJMP is escalating one would wonder how could they sleep in there.

I visited someone in there one time with my brother. We vowed to do these since the deed is one of the corporal acts of mercy. That was the time when I realized how boring and wasted life could be in there. How could I be productive inside? This was the question to haunt me as I glimpsed the shirtless individuals on the floor behind bars. Is this "hell" on Earth as what those poets are claiming? There are even instances when I'd read my eyes out when I will be stranded in an airport with less things to do. How much more if I will be contained in a claustrophobic space where only dark thoughts can be created?

Is this caused by the weak parenting strategies or the influence of peers?

But then I always adhere to the empowered individual. A person who is strong enough to understands who he is and what are his limitations. He could fail in some areas but not to the point that self-destruction is going to be embraced.

Still, human nature is complex. There are factors to consider why there are persons who thrive on negative deeds and wallow in negative thoughts. There are weaklings who could not bounce and mature since their growth is hampered by parental abuse and mental impairments could be considered.

But that's beyond my point.

I am just worried on what would become of the persons inside the jails with their dignities trampled on the ground. How could one have a shift of mind and become a better person with less opportunities of doing so? I'm always a teacher. My heart is beating with this interest to humanize people for them to become functional beings. But what if the person would choose otherwise?

I still have to visit them. I might give a spark of hope and create more positive ripples.