Sunday, January 29, 2012

A Reflection... The Entry of 2012

It’s been a while since my last entry.  It is still the first month of 2012 and I feel like reflecting. Thus, before I continue my exploration on the Filipino Psyche, I have decided to do a little flashback in my head and see what I can gather, try to discover what may be hidden, and what may be shared.

The year that passed, well, actually it takes more than a year to sort of filter what works for one. I don’t really know where this entry  is going, I’m at a ‘wait and see’ state right now. Because ‘they’ say, ‘they’ may be anyone, to know things does not take a journey with a price of a cruise or flight, all it takes is a choice. We may travel to the farthest end of the seas and still know nothing, and yet we may stay still in one place and be awakened by something. It is a journey, yes, but it is a journey that is drawn by a choice to know more; not with the favour of intelligence alone, but this with the taste of wisdom.

This reflection is not an outcome of what I simply have seen and observed in my country, but  it is also what I have seen and observed outside of it: the desperate cling on power Gadhafi displayed, the famine in South Africa, the protest rallies in different countries; then there is the abuse of nature: the cutting of trees, the effect of over industrialization, the over killing of animals in our seas and land. But a shift has happened, ‘they’ say, 2012 perceived as the end of the world just actually means the beginning of something better for us. Things we have embraced as valuable like power in its greed form and wealth in its selfish disguise shall be, finally, perceived as a stupid definition on what is truly important.  I apologize for the strong label, but to reform a distorted perception may need a little shaking by now, to the extent of offending the stance; for power, which comes with the taste of greed and wealth attained with the interest of selfishness, has drawn many to suffer and hunger, including Mother Earth.

The entry of rebirth—this, ‘they’ say, is the true meaning of what has been known and popularized as ‘the end of the world’.  It was not to be understood in its literal sense, but in its figurative sense that it will be, hopefully, the end of our old ways, and now comes the new. What exactly is the new? It is us being kinder, being more concerned for one another, respecting the Earth, and finally, the will to fight those who abuse our rights. The evidence in the new slowly creeping in is the uprise in different countries and the collapse of those who oppressed the  uproars that slowly began to be heard again. People shouting their cries of ‘No more!’, and this setting a current of change. Protesters, activists and revolutionaries came out with the same frustrations, ‘enough is enough’ they say. Thus, TIME Magazine hailed the Protester as ‘Person of the Year’ for 2011. It was well earned.

Power was never unkind, and wealth is not the enemy. It was only the perception of the two that made things change not for the better, but turned out for the worst—a sad turn, a disappointing choice. But it is very nice to know, as I walked the streets that brought me to nowhere but just a path that made me encounter many, there are the every day heroes who emit such greatness in their innovation and creativity, and most especially in their care for others. So this made me think, as I read and watched on TV and the internet of those who chose and perceived power in a different light with a different meaning--a definition more calm,  humbler and simpler--that this is the direction to genuine strength, genuine power: the silence of Mahatma Gandhi, the compassion of Mother Theresa, the gentle style of Nelson Mandela, and the love of the Christ. Real power is not when we hate, it is only when we care that it truly shines. It is when we become considerate of everything around us. It is when we respect life in every shape and form. It may not be easy, but life is not about one.  It is not about ‘me’.  It is about ‘us’.

“There are two kinds of power,” I said to myself as I sat and reflected,  “the external power that comes from the ego, and the internal power that comes from the greatness of the spirit.”  And this, ‘they’ say, is the shift, the rebirth, the end of the old way, and the entry of new…

Welcome, 2012, we're ready.









 

TIME Magazine 'Person of the Year' 
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_2102132,00.html

Pictures of Protesters
http://lightbox.time.com/2011/12/14/person-of-the-year-2011-protesters-2/#4

A Chant that, according to my Spiritual Gurus, may bring high vibration for healing...and peace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG_lNuNUVd4&feature=email 

Mother Earth, She's Alive...
http://www.youtube.com/embed/nGeXdv-uPaw