Laguna loot

I don't know what there is in gray skies and wet surroundings that gives me a feeling of contentment and almost silent joy. But I am not complaining.

My trip to UP Los Banos coincided with typhoon Nona. Still I was able to meet the people I went there to meet and on top of that, I got some unexpected loot: Bignay wine, red Katuray seedling, hot pepper seeds from Bacolod and Israel.

Salamat po!!!

Hopefully some project ideas that I picked up or were inspired by the people I have met in UPLB will also materialize.

- Kusina Kem
- urban gardening livelihood project
- natatapong yaman recovery project
- living letras y figuras project

Giving meditation a chance

If not for the many scientific studies on the positive results of meditation, I would tend to dismiss this activity as in the category of quack science.

Meditation is said to be able to lower blood pressure, help relieve stress, increase mindfulness and contentment etc. But the clincher for me is the claim that it can somehow also work to cure depression. I can not say if this is true but I won't be losing anything if I try. I am hoping that it works - this time.

Actually I have been acquainted with meditation way back in high school when I took a special class in transcendental meditation. It was really just out of curiosity that I tried it plus the claim that those who practice TM can even achieve levitation. Wow!

But I soon realized that this was folly including the ritual of having an offering of fruit and some other things that I don't remember anymore to a guru. After trying it a few times, I simply dropped of from doing it and I treated it with benign skepticism.

But thanks to a Dan Harris video on YouTube,  I was reacquainted with it again and it was presented without the dross of extraneous and unnecessary rituals that put me off  it before. (Dan Harris was a news presenter in a major US tv network when he suffered an anxiety attack while delivering the news)

At its basic, meditation is nothing more than a mental shutdown while focusing on one's breathing.

Very simple indeed but the result has profound effects on one's mind and brain which can be scientifically monitored. Enough to make me try meditation again. This time with no expectation of attaining superpower abilities but simply focus, peace and contentment.

Araw ni Bonifacio/ Araw ng mga Bayani

Marapat lang na gunitain ng magkasabay ang araw ni Bonifacio at mga bayani. Sana lamang ang pag gunita ng araw na ito ay hindi magtapos sa pag-aalay ng bulaklak o sa isang ritwal ng paggunita kundi maunawaan natin kung bakit ang nagawa ng ating mga bayani ay mahalaga sa ating buhay ngayon.

Lagi kong sinasabi, ang araw na kung kalian natin matutunan na magparangal sa ating mga bayani ay ang siyang araw ng ating paglaya.

Para sa akin din, hindi lamang ang mga bayani noong mga nakaraang panahon ng pananakop ang dapat nating gunitain ngunit maging ng mga bayani ng ating panahon at henerasyon.

Tatlo sa mga bayaning aking ginugunita ay sina Filomena Tatlonghari, Clarissa Ocampo at si Antonio Calipe Go.

A calamity named El Nino

Many of us are familiar with natural disasters like typhoons, storm surges, earthquakes and earthquake induced tsunamis and even volcanic eruptions

But a disaster that most of us are not aware of is drought induced by El Nino, the name given to the phenomenon of sea currents becoming hotter than normal.

With climate change, this El Nino phenomenon can only be more intense and more frequent. In fact there is one occurring now. What I am worried about is its intensity and duration.

A  prolonged drought in our part of the country will definitely be disastrous for all of us. Our agriculture will suffer as well as our energy dependent industries. And we might have to undergo extreme water and even electricity rationing.

When we talk of natural disasters, we tend to think of typhoons and bad wet weather. But I wonder if we have sufficiently prepared for its extreme opposite which is a severe and prolonged dry spell that can be just as harsh and calamitous.

A people's task

Fighting terrorism is a people's task.

I think terrorists are simply outliers in society and they just look for a vehicle to express their destructive impulse such as religion, ideology or social group e,g. fraternities

We tend to leave the fight against terrorism to our government but we the people have a role to root out who these potential terrorists are before they can even give vent to their madness.

Most of the time too, men seem to be at the forefront of fighting terrorism but we should realize that women too can play a greater role towards this end.

Tanim Bala Scam is Economic Sabotage

The 'Tanim Bala' scam is no ordinary crime. It is economic sabotage and its perpetrators must be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Those who hatched and engaged in this heinous activity thought so because they thought they can get away with it. But it is really up to government to show how wrong the crooks are.

Not to do so would show how feckless and weak the government is and how deserving it is of public derision.

Mar's problem

Mar Roxas said that he does not have to apologize for being born rich. I agree with him.

The problem though is  that his 'nyorito upbringing may not have prepared him to be the leader of a country where the life experience of the majority are vastly different from what he grew up with.

Thus when the people decide to pick a leader, they may not pick Roxas not because they are "unenlightened" but that their perspective is simply different from that of Roxas or his band of supporters.

If Roxas wants to become PNoy's successor, he should try to understand the people instead of expecting the people to understand him. And the way he will do so will show what he thinks of the people.

Fighting depression with exercise

For the longest time I have been struggling against depression - this hateful feeling of despondency, sadness and mental pain that I know is not normal and that I should not have.

Depression puts me in a state of hopelessness and prevents me from thinking clearly and being productive. I have become forgetful and unfocused and it has kept me from holding on to a job for a long time.

Still despite the temptation of taking medicine to rid me of this condition I refuse to take medication for fear of the drug's rebound effect which I fear may make my problem worse.

In my quest to find a non medical solution to depression I find the remedy that works for me is exercise and physical activity. Biking and walking a lot somehow makes me feel better. My problem with exercise though is how to get over the first few minutes of inertia and how to be consistent in exercising at least every other day.

I have even tried laughter therapy but I can not say that it worked for me. What I am sure of is that it made me feel silly. But I will not put this down completely. I read somewhere that in one psychological experiment, merely smiling, even when forced can already alter the brain and put a person in a positive frame of mind. Maybe I am just too impatient to wait for its beneficial effect.

Is it still safe?

Laguna de Bai has always been a source of food and livelihood for many people.

 But with the way we have over-exploited and abused this lake, I wonder if the food it provides is still safe to eat. Local scientists studying the lake have already warned of high heavy metal concentration in fishes in the lake.

It is unthinkable how we have allowed factories to dump their poisonous waste into this body of water that provides us food or land developers to slowly claim parts of its body. Instead of enhancing the beauty of the lake we have allowed it to be destroyed.

What consoles me though and gives me hope is the knowledge that what exists at present does not have to be permanent and that eventually we can restore this lake back to health and life giving grandeur.

Mother Nature's art and wrath

From afar, I thought that someone had simply drawn a white bell on the wall . But on closer look, it turned out to be a pattern on the wings of a moth.

We may not have time to stop and appreciate what mother nature has created and that may be fine with her. What is not acceptable though is when we continue to destroy the natural environment where we and mother nature's creation exist.

This is not merely a benign neglect. There is a steep price to pay and no one will be exempt from paying.