DON'T MISS THIS

Harmut Borries is a very special individual who literally helped me change my life when I felt stuck in darkness. Please click on the poster to get the best view. I hope to meet you there.

A GOOD READ

I stumbled upon this book last week, on a day when I needed it most. I was struggling over a violent attack to my soul and spirit.

I found this book right across the check out counter shortly after the attack and I felt redeemed and strong again, knowing I behaved in an upright fashion.

Go to the bookstore and get a copy. It was grace finding it that day. I thought I'd share it with you.

HONOR HER LIFE

Cory Aquino had such an amazing biography. Everyone had their eyes on Ninoy; they thought he was the main guy in the story. To me, it is clear that he was merely her preparation. She was a remarkable human being with a very special task.

Today, everywhere we look, people are emotional. We realize what we have lost in her, in our country and, perhaps, even in ourselves. Our last symbol of integrity is gone. Our security blanket is gone. We are all alone.

Will we let our emotions stay where they are, stuck in our tears, encased in melancholy, only to dissipate into senseless nostalgia in years to come, or will we honor Cory's life by embodying what she stood for, all her life?

So many of us are watching that speech she gave before the U.S. Congress. It made my hair stand when they gave her a standing ovation. I was so proud of her and what we were able to achieve in our country then. But look where we took that. Look at us today. Democracy was not just in her hands; it was--and has always been--in ours.

But we have forgotten that. We tell ourselves that lying, cheating and stealing are par for the course in politics. We simply accept it. Even as we say we want to be bearers of new politics, we say that buying and spending for votes, giving journalists money so they can tell our story, sell our business, promote our message--that's reality. We say we will vote for someone who is "winnable"; we settle for the lesser evil, even if our gut tells us something else.

I wish we could harness our emotions today and let that illumine us through the 2010 elections. May it propel us towards intelligent choices in 2010. May we choose a candidate who represents true change--not one who promises it, but thinks nothing of employing good old dirty tricks, spending gazillions on glossy ads full of empty drama, buying votes, buying endorsements, because well, that's how politics is won in this country.

Let's not let our emotions today for what was or what could have been, congeal into mere nostalgia or drama. Let's make Cory Aquino's passing mean something for our future--for the emergence of the Philippines we deserve.

I was looking for a symbol of integrity to accompany this piece. Here she is. She is the one president in our history that was truly chosen--pushed, even--by the people. She didn't spend to win. She didn't buy endorsements. She didn't lie, cheat or steal. She had integrity and moral clarity.

This is why I write this today. I feel that the country has lost its last symbol of integrity and we are now completely on our own. In the past, we always had Cory Aquino. If she endorsed someone or something, we knew it must be good. We could always count on her to speak out against injustice. We relied on her so much to show us the way. Now that she's gone, I feel that we are being forced to embody everything we depended on her for.

It's not lost on me that she passed on during this time in our history, when we are all again being moved by the energy--good and bad--of change. The presidential elections are upon us. We are asked to discern, to make our choice not because someone is our relative, or because he has charisma or has been in politics forever. We are asked to choose out of our highest aspirations and dreams for our country and our children. We need to choose people who are not just qualified, but who have moral integrity, because in the end, as we see in the outpouring of love and respect for Cory, it is what endures. It is what brings change--true and good change.

I've long been wanting to holler out to actors, celebrities, writers, journalists--anyone in media who wants to be a bearer of true change---DO NOT RENT YOURSELF OUT IN 2010!! DO NOT ACCEPT MONEY FROM ANY CANDIDATE. Use the power of your profession responsibly and with integrity. You are not a hired gun; you are not for sale. Show the Filipinos that votes are sacred; you begin this change by not accepting money from anyone for your endorsement. Get to know all the candidates and, if there is someone out there whom you believe has the integrity and qualifications, by all means support them--in freedom--without accepting a single centavo. In this way, you become part of creating the new politics, the new Philippines of integrity.

Cory Aquino's life and legacy will be honored, not by platitudes, but by active and conscious action towards creating the Philippines of integrity she gave her life and privacy for. This work is no longer hers alone. As she leaves this realm, we honor her by consciously doing our share.

CORAZON COJUANGCO AQUINO (1933-2009)

COMFORT

Last week, I resolved to cook a full recipe of Chicken Marbella. The original recipe is for four chickens, which I rightly thought would be too much for my family of four. Part of me felt it was a little extreme, but then it's a dish that keeps well, so I decided to go whole hog. I cook with free-range spring chicken, so I settled for five, all the while feeling I was cooking for a village.

The day I was all set to put the two-and-a-half pyrexes into the oven, I had an encounter with a bully which left me feeling quite sorrowful, deflated, disappointed and angry. I didn't even know if I could--or should--eat. But motherhood means keeping the space together for everyone and not indulging in your emotions--if you can help it--in front of the children. So that's what I did.

When we finally sat down to dinner, I looked at the festive dish in front of me and suddenly felt truly comforted. Bullies try to make you feel bad about yourself, but the yummy spread in front of me, the joy of my little boys (not to mention their gratitude for the meal before them), put everything back in perspective. I was so happy I decided to cook a big meal, that I decided to cook it that day, and that I had a friend who shared the recipe a few months back. I was suddenly so grateful for all the things that matter. I felt all that even before I took my first bite!

Just google "Chicken Marbella" and the recipe will show up somewhere. It's a lovely comfort food. May it serve you as well as it served me!

THE FACE OF CHANGE

Will we know it when we see it?

We love to shake our fists in the air, demanding change in government, in society, change at last, change, change, change...but are we ready, as individuals, to will it? I wonder now as I encounter the various reactions to Nicanor Perlas and his intention to run for President of our country in 2010.

Is he winnable? Oh, what a dreamer. Brave, but he just won't win. Does he have money? What machinery does he have? I'm going for the "sure" candidate. He doesn't even figure in the surveys. Nobody knows him.

Do these questions and reactions bring authentic change to mind? How can we be vessels of change when our thinking echoes patterns of the past---the very consciousness that created the mess we're in? How can we be bearers of change when we don't even see our role in it? Winnability? Who and where did our present standards come from? Are they really relevant to you? Is that how you see the world? Surveys. This is another standard created by certain people in society that really only carries as much weight as we put on it. I haven't ever been approached to take part in any survey and the current results certainly don't reflect the sentiments of my network--which isn't puny, mind you. To me, they mean nothing. Surveys will not affect my vote because I vote with my head, heart and will in total and unsinkable harmony. I will put my actions behind my deepest and truest aspirations for this country, no matter what anybody else says.

When we say we want change, exactly how do we see this happening? Though there are a brave few who have stepped-up and decided to be part of this new energy no matter what, a lot are still hanging back with the fears and misconceptions of the past, despite their loud cries for change. So many of us are unable to see that change is upon us because we keep looking at the world through the lens of the past. Alas, new worlds do not emerge from there.

If we say we believe in one person but won't vote for him because he isn't "winnable", we are saying that our votes count for nothing. We are saying that winnability rests on the candidate alone and our participation in the process has no bearing on the outcome. When we say it is unrealistic to run without throwing hundreds of millions of pesos away, we are saying that integrity and qualifications don't count--the very things our country has been thirsting for, for decades. We are not just saying that the practice of spending a crazy amount of money is an acceptable standard; we agree that it is valid. When we say no one knows him, we're saying we won't take the time to and assume others won't, or that new and unheard of Filipinos-- never mind that they are qualified or that we've been praying for them all our lives--will never stand a chance because, well, they're not popular enough.

Has any popular candidate today and in the past, with lots of money to burn, and who met all our so-called ideas of "winnability", topping all possible surveys, ever given us the change we so need and want? How many times have we convinced ourselves it was smarter to vote for someone who would win, instead of someone we wanted to win? Where has that brought us? Has anybody who has only ever followed existing molds ever inspired a nation?

It is always those who create new and untrodden trails who do. When there is someone new at last, will we be able to recognize him or will we still be looking for the old where he stands, because our standards are stuck there, unable to move towards the future? Are we really clear about the change we want to make happen and are we sure we will able to move in its direction?

For as long as we are just mouthing the words, we cannot be vessels of the new. If we are tied down and immobilized by concepts of the past that have been rammed down our throats by the external world, and not moved by our inner longing, heartfelt hope and higher thinking, we are zombies of the past. If we think that change is created outside by others--the system, the leader--then it truly cannot happen in this lifetime. But if we can finally wake up to our human calling of being co-creators of this world, able to not only destroy as we too often do, but to restore, heal and transform what is around and beneath us, then can you imagine the possibilities?

Change begins inside us in mostly painful ways. I think of the pain as making space, denting the perfect sphere of clay so that you can begin to shape the chalice. It is painful because what was--whatever that is--can no longer be. It means finding squares and triangles where circles used to be and letting go of things that no longer work. It is a difficult but rewarding process that cannot happen without our mindful participation and our love for what is true and just.

Change is upon us. Obama winning (he wasn't winnable either, does anyone remember?)is just part of this larger picture of change wanting to happen in the world and waiting for us to be ready at last. It can happen here but only if we acknowledge that it isn't and never was in the hands of one or a few. It is in yours, too, should you decide to take it on and see it through. This is the moment when we can finally make the shift from "why" to "why not".

Really, why not? Let us not wait for change to come to us; instead, let us allow it to come through us. I think it has become ever more clear that it is the only way true and positive change can manifest today.

JUNE 27, 5pm at the PETA Theater Center

BE THERE!!! Please click on the poster.