Cleansing

The clear water of Anilao, Bantangas

Let us float away from here.

Have you imagined yourself in an island paradise surrounded by white sand beach with crystal clear waters and sipping cool smoothies? *Sighs* What an experience. A perfect way to unwind.

There are times that we get saturated with responsibilities, commitments, and the like. Having a busy schedule is what people nowadays usually possess. Thus it is indeed a blessing for us to have these gifts.

The world itself is such a wonderful place. All we have to do is to appreciate and preserve nature.

-rodvinfiel

The Mandala

A collection of mandalas from different and unacquainted people at a retreat session

Special retreat. Imagine spending an overnight retreat session with a bunch of strangers all because I missed our bus during my supposed retreat schedule with my class and regular classmates. At first I thought that it was a really nasty punishment. I really wanted to scream during the first 3 hours of my stay. Eventually, I realized that it wasn't so bad.

Although it is a really bitter moment for me not to spend my time with my college friends considering that the retreat is the highlight of barkada bonding during your four years stay at college, my experience was really an eye opener and tested my social skills. I learned again how to mingle with new people and mingle with a strange crowd. I have gained new friends and I realized that it is actually a blessing that my bus left me.

The word mandala actually means a circle. The last session that we had during the retreat was to make our own mandala and accumulate them into one big mandala-OUR MANDALA. Our mandala should contain a symbol that represents ourselves and show others how we grew during the sessions. I have created mine with a fermata at the center, intercepted by an integral sign and an infinity sign bounded by musical staffs. 

Why is my mandala like this?

My mandala represents my whole being. In my core, I wanted to experience things and then reflect from them that is why I have the fermata-means terminal/to hold. I want to hold my experiences but eventually let them go. I just wanna learn from them but not to keep them. Then through the sessions, I learned to integrate my own realizations with the realizations that my retreat-mates had shared. The infinity symbolized that everything is in cycle and won't stop. What matters most is going with the flow while establishing my own individual. Lastly, the music staffs reflect my love for music and also the harmonious relationships that me and my retreat-mates had built.

When I pinned my mandala at the center then looked at the finished OUR MANDALA, I realized that although we are different and strangers with one another, we can make something that is colorful, unique and connected. We are like a community that even though we don't know one another, we act and grow together unconsciously. 

Through my retreat experience, I reaffirmed that humans are social beings. We grow together even though we don't intend to. We affect one another unconsciously. We deal with the same matters though we thought that we just doing it alone. My retreat experience turn out to be one of the biggest blessing I have acquired and one of the best experiences for me to reflect on and share to others.

-rodvinfiel

Insignificant?

In-secured, afraid, emotional? Do you feel like you're alone and you don't have someone else to lean on? Are your feelings inhibit you from meeting your true potential? Or are you just too afraid that maybe you are a failure? 

Do you think that you are really alone?

In the larger scale of things, we may think that we are just insignificant creatures roaming around the earth. We may see ourselves just as liabilities that leech from the planet. We may say that we are nothing but just humans. We forget that we are part of an enormous jigsaw puzzle and each and everyone of us is essential to its completion.

Everything big and successful begins small. Every small step made, contributes to the outcome of a cause. Nothing is futile and everything is essential. Irony? Maybe. We say that in life, nonsense things occur. But these are not really nonsense at all. Small things affect the bigger ones. Let us think for a moment. Can we find big stuff inside of small ones? Of course not. But what comprise the big ones? Yes, small things!

Man are small in comparison to the earth. But we, mankind, shapes the fate of the earth. We, if we work in unison makes great things. Individually, we can shape our own world. Individually, we are not alone. 

We are never alone. We have God with us. He watches over us and through his Holy Spirit, He is with us. Our feelings may inhibit our true potential but He also gave us intellect, will and power. All of which are gifts from Him.

Our family, friends and foes. Also gifts from Him. To help us realize that we can do things side by side with other people. We are social being and we are designed to work with other people. Our family is our source of wisdom. They serve as our fall back whenever we fail. They are always there when we succeed and they will never depart from our hearts. Our friends serve as the roses along the way of life. They give color to our being. Serve as confidants and also inspiration. Our foes serve as our challenge so that we always strive to be better- to be our best. All of them are gifts from the Lord.

So are we truly insignificant? Are we truly alone? Are we hopeless?

IT IS A BIG, FAT NO!!

-rodvinfiel

Randomness

Sunset view of Mts. Batulao

There are things in life that occur at random. As in super wala lang. Dumaan lang, nakita lang. Walang plano at walang framework na sinusundan. Let us face it. This is the reality of life. Thing come and go, all we have to do is to experience them and realize how small things turn out to be as significant as the enormous ones.

Imagine life without trivial nonsense. Hindi ba parang nakakatamad? These 'nonsense' actually are spices in life that our Lord have given us. Through these things, we derive happiness, we sometimes yield answers and we realize that life is worth living.

As living creatures of this planet. It is up to us to capture every moment whether serious, trivial or nonsense they are. And process it in ourselves hoping to produce a fruitful outcome-our sense of being.

-rodvinfiel