Thursday, February 25, 2016

Are you really free?


image from www.pinterest.com



I hate my life!, she mutttered exasperatedly while she typed.

I was sitting right next to her.  We were talking about her woes earlier.

Can you relax first before you finish that transaction?, I gently reminded her.

But what I really want to say is this.


Sometimes, pounding on something really hard never works.


You get tired.

Then, you lose your enthusiasm.

And, you forget there are other nails worth pounding.

You become the carpenter who works eight days a week and forgets that he is also a dancer who loves to salsa, a friend who enjoys hanging out with his crew or a traveler who enjoys adventure.

Your view becomes limited as you fixate on that one thing.

And the longer you don’t get it, the higher your anxiety rises.

They say, Good things come to those who wait.

I say, Good things come to those who are ready for that good thing.

How can an opportunity swing by if you have closed your door by thinking of all the wrong things which happened, questioning why you haven't gotten what you wanted or by grinding your teeth in anticipation because it’s taking so long.

One has to open the door to allow good things to happen.  That entails acceptance of what is, looking at the brightside and trusting that whatever will happen is for the best.


Set what you are holding too tightly free.

If it's your right, it will come to you.  In the meantime, can you please wait happily? 






P.S.  Please know that when I say you, I'm addressing myself too.  More often than not, I write about the lessons I need to learn, as well.


Thursday, February 18, 2016

The bitter truth about chocolate



I’ve never researched any article (for this blog) so thoroughly as this one.  It strikes so many chords-  chocolate, children, slavery, farming and ethical eating.


“When people eat chocolate, 
they are eating my flesh.”
says Drissa a recently freed slave in a cacao plantation. (1)


image from www.patheos.com


It was reported that children 12-16 years old are being trafficked daily in West Africa, producer of 70% of the world’s cocoa. Some journalists saw children as young as 5.  They were forced to work in cacao plantations: wielding machetes to clear the field, climbing trees to pick the fruit, hacking the cacao pods, and carrying 100 pounds of sacks for 80 to 100 hours a week. (2) (3)


Documentaries exposed that children were beaten when they work too slowly or tried to escape.  They were billeted in a room with no windows and restrooms and locked at night.  They would wake up at 6am to work until evening with only bananas and bean paste to sustain them. (4) (5)


In 2001, a protocol was signed by chocolate manufacturers, NGOs and Ivory Coast government to end child labor by 2010.  On the deadline set, Miki Mistrati and U Roberto Romano did a behind-the-scenes investigation to see if changes were made. The filmed revealed prevalence of child slavery even after a decade since the protocol. (6)




In 2015, Tulane University’s reported in their research that 2.26 million children worked in cocoa plantation in the Ivory Coast and Ghana during 2013/2014 harvest season, a 21% increase from 2008/2009. (7)


The bitter truth about chocolate is children’s blood sustain this industry (around 70%). (8)


Know that I am not opposing chocolate production.  

I am not asking you to boycott chocolate or choose ethically manufactured ones.  

I just want to let you know that you might be funding slavery inadvertently. (9)



video from Release Your Wings




References

1 http://www.foodispower.org/slavery-chocolate/

2 http://edition.cnn.com/videos/international/2014/03/02/cfp-cocoa-nomics-full.cnn

3 http://www.foodispower.org/slavery-chocolate/

4 http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/dark-side-chocolate/

5 http://www.foodispower.org/slavery-chocolate/

6 http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/dark-side-chocolate/

7 http://www.confectionerynews.com/Commodities/Tulane-publishes-cocoa-child-labor-report-21-rise-in-West-Africa

8 http://www.foodispower.org/slavery-chocolate/

9 http://www.slavefreechocolate.org/children-slavery-cocoa/



Sunday, February 14, 2016

I’ve never liked Valentine’s Day



image from playbuzz.com


It was probably because I was brainwashed in college that it was simply a capitalist move to increase sales after a low season post-Christmas.

It could also be because I couldn’t enjoy chocolate as much now after learning that there might be blood in what I’m eating. I watched this documentary which revealed modern day slavery in the cacao farms.  It wrecked my heart so much I haven’t bought a bar since I saw it.

Or I might have been Saint Valentine in my past life, the priest who was executed because he defied Roman Emperor Claudius II and secretly married off the soldiers and their brides at the height of war.

Well to be honest, I think it’s because I find it silly that some people would whine, rant or mope that they don’t have someone to spend Valentine's Day with.  Also, I think the idea that one has to have a partner to be complete is ridiculous.

I enjoy romantic comedies and plots like all the other gals but I don’t believe it.  The knight in shining armor who will whisk you off happily-ever-after is a tall tale. 

Instead, I believe in making myself complete.

I believe in taking responsibility for my actions and helping myself move up.  I do not need someone to save me.

I believe happily-ever-after is a destination one can travel solo as well.


I have nothing against love, relationship 
or marriage. I do have a case on dependency, attachment and 
damsel-in-distress drama though.


I just think that two complete people will have a better chance at sustaining a good relationship versus two people looking for their missing halves. 

I totally respect it if you think otherwise.  Just saying my two cents worth.

meditation from Release Your Wings






































Wednesday, February 3, 2016

‘I saw sorrow but it did not touch me’




In the stillness of dawn, while I was sitting in meditation I saw sorrow.


It looked like a small fist-sized ball just in front of my heart. Then, I saw my heart.  It had a hole which is the same size as the ball of sorrow in front of me.  

I wondered why my heart had a hole.

Suddenly, rays of light from up above started filling the vacuum in my heart. 


Then I realized that I never felt sorrow
because I received God’s loving protection., related  Anand, a senior classmate in meditation.


You see when my mom died, everyone in my family was wailing in the hospital.  When I arrived, I simply came in and  looked at her lovingly and in sweet stillness. 

During the final mass, a ceremonial eulogy was conducted.  While relatives and friends shared their feeling of loss of a very dear person, I felt we should celebrate her accomplishments.  Instead of crying, I asked everyone to clap for my mom’s legacy of a life well lived.

I never shed a single tear during the wake or even days after it.

During that dawn meditation, this 'hollow' feeling emerged.  I recognized that I was able to handle the situation with calmness and stability. 

The moment this realization came, tears of joy welled up.  Yes, it was indeed God's sweet loving protection all along which allowed me to keep a safe distance from sorrow!  It was God who filled in the emptiness with His divine pure love. 

That day, I saw sorrow but it did not touch me.


P.S.  If your heart needs healing or if you simply want to feel loved,  you are warmly invited for a day retreat this Sunday, February 7.  You may register online at  tagaytayretreatcenter.org