How to Awaken a Dead Man

For some reason he found it funny to flick on his cousin's ears. He was giggling as he stared at his target's irritated face. "He's sleeping so he couldn't fight back. It's a chance to bully," he thought. He was enjoying the moment when, all of a sudden, his cousin's mother saw what he was doing and she eventually stormed out on him. It was family siesta time so the rest of his relatives were made known of the act and everyone came to a conclusion that he became very cruel at that time.

As it was the norm when a kid would made a mistake, they shouted at him and, as he was trying to defend himself, they voted to throw him out of the house as a punishment.

"This is injustice." he thought, so he screamed "Di na kayo naawa sa bata! (You did not even show any pity to a kid like me!). All the while he thought that would convince them to allow him a re-entrance, but lo and behold, to make matters worse, he heard and saw their neighbors laughing at him because of too much drama.

It was as if the camera zoomed in on his face, marking a big blow that has since robbed his whole self. He felt Rejection. And that was what deeply wounded his heart.

That was how I became brokenhearted, and that was John Eldredge's target -- aimed to provide healing and restoration -- on his book Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive. 

Nameless Heroes

02/25/11. 25th Anniversary of EDSA. But I am not feeling it; maybe I am just too stressed or too preoccupied that I didn't even twit about it as form of commemoration. I guess idealism lessens when you age. Reality's too harsh that sometimes you can't help but just give in.

I wanted to be a hero. Altruism kicked in way back when I was very young - maybe 8 or 10; I really don't remember, but I was very enthusiastic back then. In fact, I thought I was destined to be the next Jose Rizal or Ninoy Aquino. I believe I am not alone into thinking that way - Efren Peñaflorida was named 2010 CNN Hero of the Year. The diference is, he had the guts to risk a corporate career over teaching kids on the streets. And I don't have the boldness to do so - worse, I would usually end up thinking of good ideas and not act on it. And so I blame myself.

Bob Ong's Kapitan Sino

Nevetheless, just like the old saying, it's never too late. I am naming here my new inspiration, that is, Kapitan Sino. The who? He's Rogelio Manglicmot in person. Thanks to Bob Ong, his story is up for grabs in National Bookstore.

My nameless hero

I was so moved that I needed to release all the positive energies in me. But I don't have a venue and I ended up drawing my own nameless hero.


And so I am writing this on EDSA's 25th Anniversary and just realized that I am commemorating it in my own way. We knew EDSA as where about 2,000,000 individuals - most of them nameless workers, parents, yuppies, teens, etc. - risked their lives for freedom and so someone else can benefit.

But I wonder, what if everyone would think as a hero? I guess that would bore us then since struggles are what make our lives so fulfilling. And I love fulfillment. I wanted to feel it in my job, in my family and in every aspect of my life. You can't always have it your way but no matter how difficult, unpleasant, depressing, humiliating it may be, I intend to make a difference. I don't need to be named; each mind remembers anyway.

Happy 25th EDSA Anniversary!