Sunday, February 01, 2009

Ang langit ko'y ikaw sinta.

I remember when i was a child how i would react to beauty. I would stare at it for hours, unmindful of the world around me, my attention enveloped by a cloud of silence, the world outside would seem too far away. I see beauty almost from everything. From a sewage canal a few blocks away from where we lived-which is teeming with waste, plastic bags from nowhere, and unrecognizable dead creatures from the underworld which somehow manages to crossed our world- to smog-filled air that caused my three month weekend trip to a nearby clinic for a shot due to childhood asthma. The world is surrounded with beautiful things. My world is surrounded with beautiful things.
Beauty is everywhere. May 16, 1988 my lolo brought me to our province. In Bicol, he has a modest rice field which sits at the feet of a mountain. The fields would burst into golden hues during a perfect summer afternoon. The mountain has indescribable beauty, it stand there, not far away from the edge of dancing shades of gold. It seems like it's guarding a sea of rice fields. For hours i was staring at the majesty of the mountain in front of me, under a nipa roof, on a peaceful summer afternoon, soft summer breeze which smells like fresh leaves touching my face. Everything is in silence, the world seem contained on that moment when suddenly I heard a faint echo calling my name. I only caught a few words he was saying, "kanina pa kami nag-uusap dito, ang tagal mo nang naka upo diyan di ka man lang mag salita, baka mapanis laway mo niyan."
"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." What is beauty? or beautiful? dictionary.com defines it as, the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest). A thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, but the mind can be deceived. Is beauty comparable to morals? which society/environment may dictate or suggest? I see beauty on how the government is running the country, how this government staged performances to elude people's attention on reality. Much like watching an Illusionist perform, after the show people will applaud and walked out the theater having no idea what just happened. The idea of being entertained by a beautiful display of hope would be enough for them. And hope will never be given, it will only be shown to you at cinemas and television shows.
I can see beauty in all faces of society- the poor, the rich, and the unclassified. I see beauty in a plastic waste bag loosely floating at the bay of pier 11 in Tondo. Beauty is everywhere if you will just look closely. I see beauty in your eyes. In your smile, in the way you talk, smirk and laugh. I see beauty in the way you read and write. No, I'm not flirting with you, I'm just acknowledging your beauty.