My Way or the Highway

"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything." - Charles Kuralt

I was a little disappointed to hear that the new Clark-Subic Expressway was closed during the weekend, and would only re-open today, April 28. My friend Neil had extolled the virtues of the new highway: it cuts down travel time from Bocaue to Subic Bay to a mere 30 to 45 minutes instead of the two hours it usually takes through several towns of Pampanga and Bataan. And so I was really looking forward to testing it out, only to have my intentions thwarted for the meantime.

But thinking about it this morning led me to the conclusion that I really wouldn't have it any other way. I'm a big fan of road trips, not so much those of the speedy highway variety, but those that take you through the sinuousities of whatever country you may be traveling in. One memorable motorist adventure was the 900+ kilometer weekend drive from Paris to Monaco: sure, we got to the South of France in record time, but really missed out on the French countryside. We compensated, much to our enjoyment, by taking the "scenic route" on the way back.

Just this year, a missed exit on the US I-88 had us fortuitously taking the state highways through Illinois instead - now this was a slice of Americana I wouldn't have witnessed if we'd gone on the road well-traveled. A trip up to upstate New York and all its scenic attractions was likewise off the beaten track - you won't find those quaint little local restaurants that serve fabulous food on the Interstate (unless Subway is your idea of quaint and fabulous).

Had we taken the Clark-Subic Expressway on this particular trip, I would have missed out on the mangoes of Zambales or the brownies of Floridablanca (I love making pasalubong stops). I also wouldn't have rekindled my relationship with Sting (favorite music to drive to on long trips) if the journey was short and quick. Or had the time to experience the calming yet unpredictable flow of the countryside, as opposed to the monotony of the freeway.

So, in the end, I actually wasn't disappointed that we had to take the long, familiar route. I wonder if I'll feel the same about the new Tarlac-Baguio City Expressway that they're just beginning to build - what, no more bagoong and Matutina stops in Pangasinan??!! (Echoes of the Tagaytay bulalo and coffee stops I've missed since they built the new Star Expressway to Batangas) The trade-off is that I'll no longer have to endure the tricyles, trucks, and Tarlac two-lane traffic...but I guess for now I'm happy enough to have the choice of taking the journey, or arriving swiftly at my destination.

Miracles

A miracle, defined by the dictionary, is "an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause."

That's a little high-fallutin' for me, especially since I'm about to share with you a range of "miracles" that may or may not fit into the definition.

Today, I got present to the miracle of my career. Many of those close to me know that I'd given up the legal profession more than a few years ago to pursue other endeavors; heck, I was even in a magazine spread that extolled the choices of women as they changed horses midstream, so to speak. And yet, after going through all that drama, I am a lawyer in good standing before the Supreme Court and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (took some effort to get me back on track), and God-willing, of New York State, and gosh darned, I'm proud of it. And of how I can make a difference knowing that don't have to "survive" (or bail out) to thrive in a purported sea of "sharks."

I got the miracle of conversation today. I spent half my day just talking with fellow lawyers, and later, with a client, as if the conversation would never end. Then, the rest of the day was spent in conversations with family, and with a number of remarkable individuals committed to have the miraculous happen in their lives. Despite the number of people I "had" to talk to, I kind of regretted that my last conversation (at 10:00 p.m.) had to end.

I also got present to the miracle of relationships. I am connected to the life force of the planet - the wonderful world of human beings - in ways that continue to astound me. The other night, I was in traffic - and a stranger of a street child (as opposed to the ones I've come to know over the years) started tapping on my car window for extra change. Since I started serving with the streetchildren's foundation, I've learned that a moment of relatedness and recognition produces more results than a perfunctory handover of coins - so I started a little pantomime with the kid. No, no money. No, no food on me right now. All I had was a big smile of acknowledgment - that met its counterpart. At the end of the exchange, I waved goodbye behind my tinted car window...and he did too, bless his heart, still smiling. I passed his way again the next night, through a green light, and he recognized me. God, I miss "my kids."

So those are some of my miracles to date. I should add one big one - the miracle of a highway built from Tarlac all the way to the foot of Baguio City - which I had hoped and wished and prayed for, and declared as a possibility almost two years ago, and which is going to be happening, finally (thanks Lex, for the heads up), without my having to do anything about it. Miracles abound, at every moment - but sometimes we just gotta get present to the moment and grab it for everything it's worth.

I'm ready for the next miracle...are you?

Love and light, peace and power to you always :-)

Tsinelas

I recently read one of those tabloid articles "exposing" an unnamed actress for wearing her expensive shoes only when it was time to go on cam, and slipping back into tsinelas (best translated into English as "flip-flops") in between takes. The tenor of the article was deprecatory, as if it were belittling the poor celebrity for her inauthenticity in footwear.

Teka muna.

Whoever wrote that piece has obviously never experienced the discomfort of wearing - much less walking - in four-inch heels for an extended period of time. Designer shoes or not, comfort is almost always sacrificed for aesthetics: looking good weighs in more than feeling it. At least that's how I see it.

But nothing quite comes as close to the relief of slipping into comfortable footwear (which ideally approximates the pleasure of going barefoot) after several hours in killer shoes - it's akin to digging into a big meal when you're starving or making it to the john at the height of bladder overflow. It's the pinnacle of deliverance, sa totoo lang. And the most comfortable of comfort footwear is none other than the lowly tsinelas (a.k.a., beach thongs, slippers, ismagol sa Ilocano).

So pwede ba, knock it off with the bad tsinelas rap. I've half a mind to condemn you to a pair of Blahniks for the rest of your days - go walk the length of the Mall of Asia in those babies, if you dare.

If choosing tsinelas over Jimmy Choos were a crime, guilty ako dyan. I love how my murderous, mutinous, height-enhancing dress shoes complete my outfit when I'm standing still, but I'm not going to even venture crossing the street in them. So shoe me.

Postscript to Last Entry

Here I go again!

I was just re-reading my last post (Wednesday Blogger, see below), when I GOT that I'd forgotten an area of my life that I always seem to conveniently forget. So this time, I'm going to give it an entry all its own.

I'm creating time to have that great relationship in my life - an honest-to-goodness, knock-your-socks-off, kilig-to-the-bones, loving, committed, for-keeps relationship. It's something that I've always said I wanted, but which always seems to slip my mind. Hmm...interesting. I don't know how that's going to happen, or where it's going to fit on my plate, but I'm just saying.

Looks like I'll have to get a great big serving platter for this one. :-)

Wednesday Blogger

One of the biggest breakthroughs I got out of Landmark Education's Curriculum for Living has to do with my relationship to time and my schedule. A few years back, I remember having "no time" to do everything I needed to do: it was always a mad rush to get our of the house, to work, to meetings, through meals, and even vacations. There simply just wasn't enough time!

And then, sometime during the Introduction Leaders' Program, I got that I could run my schedule, instead of it running me. That shift in perspective had me do a whole lot of things I'd previously professed I never had the time to do: take on more projects at work, create businesses, supervise programs and seminars for Landmark, attend trainings abroad, and even take vacations and three months off out of the country to review and take the NY Bar Exam! (As a side note: I just found out yesterday that I passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam - yahoo!)

It takes constant and continuous practice though, to manage everything on my plate (the key there is always getting a bigger one, instead of cramming stuff on top of each other). My expansion in that area hasn't gotten to the level of mastery yet, but as I continue to practice expansion, i.e., taking on more things instead of prioritizing or sacrificing, I've found that things are working; stuff is getting done.

These last few days, in particular, I've noticed that I've gotten to create a life of my own design - and everything "fits." Since I got back from the US, I've spent time in and out of town with old friends and my sorority sisters, had conversations towards creating (even more!) businesses, taken on new clients for the law office, all while leading Introductions to the Landmark Forum, managing the next seminar and the upcoming Advanced Course, and taking coaching calls/conversations throughout the day. Almost nothing has been compromised: aside from scheduled time with different groups of friends, I still get to have weekday breakfasts or lunches with my Dad, dinner with my Mom, drinks with my brother. Tonight, I even have time to accept my Dad's longstanding invitation to join his socio-civic organization, and, this weekend, I'll be going out of town for a little family summer outing (followed by another sorority shindig).

While my ever-expanding "plate" knows no weekends or weekdays or hours, I set aside one day to "chill" (in a relative sense). I created that on Wednesdays, I don't have to be anywhere in particular: I can work and take calls from home, do my beauty rituals, go to my Dad's evening meetings (or not). One area that I haven't gotten around to creating time for as of late is mission, and it looks like my plate is going to have to get a little bit bigger (Wednesday mornings and Saturdays are the days I'm designating for that).

And, as the title of this post indicates, Wednesdays are my days to blog; while I may put up the occasional post throughout the week, Wednesday is my designated day to update this page and unload my thoughts.

Blessed be God for schedules we get to create - hey, He got a whole lot done Himself in just six days! :-) " And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)