My Animal Inside: Still in Love with the Sacred

Does the animal that represent me affect the way I love? I do not think it will be a huge factor, because nothing can really dictate how we’ll decide our various ways with love, or anything else related to it, for that matter. Love is more complex and intricate. And in my opinion, it mainly circles unceasingly around one of the most important things in the world: time. The presents that we live in are the futures that our pasts have imagined. 

Love is a prayerful present tense. I would make this statement boldly: In my honest opinion, not a single person in this world should ever claim that he or she is not in love. Although the clichéd anecdote saying asserts that “change is the only thing constant in this world,” I would beg to differ; because frankly, I have always perceived that saying as a bit flawed and rather misleading. Love is ubiquitous, eternal, timeless, and nothing can hinder it from spreading, from letting anyone embrace the sweet sensation. Only the contexts are different – a person could love a new person and hate another; the people in love would die, but their romance could be preserved; a person could only have familial and not romantic love, but it is always there nonetheless.

Love is a prayerful future tense. Love is full of possibilities; love is taking on every chance there is. One views love through the lens of the future in hope that the love will not begin to fade away and completely vanish one day. One could only hope that the love and connection right now will always be there, but of course, we must remember that no one else but ourselves are capable of letting that love grow. Only our actions, motivations, feelings could cause that love to bloom and to never wither, whatever happened.

Love is a prayerful past tense. We’ve all heard those beautiful romances and those timeless stories that never fail to move our hearts, be it fiction or not. Love is about the past, indeed, but it is not about dwelling too much on the pain and tragedy of the yesterday and letting those memories destroy us, but instead, we should contemplate and allow those dark days to make us stronger, to change us for the better. Love is looking back to have an idea of what happened to other people or to you, and then try not to commit the same mistakes again. While most people would say that pondering about the past is a wrong idea, it can be an effective remedy for whatever you’re hurting about right now.

Although love might seem somewhat simple and straightforward in the façade, it is undoubtedly much more elaborate and complicated than it appears. No one can provide the perfect and single explanation for what love really is, because it is merely a matter of contexts and how we view things through our different lenses. Indeed, love has an undeniably intimate relationship with time, because the latter can be considered as one of the ingredients love is made of. And yes, there could be other factors, depending on our beliefs, tradition, and the conventional ideas that lurk in the society. But regardless of the differences in contexts, the variations in ways, or other things, one notion is for certain: love is constant and only the contexts in which it occur, on where and how it happens, are different.

Experience as a Personal Guide Book

Upper Campus, University of the Philippines Los Baños

Gathering data in the field is an entirely new experience for me. I might have read something about it before, yes, but doing the actual activity itself is a different matter altogether. My unforgettable experiences? No doubt, I could go on and on probably produce several pages about it, but I would only focus and the ones that had imprinted on me a more profound impact. After all, at the end of the day, it’s not the scribbles and notes in your paper that matter, but the change that happened to you brought about by what you experienced.

I met new people, and that alone is already a wonderful and unique experience for me. Not being a sociable person, I don’t tend to be really conversational to strangers. But somehow, I can say that during the interview and the field work itself, I was able to come out of my shell, even if a little. I am hoping DEVC 11 will help me achieve that goal. Second is, it was my first time ever to step inside a government institution (PCAMRD-DOST and ERDB-DENR) and the air inside was not how I expected it to be. It was rather like an academic edifice – with so much knowledge pouring, many bustling activities and scientific pursuits. It was a nice and comfortable place to be in.

While in the field, I’ve had some moments of realizations and contemplations. When approaching complete strangers to interrogate them, be it a worker or the head, we must always maintain proper decorum and showcase utmost respect as much as possible. They are spending a few minutes of their precious time to help us, and we should be very grateful for that effort. That being the case, we should immediately state our point directly and waste no time; but, of course, we must do that in a proper way. There’s no use rushing and pressuring them. The second of two things that I’ve realized is this: be an effective listener. We’re asking them a series of questions and explanations. We had better listen well.

On the other hand, what didn’t work well, or wouldn’t, for that matter? Don’t ask simple questions. Ask questions that would provide an intelligent and thoughtful answer. We must have prepared thoroughly before approaching them – that is, research whatever is researchable about them to be able to formulate meaningful inquiries. There are two things that I would do in the future, especially if I were to make an expert interview. First, as I’ve said, research. Second is, to prepare a few questions beforehand as not to burden myself in thinking of a question at the time of the interview.

Let’s move on to the next phase of the activity, which is gathering data and information about the news topic. When I did my research, I wrote the possible keywords regarding my topic that I could think of, so it would be easier to locate data in the four sources (printed, internet, online database and offline database). Also, I tried to broaden the things that I would seek, but of course, not to the point that such information would be too vague it’s useless. I would make sure that there is a relationship to my topic. (Like what I did on mine: I considered soil erosion, my topic being flooding.)

This is only the first step towards mass media writing. Before, I thought this whole activity would be easy. But of course I was mistaken. It doesn’t only require a person to be persevering, but very patient and articulate as well. Indeed, as Ma’am Mia had said, comfort is not a priority. We must not think of ourselves. We must think of the people we involved in this situation, such as the interviews. We must even sacrifice a little, for best results.

Lord of the Flies Movie

“Lord of the Flies” has this engaging storyline that made me feel multitudes of emotions simultaneously. Needless to say, I have no intention of making this sound like an actual review of the movie; rather, I will simply jot down my emotions – what I felt and what I still feel regarding the film that I saw.

On the first few minutes of the movie, I really began to have this sense of curiosity. I was then pondering, what would happen to these pitiful children stuck in a barren island? I instantaneously had this sort of admiration towards Ralph. I was utterly amazed at how he handled the whole dilemma, seemingly unaffected by the future horrors of their current situation. It hit me that it was pretty rare to meet a boy like him these days. On the surface, it appeared that the relationship of these boys was in perfect harmony; there being a leader, cooperation, and all that. But like most of my assumptions, I was mistaken, which I realized later on.

Of course, there was always an underlying enemy, a person who opposed our ways, in almost every day that we encounter new people; or more plainly stated, in a particular circle or group, there was always this one person who would dislike us. I wondered why that was the case. And quite accordingly, soon enough, it was shown that Jack had another side, that he had other motives. It was depressing that way: why would the people we regarded as friends inevitably turn their backs against us? When the separation of the boys took place, I thought about friendship, about our relationships with people. The symbolism in that aspect mirrored the reality.

I saw Ralph as this seemingly enigmatic kid, cool and placid on the surface and with a potential leadership. But Jack was the exact opposite. Why was he acting in such a disagreeable manner? We can only assume. But reading between the lines, there must be a reason. There was always a reason behind our behavior, so I’ve heard. But this should not be an excuse to act in a certain way we do, especially if it’s not right. The way our mindset translates into behavior still depends on us. On a deeper note, I have read, and I agree, that  Jack’s attitude embodied the most terrible aspects of human nature “when unrepressed or untempered by society.” [1]

When some of the kids caught a glimpse of a distant helicopter looming into view, even I, a mere onlooker, felt a spark of hope ascending inside me. Before I realized what I was doing, I was ramming my fingers incessantly on the wooden desk in sheer suspense. But the helicopter never listened to Ralph’s desperate calls. Events such as those are the kind that always leave us dejected, and worse, render us wholly hopeless. Even pessimism has its roots.

Soon enough, it became a battle of survival, quite synonymous in some aspects to Darwin’s natural selection or the “survival of the fittest.” It emerged in a subtle way, though, nothing but child’s play with just a few ounces of provocations and the likes. But I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when I found myself staring in Simon’s corpse, at the bloody remnants of his little body. What were those kids even thinking of? How could they kill a defenseless victim? Albeit it was just a stupid blunder, it was still murder. I couldn’t formulate the image of children ruthlessly piercing spears through Simon’s body with devilish fervor. And to think that Simon only wanted to say the truth, to shed some light on a misconception, on a ridiculous lie. The voice of truth was cut off by the harshness of human nature, of the beast that was slowly consuming the hearts of the other boys. Simon's death represents the loss of truth, innocence, and common sense. [2] I knew that even if the boy dared to speak out in his small voice, it would be futile. His death would continue. Boys committing murder. I knew then that that was the demise of child’s play.

I felt tremendously desolate when the boys left gradually to transfer to the other group, in the end leaving only Ralph and Piggy. Maybe those kids didn’t actually want to go to Jack’s group, but they did for survival and practicality, despite the fact that it was against their will. They had to do it; they knew that the other group was getting more and more powerful, that their chances of survival there were better. I guess that was a part of human nature for some people – doing things that we didn’t really believe in, making decisions although it was wrong, because we thought it could help us; or even worse, because we didn’t have a choice.

And things did get worse. The attitudes of those kids reached the extreme. The first death being an accident, you’d think that they had already learned their lessons and were sorry for the crime they had committed. But no; Piggy was heartlessly murdered. What was even going on in Roger’s mind (the killer) to be able to perform such an atrocious and abominable act? To have witnessed the death of his comrade, I could feel the fury of Ralph emanating. It must have taken most of his willpower not to saunter forward the group and initiate revenge. That must be very strenuous, to try stopping your emotions from overwhelming you.

Ralph was undeniably a very strong character. As I have mentioned, I really admired him, but I also felt a tinge of remorse because mature as he might seem, he was still nothing but a mere child. No one should have the misfortune of carrying tremendously heavy burdens and witnessing unsightly things at such a young age. If ever I see people like those, I’d have this urge at the back of my mind to help them in any possible way that I can.

Then there came this scene when Ralph was being hunted down. The twins were put to test. I was utterly terrified when the other boys began chasing Ralph. Although it was only a movie, my heart was hammering violently against my chest in fear. I thought it was his end already. But there was an officer waiting near the shore. The boys couldn’t proceed with their murderous intent. It seemed that up to that encounter with an older man, the boys had been living in their own world, with their own rules. But when they finally saw the man in military outfit, it was as though the reality once again assaulted their faces. It made them realized what they really were. They were children about to perform their third kill. And in the real world, children don’t normally go around murdering someone for fun.

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies

2."Lord of the Flies: Analysis of Major Characters". Literature Study Guides. SparkNotes. Retrieved 2 February 2010.