As One

Martin Nievera and Gary Valenciano treated Angelenos with one time historical sold concerts that will be long remembered for its timing, relevance and excellence. The songs were incredibly well chosen enough to really put the audience screaming with so much joy and excitement. Martin was at his best not only with the gift of glib but his outstanding vocals that has made him a by word in entertainment in every Filipino household. He was accorded an standing ovation with his Broadway medley that truly mesmerized the audience with that powerful, whole and beautiful mastery only Martin can give. Martin just sang from The Phantom of the Opera and All I ask of You, the immortal Memory from Cats, and that all time favorite Somewhere of the West Side Storyand with a short pause and ovation he finished the number with This is the Moment. Hands down, Martin won the crowd was electrified with such a sterling performance.
Gary V, Mr. Pure Energy Himself lived up to this title and at 45, he can sway those hips and airbound like he is thirty years younger. He never fails to amaze the crowd with his playful voice. Gary is a serious performer who seemed intent on giving a great show. He sang his Sana Maulit Muli and their exchange of songs with the Teleserye themes of TFC really brought the house down. It is not sure which made the Telenovela, is it their songs of the story. Their grip on the audience was awesome as Marin sang Ikaw ang Aking Pangarap of Lobo, Gary sang the all time rating buster Tayong Dalawa to a deafing scream of approval.
The surprises kept coming after the other and hits after hits of which these two gentlemen had awesome collections of it delivered a show that will long remebered. The encored with Earth , Wind and Fire hits that has made the audience dancing and shouting for more. The show ended with everybody smiling and satified Martin and Gary came in As One.

The title and timing of the show was fortuitous with Typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng just battered Luzon with untold miseries and loss. The two guys never lost time enjoining everyone to do their share to help which fortunately the entire LA FilAmcommunity is busy doing just that. Every church, every artist, every organization every household had probably did their share in cash or in kind and enjoining even non Filipino friends to do the same. As the title of the concert say, As 1, so is the entire Filipino community are one with their countrymen in keeping the spirit alive amidst the ravages of mother nature.

So I heard, Martin even sold kisses to raise more funds.

Seven Keys to the Kingdom

The Seven Keys to the Kingdom by David Owen Ritz is an eye opener or soul searchers' answer of the many and hows of this mysterious life that got complicated. It should be read by everyone looking for a way to put everything together our soul, dreams, mind and synchronize our life to be in the flow where God exists. Learning how we get out of the way meaning learning how to tame our thoughts or intelligence and should not get in the way of our lives. We must remeber that our thoughts or intelligence is a mere product of our experiences and education which by far very limited to as it is compared to the immensity of the universe where we socialize and to the majesty of the Almighty who had created all that is.

It speaks volumes how our education, experiences and everything we know has misled us to the greater truth we are searching for. The ego actually represents our sum total knowledge. The ego is the proud self of the know it all in us yet as it is is limited to its own exposure.
The seven keys is not something we haven't heard in our life but something we were not able to put together or we never thought that it is actually it is.
The first key speaks of the Commitment to accept that all good things come from God. Willingness to embody a consciousness to abundance. To focus our energy to the achievement of our goals unconditionally. Attain this awaremess that nothing can get in the way. It is the presence of God in our system that should matter here. No doubt no fear and no worries can change our awareness to the state of abundance.
The second key is vision...Holding your highest conscious vision of your highest personality possibility .You can not rise higher than the highest thought that you can think of yourself. You must feel deserving of the person you were meant to be. Listen to your inner guidance to manifest your inner vision. Your vision will direct your steps to achieve your highest possibility.
Truth, the third key is the awareness of the truths and facts of life. And the greatest truth is God is the one and only source acting on every channel. The One that acts on anything and everything in the Universe. Our ignorance of the truth keep us from achieving our fullest possibility. Seek yeah first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Here you find the purse that never go empty and the treasure that will never rot. The universe is achieving all our good.
Circulation is the fourth key. Live in the flow as a giver in life. Add to life because Life is given though us not to us. Whatever you give will be given back. The Law of Circulation will create a vacuum in our physical lives when we give and thru this the Universe will replenish and fill it up back. Make room for the good that you like by releasing stuff you don't need anymore to serve others.
Forgiveness.. The fifth key is the releasing the past reaching the interior level of our life . TReleasing the inner things that kept us from receiving our greatest possibility. These are the pain that we keep from the past. Totally forgiving everthing and everyone and let go.Forgive the self too of all resentments and guilt. Let all baggage go and have an attitude to love urself and others unconditionally Value being free from the past .
The sixth key is Gratitude. An active and emotional way of being grateful. Putting an energy with it. Celebrate through sharing abundance. Everything that comes in our lives are blessing even the negative ones are good teachers that will help us achieve good in our lives. Take time to focus on all the good and praise it.
The seventh key is Being. When we live in the flow, we become part of God's great abundance.
We are made in the image and likeness of God...It is love, joy, abundance, power and everything that is good. Whatever God is , we are. We are here to grow, to evolve and achieve our greatest possibility.

Imelda, Ahead of Her Time

Everything has a reason and a time and purpose under the heavens. We have heard and read much unsavory remarks about the former first lady. But had we really looked harder on how she looked at the world. Ever wondered why she did what she did minus our own judgements?

Everyone loves to be right and it is much sweeter to be holier than thou. But it seems like Imelda was ahead of her time. She had always been espousing beauty, love and abhors ugliness. Well it is her opinion and came from her own resources thru experiences and education. She wanted to show Filipino(s) beauty, arts, culture and everything on the positive side at least in her own terms. But a lot among us just can't see where she's coming from because of the poverty we are in or with the crimes she was wrapped with in our minds. We see the ugly and lack, we notice all kinds of corruption and everything bad and that was somebody's fault.

But a lot of studies coming out now tells us that the state of (y)our mind is the state of (y)our environment. I am sure it is not Imelda who nurtured the culture of filth as what we see it in Manila Bay which to say the least is symptomatic of the Filipino minds or discipline. So many of us are guilty as we throw all kinds of trash in our environment. It speaks much of the kind of mind we nurture. Corruption is not a monopoly prescribed by the Marcoses alone (Perception) as many would have prosecuted them and judged to be. So many of us are demigods that would like to rule among the lowly subjects. So many of us would like to be queens and kings. So many would like to get things done according to their own calls. This is a Philippine reality and actually global but we are one of the worst offenders. And yes this is the state of our minds.

I have thought Imelda was ahead of her time because she tries to instill beauty and love and she had put up a lot beautiful buildings, gave a home to our culture with the Cultural Center of the Philippines as her pet project and during her time, she was the fashion industry's patron saint. The Filipino artistry with the performing arts bloomed during her time. She institutionalized recognizing national artist. The furniture industry (Handicrafts) had a heyday having its biggest break during her time when Philippine products found their way to five star hotels here and abroad. Just as when some people in the world thought of Filipinos still cohabiting with monkeys on the trees in their G strings.

They got very good concepts like the Green Revolution that had it been institutionalized, appreciated and implemented by each one of us, hunger would have not been much of a problem TODAY. But lo and behold, we prefer a culture of buyers than producers and how we like imported goods really. This speaks much of the kind of thinking we have.
The Marcoses are long gone but they are the best escape goats we can have because it is not in our culture to acknowledge our own weaknesses and mistakes so we never moved on.

We are still in the same boat complaining of the same signature poverty we Filipinos love to create and own. Millions of Filipinos had gone OFWs but we still see and hear lack all over. We are never thankful of anything but we are the biggest cell phone users in the world. That's why PLDT loves the Philippines and will continue to gobble up all industries in the country because they have learned how to play on the idiosyncracies of the Pinoys of having different priorities. This country have so much spending money but how much percentage goes to the ailing Philippine industries as we continue to import even the most trivial needs in our homes. Well just how much people are really paying their taxes correctly. Just how much goes to the national coffers and private pockets.

In truth we have a very rich nation with great talents and natural resources but the mind set should be changed. There must be a shift of consciousness. The whole nation should be taught how to see its own blessings because there are so much to be thanked for. Being a Catholic nation has not helped. Remember God had promised abundance. Maybe the church hierarchy should changed its mind set too and help the religious understand their faith better. More on Belief. It should make the faithful understand their faith and relationship with God better because their pardigm is not working. There is just so much fear, doubt, anger and worries in the hearts of men that all they see is poverty and lack. There is so much baggage that we just can't get over with. We just can't seem to forgive and forget as Jesus has been teaching us more 2000 years now.

Why the rich are getting richer and richer and the poor gets poorer? Remember the parable of the Talents....He who have more , more will be given and he who have less will have even only his possessions be taken away. It's a Faith problem that translates to the thought that became words that created actions that produced the state of where we are now.
Imelda is now 80 years old and still talking about beauty and love. She wallows in great wealth and beauty. She refused to look at the ugliness of it all. Lets us not be the judge of what she did we thought were wrong because that will be her own to resolve with her Creator but the wisdom she's telling us all...LOVE. Let's all go back there and restructure our mindsets that we may finally attract the same.

What we all thought was right is very relative. There are more than six billion opinions of right in this globe alone. If we really love ourselves, we should have the humility to acknowledge our weaknesses, accept and appreciate the differences we have and go from there to improve our lives for God had promised His eternal lavish abundance for everyone.
And Imelda is still awesome and fabulously wealthy despite all the negative thoughts, court cases, and sinks thrown at her. This is not an ordinary story. It is one for the fairy tale books. There must be something good we are not seeing here or she must have done something right to be still on top of her game.

An Icon from my Generation Died

Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino succumbed to colon cance after a year of battle. This one she didn't win. But she smothered tanks, power and fortune and an impossible dream. She was the first lady president of the republic and swept to power thru a bloodless and miraculous people power.
That's one for the books and I was a witness to the unfolding of history during that generation of great identity crisis both personal and national. Who would have thought that a housewife would stand up as an unrelenting mom for a nation in crisis.
I got back to that time where change is so thick in the air and so is fear. The economy is crumbling and the powers are in great disarray. Many opted for change and Cory was the only alternative left standing. If not now when? was the cry of the moment and everyone felt it but like half of the nation was uncertain as to what route to be taken. Families, friends, communities, the whole nation was totally divided.
The cloud of uncertainty was changed to a resolved opportunity to make it under a new leader. It wasn't easy. Many didn't made it easy for her. Those years were marred with massive brown outs and donor nation fatigue. But the national problems were montrous. She held her grounds with so much patience and strenegth. She did not give up and gave her best. It was her darn best coming from a housewife and the whole nation was her ward. It was impossible not to complain of the numerous helplessness at that time but it was like a birth pangs of a new nation coming out.
Just how far did the rest of us did. Many were look and see. Many stayed corrupt and new breed of pariahs prospered. Hungrier. But many embraced the change.
I mourn her death for looking back, she was a mother to nation that was so distressed. Her strength towered over the adversaries. The outpouring love and support was there. There can be no other her again. There will never be another opportunity that will touch the nation in such a magnitude in such sponteinity. Yes she was really a gift.

I Am Now In WEHO

By a twist of fate, my floral art pieces are now being given its true attention it deserves. Courtesy of Oliver Tolentino who just opened his boutique at swanky Melrose area. A block to Beverly Hills and a block to the paparazzi laden Robertson Ave.

Who would have thought that a mere simple and single encounter at the Flower Market six years ago would propell me to the fashion capital of the world in a silver platter. I credit it to Oliver's kind heartedness. I also give credit to James Saspa who accompanied me at Oliver's boutique and made sure that I met with Oliver formally and officially.

Am sure the Universe has made it possible as I wished that the right people will come my way to pave the way for the great recognition of my works. Success is synomymous with finacial rewards. For this time like in my works, more is more. My gratitude to the highest heavens for this opportunity is one for the books. It's another magic worth sharing to the world.

You See The View,
So I Thought I've Lost Him Through The Years

So I thought. After several years in the US, I had painstakingly tried to locate an old great friend I truly missed thru the years. Way back then his seminary days and on that fateful summer where they stayed in our town for a vacation. We got it right from the very start. He looked frail and I teased him the guy who can't break a plate. He is handsome and I was wondering why he entered the seminary. He is mild mannered and so much fun to be with. He is friendly and knows how to reach out. He is rich yet very low key. And soon I learned to handle him with care. I have a growing fondness of him. I would do anything to see him everyday. I am so happy we became good friends. And I know he is happy too. We were a happy lot.
Soon the vacation is over and he left. A big vacuum was left engaging in my being and in my heart. I followed him one more time at the seminary in Baguio. I knew then that I have gone past just friendship. I needed more but I am just in a perfect dilemna. I can not lose him.
But fate did something else to my life that changed everything. I was transported in a different world of reality that I was never ready. So the change came and I was again in a whirlwind of another change. I landed in the US. But I haven't forgotten him. Yet I know only time will tell or will there be another next time. The moment had passed. I passed out an opportunity probably. I heard he went out of the seminary. Too many years and events happened. I can never get back to that magical moment ever again. But I can dream.
So the search is on. The moment I got my computer I tried searching wherever is possible. I have taken all possibilities and still tinkering of the idea of what ifs.
So I finally got hold of him through a client. I emailed him and he called me back. I was so happy. He is now married with two kids. They now live in New York and happy.

WEHO

How doe we navigate this.....for me ..it is not as it seemed as written in this way. When God is omnipotent, omniscent and omnipresent..., then He must be all over and with in us and not a separate entity yet He is a bigger truth that encompasses all that you can and can't sense. Because He is God , He is bigger than what our minds can fathom, bigger than the definition or the bounderies we had created to understand His existenece.

He is true to His words then that He is with us...in every fiber in every molecule every atom that we are and to the same atmosphere and into the unfathomable vastness of the space. Surely as He is with us the we can co create with Him that's why He said ask and it shall be given....but He got only one requirement to achieve this kind of ease...it is the complete belief and knowingness that you will receive your wish. The faith should be unwavering. It is rock solid, desired and focused into. This has already proven by many great men and women who came before us.

But for those doubting souls, for those who waver and question and worry about their wishes' realization, for those who fear the great unknown, these all and what ever least that they have will be taken away(parable of the talents).

It is in true faith that you perfect your relationship with God and yes and all these things shall be added unto you. Believe, know with a grateful heart that your dreams and wishes are happening right this very moment for it is His promise. Align yourself with Him and be one with Him to fulfill your destiny as a co creator. The thinking and desiring should be one. We must be in a solid knowingness that what we desire is what God desires for us. Nothing in between.

Sounds impossible because our mind is usually uncontrollable. A grateful heart will do the trick. Even when fears, doubts and worries seemed to reign over us, a heartfelt thank you will be more than enough to smother the odds. Gratefullness makes us aligned with our creator and thru this we paved the avenue for the blessings of abundance and joy of our dreams to come realized thru our reality.--- On Wed, 7/15/09, Ferdinand Dosono wrote:
From: Ferdinand Dosono Subject: Fw: From God/What I think about YOUTo: "Brenda Martin" te: Saturday, July 11, 2009, 3:49 PM
I want to tell you that I have known you since before the foundations of time. I even know the hairs on your head. I put you together on purpose and for a purpose. I looked at you and was that you were fearfully and wonderfully made. I even created you in my image.I know the plans that I have for you .Plans to prosper and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.I also gave you gifts to prepare and equip you for the plans I have for you. These gifts I've given are irrevocable. Don't neglect them. Exercise them and stir them up!I want you to be confident about this: When I begin a good work in you I will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.Although you may encounter tribulations in this world, I want you to know that in me you have peace. Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.I am not slack concerning my promises. Forever my Word is settled in heaven and my faithfulness to all generations. When I've purposed it, I will also do it.You can look to me as a refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.Cast your burdens upon me and I will sustain you.I shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Come unto me when you labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For I am your rock, your fortress, your deliverer, your strength in whom you can trust. Though you fall you shall not be utterly cast down, for I will uphold you with my hand.Don't listen to the ungodly, don't stand with sinners and don't sit with the scornful. But rather delight yourself all day long in my Word.If you do, you will be like a tree planted by the river. You will bring forth fruit in season and whatever you do will prosper.Finally, I want you to know that I love you! I love you so much I gave my only begotten Son. When you believe in Him, you will not die but have healing,freedom,victory, forgiveness and eternal life!

Happy Fourth

I woke up the same way like my any other days and thought of what I should do today and divide my time luxuriously as I want it. So I did. I laundered all my bed sheets and comforters. I just have a few sets so they have to be crisp, clean and fresh. My sister is coming over the weekend with her my other oh so smart niece Jessica. I vacuumed the whole house and made it look just the way I have always liked it with a twist. No clutter, clean and minimalist. It looked very calming. Now it looked like it's so ready to celebrate. My friends Dina and Jumes came by and have some preparation for Goody's B-day tomorrow. Then I have my shower and got ready to go the baby shower party of one of my "kids" John and have a short and very meaningful partee with the family. Like my own, we are counting 25 years now more or less of a friendship that just got better each year. I have to go home early before the dusk as I wanted to see the awesome fireworks from my veranda. Some friends are coming? I hoped but I am very sure I can well manage on my own. I am watching right now Capitol Fourth on KOCE TVand what a fabulous show. This is a show which will make you proud and respect America.

I am loving this pleasant surprise as I sip my upon my cup of Tea of Immortality and browsing the Internet. I have this freedom to celebrate solo. I am not anti social but I love having the liberty of doing what I think I like and I did. A very productive day and a very peaceful night. I haven't realized I am having this wonderful higher life I am experiencing now. Even watching the wonderul fireworks at the Capitol Hills on TV and my favorite tunes from the Marching Bands. This is actually my most anesthetic night of having just a wonderful moment. I am now trying to catch the emotion of this particular NOW in my life where it is so perfect. I believe I am at the pinnacle of my being. Just like a kid wanting to have his balloon and cotton candy so badly in a fiesta. This is awesome. I don't know if I can have this holy moment with myself if my guests arrived. This is my my secret dream as child being fulfilled. This fantastic feeling is now happening. Now my memories had gone back to those wonderful childhood moments where joy is pure. A part of me which I had almost forgotten. But the marching band is like one of those buttons in my life that if touched, I go back to that state of being a kid, free, happy, vibrant and knows nothing but to seek personal joy. This is my own personal celebration of life. Now I am happy forth.

So Bad Get Cuts

So Bad Get Cuts

I am watching Budget cuts film clips done by elementary and high school students and it is really mind boggling how the cuts has spiralled the deterioration of the entire community's morale. The economic crisis has far deeper implications than just the deterioration of the education standards and to the economies of scale that would be impacted to numerous lay offs that will take place.

Like a riches to rags story. Not new but coming from a less progressive nation, it's mind boggling how the government has put premium to educate its young people. They have put extra effort to consider class rooms, class size, books, supplies, teacher-student ratio, after school activities, counselling, field trips, food subsidies and a host more of other benefits that one student is entitled to.

It would be difficult to fathom this kind of deterioration. From a point of view of a third world student, here are nurtured spoiled brats who almost disregarded this opportunity. But this decline should just be a wake up call for this nation who had much for too long, the economies of scale of the senses wanted more or gone numbed..

But we can look the predicament in a more positive light. There are still a lot of logistics where the students can start with. It's time they do their part to improvise. They have to stand up to the challenge and put in a real honest to goodness effort to be on top of their game. If a third world student who has to weather classrooms under the trees, no books and food, walk miles to his cramped classrooms and many more disadvantages can so inflame his heart of the passion to succeed, then these students here should take a second look at where they are now. They can salvage whatever is left of that once great affluent educational pedigree and succeed. Maybe this is a call for greatness for which this nation's young people should respond well and escape the hopelessness or helplessness gripping the entire Nation.

Yes they can!!! Their forefathers had worked hard for them to have leveraged for excellence.

To know what is excellence and be on top of it. This nation is not short of heroic examples of greatness. It has revolutionized the world of many firsts in the name of progress and humanity. The Americans have the biggest hearts on earth because they grew of great affluence and learned to share their blessing to the rest of the world. Many of them had personally contributed and volunteered free services to so many God forsaken territories. They have the moral capital to put up for the future.

Only they have to accept the changes, stop the complaining and blaming and go from there. The Universe is still there and so vast. The earth is just a small spectacle in this unfathomable space. There are a lot of opportunities for greatness. Abundance is not a far fetched dream. Many great men and women came from nations of lesser means but were able to put up equally sterling achievements side by side with their American counterparts. Affluence and poverty are both curses or blessings depends on how one looks and feels about them. Our pick is the choice of life we make.

So, BAD get CUTS. Try, Good get More. You may call it paradigm shift or just mental shift or simply change.

MJ in ME

The Michael Jackson in US

Farewell to the King. Thank you for singularly reinventing, recharting and reshaping the entire world of the music industry. He single handedly broke barriers to a lot of aspects in our own lives. He put race to equal footing long before Tiger Woods, Oprah or Barak Obama (Rev. Al Sharpton). His music has captured four generations. It was a lifetime achievement hands down.

His is a product of a soul so evolved and focused on perfection. His craft was so exact that it appealead globally. Yet he was described to be shy by those whom he had worked or had befriended with. A roster of stellar personalities came out and put forward their own experiences of him. How did he put the world in his palm?

Through his music. He sang through his heart and gutted every heart that heard it. I personally remember him first with I'll Be There then came Ben and of course the Christmas album carrier Give Love on Christmas day. He sang them with so much intensity that though it was at a young age, it has touched and moved so many hearts anyway like someone old.. Then the Mega hits came Off The Wall, Bad, Thriller, Beat It and more hits. He perfected his craft. He's way ahead of his time and generation.Like Einstein, Edison, Ford, Carnegie, Scwab, Michaelangelo, Van Gogh and hosts more of our great predecessors and light bearers in different fields of interests, their influence is global. They are bigger than their generation to digest. He had painfully parried so many attacks on his person. But his works will speak for his greatness. I am sure he knew that he is one gifted person. He was indistractibly focused to his craft and delivered them superbly in each spectacular concert.

Finally Michael is indisputably a 24k minted icon.

But in my eyes, i shared some similar experiences on a personal level. I grew up to be real bubbly until I was slowly teased to be dark, skinny, ugly and always compared with somebody. I tried to deny and assert myself more but as I did, the stakes got higher until I came face to face with myself in my adolescent years where the challenge got more daunting. I put up a strong front until I became competitive and sensitive. Very sensitive that criticisms became an assault to my person as I came to realize I am having to face everything all by myself. My Dad died when I was 13 and was not exactly very supportive of my hopes. Cut the crap, I was left trying to defend myself where I tried to be the best in my situation. I have to survive so I tried to put up my nicest self to shield me until I got lost in a myriad of conflicting events that crushed my soul.

But I am a winner by nature and tried all ways and means to validate my positive outlook in life through prayers and more prayers until I took off and went deeper down to myself and tried to unlock one by one the mysteries that had then shackled me. I've seem my Christian life merging my new found knowledge about New Age. I've read Eckart Tolle's The New Earth, The Power of Now, Esther and Jerry Hich's Abraham series, Donald Trump's Think Big and Kick Ass, The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes, Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich aand I was able to navigate Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life.

After all, the message was the same. I have to know and believe in myself that I am created perfect by whom I owe this life and whom actually I am a part.

This Journey

This Journey

I travelled half way around the world

To find a new hope

Walk the usual path

I realized this just geography

For I carry same thoughts

Brought with me same outlook

So i took a different way

Look outside the box of faith

Just faith no questions

Pure dozage

And slowly I am taking a different flight

That all along the answers are in me

Just believing again

Start loving again

Just Myself.

Our Journey

Let us own the universe and know that it owns us too. From the sterling and inspired minds of the great men and women who came before us and those with us today had continuously fan the thought that we share the same energy.

I wanna share my own realization stories after a long streak of amnesia. Too many to grasp but looking back and knowing where I stand at this moment, the reality drips more deliciously to exhilirating process of understanding how i even got here in the first place.

That I never gave up says much of my spirit to survive and know the truth behind what's on my plate. I started being religious to the core but its promises seemed to blurr more its wisdom each year and challenge that comes by. The kicking and the pulling inside me under the auspices of my religion can't seem to contain my burgeoning burden of questioning my faith and reality. Iam sure many of us share this sentiment and underwent to the same debilitating search.

In fear of offending my God, my self serving self importance had detached me farther. Fears, doubts and anger had provided more doors closing on me. Now to undo and open all those doors and unlock my own fortune to now is a glorious feat to own. Join me in this wonderful journey.