Alex M. Eduque
Of meaningful summers
May 26, 2023 4:02 pm
While the rainy season is clearly upon us, and as thunder roars more often than not these days, a lot of schools have also begun their summer breaks. This got me nostalgic, and thinking about my student days when I still had summer break as part of my annual agenda. It was a time we all looked forward to, and looking back now, I realized that some of my most meaningful and transformative times took place during my summer breaks. It was a length of time spent in a multitude of ways, and as I look back and reminisce, I would not have had it any other way.
A long and lasting love
May 19, 2023 4:01 pm
Last Thursday, May 18, we celebrated the birthday anniversary of our family matriarch, Consuelo “Chito” Madrigal. Earlier this week, in Naga, we finally had a proper launch of the short biography cum memoire I wrote during the pandemic featuring her. As I was explaining my writing process to the audience, and I was answering the numerous questions they had for me, I could not help but reminisce. It was an emotional morning – in a good and happy way. One that brought me back to my yester years, and dare I say, glory days.
To our mothers
May 12, 2023 4:01 pm
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. A Sunday in May every year where we find an extra excuse to celebrate the most important women in our lives. Although a day will never be enough to give adequate thanks to some of the most influential figures in our lives, it is also that day which reminds us to be grateful to them and all that they are. After all, I would never want to think about a world without mothers – we would never know the feeling of being nurtured, nourished, cared for unbiasedly and loved unconditionally.
Realizing happiness
May 05, 2023 4:02 pm
According to the Britannica, “happiness, in psychology, [is] a state of emotional well-being that a person experiences either in a narrow sense, when good things happen in a specific moment, or more broadly, as a positive evaluation of one’s life and accomplishments overall.” That is what popped up as the first hit on Google when I literally searched “what is happiness.” If only obtaining true happiness was really only a click away, then what a happy world we would be living in every single day. But part of the adventure that is life is riding through its waves – its ups, its downs, taking it all, processing and realizing. So much so that as coveted as happiness is, experiencing it in its truest form is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling of gifts in life. But what exactly constitutes happiness? I have come to realize that it is as subjective as it is personal. It is one of those things that cannot be taught, but can only be gained, and through time, if we are aspiring for the long and lasting kind.
For the laborers
April 28, 2023 4:04 pm
On Monday, May first, we celebrate Labor Day. Known as “Araw ng Manggagawa” here in the Philippines, it is a holiday celebrated in many parts of the world. It is a holiday essentially to honor every hardworking Filipino (or laborer around the world for that matter) regardless of their occupation. In essence, it is a day that equalizes and recognizes hard work, grit and perseverance no matter what sector one works in. From farmers, to domestic workers, Overseas Filipino Workers, entrepreneurs, executives, government workers, the list goes on – it is an extra day that reminds us all to give time to ourselves, and spend the day how we choose. That in a world where most of our days are spent working, we must never neglect ourselves. At the end of the day, just like battery, when we are running low, our output is not at optimum. Even the most well-oiled of machines needs a break.