Monday, January 13, 2014

'Leave a bit of color for my heart to own' - F. Sinatra

"You don't have to fall in love with everyone around you, but there's nothing wrong with spreading it in all directions." - a tweet from Dhamma Girl ‏

"Love one another" as it was taught to us in convent school is one of the most difficult tenets of the Christian faith to practice, especially when dealing with the difficult people who cross your life's path and are there to teach you some lessons so your soul can be refined for the next stage in life.

But then, the late Odette Alcantara liked to point out, you yourself may be considered even more difficult by the other party. Right she is, you know.

When Dhamma Girl tweeted today--I don't know her from Eve, I'm not even sure if this is a real person or a tweet generated automatically from a computer somewhere--my mind went on a split-seconds line of questioning. Why is dhamma spelled that way if what is meant is dharma? What is meant by spreading love in all directions? Apparently, dhamma and dharma mean the same among Theravada Buddhists--taking the way that is righteous, correct, proper.

As I approach the prime of my life I find I have the time of my life (here I am about to burst in song, a Sinatra favorite, at 7:30 in the mornin of a Monday), this is all I'm learning to find out and to ask. For more little slow walks on Sundays that yield certain images that I can store, later to be shared with others and with myself, my own reader of this blog. Somehow I feel this strange enchanted love thrown to the NEWS (north, east, west, south). It's that kind of non-romantic love that does keep me younger than spring.

Sky over Antipolo

Dry, fallen but still beautiful where they are Photo by Babeth Lolarga

No comments: