Nelson Mandela (or Whoever the Real Author Is & It Truly Is a She) & the Boys of Maginhawa Street

One of the last exercises done by the first batch of workshop participants of "Writing and Loving It," a summer workshop on creative living, was to translate from English to Filipino this oft-quoted inspirational and inspiring quotation that is attributed to Nelson Mandela.
The boys of that first batch who worked on their individual poems and essays throughout the six-day long workshop at the function room of Kiss the Cook Gourmet at 65 Maginhawa street, UP Village, Quezon City, had their closing program yesterday.
Today, this workshop facilitator and her able assistant, Nina Victoria Araos,a comparative lit major when she enters UP Diliman in June, take a break on Labor Day. The second batch of workshop participants meets from May 2 to 6 at Daisy Langenegger's Green Daisy at 20 Maginhawa st., same village in QC, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as
children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." --quotation often attributed to Nelson Mandela of South Africa

"Ang atin kakulangan ay hindi natin dapat katakutan bagkus ang katotohanang tayo ay may angking kapangyarihang maaring hindi lang natin nalalaman. Madalas nating kinakatakutan ang mga bagay na alam natin, hindi ang mga bagay na hindi natin alam. Tinatanong natin sa ating sarili, Sino ako para maging matalino, maganda o guwapo, magaling, pambihira? Pero bakit hindi? Ikaw ay anak ng Diyos. Ang iyong pagpapakumbaba o pagpapakamaliit ay hindi kailanman makakatulong. Ang iyong pagkukunwaring hindi ka magaling para lamang ang iyong kapwa ay hindi makaramdam ng kawalan ng katiyakan ay hindi rin mainam. Katulad ng mga bata, tayo ay ipinanganak upang magningning at lumiwanag. Tayo ang isinilang upang ipahayag ang kagalingan at kaluwalhatian ng Panginoon. At kapag pinahintulutan natin lumiwanag ang ating ilaw, lumiliwanag din ang ibang katulad natin. At kapag ating napalaya ang ating sarili mula sa ating mga takot, tayo rin ang nakakapagpalaya ng ating kapwa."--Translated by Milo Lofranco, Rudolf Songcayawon and Rex Tan

Photo of workshop participants at Kiss the Cook Gourmet's function room taken by NINA VICTORIA ARAOS
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That quotation attributed to the great Mandela has this interesting history. The source is: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marianne_Williamson

* "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles", Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3])

o The famous passage from her book is often erroneously attributed to the inaugural address of Nelson Mandela. About the misattribution Williamson said, "Several years ago, this paragraph from A Return to Love began popping up everywhere, attributed to Nelson Mandela's 1994 inaugural address. As honored as I would be had President Mandela quoted my words, indeed he did not. I have no idea where that story came from, but I am gratified that the paragraph has come to mean so much to so many people."

o The poem was also included in the movie, "Invictus," about Nelson Mandela and the South African Rugby team.

o The film Akeelah and the Bee includes this quotation without citing its source. Some viewers have inferred that the source is W.E.B. Du Bois. There is a later scene in the movie in which Akeela reads a passage from The Souls of Black Folk written by Du Bois ("He began to have a dim feeling that, to attain his place in the world, he must be himself, and not another”).

o The film Coach Carter includes a variation of this quote: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

o The Israeli bestseller "Badulina" by the author Gabi Nitzan opens with this quote, also attributing it to Nelson Mandela.

Photo of Mandela by BENNY GOOD

Brothers & Sisters of the Travelling Pants (a.k.a. Summer Workshop on Writing & Creative Living)

The third day of the six-day "Writing and Loving It: Summer Workshop on Creative Living" ended at 2 p.m. today with the boys (Rudolf, Rex and Milo) and gurlz (Nina and Babeth) inspired by a story-telling session with Mila D. Aguilar, poet, essayist, filmmaker, Web designer and professing servant of God and country.

To me, she remains the Mila who wrote such deeply moving poems as "A Comrade is as Precious as a Rice Seedling" and "Why Cage Pigeons?"

Mila, who lives not too far from the current workshop venue of Kiss the Cook Gourmet at 65 Maginhawa street, UP Village, Quezon City, informed the 12-year-old participant Milo that their names (Mila and Milo) mean "grace" in the Slavic languages of Eastern Europe.

Milo, who has been ribbed since Day One that his nickname may have been derived from an energy drink that is the color of his skin and which might explain his high energy level, grinned widely on learning another new thing today.

The workshop participants put into practice some interviewing techniques they had just learned this morning. By tomorrow, they will be able to write on the spot a full-length personality profile of Mila based on the sharing she did while she dug into a dessert of truffette and sipped a cup of cappuccino.

From my own notes, I found Mila's advice to young writers:

"If you're a writer or an artist, you have to have roots. Your roots are where you were born. There is no such thing as an international writer or artist. Every writer has a nation.... The thing he/she writes about, the thing he/she paints about is the culture of the nation. So you have to love your nation and express the soul of the nation. If you can do that, you can become a great writer; if you cannot, you'll be nowhere. Dostoyevsky was like that--he thoroughly knew his Russian culture, he expressed that culture in his works. So did Goethe. Shakespeare was like that, too. You must grasp your culture to become a great writer, a great artist.

"Your culture was not formed in and of itself. Somebody created it. It's a creation of Whom? Who created the nations? God creates not only individuals but nations. A nation exists for a purpose, God's purpose. You have to grasp God's purpose for the nation. There is a 'trialectical' relationship between the individual, the nation and God, and once you grasp that relationship, you'll become not only a great writer, a great artist, but an immortal one."

Like any true cultural worker, Mila espouses many causes, among them, organic farming, particularly shifting from miracle rice and the like which are
"hurting us and making us sick"; adoption of solar, hydroelectric and geothermal energy; Bangon Pilipinas, a political party put up for God and country, and so on.

Tomorrow, Thursday, our fourth day, the kids report back to the venue to write about their afternoon with Mila.

May there be more moments of grace in the next leg of "Writing and Loving It: Summer Workshop on Creative Living" scheduled May 2-7 at Daisy Langenegger's Green Daisy at 20 Maginhawa st., UP Village, Quezon City. Workshop fee of P4,000 covers snacks and lunch, writing and art materials, certificate of participation and encounters with other moments divine. Text or call the facilitator Babeth at 0916-242-1637 to reserve or confirm a slot.

Top photo shows Rex quizzing resource person Mila Aguilar. Lower photo shows the first workshop participants with Ms. Aguilar (seated center). From left are Nina Victoria Araos and Babeth Lolarga while standing (same order) are: Rudolf, Rex and Milo.

Summering by Writing, Drawing & Generally Laughing All the Way

"Writing and Loving It," a summer workshop on creative living, opens April 25 and runs till April 30, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Kiss the Cook Gourmet, 65 Maginhawa street, UP Village, Quezon City.

Kiss the Cook Gourmet is across from Holy Family School. It has a function room where the workshop will be held.
The workshop is open to children who can read, write and understand instructions, tweens, teens, young adults and the young at heart. There is a maximum of 20 slots, first come, first served.
Exercises will show writing is not an angst-filled thing nor is it the exclusive terrain of the gifted among us. The workshop aims to show that writing can be fun, funny and part of one's life, as easy as inhaling and exhaling if done with persistence and diligence.

Workshop facilitator is Babeth Lolarga, published poet, fictionist, painting hobbyist and high school creative writing teacher, who will be assisted by Nina Victoria Araos. Babeth has been conducting summer writing workshops since 1988 in various parts of the country.
She has twin degrees, a BA in journalism from UP Diliman and a bachelor of fine arts from UP Baguio. She helped revive the Baguio Writers Group and is a founding member of the Baguio Aquarelle Society.

Nina is a recent graduate of Diliman Preparatory School and incoming comparative literature major at UP Diliman. She is also a member of the Philippine team to this year's Southeast Asian Games.
Workshop fee covers venue rent, healthy snacks, lunch and materials.
The venue accepts credit cards (Visa and Mastercard). Call or text these numbers to reserve a slot: 0916-242-1637 or 0920-989-0227.

From May 2 to 7, the workshop moves to Green Daisy, owned by Daisy Langenegger, at 20 Maginhawa st., UP Village. The same facilitator and assistant will conduct the same workshop with another batch of 20 participants. The price will be the same, inclusive of morning snack, lunch and materials.
Each workshop will be capped with a closing program on the last day that includes giving of certificates of attendance and a short talk on eating healthy by the respective owners of Kiss the Cook Gourmet and Green Daisy. To reserve a slot for the Green Daisy workshop, text or call 0917-814-8262. Ms. Langenegger accepts checks in her name.
Bringing of own baon in the workshop is disallowed at both venues as the workshop organizers also aim to promote good nutrition among the young and young at heart.
Photos show (from the top): Kiss the Cook Gourmet logo, blogger's self-portrait, workshop assistant Nina Victoria Araos and Daisy Langenegger of Green Daisy.

Scarfing Food at Our Faces

It seems my body clock perks up as the working week winds down as this weekend's photo documentation shows.

The food trip began Friday night after I learned that Daisy Langenegger was hosting another seafood extravaganza at her Maginhawa Street digs in UP Village where I am a temporary transient. Her Facebook profile had her seafood night advertised with photos of curry crabs, paella, oysters three ways, oysters on half shells, grilled prawns for a very reasonable price.

My partner Rolly still refers to Daisy as Crazy Daisy after her former restaurant in the Timog area in the 1990s where he used to go at its closing hour after he was done layouting a newspaper's front page. She is now Green Daisy because the woman has gone organic (even her rat poison is organic) and yes, her place is lush with greenery and art.

I would kill for oysters (Lady Macbeth would understand). And if flown directly from a source in Aklan, how more fresh can they get? I took a pic of old friend and my former editor at Today (I was an occasional contributor) Francine Medina looking like she's about to eat my orders (yes, I had oysters three ways and on half shells).

Yesterday. Saturday, was medical checkup for a number of family members beginning (by age) from my sister Suzy, my youngest daughter Ida and my grand-niece Machiko Skye who had her ears pierced. I decided on where we would eat immediately as I didn't want to go to the Medical City's fast-food court. Mary Grace at the neighboring Rockwell Business Center, it was decided, hands down, for its pasta and toasted, sugarless ensaymada and brandy-infused prune cake.

As for today, Sunday, even God knew when to say it was all good and He rested. Burp!

Photos by Babeth of Tablea Chocolate Cake served at Green Daisy (topmost), followed by Oysters Three Ways set across journalist Francine Medina, Bianca Ysabel Susi with classic spaghetti and meatballs and Ida Fernandez with her velvet cake and apple cinnamon tea at Mary Grace