Aloha

Aloha: a Hawaiian word used in greetings or farewells. (And apparently, in expressing love too)

I greeted 2018 the best way I could. Back home in the Motherland. New Years, a Birthday and a Wedding were awaiting and I was excited to be part of it all! Mamasing, the family's rock and our delicate flower, is strong and blooming at 90. The entire generation were hands-on from the planning, the execution, to the dancing in celebration of this gift of Life. I came flying for the summer, thus, becoming a Reunion with family, friends and the ocean. Lucky am I to call one of our country's most beautiful islands - Home!

I, together with my Pinoy Mafia, witnessed a pure, real, God-kind of love in the marriage of Nana and Dada! A love that truly surpassed distance and seasoned in time. It was a white wedding, simple yet elegant, detailed and precised for everyone to enjoy the most important day of their lives. A celebration of the gift of Love. Despite of our friendship being heavily linked through social media now,  I know them as close as a kapatid who will last me a lifetime. And for that, Volim te!

I missed using this word - Layover - in Dubai for 48 hours did me nothing but good. It felt ages the last time I'd been at home in the sandpit. This City is just a proof of what's ahead of us - higher, bigger, faster progress. But it wasn't just my eyes satiated, but my heart as well, being reunited with one of the very first people who mentored me, believed in me and doesn't judge me. That is my Lobster. A celebration of the gift of Friendship. It felt so comfortable and so natural opening up to her my wounds. And instead of giving me assurance, she taught me perspective.

My journey also felt coming full circle, as I made a quick but unexpectedly longer layover in Doha. It's been over a year now that I stopped flying. I hadn't seen it coming. I had no clue that my greatest success will also be my biggest failure (to date). I've lost my job. But that doesn't hurt as much as losing my dream (or dreams thereof). I was too ashamed and too lost to admit to anyone but myself. I was destroyed. Since then, I've been trying to put things into perspective. And Germany helped me in different ways. Not as an escape or a sanctuary. But to adapt into a foreign lifestyle and language. To get out there not knowing anyone. To get back, alone, on my own two feet. The way a mother giraffe would kick her newborn calf until it learns to stand on it's feet for the first time. To learn.

And what have I gotten so far? It's just that - I'm only human. I'm allowed to fail as much in this lifetime. I've learned to draw from strength I never knew I was capable of sustaining myself of. To fail, and fail frequently. That, also, makes me human. (continuously typing then this drops in the background)

With Easter just behind us and the sun starting to warm away the winter, it's time to celebrate the gift of Renewal. Resurrection or rebirth would have been appropriately correct, all fit in this season of making things anew. And just like the other meaning of the first word I utilized, we also bid farewell to the old, to the past... to give way to the new. Aloha!