THE MESSAGE . BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA www . kalatas . com . au | Volume 6 Number 10 | JULY 2016 EDITORIAL & OPINION
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HUMMING IN MY UNIVERSE
PROCEED WITH CAUTION
THE MESSAGE . BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA www . kalatas . com . au | Volume 6 Number 10 | JULY 2016 EDITORIAL & OPINION
15
HUMMING IN MY UNIVERSE
That ’ s life
At age 50 or 60 , you look back at your life and a lot of realizations hit you . For example , you will look at friends , family , and other people you have gotten to know well , or even as mere acquaintances , in a different way than you did when you were much younger .
In your 20s , you may look at someone as a close best friend because you spent a whole summer together . Or you may think you have found true love because the other person could understand and accept all your quirks and imperfections within the few months you have been together . a
But at age 20 , you still have your entire life ahead of you . So much more will happen to you , and during that length of time between 20 and 60 , you will experience more stuff that will change you . You will be tried and tested . You will go through heartbreak . You will feel pain so deep , it will change your personality . You will undergo great joys and disappointments . You will probably have a change in civil status , physical condition , geographical location , job , political affiliation , socio-economic status . You may change religion , life partner , or even sexual orientation .
No one ’ s life is static . Anything can happen , and you can be sure it will . That ’ s life .
Looking at people I ’ ve known from way back , I see entire life narratives played out , and still being played out . Some have had it easy . Some have had it tough . In some , I sense great spiritual growth , while others seem stuck in some of life ’ s tight bends and have not moved on . Not yet .
Days turn quickly into decades . Time will teach us that there are so many ways to be happy , and also so many ways to be miserable . We all change to some degree .
PROCEED WITH CAUTION
As we age , some opinions and beliefs we used to hold dear will eventually be dropped for new ones . Carl Jung put it well : “ But we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life ’ s morning , for what was great in the morning will be little at evening and what in the morning was true , at evening will have become a lie .”
He also said something which I often remind myself of . “ The first half of life is devoted to forming a healthy ego , the
In life , we accumulate wealth , and we build relationships and reputations . We also make friends and enemies . It is clear to me that worldly goods and relationships are not real possessions . You can ’ t take them with you . The temporal world has no place in eternity . We are all going somewhere infinite .
second half is going inward and letting go of it .” When I look at people I have known for years , many seem , in some great measure , to have been successful in letting go of much of their ego , while others are still struggling with it and holding on . One can never completely kill the ego , but you can set it aside enough of it to be able to laugh at yourself , admit mistakes and be forgiving of yourself and others . Time and aging can help you to do that . Those who can tame the ego are happier . The others perhaps need more time .
On social media , I get an idea of how friends and acquaintances live their lives . There are so many permutations of how life can be lived . If life were meant to be lived only a certain way , then all this diversity would be wrong and against nature . But as we can see , the life force in us brings us to where we are . “ Life will find a way ,” as posited in the movie Jurassic Park , and each path is individually and personally carved out .
While life seems to have no rules since it goes on as it does , we must make rules to get to know ourselves and everything around us . It ’ s the only way we can earn the right to sing “ My Way ”.
It is also true that many of us often find ourselves in situations not of our own doing . That ’ s because many times , we did not choose things consciously . We do not
know how we got to where we are . The unconscious took charge of our life and brought us there .
Growing up means that we must make our own decisions in our own lives . The task is to make conscious what is unconscious so we are able to knowingly make clear choices in charting our own path . To be conscious is to know and accept ourselves and our true motives , no matter how “ good ” or “ bad ” they are .
I am talking about total honesty and acceptance of oneself . It is hard , but that ’ s what it means to be responsible for our own decisions .
On Facebook , we read about people dying – of lives like Nelson Mandela , Muhammad Ali , and other more humble lives of simple people coming to an end . Words like “ mission ” and “ destiny ” come to mind . What did their lives mean to them ? To others ? Did they live with a purpose that was clear to them ? Then , I turn to myself and ask : What is my mission ? What is my life all about ? Have I fulfilled my mission yet ? What else do I have to do before my life ends ?
In life , we accumulate wealth , and we build relationships and reputations . We also make friends and enemies . It is clear to me that worldly goods and relationships are not real possessions . You can ’ t take them with you . The temporal world has no place in eternity . We are all going somewhere infinite .
Maybe what matters in living our finite lives is to somehow outlive it and be remembered even for a few generations . We will die , but some part of us must live on . We must live a life that defies our own death , and leave behind something that people can enjoy , emulate , be grateful for or be inspired by .
That legacy speaks about how well we lived and loved , and what we leave behind that somehow makes life kinder and better for other people .
JIM PAREDES is a multifaceted creative . He sings , composes , writes articles and books , teaches at the Ateneo De Manila University , designs and facilitates workshops . He is a writer of books , a widely read columnist for the Sunday Life section of Philippine Star , and a well-known photographer .
July 2 Federal Elections : A referendum on same-sex marriage
One of the major news last 2014 was same-sex marriage . Then Prime Minister Tony Abbott was confronted by a Year 9 student from Newtown High School of the Performing Arts who was on a trip to Canberra , “ Why are you so against legalising gay marriage ?” For someone who has a sister , Christine Forster , who is in a same-sex relationship , you would think it would be easy for him to answer this question . PM Abbott is against same-sex marriage and so do most , if not all , of Liberal Party members .
Unlike BREXIT , the concept of equality such as same-sex marriage does not require an expensive $ 160 million referendum or plebiscite . If the Liberal Party stays true to its ‘ liberal ’ roots , liberal democracy should not support a referendum , instead this issue should be resolved by just changing the law , which Labor and Greens suggest . Now current PM Turnbull has a real challenge this July 2016 election . Forget Medicare , Gonski or housing affordability , the issue that will really define this election is same-sex marriage . And the Liberal Party has been delaying and so far behind this for so long .
Australians are increasingly becoming in favour of same-sex marriage . Survey shows that 72 % of Australians wants same-sex legalised . And that survey was in 2014 ! PM Turnbull ’ s strategy to ignore this ‘ elephant in the room ’ may be his political defeat . Labor Senator Penny Wong , who is gay , thinks that
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Australia is ready for same-sex marriage , and added that a plebiscite will only allow LGBTQ haters to spout malicious and false claims such as that same sex couples harm children . Of course this myth had been debunked , but some Australians , and few Australian- Filipinos I know , are not keen on accepting this . For example , this religious bigot Cori Bernardi , author of the Conservative Revolution , made a hideous comment that gay marriage will be a slippery slope towards bestiality and polygamy , which is another false claim . If you haven ’ t noticed yet , the only group |
opposed to same-sex marriage is the religious group . This group made hating gays a career . Enter the Australian Sex Party , which made a video ridiculing the religious right on its ’ dogmatic insistence to control weddings “ so gays can ’ t say I do ”. This political Party is not for fun , it was conceived as a “ response to increasingly draconian censorship laws and escalating Government encroachment on adult ’ s civil liberties ”.
We are living in the 21st century now yet sometimes it feels like we are still in 14th century Europe . I might as well remind Australian-Filipinos that Australia is a democracy and there is a constitutional basis ( Preamble Section 116 ) for the separation of church and state . Your religious law to hate ( or kill gays ) only apply to your religion . So keep your religion to yourself . But we know this is next to impossible .
Australia votes July 2 and if marriage equality matters to you , then you know who to vote for . For sure , it ’ s not the Liberal Party , unless PM Turnbull suddenly makes a 180 degrees change in policy .
ALLAN ESPINOSA writer and philosopher , is also an atheist , but that ’ s ok because we live in a secular democracy ! Right ? Follow Allan on Twitter @ atheistpapa .
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Opinion pieces are all welcome . Ang Kalatas does not necessarily share the views of the writers . |
Ang Kalatas is published every first Saturday of the month circulated in various parts of NSW . News articles , opinions , syndication and columnists do not necessarily reflect the views and opinion of the publisher and editors of Ang Kalatas and are solely theirs . All editorial and advertising materials submitted by the advertisers are subject to the paper ’ s advertising and editorial standards and discretion . All rights reserved . |
MILLIE MARCIAL-PHILLIPS Publisher / Managing Editor
TITUS FILIO Editor
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