Locked down again. Now what? — “Sir!” “Tay!” “Para sa imo ’ning pagkaon!” (“This food is for you!”) Three or four of us in the car screamed as loudly as we could to get the trisikad driver’s attention. Alas, maybe our voices were too muffled by our masks, and the old man kept biking away. …

Reflections on living Easter consciousness today, and every day — “You talk about Jesus Christ and declare Him as the Savior,” she said. “How are you able to integrate your faith with these concepts you share, like karma?” The tone in her voice wasn’t of moral indignation but of genuine curiosity. And the rest of the audience, I think primarily…

Why it feels good to be a little closer to nature — Every time I jog or stroll around my mother’s provincial hometown of Jasaan, Philippines, I slow down or pause to admire these beautiful sculptures in front of an artist’s home: I’m drawn to them because to me, they bespeak a time when there existed a sacred communion between humankind and…

2020 was my first year of conscious daily gratitude. From January 1 to December 31, I wrote three or more post-it notes every day about things I was grateful for, and then put them into a box. I compiled somewhere around 1,200 notes. The gratitude practice was inspired by Dr…

Many months back, I was struck by author Neale Donald Walsch’s articulation of how the world became so chaotic… Thousands of years ago, humans started losing their sense of close connection to the divine. Certain people in power put forward the ideology that God was someone far far away in…

From the Commercial to the Historical to the Mystical — In Medieval European paintings, symbolic and literal representations existed simultaneously. Sort of like this popular meme: The original artist probably isn’t from the Middle Ages, but I share the graphic because it introduces the layers of meaning of Christmas in an artful, humorous way. So what does Christmas mean to…

Pumpkin pie, cranberry jam, HoneyBaked ham, and turkey. These are what Thanksgiving meant for me as a child growing up in the U.S. Well, that, and one or two welcome days off from school, of course. Pretty shallow, I know. Sure, intellectually I knew that it was a day where…

Not long ago, in a pharmacy, a college-buddy-now-MD I hadn’t seen in years identified me behind my mask and face shield. Dr. RB called out my name and to my surprise, I, too, quickly recognized him despite his facial armor. Twenty minutes into our catch-up, we discovered that we had…

Weeks ago, it was Father’s Day. Photos of dads with their families flooded social media feeds the world over, and my Facebook feed was no different. I enjoyed seeing the outpouring of love for dads, and it was nice to greet some newbie dads as well. What newfound joy they…