Your mantra for the week: My talents are God-given and they are now being expressed successfully.
“Pretend you’re happy when you’re blue/It isn’t very hard to do” is the first line of Nat King Cole’s song “Pretend.”
This concept is not accepted by many as something effective because it is “pagkukunwari lang” in Tagalog. However, in IAMISM, it becomes a principle by simply hyphenating the two syllables, “pre” and “tend,” which means to tend to it before the fact.
Here’s an acronym of the word “pretend”:
P stands for Preparing for a manifestation by performing or behaving like one’s desire has become a reality.
R is for Rehearsing and Repeating, like an actor does when building a character.
E is for Emotionalizing our desires, which means feeling like our goals have already been accomplished.
T is for Taking it seriously, to the point of feeling Thrilled at the prospect of completing something. Tithing propels an action to a victorious conclusion.
E is for Empathizing with those who have achieved similar goals.
N is for Nourishing the idea of a new identity—the New You that has come about through the manifestation of an aspiration.
D is for the Discipline needed to keep in mind and heart that which you would like to be in your life. D is also for the Daily practice of all the above.
The song, in fact, ends with “The world is mine… It can be yours, my friend, so why don’t you PRE-TEND.”
In praise of beauty
We are on the last week of the Miss Universe contest, and I am happy I was part of a discussion on beauty pageants on Pinky Webb’s “On the Record” over CNN Philippines. It was shown last Friday evening and will be replayed today at 11 a.m.
So far, the pageant activities are on schedule and are making an impact not only on our people, but also on televiewers in other countries. Maxine Medina is doing such a good job.
Culture-enriching
I tagged along with Helen Ong for a poetry reading at the residence of Sheree Chua’s parents, Enrique and Flora, in Corinthian Gardens. I was so happy to find out that this cultural happening is done twice a year by the Society for Cultural Enrichment Inc. (SCEI), which was founded in 2008 with Helen as chair and Jimmy Laya as vice chair.
Sheree, the vice president for cultural affairs, finished Literature at Ateneo de Manila University and took a two-year course in Writing at the City University of Hong Kong with American professors from the University of Iowa. I related to her how we held poetry readings at the Contemporary Arts Gallery with the “Father of the Philippine Printmaking,” Manuel Rodriguez Sr., who now lives in New York City and just celebrated his 105th birthday this month.
At my first one-man show of painting-poems, Mang Maning said he was glad that poetry had found a partner in painting.
I was very delighted to see painter Edgar Doctor again after so many decades, with his two daughters in tow. We asked him to pose beside one of several of his paintings that hang in the Chua home, along with a few BenCabs, Kiukoks and many more artworks by Filipino masters.
It was such a pleasant surprise to see Pete Lacaba, who greeted me with, “Ano, George, last century pa tayo.” So true! Too, with the likes of Krip Yuson, Ramon Sunico and Gemino Abad. There were two other poets, Mookie Katigbak Lacuesta and husband Sarge, who has now turned to fiction writing.
Also there to share his poetry was writer, editor and chair emeritus of “Ang Ladlad” Danton Remoto; and, last but not the least, Tim Tomlinson, who teaches Creative Writing at NYU.
All of them read from their own works, and the only unfortunate thing about this very cultural evening was that it couldn’t be shared with the general public. I therefore suggest that they video the next poetry reading and upload it on YouTube, or put up their own website.
Pinky and Juancho entertain
Juancho and Pinky Tobiano Robles gave a dinner for anniversary celebrators Becky Garcia and George Sarakinis on their 12th year of togetherness, at their elegant Ayala Hillside residence. The house’s impressive interiors are in different shades of gray.
Someone commented that 12 is a good number—the 12 Tribes of Israel, 12 months of the year, 12 Zodiac signs—not realizing that the number 12, in the I Ching, is called “Stagnation”—no offense meant to George and Becky. However, the good news is, the 13th hexagram is titled “Fellowship with Men.” Becky is hoping it does not go for George, too.
The evening was originally planned for 12 people, but with Becky’s wide circle of friends, the guest list expanded to 30.
A home like no other
In my lectures, I often state that people must work toward a level of prosperity where couples must have his, hers and theirs bedrooms so that each can have their private moments.
The Robles residence surpasses all that. They may share their room more often than not, but each has his and hers spaces in other parts of the house, with all the necessary facilities.
Juancho’s hobby is repairing watches and recombining different straps of branded watches, though he is a certified public accountant, an internal auditor, a fraud examiner, an information systems auditor, an expert in risk management assurance and an MM, which I assume means “Mayamang Mayaman” (something I would love to add to my calling cards).
After seeing his dressing room, I changed my mind altogether about my own room, which I always thought was impressive. Oh, boy, how wrong I have been.
The third floor of the house is Pinky’s closet. It incorporates a little beauty parlor, a spa-like Jacuzzi, massage room and a spectacular wardrobe collection that would be the envy of any woman. A few lady guests posed in front of the handbag portion of this dressing area.
There was even a corridor of leather boxes from floor to ceiling that contained gowns, all properly identified. I will stop right here, because to describe the rest of it might make me sound so incredulous.
Pinky’s daughters
I would like to mention that Pinky’s two daughters with her first marriage, Pianne and Karrel Sinfuego, are two young ladies to watch. Pianne wants to be a chemist like her mother, who finished a chemistry course at the University of Santo Tomas, went to Harvard for further studies and later put up a business of her own, Qualibet Testing Services Inc., of which she is CEO.
Pinky is a cancer survivor whose personal advocacy is to ensure that our food is safe for consumption by everyone, and not just the privileged few. Her company is best known for its world-class testing facilities for food, water, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and veterinary products.
Karrel is a speed reader whose only décor in her bedroom is a wall of books because “I can finish reading a book in a day.” There’s also a white board for all her notes and quotations.
It is truly wonderful to inherit a lot of wealth, but in my book, inheriting brains is more important and beneficial—not to mention more fulfilling.
E-mail the author at
georgedfsison@gmail.com.