“As I carefully sweep the ground of enlightenment, a tree of understanding springs up from the earth.” —Thich Nhat Hanh

Life is beautiful, but it is not always a walk in the park. It is inevitable that we encounter external stressors that disturb our peace. Yet while there are often issues that are out of our control, the most important aspect is how we react to them. Sometimes things are not as bad as they seem; we just need to take a deep breath and reset. Instead of covering up our anxieties with distractions, we need to listen to ourselves clearly and understand the core of the issues at hand, and evaluate them against our personal virtues that we value deepest so that we may learn how to move forward.

By breathing deep and reconnecting to our core, we can reach a deeper level of clarity about what our next steps are. True mindfulness always gives rise to awakened understanding. We should recognize how the past, present and future are interrelated—and yet, all we truly have is the present moment. Moving slowly forward in a conscious step-by-step is better than sprinting ahead blindly.

With exactly a week before the grand relaunch of Red Charity Gala (RCG), our team has been highly stressed with so many details to iron out before the big night. My amazing partner Kaye Tiñga and I have been working tirelessly to make sure the charitable affair is successful after being on hiatus for three years due to the pandemic.

First solo fashion show

To celebrate the creative fashion of our featured designer Ivarluski Aseron, RCG will stage his first solo fashion show at our new home at The Peninsula Manila on Oct. 8. We will have the much-awaited live auction that best buddy Tim Yap and I will host. We hope to raise millions for the benefit of the Philippine Red Cross, Assumption HS ’81 Foundation and Hope for Lupus Foundation.Last Friday, Kaye and I hosted a lovely afternoon tea at the Conservatory at The Pen for our friends and partners. To help build excitement about the upcoming event, we showcased the different auction packages and art pieces, so they could be previewed and pre-sold.

Some of the auction categories include art—a Patrick Coard artwork, and paintings by Charlie Co and Jigger Cruz; travel packages from The Peninsula Manila, The Peninsula London, The Peninsula Istanbul, Anantara Vacation Club Phuket, Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay, Balesin Island Club and Emirates; home and living packages from Genteel Home, Uratex and Crate and Barrel; health and wellness prizes like Sofwave treatments and from the Rhodium Regenerative Institute; and jewelry—an Omega watch from Lucerne, and pieces from Diagold, JMA Jewelry and Tiffany & Co.

We are so grateful to A2A Safaris for the three-night stay in Royal Chundu in Victoria Falls and Jewelmer for the generous donation of a South Sea Pearl necklace. Half of the proceeds of the pearl necklace will be donated to their livelihood project, Save Philippine Seas Foundation.

We would also like to thank our drink sponsors, Remy Martin and Botanist Gin, that was arranged by PR guru Sunny Ku. Remy Martin will also be awarding a Louis XIII bottle at the live auction.

Many thanks to our media partners, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Philippine Star.

Our generous table donors will be receiving special gifts from Estée Lauder. Thanks to Sharyn Wong for arranging these wonderful treats. We are delighted that our RCG ladies will be receiving these luxurious beauty products. I chatted with Sharyn at the launch of Jo Malone’s newest scent.

Mellow and juicy

Jo Malone London has long celebrated the beloved English pear through its timeless fruity-floral fragrance, English Pear & Freesia. Now, the British fragrance and lifestyle house has created a new light floral scent to take this mellow and juicy ingredient in a fresh direction.

English Pear & Sweet Pea imagines sun-warmed orchards springing to life as tempting green pears fill the branches. The luscious fruits are enveloped in softly scented pastel sweet peas, nestled in a base of powdery white musk. This garden-fresh light floral fragrance looks to the blousy, fragrant sweet pea to create a new marriage of fruits and flowers. The top note is Williams pear; heart is sweet pea, and base is white musk.

Céline Roux, global head of fragrance, said, “We had to have all the juiciness of the pear at the center, but I also wanted to celebrate the soft pastel hues and delicate playful petals of the sweet pea.” English Pear & Freesia and English Pear & Sweet Pea colognes are created using a 100-percent natural pear fruit extract. An upcycled ingredient utilizing a by-product of the food industry, the process was exclusively developed for Jo Malone London. Each bottle contains the equivalent of one pear. Experience English Pear & Sweet Pea in a 30ml and 100ml cologne, bottled in a fluted glass design.

Time is our greatest resource, though it is a finite resource. Always being in the present, we must go forward with faith and not with fear. Reflect deeply on what truly matters to you. Meditation taught me that comparing ourselves to others is the root of human suffering, or samsara. The chosen path that will bring us true happiness will be different for everybody, though it definitely helps to walk alongside family and loved ones, for the love and care they share help us go the distance.

Armed with this new perspective, I reviewed my life and my experiences to figure out what was working and what was not. I had to reconnect to what truly matters to me, what I value and what is of utmost importance. It can be a challenge to find a loving solution that is respectable to everyone, but life is a constant work in progress. Just because you can’t find a solution now does not mean that you will be stuck forever; you just need to breathe, listen to your gut and keep the faith. INQFollow @seaprincess888 on Instagram.

Kerry Tiñga, Kaye Tiñga, Sea Princess, Digzy Umali, Andrew Prieto, Myda Prieto, Jojo Ongsiako

The Peninsula Manila’s Samuel Gacos, Sea

Princess, Kaye Tiñga, Mariano Garchitorena

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tessa!

tessa prieto