(For New Year’s Day 2009)
distantia (L.) “stand apart”
Was it any different this year? I’ve slept through the new year’s countdown. Coming from Payatas, we had a simple media noche of ham, sardines with olives and capers, and chicken lollipops. It was a rather dull feast. I think the highlight of it was the bottle of liquor that had gold flakes in it. It seemed pathetic that someone would gush over this, just to initiate a conversation. I didn’t pick up on it, though. I remember I said something like, “yeah, that’s nice, but I don’t really drink.” Do you think I was being grinchy? Well, I just thought that maybe part of my New Year’s resolution would be to say what I really mean to say and not beat around the bush trying to be tactful or mindful of hurting other people’s feelings. Would that make me less of a Christian?
I didn’t feel like greeting anybody “happy new year”; although I managed to greet around five or seven people. I got a pleasant surprise from one of the Juniors. He told me that he brought pasalubong from his hometown. I didn’t really expect that he’d seriously remember or even bother about what I had told him before he left for vacation. But he did, and I must say, I was happy about it.
I wanted to write something about distance. My parents are currently abroad, spending the holidays with my sister. I wanted to write something sentimental and profound. Like how distance, depending on your frame of mind, either separates or brings people closer. I wanted to try something like exploring its etymology. Like how it literally means “to stand apart”. Distance creates space that allows for individuals to respect each other’s solitude. To distance yourself from a relationship is to see it from a vantage point, which closeness and intimacy cannot imagine. Distance holds up a mirror before us, where we begin to see how much of what we desire about the other person reveals how needy we sometimes can be.
distantia (L.) “stand apart”
Was it any different this year? I’ve slept through the new year’s countdown. Coming from Payatas, we had a simple media noche of ham, sardines with olives and capers, and chicken lollipops. It was a rather dull feast. I think the highlight of it was the bottle of liquor that had gold flakes in it. It seemed pathetic that someone would gush over this, just to initiate a conversation. I didn’t pick up on it, though. I remember I said something like, “yeah, that’s nice, but I don’t really drink.” Do you think I was being grinchy? Well, I just thought that maybe part of my New Year’s resolution would be to say what I really mean to say and not beat around the bush trying to be tactful or mindful of hurting other people’s feelings. Would that make me less of a Christian?
I didn’t feel like greeting anybody “happy new year”; although I managed to greet around five or seven people. I got a pleasant surprise from one of the Juniors. He told me that he brought pasalubong from his hometown. I didn’t really expect that he’d seriously remember or even bother about what I had told him before he left for vacation. But he did, and I must say, I was happy about it.
I wanted to write something about distance. My parents are currently abroad, spending the holidays with my sister. I wanted to write something sentimental and profound. Like how distance, depending on your frame of mind, either separates or brings people closer. I wanted to try something like exploring its etymology. Like how it literally means “to stand apart”. Distance creates space that allows for individuals to respect each other’s solitude. To distance yourself from a relationship is to see it from a vantage point, which closeness and intimacy cannot imagine. Distance holds up a mirror before us, where we begin to see how much of what we desire about the other person reveals how needy we sometimes can be.
Distance can be convenient. I love my family when they’re not around. I sometimes think that I grow deeper affection for them when I’m not with them. I imagine how things would be different if I spent Xmas or New Year’s with them, but looking back on past Christmases and New Years, I felt lonely nonetheless.
No comments:
Post a Comment