Live and learn

Netnet Camomot

I USED to hate spiders. I’d cringe and send SOS signals to the househelp whenever they’re around.

Well, I still don’t love them. Our so-called relationship is morphing from hate to, hmmm, dislike. This developed after realizing spiders are part of the circle of life. In other words, they eat insects which the electronic insect killer—zzzzzt!—can’t cope up with.

So, I now look at spiders as part of the house. As long as they’re not appearing out of nowhere while I’m in the bathroom, I’m A-OK with them. You have to be ready for spiders but you also have to appreciate their role in this universe. Live and learn.

Despite the possible presence of spiders, there are early mornings when I still have to crawl my way to the bathroom in order to follow the sked for the day. And that’s what happened last Monday morning. I have to remember, though, to wake up two hours before the time I’m planning to leave the house. If the alarm clock is set for less than two hours, I would be rushing from wall to that same wall, like a commuter stuck in traffic in Opol, Misamis Oriental where the traffic was so bad on Monday morning due to bridge construction. If it’s still ongoing, you have to leave much earlier again for your trips to Laguindingan Airport.

Remember when that airport opened and cars remained as rigid as statue-dance participants due to the road expansion then? Déjà vu.

And surely you also have your own déjà vu. Say, if you listened to Vice President Leni Robredo last Monday morning at Xavier University, that could have been one good example. Except for the fact that she has bodyguards now. And she’s not congresswoman anymore but the country’s vice president. She’s still soft-spoken, though. When I mentioned the name of our mutual friend, she said she had been texting her that she’s in Cagayan de Oro but with no reply. Well, that friend happens to have a farm in Bukidnon where the signal must have gone pfft.

The first time I heard her speak was at Polymedic Plaza a few years ago. She was then the guest speaker of an organization where our Mindanao Gold Star Daily Corp. president Bebotte Chu is a member. At that time, the question the media asked her was if she’s running for senator. She said no because she would rather continue serving her home province, Camarines Sur.

Well, many things have happened since then.

Robredo was here for XU’s SD Week 2017. SD: Social Development. She launched her office’s flagship project, Angat Buhay, with XU and other partners.

There were two words she emphasized in her speeches: “Transformative change.” And that “people deserve respect rather than disdain” and to “choose light over darkness all the time.”

How I wish she and I could make chika one of these days, without a podium as our divider. A simple chika about life since her voice and words are enough to calm us down.

XU president Fr. Bobby Yap, in his message, said that when Pope Francis visited the Jesuits in Manila, his advice was this: “I want you to go to the poor and to the peripheries.” And Father Bobby said that’s what VP Leni has done, going to the peripheries. I’m guessing that’s the reason behind the theme for SD Week 2017: “Engaging the Peripheries for Inclusive Development.”

I don’t know if the media asked her on the chika about her lovelife and the protest questioning her VP win. After her speech at XU, you would rather focus on positivity. That’s her effect on people.

So, I’m happy that I decided to wake up for that, because it helped me begin the week with positive thoughts. There’s already too much negativity in this world—go watch US President Donald Trump deliver speeches and you start wishing it’s “Saturday Night Live.”

VP Leni obviously knows how to move forward and we should all follow her example. To focus on what makes you happy, on work, and on serving the community if that’s what makes you happy.

The whole universe has its way of leading you to where you should be. Even if you fight it, it will still lead you there. The best thing to do is to listen, and then learn.

Meanwhile, there’s a cobweb with a spider hanging on for dear life right outside my bedroom. Since I’m now friendly with anything arachno, it will continue to trap insects. Good for him. Or her. But too bad for the insects. Well, live and learn.