I kind of already expected that I would, but the mental preparedness did nothing.
Thank God there were rest periods -- equally fascinating and heartfelt, mind you -- like when we sang-along to Joey Ayala's "illegal" version of Lupang Hinirang. When Popo Lotilla proudly showed off his map collections, a passion born from the pursuit of defining the Philippine political territory. When Reina Reyes, looking like she just stepped out from her High School Biology Class, pinpointed the wonder of finding order in seemingly random things.
When Jonathan Yabut challenged the Filipino confidence in diskarte. When Dean Leonen recited Philippine laws like a machine gun. And in an entirely contrasting manner, when Mark Anthony Carpio's face brightened and gleamed as he shared how being part of the Madrigal Singers taught him the value of hard work.
But the emotional parts...they were just torture for the person who wanted to avoid a runny nose and getting the ugly-crying-face. Yes, I'm talking about myself.
Painter Marina Cruz-Garcia's talk was simply titled Adoptions, but her 18-minute segment revealed a fairy-tale story of struggling to conceive a child; deciding to adopt a little boy; serendipitously getting pregnant (with another baby boy) right after adopting; and fully understanding how adopting can change the world -- starting with changing the world of the adopted child.
Writer Rica Bolipata-Santos talked about why books matter, which is because books, or literature, give memories, language, and culture, form. Books are important not just for documentation sake, but because they put structure into things we cannot describe on our own. By taking us to worlds and ideas beyond our geographical boundaries, books help us make sense of the immediate world around us, and define our identity.
TEDxDiliman was organized with the theme of "Things That Matter", featuring individuals who talked about specific things that personally mattered to them. I know, saying it that way makes it sound generic, mundane and insignificant.
But for me, the main take-away is not about which particular passion or pre-occupation is most important, but simply that one must find his or her own passion. Each person must find at least one thing that truly matters, because life is only worth living if you give a sh*t about something.
This video captures how it matters that we discover what matters to each of us.
Yes, they showed (a version of) this video at the event.
And yes, tears sprang to my eyes yet again while watching it.
And for all that, I would like to thank and congratulate CANVAS for a job very well done.
