Keep the Faith

(Sorry for the delayed posting. This should have been posted last Easter Sunday but my connection did not cooperate and wasn’t able to post it then)

For the past couple of months, a lot of things happened in my life. MAJOR, MAJOR changes that made me questions myself, existence and my faith. A lot of times, I wake up in the middle of the night asking the question WHY? ... WHY ME? Only to find out the answer is... WHY NOT.

For the past years, I have always been focused on proving my worth to other people. Showing people what I can do and what I can be. I have always been somewhat obsessed to the idea of not failing because I am afraid of what people might think of me. The reason why I succumbed myself to working late nights and going to the corporate ladder fast. Going to the gym everyday, so I can just like be those models in glossy magazine, and buying all those gadgets so I can get ahead of technology. But why? Because I made myself believe that these are important things to be noticed, to get ahead, to be that Someone.

When you experience life changing moment, you tend to realize a lot of things. One of them is, life is really short and it can end any time. You also start to appreciate simple things that you have already forgotten to even notice before, like spending weekend lunch with your family, or just playing with your kids or nieces, or just having a slow day. Sometimes we just have to really stop, slow down and appreciate the things around us and what we already have. I also realized that I don't need to get noticed because my family has been noticing me since birth. I don't need to get ahead because I am not in a race with someone. And I don't need to be someone because in the eyes of God, I am already special.

The last Holy week was such a revelation to me. Of course, I went through the usual Visita Iglesia, watched the Penitencia, listened to the Pasyon and walked in the Procession. But those activities were now more meaningful to me. It made better understand why people hold like that to their faith. Because when there is nothing else that you can hold on to and you are about to falter, the only thing that will keep you going is your FAITH. It's hard to explain but there is something mystical about faith that keeps you all positive making you feel that “everything's gonna be alright". I read an article days ago in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and there is a line that really made a mark in me, "Our God, is a God who likes happy endings". That's the reason why people hold on to their faith because at the end of this journey, it will still be a happy ending… for each one of us.

The Semana Santa gave me an opportunity to use my lens and capture the various sights of this event and how Filipinos give high importance to this tradition. Well, I am not promoting self-inflicting pain for penance because I am sure our God is not a masochist but ey, WHO AM I to judge them. That's just my opinion and that's how they feel they need to profess their faith.

I am ok now. I have stopped asking a lot of WHYs. Because just like what I have said, the answer is "WHY NOT. Why not me? I have realized that I am pretty much a survivor. I don't easily give up. And because I have this faith... this will keep me even stronger. So my message to you all... just keep the faith. Happy Easter everyone! Hope you Enjoy the pics! {V}