Valred Olsim
- The Old Shirt - May 27, 2024
- Pasasalamat - May 6, 2024
- Going Solo - April 22, 2024
After some time, the valley was woken up by a musical siren. A loud and familiar one reminiscent of the town’s Woodstock concert at the valley’s oldest playground fifteen years ago. Then, the colorful fireworks embracing the wide-eyed spectators.
The next day was followed by lesser sound – useless rumbling and complaints about what could have beens: “Why not local artists” they muttered, missing the reality that Bamboo is a musical icon, even for local artists. “Why not Garth Brooks?” Again, missing the title and theme of the concert: “Pasasalamat”. Gratitude. Thankfulness.
For others, ‘pasasalamat’ for the government support and services that was made available that day. For me, personally, that in our lifetime, a musical icon took the stage in La Trinity. That a night of live music in a historic open ground has quenched the longing of the soul to feel, relive that gleeful youth and sense of community, to be at the moment…surrounded by the warmth of lights and sounds.
Sure, the critics have opinions. But these should be seen as ideas for improved future projects. Not a way to step on a core memory or experience of the fulfilled attendees. Maybe we can have the same quality event set-up for our local artists and musicians –same quality sound systems, stage and sound trusses, smoke, and led walls. The longing for that big stage is valid. But for now, we just have to be thankful that such event happened. A welcome break from our day-to-day boring life routines, challenges, and struggles.
That is what we are sometimes: quick to judge, quick to give our useless two cents, equating our verbose sentiments to intelligence. Most of the barrage of words do not contain doable suggestions, a path forward for improvement. They are just words. They forget to calm down to listen to themselves, and they become averse to the words “Gratitude”, “Thankfulness”, “Pasasalamat”
The work place, for instance, is riddled with people who forgot these words. People you literally went to war with but who ultimately stabs your back in the end out of unknown reasons. People you endorsed, protected even, and brought to your circle and yet betrayed you after all was said and done. Who would want a staff who gossip behind your back day in and day out? As they say; sometimes, the people who you would take a bullet for, are the ones behind the trigger.
But forget the workplace. We are harsher to ourselves than most people we meet in our lifetime. We relive our regrets and torture ourselves by imagining depressing scenarios which may or may not happen but prefer to religiously dwell on them repeatedly. We think of the worst things that we did and shove it all down to our throats to retaste its bitterness. We talk down to ourselves. We discourage ourselves from pursuing anything out of fear of failure. We stop ourselves from growing and learning, and living our best lives. We silence ourselves to sing out our emotions. We force the children in us to become bitter grownups – unable to express and feel gratitude. To a point that we cannot even enjoy a night of camaraderie and music.