"Big Magic" (part 1/2)

"Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear" by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of the sensational memoir "Eat, Pray, Love")
Non-fiction, self-help, motivational
(c) 2015

Here are my favorite lessons from the first three chapters of Liz Gilbert's inspiring book:

I. COURAGE

• The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them. The hunt to uncover those jewels--that's CREATIVE LIVING. The courage to go on the hunt is what separates a mundane existence from a more ENCHANTED one. The often surprising result of that hunt is the BIG MAGIC.
• "Argue for your limitations and you get to keep them." 
• Creativity is a path for the BRAVE but it's not a path for the FEARLESS.

II. ENCHANTMENT

• While the TORMENTED ARTIST throws a temper tantrum, the MUSE sits quietly  in a corner of the studio, patiently waiting for him to calm down and sober up so everyone can get back to work. 
• Ideas are alive. Ideas seek the most available human collaborator. Ideas have a conscious will. Ideas do move from soul to soul. Ideas will always try to seek the swiftest and most efficient conduit to the earth.
• An Idea is stubborn. It refuses to stop searching until it has found an equally stubborn collaborator. 
• If you show up for work day after day, you just might get lucky enough some random morning to burst right into bloom. 
• The Romans believed that an exceptionally gifted person WAS NOT a genuis but HAD a genius. It's a subtle but important distinction (being vs.having). This way, the vulnerable human ego is protected from the corrupting influence of praise and from the corrosive effects of shame. 
• "Just write anything and put it out there with reckless abandon" - Ralph Ellison

III. PERMISSION

• Golden Rule in the Gilbert household: If you're supporting yourself financially and you're not bothering anyone else, then you're free to do whatever you want with your life.
• You want to write a book? Make a song? Direct a movie? Decorate pottery? Learn a dance? Explore a new land? Do it. Who cares? It's your birthright as a human being, so do it with a cheerful heart. Let inspiration lead you wherever it wants to lead you. For most of history, people just made things, and they didn't make such a big freaking deal out of it. 
• I'll tell you who I am. I am a child of God, just like anyone else. I am a constituent of this universe. I have a right to be here. I have a right to my own voice and a right to my own vision. I have a right to collaborate with creativity, because I myself am a product and consequence of Creation. I'm on a mission of artistic liberation.
• If you're working on your craft every day on your own, with steady discipline and love, then you are already for real as a creator. You don't need to pay anybody to affirm that for you.
• Editors could reject me all they wanted but I wasn't going anywhere. I plan to stick around. 
• Smile sweetly and suggest--as politely as you possible can--that they go make their own fucking art. Then stubbornly continue making yours.

I'm currently in the fifth chapter of the book. I'll share with you my new learnings on a new blog :)

Ricky Lee's "Sampung Tulong sa Pagsusulat"

My Ricky Lee books. Two of them are signed, the rest are waiting to be

In "Now Showing: Masterclass," guest master Ricky Lee shared anecdotes from his childhood (spent in Daet, Camarines Norte,) his beginnings as a writer, background on political activism, and a snapshot of 'making it' in the industry as hundreds of students, fans, and creatives crowded the cinema for 3 hours of learning and inspiration.

Among his noteworthy lessons is the "Sampung Tulong sa Pagsusulat" for aspiring and practicing writers:

1. Tanggalin mo ang nakaharang na screen (social media, internet, other forms of media)
2. Find solitude (dahil ang ingay na ng mundo ngayon)
3. Magbasa ka (dahil walang manunulat na hindi nagbabasa)
4. Patayin mo ang sarili mo ('wag pagsalitain ang personality sa iyong mga karakter. Mawala ka bilang tao sa istorya mo)
5. Tanggapin mo ang kahon (rules, conventions,) saka mo banggain.
- While freedom is good, constraint is also helpful
6. Magkaroon ka ng ritwal. Si Ricky Lee, hindi nagsusulat 'pag nasa mood. Nagsusulat siya para mapunta sa mood
7. Keep a journal para masulatan ng mga ideya
8. Magpatulong ka sa mga kaibigan at hingin ang kanilang opinyon
9. Umalis ka sa comfort zone mo, at
10. Magsulat ka para magbuo

One of the reasons why I admire sir Ricky is because of his principle, "Habang natututo ako, gusto ko ibinabahagi ko rin 'yun sa iba." This, coming from a celebrated screenwriter/author/playwright who has probably earned and received most awards that befit a living legend.

His humility and undying openness for learning and collaboration makes him a standout in a close-knit literary industry. He makes himself approachable* and he'll make you feel like he sincerely wants to know and help you.

Case in point: In 2011, I asked him for a special autograph because I wanted to be a writer. Despite enduring hours of book signing and picture taking, he took a moment to write these words:

"Dear Ross, never give up on your desire to write. Just write as yourself, from your heart, not wanting to be like others but just your unique self!"

Tell me if you think it's wrong to adore this man! :)

*Before the show ended he told the audience we can ask for his cellphone number and exchange notes. Ikaw na lang talaga ang mahihiya.

"The Unbearable Lightness of Being"

I just finished reading "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," a 1984 philosophical Czech novel by Milan Kundera. This novel is considered a modern classic in literature.

I found one interesting concept in the 6th chapter that I want to share with you. 

From Milan's words, "We all need someone to look at us. We can be divided into 4 categories according to the kind of look we wish to live under."

"The 1st category longs for the look of an infinite number of anonymous eyes, in other words, for the look of the public."

Think of celebrities and politicians.

"The 2nd category is made up of people who have a vital need to be looked at by many known eyes. They are the tireless hosts of cocktail parties and dinners. They are happier than the people in the first category, who, when they lose their public, have the feeling that the lights have gone out of the room of their lives. This happens to nearly all of them, sooner or later. People in this category, on the other hand, can always come up with the eyes they need." 

"The 3rd category is for people who need to be constantly before the eyes of the person they love. Their situation is as dangerous as the situation of people in the first category. One day the eyes of their beloved will close and the room will go dark."

"The 4th category, the rarest, is for people who live in the imaginary eyes of those who are not present. They are the dreamers."

Personally I think I belong to the 2nd category because I find comfort in being surrounded with the people I know--those who I trust, love, and care for. It gives me joy to entertain them at parties and spend time with them during travels, in coffee shops, or even via modern technologies.

My 2016 in Books, Films, and Theater

2016 edition of my annual recap:

BOOKS

1. "Before Sunrise & Before Sunset' - screenplays
2. "A Raisin in the Sun" - screenplay
3. "To Kill A Mockingbird" - novel
4. "Kill Your Darlings" - screenplay
5. "10 Short Plays" - plays
6. "Write Here. Write Now." - autobiography/memoir
7. "Steal Like An Artist" - autobiography/memoir
8. "Gagamba" - novel
9. "Humans of New York" - photography, anthology
10. "Of God and Men" - memoir
11. "Brokeback Mountain" - short stories
12. "Princess Maryam" - screenplay
13. "Waiting for Godot" - play
14. "Biography of Mother Theresa" 
15. "Martin Luther King Jr.: History Maker" - biography
16. "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" - novel, self-help
17. "The Vagina Monologues" - play
18. "Dear Distance" - short stories
19. "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" - novel
20. "Humans of New York Stories" - photography
21. "Letters from Father Christmas" - letters

MOVIES

Foreign

1. The Revenant - drama
2. Sisters - comedy
3. 50 First Dates - rom-com
4. Macbeth - drama
5. Room - drama
6. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - action, comedy
7. Trumbo - drama
8. Diary of a Teenage Girl - drama
9. The Danish Girl - drama
10. Steve Jobs - drama
11. Kung Fu Panda 3 (because of my job!) - action, comedy, animation
12. Big Hero 6 - drama, comedy, animation
13. Eat. Pray. Love. - drama
14. Midnight in Paris - drama
15. Angry Birds (twice!) (because of my job!) - comedy, animation
16. X-Men:Apocalypse - action
17. Captain America: Civil War - action
18. Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice - action 
19. Families (from French Film Fest) - comedy
20. The Very Private Life of Mr. Sim (from French Film Fest) - drama, comedy
21. Dead Pool - action, comedy
22. Ant-Man - action
23. Kingsman: The Secret Service - action
24. Alice Through The Looking Glass - drama, fantasy
25. Guardians of the Galaxy - action, animation
26. Ghostbusters - comedy
27. Looking: The Movie - drama
28. Nerve - drama, suspense
29. Suicide Squad - action
30. Don't Think Twice - drama, comedy
31. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - fantasy
32. Sausage Party - comedy
33. Dr. Strange - action
34. Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - fantasy
35. Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary Concert in cinemas - drama, musical
36. Across the Universe - drama, musical
37. Moana - animation, adventure, comedy
38. AMY - documentary

Local

1. Buy Now, Die Later - horror, suspense
2. Walang Forever - rom-com 
3. Just the 3 of Us - rom-com
4. Imbisibol (from French Film Fest) - drama
5. Imagine You and Me (because of my job!) - romance, drama
6. Lando at Bugoy (from Cinemalaya 12) - drama
7. Ang Babaeng Humayo - drama
8. Apocalypse Child - drama 
9. Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa - romance, drama
10. Toto - comedy
11. Kabisera - drama (#MMFF2016)
12. Saving Sally - animation, romance (#MMFF2016)
13. Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2 - comedy (#MMFF2016)
14. Sunday Beauty Queen - documentary (#MMFF2016)

THEATER

1. Tanghalang Pilipino's "Prinispe Munti" - musical, puppetry, drama
2. "Open The Door" - political satire, comedy
3. Red Turnip Theater's "Constellations" - play
4. Tanghalang Pilipino's "Tito Vanya" - play
5. Virgin Labfest sets A-D
6. Tanghalang Pilipino's "Sandosenang Sapatos" - musical, drama
7. Tanghalang Pilipino's "Pangarap sa Isang Gabi sa Gitnang Tag-Araw" - play, tragedy-comedy
8. Ballet Manila's "Cinderella" - ballet

TV SERIES

1. How To Get Away With Murder (season 2, season 3 fall finale)
2. Empire (season 2, season 3 fall finale)
3. Mozart in the Jungle (seasons 1 and 2)
4. Looking (seasons 1 and 2)
5. Stranger Things (season 1)

#TheBookStopProject

In case you don't know yet, there's a pop-up library currently located in front of Manila Cathedral in Plaza de Roma, Intramuros.

It is the brainchild of architectural firm WTA. They aspire to maximize the use of public spaces to promote reading books.

It's stylish as it can get. Truly an inviting centerpiece in Plaza de Roma, Intramuros

The rule in this open-space library is simple: give a book and get one of your liking in return. The 'policy' rests on public trust as it doesn't have a personnel monitoring the supposed barter. A WTA architect informed me that they are assigned to man the library for at least 1 hour a day. Some people give and don't get, while some get and don't give any.

I visited the library earlier today to watch a storytelling session in the park by Adarna Books volunteers. Storytelling is one of many pocket activities that WTA and #TheBookStopProject prepared for the public. 

In the photo below you can see a volunteer lively narrates "Ang Kwento ni Ampalaya" to random children. Seated at far right is Lyn Ching-Pascual, host of GMA's "Unang Hirit" and a reading advocate.

A WTA staff told me that next Saturday afternoon, Words Anonymous will perform live poetry for free!

From a communications and advocacy standpoint, I admire the creativity and passion of WTA in experimenting with the library's concept. It's no secret that reading books is becoming a challenge (and buying them, a luxury) and public spaces are getting hostile to and unprepared for creative ideas and executions. Not to mention that using them for free is likely impossible these days.

A WTA architect, however, expressed their company's confidence in the project. He said, (non-verbatim) "Nung first days may mga kumukuha lang. Pero at the end of the (installation period), mas marami pa rin ang new books. We have about 100 new books and about 500 visitors daily."

If these numbers are any indications to the future of literature, public participation, and more recreational and artistic public spaces, then I think we're heading in the right direction. Thanks to WTA for initiating such feat (I swear I don't know any of them.)

Before the library is in Intramuros, it spent two weeks at the heart of Ayala Triangle in Makati.

Book lovers can visit #TheBookStopProject everyday from 9AM to 10 PM until July 10, 2016. After in Intramuros, it will be transferred to Quezon City.

You can find out more details about it by searching for The Book Stop Project (@TheBookStopPH) on social media.

You can volunteer your time and talent, and donate old and unused books, and even money, to the cause.

Hurry and make a difference before the rainy season threatens the library (regarding this, another staff told me that they're working on it).

"Of God and Men"

Memoir
Raymond Alikpala
2012, Maverick House Publishing

If you're a homophobic person, this book is not for you (or maybe in time, it will be). If you're a transitioning homophobic or you don't give a big deal out of homosexuality, then by all means, read this book.

Of God and Men is a memoir that can be read beginning with the Epilogue. It might seem to be a long read since it began with the author's childhood (he finished recounting his story when he was 40 years old) but Raymond Alikpala tried his best to walk you through a childhood that was strangely unique than what most of us experienced--a childhood that was relatable only to a minority of the population.

Alikpala grew up feeling and thinking that he was gay but acting like the opposite. Not everyone will be able to relate to him but I'm sure each of us has had a childhood that was confusing as well--forcing us to act what we thought was appropriate and accepted by the society we were growing up in--only to realize years later that we didn't exactly make all the right choices anyway.

Raymond, being gay, is no stranger to this tale. His story was, however, told with so much honesty that one would think he knows the author all his life.

Various chapters in Alikpala's memoir revealed his long desire to have a true best friend and lover, and his several failed attempts at that. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the book is long, transparent, and detailed--so one can relate to him, understand him, and offer a friendship and care that this good son, ex-devout Catholic, overachiever student so deserves.

Alikpala's bravery in sharing his coming out story (read: to "come out" is a big deal and to "share" it is another) is admirable. While he remains a barely recognizable author (like most LGBT writers), the local literary scene needs more fearless souls like him so it could offer a broader range of stories for modern readers.

Of God and Men is the first book I read that highlighted the unlikely connection between faith and homosexuality. It was written in a controlled prose (meaning, the writer chose his words carefully) that it would pass for conservative readers but it also offered a bit of nasty storytelling that it would surely attract liberated ones.

Whether you're a member of the LGBT community or you just want to know more about it and about them, go ahead and grab this book.

It's just like talking to a friend over coffee: expect a conversation that is light, easy to follow, and can get serious and funny all throughout. Unfortunately, it doesn't end after you finish a cup because it's 447-page long.

My rating: 3.5/5 rainbow-colored stars

Why Theater?

The recent writing challenge I accepted:

My take:

I can give you a hundred and one reasons why, but I will settle for only one—because theater is live. Take one; no buts or maybes; and all edits and ‘final cuts’ happen before the real or figurative curtain opens.

In our local entertainment scene where fans are widely engrossed in the hottest love teams, newest imported foreign dramas, and most anticipated Hollywood blockbusters—there is an art form that, unlike them, is raw in presentation but finely tuned in preparation.

If one sees a play on stage, he can form an opinion about the story, its characters, and other production elements as he sees them and before he leaves the theater. One doesn’t have the luxury of saying, “I don’t know how to feel about what I saw, I’ll probably just watch it again” or “I think tomorrow’s story would be better because the characters are likely to meet.”

Theater does not bargain for well-thought-out opinions. Like how it presents itself, it asks audiences to be true to their emotions as they feel it, wherever they are seated—to sing along to the chorus of “Basang-Basa sa Ulan,” from “Rak of Aegis” (PETA); to let tears flow for the suspended romance of the lead characters in “The Bridges of Madison County” (Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group/ATEG); to choose between the former lover and the new girlfriend fighting for one man in “Cock” (Red Turnip Theater); to be inspired by the nationalism of one of our (finest) political leaders in “Mabining Mandirigma” (Tanghalang Pilipino); and even to laugh and lust over the scantily clad performers in “50 Shades! The Musical Parody: Manila” (Vivre Fort Entertainment and 9 Works Theatrical). Theater asks audiences to indulge in their feelings with the house lights dimmed, popcorns totally unnecessary.

Not to undermine the contributions of cinema, television, and visual arts to the awakening of Filipino audiences, but theater has a strong, and most of the time liberated, interpretation of “what’s hot” (pop culture) and “what we forget,” “what we refuse to believe,” and “what we deny as a generation.” Think about the no-nonsense millennials who bannered the aptly titled “No Filter” (Sandbox Collective). It was well-received by members of the Gen X and Gen Y alike that it had to have a second run—as if we didn’t learn enough about this new breed’s personality from social media.

To say that going to the theater is a form of escape is not entirely wrong. We must, however, consider that it’s a more costly purchase than a cinema or gallery ticket or a free TV drama. When one goes to the theater and willingly pay for a price of PHP400 (at the cheapest), he’s looking for something he doesn’t usually see or hear in any other art form or mass media. He waives his entitlement to know any better, evidenced by his willingness to seat for an average of two hours and absorb all the talking, dancing, singing, crying, and moving in and around the stage.

And theater does not disappoint.

In theater, the ‘activist’ that you find annoying can talk to you closely and share why he grew up to be such a fearless, uncompromising man like Bart Guingona’s ‘Ned Weeks’ in “The Normal Heart” (Actor's Actors Inc./The Necessary Theater). The ‘lavish matriarch’ who denies her wealth’s depletion can take you back to her days in the province so you would reconsider your opinion about her, like what Cherrie Gil’s ‘Enriquetta Jardeleza-Sofronio’ accomplished in “Arbol de Fuego” (PETA).

When theater presents itself as a comedy, more often than not it is inspired by a dramatic reality. When the playbill tells you it’s a drama, you’ll find yourself laughing because of its fine resemblance to the world that we know actually exists. When it is a fantasy, don’t fool yourself—it’s grounded on real emotions just the same. And when they say that what you are watching is fiction—it’s only because you don’t know the real people that inspired the characters in it. Essentially, theater is not limited by labels. It may be considered as one genre only but you can see a hint of other genres if you look closely enough.

One may argue that the characters in theater move in one stage only—often rectangular—limiting the effects of the story to its audiences. Well, our world is finite and we move around it as far as we can, doing and discovering things as often as we can, as well. The real stage that we live in has its limits and as the actors of our own characters, there will be an inevitable moment when we take a bow and step back to let the curtains—real or imaginary—close.

That is life. Theater is life.

Fanboying

My love for reading has given me a number of rewards now.

I was able to meet some of my favorite writers and I had some of their books signed.

Social media has also enabled me to follow some of them online so I could be updated in their newest projects. It also enabled me to post the latest books that I read and tag their writers who have online presence. 

Fortunately, two of them have noticed my gratitude and they expressed their appreciation in return :)

Here is Dean Francis Alfar's book, "The Kite of Stars and Other Stories," as seen in my Instagram account:

Meanwhile, here is Arnel Patawaran's book, "Write Here, Write Now," also seen in my Instagram account.

Not only did he acknowledged my post--he reposted it on his @aapatawaran page! :)

Introspection

It's hard to write when you don't know what to write about. You wanna finish another (or your first) masterpiece but you can't even write a sentence. Maybe you can but you don't what is it about. Maybe you do but you have no clue how to continue.

All you wanted is to be good. When you have one or two good stories, you wanna be better. You want to reach that line that promises greatness and welcomes fearlessness. You know you want to write but then you don't know what is it about. 

This consuming passion to write, to share stories, to be a narrator, a comic, a dramatist, a romantic, a priest, a nun--a person who others pay attention to not because you seek attention, only because you have something to share.

What do you want to be? A playwright? A novelist? A poet? An essayist? Do you want an extensive work of literature or do you want to save up space and time? You don't know which path you wanna take. No business, no bullshit--you want to pursue your love for writing, literature, and the arts.

Hard to find inspiration, right? What about your successes? Your failures? Your wicked ways? Your wild dreams? First sex? With whom? First love? Who? World Peace? No, it's probably corny. You? Too egotistical.

Ricky Lee said as a writer, you don't wait for the moment, you make that moment.

Write as if it's the last day.
Write because you want to.
Write because you must.