Monthly Archives: February 2010

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Writing Your Will and Making an Inventory

February 23 3:58 pm ,
Delve Deeper

Delve Deeper

I have a confession to make.  I have not written my will.

I do not know what is stopping me – not the thought of invincibility because slowly I am finding out the truth and fact of my humanity.  Not for lack of knowledge – I have drafted wills for others and other more complicated – and more sober (sobering?) – documents. Not for lack of having given it thought – because I have.

Then what?

Because writing a will is an emotional exercise and I am not sure if I can handle the enormity of it.  It is half love letter, half goodbye letter, transmitting all of your hopes and dreams to people you hope not to leave behind too soon.  It is a practical letter, an inventory of your life and what you have accumulated in terms of the material and the familial and the emotional.  It has a potential to be controversial, leaving in its wake disappointments and tensions and conflicts that you no longer can put under control.  It is a testament to what your life has been, to what you valued and continue to value.  It is a last heave before you and your life and your words says caput.

And how do you say goodbye?

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Posted in: Financial Education, Financial Planning, Insurance, The Basics of Finance , Tagged: , , , ,

You Get What You Pay For

February 17 3:47 pm ,

Flow Like Water

I remember some years ago, in one of her yearly visits to our homeland, my mother dragged me and my husband to the premiere destination for cheap finds.

We call it Divisoria.

Now, Divisoria is a shopping mecca, comparable maybe to the night markets of Thailand or the street-side shops of Hongkong, that is, equal in color, in confusion, in aroma, in the cacophony of sounds that makes it almost the modern Babylon – of people speaking in different tongues and gesturing wildly to alter the balance of power between the seller and the sellee.  It is scary and alluring at the same time.

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Some Words on Humility and Stillness

February 12 6:26 pm ,

 

Attaining Greatness

Attaining Greatness

One day you are on top of the world and the next you are down in the dumps.

Whether I believe it or not, I think I need to experience this some of the time.

There are reasons, and there are reasons, of why sometimes it feels that the floor is suddenly giving way: unexplained fear, insecurity, a buckling in the face of adversity, a cowering, a fraying of the nerves, other people making you feel small that you are entertaining thoughts that they are probably better than you and feel threatened about that somehow, a praise that was left unuttered, a change in the direction of the wind, the weather, a tiredness that would not go away, a capitulation of the soul.

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Posted in: Life Stories , Tagged: , , , , , ,

Do You Stick to the Path that You Know? (Second of 2 Parts)

February 9 11:20 am ,

 

A Celebration of Life

Life is a Celebration

You can read the first part here.

I am waxing nostalgic about some trainings and seminars I attended in the past. (some of them do that to you, you know)

A memorable one was the training I received for voice and dance (a scholarship) – it was through the generosity and kind-heartedness of Dong Alegre (of Miss Saigon fame).  In that “school”, I met many wonderful and talented people,  including two people whom I still consider my best friends, M and A.  The people in that school rose to great fame in theatre, both locally and internationally (and sometimes I catch myself wondering where I would be now if I had pursued that path).  I will always remember those years as one of the most exciting.

Then there are others I still want to experience:

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Posted in: Financial Education, Life Stories, Mentors , Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Do You Stick to the Path that You Know? (First of 2 Parts)

February 6 11:54 am ,

 

The (Long and Winding) Road to Enlightenment

The (Long and Winding) Road to Enlightenment

If you think you are the fountain of learning, you are not.

At least that is what I tell myself (okay, not in those words) when I feel lethargic about going to some training or something.  Because really, what is there in the world and in this life but to know.

So I tried to know.

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Posted in: Financial Education, Life Stories , Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Win Tickets with the Business of Show Business

February 3 9:46 pm ,

Love in the Key of R

I listen to the hum of the airconditioning as I sweep my eyes across the huge room.  I turn my eyes to the center, to the lights caressing the empty stage.  It is 3:00 p.m. and it is the calm before the storm.  I can hear a distant noise outside, slow and steady, punctuated by laughter and loud chatter.  They are coming.  The lights go out as the stage manager calls out: sound check is over.

The lights are on again, this time, on full blast, as if egged on by the screams of the crowd.  A clamor.  Music starts to float, and again, a roar, strong and sure.  One by one, the artists come out, each swaying to their inner tune, some great, some not so, all, somehow, adored.  A deafening clap at the end, as if the crowd could not get enough.

I thought I had forgotten this part of my life when I left show business for law school.

But I guess, an experience like that could never be forgotten, and somehow the mind, or the heart, looks for a similar uplifting.

And so we are producing a show with some of our like-minded friends.

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