Gacad: Zero waste

PROCLAMATION 760, series of 2014 declares every month of January as National Zero Waste Month.

January 9 is the feast of the Black Nazarene. The feast is celebrated at the heart of Manila-Quiapo. Devotees come from all over the metropolis participate in this annual event, honoring the hundred-year-old statue

of the Black Nazarene.

January is also the Santo Niño month. The Santo Niño month celebrates the oldest religious image in the Philippines.

The Sinulog Festival is an annual festival held in Cebu, which commences nine days before the third Sunday of January.

On the third Sunday of January is the Ati-Atihan Festival. This is a celebration in honor of the Infant Jesus, the town’s patron. Ati-Atihan is observed in honor of the Child Jesus. Ati-atihan means “making like Atis,” that is, pretending to be like the aboriginal natives that once inhabited Aklan. This involves smearing oneself with soot to darken the skin and dressing up in tribal finery. The start of the procession is signaled by drums and whistles, and later punctuated by shouts of “Hala Bira!”

The month is almost over. We are now on the third week of the year and the religious feasts and celebrations should have helped us start on the

right foot. In fact, Zero Waste month means all of life's clutters should have been discarded already. Whatever happened in 2018 is history. Let us look back and learn; then move forward with renewed hope, optimism and an attitude of gratitude.

The month for presents and gifts, December, is over. I asked my friends if there were still presents that they opened today. All of them said none.

We wake up in the morning and open our eyes to a new day. We opened our eyes. Our eyes are presents.

When we rise and shine, we open our mouths. Our mouths are presents. We open the lights, the tap, the radio, the television. These are all presents!

Let us look at 2019 with gratitude and appreciation for what we have. Let this year be a year of contentment and simplicity. Others may have more. Some may have less. But it doesn't really matter, does it? should it?

The meaning and symbolism of January may be taken from Roman mythology, Janus, specifically. So, in January, we’re all a little bit like Janus, the Roman deity for whom the month was named. He is the god of doorways, beginnings, and the rising and setting of the sun. In fact, the Latin janus means “doorway, archway, arcade.” He’s the Roman god of doors, doorways, arches, openings, closings and the like. Many may remember Janus as the ‘two-faced’ god (or two heads, depending on your source).

In this image, January is replete with paradoxes, and the prime paradox is the interplay between reclusiveness and emergence. The month of January was named after Janus for his ability to turn one face to reflect upon the past and a yet another face freshly pointed upon the future. This is so appropriate. January marks the new year for most of us humans- a new beginning.

Leave all your "wastes" behind but pick up those that will allow you to be a "new" person in 2019. Say goodbye to negativity and focus on the positive energy that will come your way.

“You really didn't see the sadness or the longing unless you already knew it was there. But that was the trick, wasn't it? Everyone had their disappointment and their baggage; only some people carried it in their inside pockets and not on their backs.” ~ Maggie Stiefvater.

“The time has come to lay that baggage down and leave behind all the struggling and striving. You can be set free as you journey forward into a balanced healthy and rewarding future.” ~ Sue Augustine

“Everyone has baggage, maybe we should help each other carry it.” ~ Rob Liano

"You will hate the next place, too," I said. "What you are, you will carry with you.” ~ Louis L'Amour

“Sometimes we can focus so much on nothing that we make it a big something of nothing” ~ Ricky Maye

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