I HAVE turned a year older recently. My day was announced by my friends on radio who also posted it on our social media account for listeners all over the world. Usually, I just take the celebration privately into myself with some relatives and friends. But as many knew it and happened to coincide with the birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio (November 30), I took to social media to thank those who extended their wishes on my special day.
My friends could attest to my being private in terms of my birthday celebrations for many years. They knew I would rather spend the day in isolation as part of getting some air because of exposure in government and the media.
A friend once told me that if you are the celebrator, you have the entitlement of the day. That is the reason why they wished your happiness in celebrating the moment because that’s your day and nobody should get it from you.
But in the turn of events at present, I bowed to the force of looking at the importance of life. I appreciated how life would become uncertain nowadays with reports of friends and relatives, becoming victims of Covid-19 or other diseases that might have been induced by the virus.
We will just be surprised the following day that somebody we knew had passed away or is about to be cremated because of the virus. Or, we feel we have people around who are suffering because of hunger or economic problems, which is still attributed to the pandemic. While some friends were also reported to be recuperating after contracting the infection.
Life ahead seems uncertain. Hopelessness and demoralization are becoming imminent that we could hardly avoid despite our resilience.
Where we are is not like the normal times where we are full of hope and we enjoy the confidence that the future would be good as long as we remain positive.
At some point, while we want to forget its impact on our lives, Covid-19 has become part of our senses. It has already left a mark on many that could be hard to forget in the future. As we remain in our struggling state, we need all the means to fight for our survival.
The trauma of struggling to survive has gone into the bases of everyone’s moral and value system. These are important elements of individuals that we cannot see just like the virus. But when it affects us, it will become a mental health problem.
I hope we could continue to hold on fighting this unseen struggle together. This is truly like a war that we are still fighting with the hope that humanity could find a way out in the future.
It reminds me of the role of religion as a social institution of society. In times when we feel we’ve lost the meaning of our existence, we could reflect and ponder on the reasons for where we are today.
Thus, as I join humanity to survive this pandemic, I am one with those who want to celebrate life to the fullest. We should not reserve it for the future as we don’t know yet what’s ahead, but life as we defined it at present.
Aside from my appreciation of those who celebrate life online, I joined my friend lawyer Romulo and Marissa Gonzaga as they renew their marriage vows after 25 years at the Domus Dei in Silay City recently. It was a simple activity, yet, it implies the value of making life at present despite the problems with coronavirus.