Every month through the years of writing Prose-sake, I have been guided by a theme most of the time. My friend Rosse G calls it the “flavor of the month.”
When I told her about Aug. 27 being “Just Because Day,” she quickly messaged a food delivery service for two orders of fast food rice meals and chicken nuggets.
“What’s that for?” She replied, “To get you started. This will be part of your kitchen list for JBD, or I think anything goes as long as it is not harmful. It is impulsive and fun.”
JBD proposes a celebration with no reason or color. It is supposed to be an impulsive gesture, an unplanned act, a flight of fancy, a response to whatever pops up in your heart. So to use a line from a Beatles song and a pop soda slogan, let it be and just do it. But being me, I say do it for a positive impact or feeling.
As I was nibbling on my chicken nuggets, which had a positive impact on my stomach, Rosse told me she suddenly longed to take a trip to Barangay Busay to walk around the Temple of Leah, a complex of Roman- and Greek-inspired buildings and gardens. It is a testament to eternal love and beauty. Although it suited JBD, we scrapped it because the trip required planning. We opted instead to hop to Larawan beach, pronto.
We knew what to expect, and this is not a travel review. We were there just to catch the sunset on the dark steel gray sand of the beach.
JBD is an amazing exercise of making an overworked friend smile with an unexpected 16-ounce caramel coffee and blueberry muffin. If you feel like a JBD urge to do a sick neighbor’s grocery run, go for it.
Out of the blue, send a thank you message to a cousin or sister who has been the wind beneath your wings. Eat fish cakes just because. Go, take a bath under the rain, but not during a thunderstorm.
Perhaps, the real point of JBD is to fulfill the sudden heart tugs of the child in you and find inspiration for creative ways to bring sunshine into your life and and others’ as well.