Author Archives: Rem Tanauan
Tell Me Something About Your Soul
I remember my interviewer’s face in my first ever job interview 7 years ago. He was looking astig, occasionally puffing his cigarette while perusing my resume. He then squinted at me as if he was reading my mind. I like to think that I was a rookie in a movie scene, fated of meeting a […]
In Our Separateness
Separate is a root word that metamorphoses into multiple meanings yet often reminds most people in the personal level emotionally-charged experiences. For those who have endured difficult marriages, to separate is to end the suffering of living with someone’s hell; those separated are the ones who did it. Separation is either an action that cuts […]
Is Juan Tamad Really Lazy?
Picture this: a young man sitting beneath the shade of a guava tree, lying restfully with its native hat covering its head. He sleepily sits there, waiting for the guava fruit to fall instead of picking it. This image of a familiar folklore character has been known for ages across generations of many Filipinos. He […]
After Math
I remember the face of my math teacher when I was in third grade. Her eyebrows were almost hooked together as she got irritated when any of us in the class couldn’t recite the multiplication table. For a third grader, it was a feeling of terror and math was not just a tough subject but […]
Wounding and Healing
When it comes to Love, one theme often emerges in those many stories I have heard from friends and strangers: the struggle to Love have wretched the relationship between them and those they Love. Like a spectator, I can objectively watch them as they grapple with the reality of Loving. It is a struggle to […]
The Divine Face
Here in my place, I can see from afar Mount Makiling, the famed mystical mountain of Laguna province, about two hours south of Manila. Since my childhood, I have seen the mountain nestled in the east, giving birth to the rising sun everyday. Locals here know that the mountain is the home to a diwata, […]
For the Spirit
The other day was my first time to roam around Binondo, Manila’s Chinatown, to celebrate the eve of Chinese New Year. The sights were a vivid red in every corner, from lanterns to red envelopes to charms to shirts. The sounds were a loud repertoire of lion and dragon dances and powerful drums, plus the […]
Everyone is a hero
I was in my childhood when I was introduced to a number of iconic super heroes. They were once in comic books, then in cartoons and later emerged from silver screen. Many of them have resurrected in current films from their earliest depictions.With the help of advance digital technology, we have seen those heroes being finally […]
The Negative Potential
‘Think positive”. It is a modern way to stay motivated, to look forward with hope and to keep on going. It is almost a spiritual mantra people declare when they feel down or challenged. To think this way is to welcome business and financial luck, to be happier in one’s career and relationship, and to […]
Gentle Awakening
Awakening is elusive, incomprehensible and complicated. It has been one of the many spiritual buzzwords discussed by religious leaders and spiritual teachers. For most people who have developed a wider sensibility of spiritual practice, awakening is a treasured goal. Yet even the wealth of Eastern wisdom and its Western interpretations cannot make sense of its […]
