Dex and Jan are a very unlikely couple. I have observed how those little details and big pictures in their relationship have evolved in the past 13 years. In hindsight, it was not as common as we often expect of many couples. They weren’t really romantic to each other. I rarely saw them holding hands […]
Read more "From Friends to Siblings to Lovers"After a series of relationship blows that cost her family, business and career, a friend I met some months ago told me that I must not Love too much. She said that with gravity of regret in her eyes. Though she told me her story without going into details, her old emotions quietly emanated from […]
Read more "Too Much"Just 2 weekends ago, I talked about Love to group of college students. It is always natural for young people like them to be drawn to the topic, as I always observed in many of my conversations with people of their age. They are always interested in learning more. As usual, I engaged these young people […]
Read more "Pag-ibig and Pagmamahal: Filipino Truths On Love."Love at first sight. People often ask me if I believe on this aphorism. I used to give a neutral answer and refer to Love through my personal insights. Looking back, I have difficulty recalling how I answered, but now that I have an interesting manner of dealing with this saying, it’s good to return […]
Read more "Love at Second Sight"When most young people I meet hear the word Love, they would often respond in a very interesting way. Teenagers smile gleefully, looking like a blooming flower. The space where we share this kind of conversation is now being charged by a subtle energy from the glow of their eyes. Their stiffness lightens with their […]
Read more "Youth in Love"Even if romantic and married couples choose either to make up with or break up from each other whenever they are at odds, it turns out that the myth of Love as romantic perfection is clearly at play. The idea that there should be harmony between them through conforming with each others whims, or the […]
Read more "Romantic Opposites"I find it very interesting–and existential–to ponder about dried flowers (mostly roses) in most households I visited. Women keep them until they wilt and dry. What was once a blooming, fragrant bouquet now literally turns to dust after several months. But they are still well-kept, often in a long, ribboned box. They seem to appear […]
Read more "Romance + Love: A New Equation"The truth between romance and Love lies between the myths and facts about them. Finding that romance and Love are equal and not equal at the same time is confounding, but the foremost step is to realize that they are both. Romance and Love are equal to remind us that they are not. It is […]
Read more "Truth: Romance/Love"The myth ends when the fact begins. This new equation, romance is NOT equal to Love wakes us to sane realities of romance. The first reality is that Love is neither about a perfect person nor a perfect relationship. This statement returns power to well-known cliché, there is no such thing perfect. This is true, […]
Read more "Fact: Romance≠Love"I understand the initial hesitation of many people when they read the word romance. First, it could be something so cheesy that there is no more to learn from it. Second, it is something that reminds their past experiences that perhaps brought them disillusionment. Third, there is always an assumption that everyone knows about romance, […]
Read more "Myth: Romance = Love"
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