State of smiles

Before the holiday break began, a foreigner friend told me that I smiled too much and that I should at times refrain from showing my cavities to the world. Much to the outsider’s dismay, I widened my grin instead and told him that there is just a lot to smile about.
In the Philippines, the holiday season usually starts ridiculously early and ends amusingly late. The close knit ties we Filipinos have with our families give us a lot of time to spend with our relatives for the major holidays, like the Christmas and New Year.
This past holiday break, I did just that. Without a doubt, it was a well spent family reunion for the holidays that enabled me to realize just how blessed this country truly is.
Unfortunately, my trip to Philippine appreciation class did not begin in the most breathtaking of vacation spots in the country. It did not start at the most serene of beaches, nor in the most excellent of hiking sites, though we do have plenty of those too. It began in the least expectant of places and quite probably one of the most depressing places to visit, the cemetery.
A grave visit in Capiz to honor the memory of my beloved brother, reminded me that life is indeed short so we should at the very least learn to be appreciative of every bit of time we have left. Then I thought, what better way to employ this momentary Zen-like reminder, than to go see the beauty in everything that could be seen.
In retrospect, I am thankful to have had an ‘aha!-moment’ in a Visayan Island, than say, inside one of the clubs in Manila. More than that, I was thankful that I was given the opportunity to appreciate my being Filipino.
I always thought that we Filipinos did not always exude the bright flame of nationalism for our sensible concern of more practical priorities such as food, shelter and financial security, but in all honesty, I think the reason we smile a lot—just like I do—is we have a lot to be proud about.
Other than the abundance in natural resources, we also have diversity. Yes, diversity not only on our methods to deal with Presidents we are not fond with, but also with language, cuisine, art and religion. In the past, this was a hurdle towards development and at times it may also seem so in the present, but in a growing world wherein connectivity and understanding is one click away, our diversity can be turned into a grand advantage.
Philippine cuisine for instance, is one mouth-watering component that we as people have to be more proud of. This country boasts of delectable pieces like tinolang manok, pinakbet, dinuguan, tortang talong, turon, pancit bihon, pancit molo, lechon kawali, maruya, and adobong baboy, to name a few. Our dialects, which range from around 160 to 175, and equally diverse and delicious Filipino cuisine, serve the industry of tourism in so many ways, but have yet to be fully utilized. Point being, if we embrace our diversity and incorporate it with national development, then maybe regionalist thinking in the archipelago might be replaced with nationalism.
Sometimes it is the economic status of our state coupled with news of corruption and injustice that hinders us from fully appreciating the totality of beauty in our country. What we do not realize is that these blinders do not help the development of third class municipalities and left-out deforested grounds around the state.
If only we could apply the energy put into our singular knack to face national calamities with a large smirk on our faces, to increase our national self-esteem, then maybe, we would have a lot less problems seeing how blessed the Philippines actually is.
Perhaps to some, seeing the beautiful beaches of Palawan, Surigao and Boracay are just not enough to boost pride in the unique geographical status of our country and to many, the great diversity of the motherland is simply a barrier to the oneness, we would all like to have.
Somewhere in the archipelago though, a random Filipino kid is tilling the soil, humming the light tune of the nation’s anthem with a small smirk on his face and hoping that someday the Philippines will be just as awesome as he thinks it to be.