Am I Enough

Yesterday my brother asked me to listen to a talk in a website called TED.com and relate it to an economic theory. Being the nice ate that I am, I obliged (mainly because he would do the task of cooking for me) and found myself mesmerized by the overflow of awesome ideas that could one day change the world (or are already changing the world). 

I came across Brene Brown's talk on how it means to be vulnerable and overcoming vulnerability in order to genuinely love yourself and others. Loving yourself is having the COURAGE, the courage to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart. The COMPASSION to be kind to yourself first before you can be to others in order to CONNECT with them. And this connection happens when you let go of what you think you are and just be who you really are. VULNERABILITY is seeing beauty in your own imperfections and when you do, you would be able to say "I am enough".

In one of the comments, I found this equally nice words by Tao Te Ching which may have inspired that talk:

"To be whole, let yourself break.To be straight, let yourself bend.To be full, let yourself be empty.To be new, let yourself wear out.To have everything, give everything up. 

Knowing others is a kind of knowledge;knowing yourself is wisdom.Conquering others requires strength;conquering yourself is true power.To realize that you have enough is true wealth.Pushing ahead may succeed,but staying put brings endurance.Die without perishing, and find the eternal. 

To know that you do not know is strength.Not knowing that you do not know is a sickness.The cure begins with the recognition of the sickness.
Knowing what is permanent: enlightenment.Not knowing what is permanent: disaster.Knowing what is permanent opens the mind.Open mind, open heart.Open heart, magnanimity."

What are you waiting for? Be vulnerable. Be the first to say 'I love you'. Apologize. Forgive. Love.

Eiga Sai: Japanese Film Festival

The 13th Japanese Film Festival was held at Ayala Center Cebu last August 2 - 4. The said event was presented by the Consular Office of Japan in Cebu, Japan Foundation, Manila in cooperation with the Japanese Association Cebu, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cebu Inc. and Ayala Center Cebu.

My boyfriend and I are always on the lookout for film festivals coz we both don't have the moolah. Oh wait, maybe he does but he's just saving to pay off something. Whichever the case it's okay because filmfests like this come every once in a while.

So we decided to watch The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones. We were glad we were somewhat first in line but only to find out that the line was for the next show which was around 3:30. Oh boy, so much for being early, eh? But patience do pay off coz the first 10 people in the line gets to watch the ongoing film. So in we go and we were seated on the front most row so we literally have to raise our heads up or tilt our body to a certain angle so it wouldn't hurt that much. haha

The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones tells the story of 2 teams of mountaineers out to reach the peak of Mount Tsurugidake, ‘the only summit (in Japan) beyond the reach of men’, back in the 1900s. One was from the Army Geological Survey Unit, headed by Yoshitaro Shibasaki (Asano Tadanobu), which aimed to place triangulation stones to help create accurate maps of that region. The other team came from the Japan Alpine Club, headed by Usui Kojima (Nakamura Toru), an amateur mountain climbing club using mountaineering techniques from abroad. It soon became a competition to be the first to reach ‘The Summit’. (heroic-cinema.com)

The movie was quite long - more than two hours; more than two hours too of neck breaking stunts. lol. But it was all worth it coz the panoramic scenes were picturesque. It's as if like you're looking at a moving postcard. The elements of the usual tales of human survival are there: the perseverance, brotherhood, faith and the like. But what sets this movie apart for me is how these two teams, though rivals as to who will get to reach the summit first, still helped each other on their way up. 

"Nature is eternal but life is fleeting."