Alignment and balance

The majestic Philippine Eagle, which is the largest of all extant Eagles* in terms of length and wing span. Photo grabbed from the https://www.philippineeaglefoundation.org/the-philippine-eagle

The other day, I was talking to my friend and colleague Shermon and he was talking about his personal metaphor, which is the six-armed deity Shiva, the Destroyer, who creates, protects, and transforms. Shiva, which is actually his Sanskrit name, is actually the name I knew of him the first time we met so I’ve always had a difficulty calling him his real name. My Sanskrit name, which a few of my long-time friends like him know about, is Shiila, which means character or conduct. You might be wondering what this post is about. It is about my personal metaphor. Futurists often talk about metaphors, popularized by Sohail Inayatullah’s foresight tool called Causal Layered Analysis (CLA). I have been thinking lately of doing a personal CLA and I have started thinking of what my personal metaphor would be. I will come to that, but first, let me finish my back story.

When the shortest distance is not a straight line

Grabbed from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/archimedes.html

Archimedes, that super cool slasher Greek mathematician (slash physicist slash inventor slash astronomer slash, etc.) said ages ago that ‘the shortest distance between two points is a straight line’.  I love this quote. Although it was said in the context of mathematical sciences, it in fact gave me countless reassurances when life became complicated or when I was overwhelmed by my own overthinking. It has helped me overcome a lot of concerns by simplifying things and solving problems one simple step at a time.

Cebuanos gather for local climate action

To draw out collective and individual actions to help address climate change, The Climate Reality Project, Pagtambayayong Foundation, and Pusyon Kinaiyahan organized the 24 Hours of Reality: Dalan sa Kinaiyahan on December 6, 1 to 5 pm at the Full Moon Recreation Center, Kamputhaw, Cebu.

When young people lead

From Mission ASCEND Facebook page.

When young people lead, even leaders need to follow. That is the power of youth.

I had the amazing opportunity to present the latest Climate Reality slideshow, fresh from the Manila Training, to student leaders of Tacloban, Ground Zero for Super Typhoon Yolanda, on Earth Hour Day, March 19. I was invited by Jude Acidre of Tingog Sinirangan to give the talk. My talk was to present the context for a youth-led action and the launching of Mission ASCEND, a gathering of young voices for the environment.

About a hundred student leaders were there, coming from more than a dozen high schools of Region VIII. It was a particularly daunting experience, knowing these young people were survivors of Haiyan themselves, and the last thing they might need is somebody like me telling them about the impacts of climate change. But thank God they were particularly patient with me, even when my computer stopped working for a while.

The Power of Little Things: Reflections on Liwanag World Festival 2013

There is nothing less than grand about the Liwanag World Festival. But this is only because it is made up of many modest, well thought-out, things. Indeed, we witnessed what Aristotle meant by “the whole is more than the sum of its parts.”

During the last press conference. I donned my Climate Reality hat and helped announce the Beyond Carbon Neutral Initiative for Liwanag. Happy to be in the company of Liwanag’s visionary leader Nicanor Perlas;  Leo “Happy L.A.” Avila, festival consultant; and Maya Vandenbroeck, head of the Volunteer Committee. Photo by Louise Far