P[e]NORAMA

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It’s sad when you must relegate the things you love doing the most, and which gives you the most fulfillment, to the background; when you can only do them if and when you have extra time.

It’s not only that it’s hard to find or make ‘extra time’; it’s more because, in relegating your passion, you keep an essential part of you locked up somewhere deep. Thus, you become just half the person you are, or could be. You remain just a mere potential — one who can become, but doesn’t.

There is nothing sadder than having it, yet failing to make it.

Sherma E. Benosa; 25 August 2012; 11:59am

Like other bloggers who have been blogging for sometime, I also sometimes blurt out words in my posts that seem to carry with them a tinge of wisdom.

That is not to say I am wise, though; oh no. But I do recognize that there have been moments that my fingers type things that I would have sworn I had nothing to do with had I not known they came from inside of me, like whispered thoughts.

I am sharing some of them here. I hope you find some truth in them.

I would never claim originality of the thoughts, as I am aware some of them may reflect some wisdom that may have been around since time immemorial. I claim originality of the words though, as they have flowed out not just from my mind, but my heart as well.

Here we go:

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I was doing some research on movies and feminism this morning when a book title caught my attention. It’s by JK Rowling, no less, and it’s called “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.” According to Amazon.com, it’s going to be released on December 4.

Indeed, for the millions of Harry Potter fans like myself, it’s something to look forward to! (I hope I can persuade my brother Ogie to buy me one, in the spirit of Christmas.  )

Another thing that excited me about the book is its title, particularly the word BARD. What a coincidence that just after I’ve renamed my blog to Bard and Brain (as suggested by my Sweetie), I’d find that a book from a phenomenal author also carries the word Bard in its title. Already I’m projecting that my hits stats would climb dramatically, especially when the book’s released! Hahaha. (Oh, friends. Just let me be. Come on, my stats just went down to zero, from almost hitting the 10,000 mark, because of the changes I made. So it doesn’t hurt if my blog get some hits from that book, eh?)

Anyway, Bard means ‘lyric poet’. According to Wikipedia, a bard “was one of a caste of poets and scholars of medieval and early modern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall.”

There are other definitions of the word, and I can’t wait to find out which definition JK Rowling used in the book.

But before we move on to this new book by JK Rowling, why don’t we sit down once again and talk about her hit book, Harry Potter?

Let me start by posting some of the best quotes in the book…

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AN UNSEEN HAND turned an unusually bright spotlight upon a darkened stage. Out of nowhere, a figure stepped onto the platform, with no idea how he got there or where he came from. Neither did he know what to do. But in his mind, he seemed to be hearing a voice fainter than a whisper, giving him a vague instruction to act and to say something. 

Half-bewildered, half-suspecting someone was pulling his leg, the figure looked to his left and right, and realized that he wasn’t alone; that he shared the stage with several other beings — puppets, marionettes, dolls, and stick figures — who, like him, had no idea why they were there.

It was as he turned to his right that the figure noticed something peculiar: the arena where he and the other beings were to perform had no seats for spectators.

AFTER HOURS OF walking to and fro the stage — many times crossing paths, a few times colliding with, and sometimes walking alongside the others — the figure just knew, though he couldn’t explain how, that he was being called off the stage. So he delivered his last lines, bowed to the other beings, and started to make his exit. As he retreated to the backstage, he heard some kind of noise erupt. Whether it was a collective applause or booing, he wasn’t sure; he didn’t turn to see.

Reaching the backstage, the figure saw a silhouette making weird gestures as though he was conducting an orchestra. Thinking that the silhouette was another actor about to step onto the platform, he gave him a sympathetic look and exclaimed, “Whew! That was some kind of a play. A scriptless one! Would you believe that? And undirected, too. Weird, isn’t it?”

Receiving no response, the figure persisted, “By the way, are you an actor, too?”

The silhouette shook his head, not taking his gaze off the invisible orchestra. “No, I’m the director.”

Stunned, the figure exclaimed, “The director? You are the director? Why then aren’t you directing? I would have been spared of all those collisions. I would not have gotten lost. I would have been able to put in a better performance; I would not have a-fretted and a-strutted upon that weird platform like some kind of a drunk!”

The silhouette momentarily turned his attention to the figure. “I was. You just weren’t listening.”

 Copyright 2005 by Sherma E. Benosa

All Rights Reserved.

Re-posted to cap my “Life Is…” series.

If you notice, that is this blog’s new tagline.

More than a week ago, I decided to change my header, and with it, my tagline. My tagline used to be simply my name. But then I decided to put my name in the header, which, by the way, is a view of my hometown, Nueva Vizcaya, located about 180 kilometers north of Metro Manila, the country’s capital, where I am currently based.

So I thought of coming up with a good tagline, something that is relevant to my domain name (Brainteaser), and will encapsulate what the blog is all about — my reflections about life and about the things I label ‘essential.’

I wrote down some words. Brainteaser. Life. Reflections. Puzzles. And from there, I was able to come up with the tagline, which is also a statement of how I view life.

You see, I see life as a big puzzle board upon which pieces and clues of a difficult and unending riddle is scattered. In our attempts to solve this riddle, we look everywhere for clues — in the challenges that come our way, in the people that join us in our journey, in the roads we take, in the humps that deter us in our travel. We see glimpses of the answer there. But the greatest clue, I think, is inside us. The pieces of the puzzle lay hidden in the contents of our hearts and in the strength of our faith, for in this puzzle, we are an important piece, a significant clue, and an indispensable player, all rolled into one.

As to the answer, I believe it had always been given: God. There could be no other answer. We only seem to stumble upon different answers because we are slow in realizing — and accepting — His significance, as a result of our inability to recognize Him among the clues we stumble upon.

//Sherma E. Benosa; 11 June 2008; 9:57am

First posted at my photo-blog, Photo.Graphic Thoughts.

(c) 2008 Sherma E. Benosa. All rights reserved.

I stumbled upon a video of JK Rowling’s commencement speech at Harvard University. JK Rowling is the creator of the Harry P otter series, which is among my favorite books. I find her speech very inspiring, so I am featuring it here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L445BmUEXH4]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kh_tSiqL1U]

Here are the parts of her speech I love:

“There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.”

 

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default.”

 

“Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.”

 

“Those who choose not to empathize may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.”

 

 “If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”

What do you think of her speech? Is there a part of it that moved you?

[PS: I am doing a reflection/review based on her speech. But I am not posting it yet. It's not yet done.]