I open my blog when I get emotional. My blog and my ability to smith words into subsequent strings and paragraphs is my only weapon to this vicious world. Perhaps, I was given this skill to share to my friends, readers or maybe to the world a different perspective - a different light - of how life is, here in the Philippines.

The thing is, I live this seemingly 'okay' life but actually isn't. You can always alter your life online but when you failed to pay your internet bill - you will most likely reflect all the things you've seen and posted - even evaluate your true feelings.

Problems arise from here and there and when shit hits the ceiling. We are no different than those people who we think struggles more than us. The truth is the majority refers to themselves as survivors. Our parents taught us how to survive. And for us, that's just the end of it. The world just means survival.

And that's what I think that's wrong! Man this is not The Walking Dead! No, not yet.

Sunset . Bankerohan Public Market. (c) Cinegang Productions

We take different ways and we gamble even if we get ourselves lost. That's how we live. A life of uncertainty and a life that easily crumbles when you become vulnerable. We weren't taught how to get rich and people always look for others to blame. We blame ourselves and then the government. While the latter is up to debate. Why would you waste your time expressing yourself to our corrupt politicians? Their ears are dead to the poor unless they plan on running again.
 
 Years have passed and still, we learn nothing. We just keep on fighting even if there's no fight to fight. We sometimes think we are being oppressed when we are not. I know this won't make sense to you. And I know I sound a little emotional than I should and that's why I can't tell you exactly where this is going. I also can't tell you what happened prior this but I can tell you one thing. Today, I witnessed how money actually makes the world go round. That's the truth.

We would probably mock scripted shows depicting an exaggerated poor vs rich scenario but when you think about it - it's the truth. And we can't always blame the rich because they stand - and they will - for what would make their lives more convenient. Convenience. An image of a happy family in a big house full of elaborate details, expensive furniture, maids scrubbing the floor, drivers flirting with the maids and guards sleeping by the gate waiting for you to honk a million times.

 On the other side of the coin, is an image of a family struggling and wanting just enough to make ends meet. Surviving. Or maybe even more so that the financial burdens they bear may be dissolved and live a simple life. A small house in a subdivision with a front yard full of flowers and happy people. Happiness.

Happiness isn't a prerequisite to wealth. Get real! It's the other way around.

The only reason why the majority looked happier is because they savor the slightest amount of happiness they can find. And that's not necessarily a good thing. But do you think they're really happy? No. When they get back to their homes after a gossip session with their backstabbing neighbor reality creeps in and they just have to do something. They live in the now. Apparently, survival ain't enough.

Surviving ain't living. And I choose to live.