Don’t worry, be happy

There are days when I worry about myself. Am I getting forgetful? I wake up very early, stroll to my kitchen and look at my lavender what-do-you-call-it? It’s not a teapot, not a coffee pot, but a pot for boiling water, the one that whistles when it boils. Then I remember — it doesn’t have enough water. Every night I bring a glass of water to bed. Every morning I carry what’s left of it to the kitchen and pour it into the kettle so as not to waste it. This morning I walk empty-handed.

 I walk briskly to my room but when I get there I can’t remember what I went back for. I circle the room with my eyes finally settling on my eyeglasses. I put them on but it doesn’t feel right. I return to my kitchen, see my lavender kettle, suddenly remember my glass of water. I return and pick it up.

I sit on the porch admiring the city so early in the morning. I hear hissing. My eyes get big. Snakes?! Then my brain kicks in and no, it’s the water boiling in my kettle. Finally my cup of coffee. Maybe the day will improve as it unrolls.

There are days when I simply cannot remember names. I remember running into Cherry Gambol on the street one day. I was with my cousin and I wanted to introduce them both but suddenly I forgot Cherry’s name, not only her last name, her full name. I have known Cherry a very long time. We were in advertising together. We had fun times together. How could I not remember her name? Fortunately she gave her name and I apologized but nevertheless was so embarrassed.

Everybody says, don’t worry, we are all like that. It also happens to me. We laugh together to hide the worry. But the worry is there and in its deepest recesses lies fear — what if one day memory just doesn’t work anymore, what will happen then?

 To put a barrier on that day I look for things to do that will at least capture my attention. I belong to the Carl Jung Circle Center, a group of people who have taken the Jung seminars and therefore are connected by thin albeit silken threads. Once a year for a few years now we have an art exhibit where we show our work whatever it is — paintings, photography, whatever crafts we have. This year I volunteered to help organize it together with Carissa Mabasa, Reni Orayani, Oliver Roxas, and Rose Yenko. We will hold it in White Plains instead of Makati to bring it closer to the San Juan and Quezon City crowd. It will be on Saturday, October 25 and Sunday, October 26.

 This year we are calling in “Play! An Arts and Crafts Fair.” The general understanding for art is painting in whatever medium, sculpture and also dance. The rest like jewelry, which I do, and knitting which Maureen, another member of the Jung crowd does, falls in the realm of crafts and crafts are back full force these days — scrapbooks, paper crafts, hobbies. This is one of those free-wheeling events, featuring a small bazaar of arts and crafts, talks, and games we play in the Philippines. Whatever it is, it is going to be fun.

 Things are still evolving but so far our program opens with a talk from me about hobbies and the roles they play in getting in touch with our deepest selves. This will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday. At 3 p.m. there’s a conversation on creativity, titled “CreativiTea,” moderated by Rose Yenko, accompanied with high tea, complete with scones and clotted cream. On Sunday morning we have what we call Synchronicity, which will feature people reading tarot cards, runes, I Ching, and Rizal’s last book Sybilla Cumana, his version of a sort of fortune-telling game. In the afternoon Dido Gustilo Villasor will talk about “Laro! Jung, Play and Individuation.” She will tie up the weekend wonderfully.

 We are looking for people who would like to join us selling food or maybe even their art and crafts but we have to approve them to see that they don’t compete head on with each other and that they fit into our venue. If you are interested, please text me at 0917-8155570 for more information. Text because in my apartment there’s only one corner where I get cell phone calls clearly and sometimes it takes me a while to get there so the caller hangs up. Then we will set up a date and time for the preview.

 I hope this is a success or I will be sorely disappointed and worry about myself some more. This time I will not just worry about being forgetful but also about slowly going mad.

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Please text your comments to 0917-8155570.