Carpe diem, seizing joy amidst adversity: A diplomat’s reflection on small pleasures

Christmas is again around the corner. However, this might sound like the tired opening of a jaded columnist huffing and sighing like a teenager tasked with cleaning his room by his mom. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In the most traditional Filipino way, I begin writing my Christmas column in September. While this columnist may feel tired at times, he is certainly never blasé. On the contrary, I wake up every morning in anticipation of the joys ahead: traveling to the province, chatting with Filipinos of different walks of life, discussing new projects and partnerships, discovering art and folklore, tasting food...

Carpe diem is my philosophy as a diplomat. If summoned to explain myself, I would initially refer to Robin William’s character in the Dead Poets Society movie who teaches his students how to make their lives extraordinary by seizing the day. Popular culture is always a safe bet. If pushed though, I would quote the European poet Horace (65-8 BCE): “You should not ask which end the gods have given to me, or to you/ While we talk, envious time will have fled: pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the next one.” My philosophy is to think as little possible of what the “gods” have in store for me (future assignment, recognition…) and bet everything on the action of the day. After all, our “envious time” as diplomat and human is flying.

This Christmas marks our fourth in the Philippines. Reflecting on our arrival on Dec. 14, 2020, my wife Nicole and I, masked and shielded like ghosts, disembarked from an airplane and were ushered through the empty-bellied corridors of NAIA. Afterwards the ghosts spent seven days in quarantine, during which we had a solitary cold Christmas supper. Despite the whispers that echoed, declaring “don’t worry this is not a real Christmas,” I vividly recall the warmth in the smiling Filipino eyes above the face masks, the virtual family drinks on Zoom and the e joyment of our cold supper – a delectable feast featuring roast beef and cured salmon paired with a bottle of Bordeaux.

The year that is ending was so rich that the words of this column would not suffice. First, I experienced what every diplomat secretly dreams of: the visit of his leader! Ursula von der Leyen, 13th president of the European Commission, is both the first woman to hold this position and the first EU leader to ever pay an official visit to Manila. President Marcos Jr.’s hospitality at Malacañan on July 31 was exquisite and the conversation was friendly and substantive on trade, environment, security… but what I would like to share here is that my President, who is a true friend of the Philippines, having visited the country privately twice before, had never tasted Chocnut. She now has!

I have started a series on social media this year called #MeriendaNiLuc, where I share my experimentation with Filipino snacks: Flat Tops vs. Curly Tops, banana cue vs. turon, Jollibee peach mango pie, bibingka, taho, Pancit Cabagan…This has been a wonderful way to connect with Filipinos of all ages and, of course, OFWs both virtually and in person.

I was very moved recently at a conference in Brussels to be greeted in Tagalog by Jenny and Melanie, two EU “kababayans” who had heard about my meriendas and, by chance, I had in my bag some Filipino snacks to share.

I also pursued my geographic exploration: Zamboanga, Bataan, Zambales, Davao, Cebu, General Santos, Iloilo, Coron, Isabela… I still have a few more of the 82 provinces to visit to reach my secret objective! I hope to get there in 2024 which will be a momentous year for EU-Philippines: 60 years of diplomatic relations. We are preparing a few festivities for next year but we already have a beautiful logo designed by a young designer from Davao: Mr Julie-Ar Sibala.

Sports played a big role this year and I am not talking about my own achievements in that department... I was thrilled to encounter the Filipinas before their Woman FIFA World Cup’s adventure and rooted for them during their three games passionately (excessively, would my NZ friends say on a certain July 25). Apologies, I was also cheering probably excessively in September at the MOA Arena when, for the second time in a row, an EU nation, Germany after Spain in 2019, won the FIBA World Cup. No apologies needed, however, for my emotion when chatting with the first Philippines’ Olympic gold medalist in her training room in February. I will be rooting for you in Paris next July, Hidilyn Diaz! You are such an inspiration to many young Filipinos and to me.

Inspiring are also Filipino writers. Among the books I read this year was Nick Joaquin’s classic Culture and History (1988), but our contemporaries are also worth their word power. I read with great pleasure Assembling Alice (2021,) the very personal first novel by the poet Mookie Katigbak. It was a rare privilege to have at our table Mookie, my “fellow columnist” Jose Dalisay and a few friends for an evening of wine and books. Of Butch, I had read short stories and articles of course, but was lucky or perseverant enough to acquire his Killing Time in a Warm Place (1992), a relatively short fictionalized memoir of a middle-class Filipino coming of age in the seventies, which I savored one bite at a time.

These are times of tragedies and human suffering from Ukraine to the Middle East, from abject poverty to climate change. Diplomats are not immune to anguish but should never succumb to negativity or else we sink into irrelevance. As Jose Dalisay wrote on this very page Sept. 11: “I myself have resolved that even as I fight on for truth and beauty, I will not allow my happiness to be determined by our political vicissitudes, if I can help it.” Tonight is Noche Buena, Carpe Diem! Maligayang Pasko!