The Most Important Question of All

The man stood tall and dignified at the rostrum. Microphone on his right hand, he spoke to us with a sense of honesty and intimacy that can only be described as if there were only five people in the room. As he said the last few lines, there was an unmistakable break in his voice, a holding in of air.  And as he gazed at us, his eyes glistened with emotion. Then applause broke.

Inspiration. I tried to explain this concept to our 2nd Graders as I told them Christina Newhard's story of a girl named Amina who could not weave a story in her loom. She tried to find inspiration in the mountains and the sea but still could not find it. And so she went about in the city to find it. "What does inspiration mean?" the students asked me. The closest two words I could share with them that their 7-year-old minds could understand, were "imagination" and "dreams".  Slowly, we  somehow made a connection of how imagination and dreams allowed us to create something beautiful. 

Inspiration. The first person I saw as I entered the venue of the 52nd Rotary Club of Ormoc Induction of Officers was Calvin. His trademark mustache was still perfectly in place. And as we embraced, I felt the life and strength emanate from the core of his being. It has been too long since I saw him last. This was somebody who three years ago, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. A few months after he was diagnosed,  the Rotary Club family created a fund-raising event for him, Zumba for My Friend and Lift Up Calvin. Now three years after, he has overcome this adversity by radically changing his manner of living through alternative medicine, nutrition overhaul, exercise and lifestyle change and is now more  than ever fired up with verve and a love for life.

Inspiration. "My dream is to be a pilot." "Mine is to be a gymnast," the 2nd graders piped up excitedly. "So what do we do to achieve that dream?" I asked them. "Does your dream make you want to do something?" "How do we make it come true?"

Inspiration. "You have been with us in times not only of joy but also of pain," the man in the blue long-sleeved polo with necktie standing tall at the rostrum reiterates. "Yolanda hurt us." He continued,  "The earthquake hit us severely last year. And then another typhoon hit us in December. Rotary Club of Ormoc has been there all throughout those times." Applause filled the room. "Under the initiative and leadership of Anna Louisa Bumagat the Parade of Lights  became the turning point of the city fiesta as it brought out for the first time ever, hundreds of Ormocanons from their homes and into the streets to gather together and marvel at the showcase of creativity of the Ormocanon themselves." 

 

Inspiration. "The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative."

Inspiration. To serve others beyond the self, to be the inspiration so that others may be inspired as well and do the same-- this is Rotary's motto and this was the answer that the newly-inducted president of the club, Darwin Catingub was looking for as he was striving to find a deeper purpose and meaning to his life. Winston Churchill's words, "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give." drives him to live out Rotary's mission.   "Be the inspiration," he strongly admonishes the audience.

As I continued to tell the Story of Amina and the City of Flowers to our 2nd Graders, their faces lit up as they imagined the colors, shapes and sounds Amina saw in the city. They could not wait to see what story Amina was able to weave at the loom. "Do you want to see what story Amina weaved into the loom? Do you want to see what she created?" They almost yelled a very excited "Yes!" There was a collective holding of breath in the room and then when they saw the tapestry that Amina made, their voices became a symphony of "oohs" and "wows". "I want to make a tapestry too!"  And even though in the middle of the story, I struggled in making them understand the concept of inspiration, I knew in the end, they understood.

Inspiration. "The drawing in of breath; inhalation."

Standing tall, he stood with a presence that can only be described as honest and  human.  In a clear voice, he said the last few lines, "We will not stop working very hard not until our city is in a better place than where it was yesterday." His voice broke. His eyes glistened. He held his breath, his tears threatened to fall and then the applause broke through the hall. 

Inspiration defined--

Mayor Richard Gomez, the man in the blue shirt standing at the rostrum, microphone in his righthand, dignified, honest, human. The breaking of his voice, the sincerity of his heart, the daily drawing in of his breath just so he can be the father our city truly needs. 

Calvin, the cancer survivor who has only given us love and laughter.

Anna and the many other Rotarians who have held the torch in lighting up the city.

Darwin, who sought purpose and meaning in Service above Self and now embarks in a mission of being an inspiration.

The Rotary Club of Ormoc who have served the city for more than 50 years in shared joy and shared pain.

 

Our 2nd graders asking, "What is the meaning of inspiration?" 

Our 2nd graders understanding the words imagination and dreams, slowly discovering this must be what it means to be inspired.

Me, a guidance counsellor and teacher, constantly challenged to nurture students so they may live a life of purpose and meaning.

Me, a witness to all these stories, writing them and telling them the best way I know how. At least for now. 

Inspiration comes in many forms, needless to say. But in the many forms of inspiration, in the fragments of stories I write here,  there is one true thing that holds it all together-- it asks of all of us perhaps the most important questions of all  "What is your meaning? What is your purpose? What does it compel you to do? What makes you draw in your breath everyday?"  Or quite simply, in the words of Mary Oliver,

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" 

 Photography by Mhaey Tanael