A Girl Named Mingky and Some Thoughts About Leaving

with Jana

Val Calinawan ('Mingky' for those who know her from head to toe.)

No. She's not one of my latest acquaintances in Philippine showbizness. She's not someone I met from a bookstore. And definitely not the girl I recently courted. She's primarily my friend who recently went abroad. We were never that close until the last two meet ups with her and Jana made a big difference.

Above photos was taken in Shang two days before Mingky's migration to Long Beach.

She's carefree, a shock absorber by hundreds, a knock-out when it comes to lite or strong conversations, a good Samaritan, a true friend, a youthful soul with an adult heart, commonly mistaken as 14 years old, a music enthusiast, a secret keeper, a diligent student, a simple daughter and sister, and a Koko(name of her cutest puppy) lover. :) She may not be as interesting as it may sound to some, but a person could not deny the kindness and heart she has for the people she truly appreciates.

I don't know why I had a strong emotional attachment to someone who leaves. Probably because I experienced being left behind by those important in my life. My father dearest went to middle east in the eve of my pubescent years. From that day forward, almost everyone I know left this magnificent country or had planned to leave. A temporary goodbye here and there. A couple of type-written Hello's and Hi's afterward. And just last December, before Christmas, my mom and my brother went to the States. And then Neve, once been close to my heart, also went to the States with her family a few months later.

Leaving is not limited to distance. I mostly experienced some friends who left me without saying something. See? Leaving is also a way to get out from emotions or bonds.

A little history about Mingky and I: I met her years ago through Neve. Since then, we talked sensibly and humorously through Yahoo! Messenger. A few years after, she told me about her migration to another country. I didn't took it seriously. Maybe because it's inevitable or maybe I was busy fixing things. Busy chasing pavements.

I'm not regretting nor sad because she left. I was down because it become a constant reminder of me taking for granted the many times she was here. It was too late for me to know her more than just Neve's best bud. She could have been one of my closest kinships as well. I could have been her guitar teacher, right? Or second elder brother. The possibilities of having someone you could share your thoughts and interests with was unlimited as far as friendship was concerned: These were the things I would utter a deepest sigh everyday.

Today and for the rest of my age, I will do my utmost best to show my gratitude, love, appreciation, concern and happiness to the little most important people that surrounds me and will surround me for the next coming years.

I have no problems hearing goodbye's. The worst is saying temporary goodbye's and indirectly forget the people behind. Perhaps it's a prerequisite for having a new life in a new land.

Talents: Where Did It Come From?

Where do talents come from? A priest will say "it's a gift from up above!", and a scientist will say.. "It's an inherited trait from either one of your parents or relatives."

But what about the kind of talent that made you do it because of a given circumstance? Money. Fame. Family. For personal gain. Trippings. Expression. Love.

Pick a choice.

I, on the other hand, was brought up in a musically inclined father side. Environment, would be the triggering factor for me, I guess. Influences that almost eats the very core of originality in you.

And where do these "gifts", as we say, come from? It's not like you just picked up a guitar-and-start-strumming-and- everything-will-follow kind of scenario for some. The late great Michael Jackson was trained by his father almost all his childhood life. And you'd asked, was the awesomeness and brilliance came from years and years of practice? Just practice and a sacrificed childhood are what it takes to be great?

It starts as a discovery. You soon discovered you can hit a note, hit an empty can without blinking, catch a ball in an amazing graceful way, to speak fluently and manipulatively, to capture a fly in a split second, to calculate a radical number and divide it to cotangent, to think strategically, to love in the most unimaginable way, to shoot a basket without a miss, to listen and comprehend, to trick one's mind, to receive pain and continues to do so, to read a million pages, to write the most moving phrases that you have ever written.

...and then you start to develop it. To hone. To purify it. To accept fate. To accept mistakes. To accept weaknesses. To accept that almost everyone can do what you can do, as well. To accept not that there's an equal born to do what you're doing is foolishness. To be equally unique is a test.

....and you share these unique things you've done.

...until there's nothing left to do but to grow. To grow to something different or something worthwhile. And continue sharing. By how? Teaching. Can we now safely conclude that talents can be passed on? Possibly.

And yet, where do these talents come from? was it an innate sleeping pulse of energy, waiting for a particular thing to happen? Was it from lack of anything to do? Or was it because your parents told you so? Envious for the fact that your siblings and peers can do it, why can't you? Or was it inspiration?

We can always assume that a man is just a man. A chef is just a cook if you leave him in a kitchen. But a cook at night and a musical composer by day will certainly destroy that assumption. I'm trying to analyze myself in terms of composing a song or tune. Mostly, my songs were done by a flick of a thought. It would just come from out of nothing, until a light bulb just appeared from that nothingness, I just switched on that light. But it never stopped there. You'd examine the light bulb, until you're convinced that that light bulb, that idea, is unique. Then you may now start to develop that light bulb into a fluorescent, and that florescent light will become something much bigger. And you'd start sharing that huge fluorescent bulb. Was it also the same as dancing, capture a breath-taking scene or photograph, driving, card playing, eating much, wrote a poem? I don't think so.

I could never answer where or to whom these gifts come from. However I can only have a hint or a guess about these talents:

That it may start from something you love. Or something you're proud of. Or something that makes you, not them, happy. And then you will have control. You will be awed at what you're doing. It is love. Because whatever talent you may have, without that drive, everything would end up as a joke with pun intended.

For the Win

CONGRATULATIONS to UP DHARMA DOWN for winning Artist of The Year, Album of the year and Vocalist of the year in NU ROCK AWARDS 2009!


We believe.

Cheers!