Buhay na Kasiyasiya

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Last Sunday, kids at Church had the culminating activity for their theater arts workshop which was held the week prior. A niece and two of my nephews attended the course.  I didn’t get to see them perform live, but thanks to technology, this video has already been posted in Facebook:


I am so proud of the kids. They performed more after the Mass, during coffee time for the congregation at the Cathedral Hall.

When I was their age, starting at around ten years old, I was also active in theater arts activities. I must say I wasn’t that much active in our own Church, but I did sort of represent us in a group of children from various churches. I belonged to the Ecumenical Children’s Theater group of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines. We performed at events of the NCCP, and we also participated in PETA’s children’s theater festival for three consecutive years. I loved that time of my life.

The song featured in the video above was a theme song that the NCCP used many many years ago. We interpreted it too, and performed at the UP Church of the Risen Lord. Our teacher/choreographer at the time was also from PETA. He was very strict, and rehearsals were like workouts. It wasn’t the first time I performed (in fact, I think it was one of the last times I ever danced onstage), but it was the first time I had done anything like it. He made us crawl, not just on the ground, but over and on top of each other. Talk about loosing inhibitions. Those rehearsals were probably the most exhausting ones I’d attended ever. I wonder if anyone had bothered to take a video of us? I don’t even recall having any photos from then. Oh well.

The message of the song, Buhay na Kasiya-siya, seems to be quite timely. Election season is when national issues are at the forefront. This is when we focus on what’s to happen in the future. What’s to be left for our children, and our children’s children. It’s also the time to think about how decisions in the past (when choosing leaders) affect the quality of our lives now. The song tells us – Kung uunahin muna natin, ang kailangan ng lahat. Ang masaganang lupain ay higit pa kaysa sapat. Kung uunahin muna natin, ang sa Kanya’y mahalaga. Sama-samang daranasin, buhay na kasiya-siya. My rough translation: If we prioritize the people’s needs, an abundant land is more than enough. If we start with what’s important to Him, we will all enjoy an abundant/happy life.

It is nice to be reminded that if we focus on what’s really important, we would learn that most of the time, if not always, we have more than what we need. We just need to look around us.