I Stand With Kindness

Hi there. 

Some time ago I read an article that if a person spends too much time in an enclosed space, it drives them crazy—without them knowing it. So I hope you haven't gone insane yet. If you did, well, I can only suggest yelling PLOT TWIST to yourself and I guess, do something about it. Especially if you're a woman. Those hormones make wild decisions and believe me, you don't really want to do it. (I'm talking to you, Aira. Whatever it is, put that down)

How are you? 

Since you're reading this, I'm assuming you're fine. You ate a good meal and will probably eat another later. You're in a safe place—alone or with your love ones. You're probably one of the people who make fancy coffee drinks—and there's nothing wrong with that. You don't need to be afraid of the people who will judge you. They're just sad they can't have some of your iced coffee. 

I know I am.

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This post is for the people of my country:

There is no perfect government and people will always criticize the work a leader puts out. 

It will seem unfair but you shouldn’t be surprised; it do be like that sometimes. For leaders, the best thing they can do is display a sense of poise (and rationality lol) when it comes to presenting their ideas or giving orders. For us, subordinates, we must cooperate, practice discipline, etc. and that’s not really hard to do. 

Unless you’re a country with a poverty problem.

Philippines is not a poor country but it’s fucked up. Out of 195 countries, Pinas’s GDP sits on rank number 39, which isn’t bad at all. The problem is that the wealth is uneven. Few Filipinos are outrageously rich, while the vast majority are lower middle class, and an extensive amount are very, very, very poor. I’m talking about people who do not eat three times a day or barely eat at all. When someone doesn’t have the needs to survive (in this case, food), they turn desperate. Desperation turns to misery, misery turns to anger and anger turns to chaos. 

It’s a life formula.

Filipinos have been traumatized by different foreign countries who colonized us from a long time ago. And although they have brought a numerous amount of things that have expanded our “culture”, they also bestowed the idea of inferiority and crab-mentality that up until now we carry and might even pass on to the next generation.

Majority of us refuse to see this reality and instead, fight over what’s your “right” and your “wrong”, turning our backs against each other.

There is a global pandemic and now would be a good time to swallow your pride. 

When someone, say, a celebrity, posts a message about helping one another—we judge them and brush off what they say. When you have a lot of fans or a massive following in a social media platform, wouldn’t you want to use that power for the greater good? Why do we have to judge them based on what they did in the past? Or their looks? Why do we have to mock them and call them stupid? I mean, we’re all human here. Is this how you deal with your insecurity? Bringing other people down when all they want is to share the word of kindness and camaraderie? Why do we have to fight over that? 

And to add, what’s wrong with thinking about the poor? Since the vast majority of the people in the Philippines are suffering from hunger and no shelter, shouldn’t they have a voice in this? And don’t come telling me that it’s their fault because it’s not.

It could have been you or it could have been me out there—desperate to eat and ashamed because I can’t feed my family—but you never think of these things, don’t you?

You are blessed with a lot of things that you probably don’t deserve but you have it anyway. And those people? They work hard, day and night, yet they still remain in the bottom of the pyramid. And no, it’s not because they did something wrong or because they messed up—some things just aren’t meant to be. And these people, they deal with it. They don’t need our charity or our money. They need our empathy and compassion—that, you know, hoping that they’ll get a chance to say their piece and that someone will understand. 

I grew up with family members who are givers; never asking anything back from someone they helped. And I look up to these people. They never taught me or gave me a sermon about sharing is caring blah blah blah. I witnessed them doing it and for a while it confused me. Why would I keep giving people something that they can earn or get themselves? Until it happened to me; to our family. We always needed more money or more help. And even though we worked so hard for things, we just couldn’t get it right. 

It was depressing. Imagine: an entire family suffering from depression—this is what a country with poverty problem looks like.

So, Kyla, what’s your point?

MY POINT IS..

You must understand the concept of life: it’s not about you all the time. If it is, then we didn’t ask to be part of YOUR life Karen. The global drama is not just challenging because we’re trying to conquer a virus, it’s also a wake-up call, that all we really need is to work together.

Don’t ever blame someone for what they are enduring in this life. Don’t ever say, “Eh, kasalan naman nila kasi they are like this blah blah..”. It’s not their fault. And observing this kind of mindset from religious people make me sick. I thought it was pretty obvious that our man JC wanted everyone to do unto others what you would have them do to you?

Because if that’s not pretty clear, Jesus is not proud of you.

angel locsin is jesus in this context and u are maja

My name is Kyla Estoya and I stand with kindness.

Every act of random kindness goes a long way, especially if done genuinely. There is no time to keep one-in' up another. This country had its setbacks. Well, still has a lot of it, but this should be our priority. A lot of us are insecure and it has become our hobby to make other people feel shitty about themselves. It makes us feel superior and in control. 

But you’re not supposed to control the world, Karen. Some things won’t go your way. You will be disappointed and you will get mad. 

And no matter how desperate you act to get what you want, it will never go your way.

SEE WHAT I DID THERE?

(If you didn't, I mean Karen is both the rich, the privileged and unheard poor people of Pinas. Tangina keep up. Akala ko ba, you're good with reading comprehension.)

Boom.

What is the lesson here?

If you can help, help. You have been blessed to be a blessing. Practice it.

May paborito akong line sa kantang 'Ako ay Pilipino':

Bigay sa 'king talino
Sa mabuti lang laan
Sa aki'y katutubo
Ang maging mapagmahal

Maging mapagmahal, Pilipinas. 

It’s good for our karma. Make JC proud.

LOVE,

PLAYLIST:

Sa Tollgate by Eraserheads

Rose-Colored Boy by Paramore
At Last by Tandem '91
Love + U by Jensen and The Flips
Stupid Love by Lady Gaga