It’s December 29, 2022 and celebrating the year end with my daughter Rachelle and my brother Pipo who flew all the way from Manila after a minor surgery. The process was a struggle.
Many leaders of the world have officially announced that their countries are now living with COVID status. Majority, if not all have been vaccinated and the world hypothetically achieved it’s goal to have herd immunity. It may not be true to other countries but Philippines and Japan (where I’m currently based) at least opened its doors to travelers, as long as they’re vaccinated with three doses. May of 2022, my daughter and I took that leap of faith to experience pandemic travel. There were many documents involve, protocols to be followed, negative PCR tests, answer quarantine questionnaire just to be permitted to enter both countries. I’m glad to take that leap and finally after 3 years of being away from my country, we were home. That was a turning point.
Hope and faith re-emerged, new doors opened, new acquaintances were made, faced new opportunities, it was like a rebirth for all of us, family and friends. I knew in my heart that faith will lead us to where we are now. Faith that the Lord is always with us. Will never forsake us and wouldn’t want us to linger and swim in an ocean of darkness and emptiness. Why am I saying this? Time and again, I’ve proven that my mind set and take in life is correct. And that is, nothing lasts forever. I begged and prayed so hard to God to end the situation the soonest He can. He alone can do that. Not us. Not even the gigantic companies competing for what’s the best vaccine in the world. I firmly believed in my heart that He will put an end to these 3 years chaotic situation. Lo and behold, He did! Amen to that! God is bigger that all these: There is no greater love but the love of our Lord Jesus Christ to his children and believers. He loved us so much that He thought it’s about time to end our doubts, sufferings and sacrifices even if we don’t deserve it.
I kept on with my life and so as everybody else. Continued to mentor, to teach, to release a CD, to collaborate with other musicians, to attend jazz festivals, to perform with all my heart and offer them all to God. He deserves everything. To be glorified and to be thanked over and over again.
My recital was scheduled on Dec 3rd of 2022, and I got the final announcement of ALIW nominees, 7 days before my flight. Students’ recital is the highlight of the year but then I had to fly to Manila on the 3rd or at least 4th to be present on the ALIW awards night. I love my students and want to be with them more after the culminating event but I was determined to fly home. Hallelujah, I got the award for ‘Best Jazz Artist’ based abroad!!
While I’m writing this, I’m still overwhelmed, still experiencing a roller coaster of emotions and haven’t shed tears of joy to finally accept that I’m a winner! But guess what, I won!
Yes! After long years of hard work and perseverance and after hearing words of rejection, invalidating me as an artist, people saying things behind my back, musicians who bully me (how I wish I can mention their names) and tell me that I’m not good enough, I’ve probably redeemed myself. Perhaps some people thought that I was showing off when I became an artist in the US. I thought that it would be my passport to be one of the boys. I studied, and studied hard, invested in a lot of workshops and mentors, be in a situation where I can work with good musicians and did my best to avoid the bullies. Yet, they will always be there. Not everybody will be happy with your achievements. Some will like it, some abhor it.
I sing for the love of music. I improvise for the love of Jazz. I teach because I want to give back and share whatever little knowledge I have to aspiring jazz vocalists. I do what I love to do because I know it would love me back. Getting an award doesn’t mean that the bullies are no longer there. They are still around planning on how they can pull you down. Unfortunately, no one can put a good man down. I do everything for the glory of God. Getting that trophy is just the beginning of yet another long journey to who knows where.
I’m writing this to remind myself that if something is meant for you, it’s meant for you no matter what. All we need to do was just to work hard, persevere and believe that God will keep his promise in His own perfect time. Like He promised that my brother can travel back to Japan to be with me and my daughter even if he’s still in recuperation. Nevertheless, looking at him now, he’s healed. Being with family and true friends is the best time ever.
What am I looking forward to on 2023? Blessings! Blessings that I know I’m not deserving but seemingly God sees it. May all our dreams and aspirations come true this 2023. Perseverance, Hope and most of all, unceasing prayer of thanksgiving to God Almighty are the keys to where God really wants to put us. Let go! Let God! Thank you ALIW AWARDS! Thank you Father God! Mom and Dad, Tetsu, Pipo and Rachelle. The loves of my life.
I bid adieu to 2021. It’s been a better year for the entire world. I don’t remember the last time I tried to write and express how I feel about this chaotic, deranged and incomprehensible mad virus that shook the world and turned it upside down. This 2022, I fervently hope that we can be like dusts becoming a pearl. Whole, contented and ready again to face a new chapter with the remaining years of our healthy lives.
For two years (more or less from when the pandemic started), we were taken to a different dimension. As if humanity was forgotten in oblivion and no one is doing anything about it, more so nothing can be done at all. Even medical researchers , scientists, the oligarchs and even the members of the clergy are clueless and oblivious to what was happening to the world. I can think of a whole lot of adjectives to describe the different roller coaster of emotions hovering us.
I am basically an easy going type. Never sweating the small stuff. I always choose to be happy just because I hate to feel lonely. Besides , who wants a company who’s always whining and fretting or just feeling sorry for themselves, among other toxic activities that an unhappy person would do? Nobody!
In retrospect though, 2020 wasn’t really that disappointing. I pulled off my students’ recital amidst the strange virus, was nominated for Philippines’ ALIW Awards (USA’s Grammy), in a category that fit what I’m doing, did collaboration shows with my talented students, performed virtually (and did a jazz workshop) for the prestigious Cultural Center of the Philippines, guested for virtual events internationally, moved to a better apartment, learned more songs, wrote original songs, started vlogging, online lessons, did afternoon gigs, wrote an article for a newsletter, judged a song writing competition, worked on my health and wellness, consistent in doing yoga and meditative activities, have more time speaking to my brother, daughter, family, dear friends, took long walks and smelled the flowers, sat down by the seashore, made new friends in person (although totally masked up), and virtually. I guess that’s a LOT and I can go on and on. Therefore for 2021, despite the global adversity, 2021 has been kind and I’m profoundly grateful to the most Almighty for helping me make it through.
Surviving year 2020 and finally crossing over to 2022 via 2021, I want to conclude that overcoming fear is now one of my admirable qualities that I can share with some of you who are still groping and endlessly asking all your WHYs to the universe. Being good in managing life is never an easy task, but it’s all worth the energy and effort. What is life without chaos? Boring!
Cliche, but I am making baby steps forward to more colorful and exciting days ahead with love, faith, joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, Thank pride, amusement, inspiration and awesomeness.
I shall be waving farewell to 2021 and no plans whatsoever on looking back. Life. It is what it is. Like it or not. Personally, I love my life!
So here’s my take over these hullabaloos recently. By not believing in every news I read and see on social media, be it true or fake, life becomes simpler. We all just need to live with our normal routine every single day. This time with a lot of precautions and reflections.
Clearly, Mother Earth is crying for nurturing and tender loving care by its citizens. It took an outbreak to change the way we look out for others and ourselves. It taught us to go back to the basics of hygiene, healthy living, eating a balanced diet, exercise, appreciate arts, music, literature, and last but not necessarily the least, to be thankful for the things we have that in all honesty, some of us don’t really deserve. We have become so engrossed with the way of the world. Living in the edge, like a cliffhanger waiting for the next exciting event to happen. We move faster than the bolt of lightning, not knowing when to breath and feel in silence. Too much talk, too much brouhaha on everything. We have become our own monsters unaware of our actions. The 7 capital sins over powered the 7 cardinal virtues. The 7 capital sins namely lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath envy and pride are winning over the 7 cardinal virtues being chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility.
Somehow, we are being reminded that at the end of the day, humanity matters. Lives matter. Not only black lives (as the cliche goes) but all of us matter. We have fear for our lives more than ever as the dreadful Covid 19 spreads and becomes a pandemic.
I am not writing this to preach or to proclaim myself as a self righteous person. This is my observation and thoughts as I continue to pray in silence and feel anxious about my loved ones. Family and friends. I must admit, in the first few days of the outbreak, I panicked. For my life? No! For running out of stock on toilet papers and masks. Shallow nonsense thinking hovering around me. It’s emotionally and physically dragging until I heard a wise person said that fear and anxiety causes stress and stress makes the immune system weak making our systems vulnerable to diseases.
At a certain point, I stopped. While taking all the necessary precautions like washing my hands, keep a healthy lifestyle, be thankful for little blessings everyday, for friends, for families and for beautiful mornings, I continue to live my day as normal as I can. In the first place, these are basic in daily living. All I need is to be reminded that cleanliness is next to Godliness. I try to meditate more by breathing in and breathing out, tell myself, that no matter what, God got my back and God is greater than this.
Who knows where and how this pandemic started or going to end if at all, but we will thrive. We will get through this. With a lot of precautions and to always knock on the doors of the Almighty, to have faith that He will not forsake His children. While He takes care of us, let us take care of Mother Earth. It’s hard to go back to basics, be organic, be compassionate for humanity, be kind to one another, and above all, be thankful every waking moment of our lives. It’s never too late to start all over again. I am now. This is why I’m writing this. So I can contribute a new article on my blog. Covid 19 is man made, while we are created by our Almighty. We can undo this. Remember that The Good is mightier than the Evil.
Let us all be honest. With the emergence of the internet and innumerable social media accounts, we can easily connect with family and friends, shop, order food, do our business transactions online without the aid of a real person. I am now in a dilemma and can not help but think if we are really more connected or more so, disconnected as human beings. Gone are the days when only CEOs of million dollar corporations, high-profiled politicians, the CIA et al can get hold of a computer. Now, even a newly born baby is already hooked on online computer games, animations that can be searched, all in one click. As adults, specially the working moms and dads, rely on automation to find more time to spend with kids and to have a social life or perhaps, time to visit the church more often. If that is the case, then thank God for Internet connection.
One quick question, did you ever, at one point in your life, depended on google search and have SIRI or Alexa find your prayer and recite it for you? If you are guilty of this, don’t worry. Welcome to the club of tech savvy like me. Some of us agree that technology saves time, correct. SIRI and Alexa are both computer programmed robots engineered to assist us with the stress of daily living. They help us pray too, when we run out of words on what to pray or how to pray to gain favors. Charismatic Catholic, members of the clergy like priests and nuns should spend more time in Catechism, to teach and remind the members of the church, that all we need to do is to thank Him everyday for sustaining us. You do note that a prayer, not coming from the heart is totally disconnecting us from God.
Does prayer have to be always recited loud like a monologue and be literally heard? What about music?
The musical arts of the Roman Catholic Church rank among its greatest contributions to contemporary culture. Music existed outside of the Church, of course. But it was the Catholic Church that first truly cultivated the art as we know it. In the service of praising God, it fostered a number of innovations, such as musical notation, that inform the ways we create and transmit music even today. This article will not dwell on the history of Christian music. It only wants to impart that through the power of music, we are profoundly connected to God.
Praying through music allows us to express our highest calling, to come together as a community to worship and praise God, in a way that no other art can. Painting, sculpture, and architecture might spur us toward holiness, but none can unite us quite like music. It is a form of art that invites group participation. Isn’t it written in the Holy bible, when two or more are gathered together in prayer, God is present? For as long as In praying through music, we share the same sentiment with a decent tune, God is with us.
We are profoundly blessed to be given this opportunity to be a part of the celebration of Radio Veritas’ 50th year anniversary. God has allowed us to sing to Him, in a form of a concert. All the Angels and saints are gathered in this event through prayer and music to give Him praise and Glory through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Blessed Mother has gone digital as well. She made sure that on this event, we shall all be connected to honor the Heavenly Father.
P.S. This article was written for the concert entitled ‘Music for the World’ dedicated to Radio Veritas’ 50th year anniversary.
‘Musicians are not entertainers. Music is an entertainment. It’s an evolution. It is SACRIFICE. An evolution of the mind and the heart’ #RicardoMuti at the CSO strike picket line.
There is a general stereotype that musicians work only for a minimum of 3 hours to a maximum of 5, but they get paid more. Some people complain, and make a big deal out of it. What they don’t know is that musicians work for the love of MUSIC per se. The compensation comes second. A musician can get luckier if he is good and paid for some amount of fortune.
We study hard, practice a lot, listen a lot, eats a lot of time for rehearsals to create an impeccable sound. We are doing this to inspire, to inform and share some wealth of knowledge to the aspiring and the real gifted ones. Musicians are either undervalued or unfortunately overrated by the people manipulating the industry of Music. We sacrifice, practice, create and recreate because if we don’t, then WHO WILL?
Therefore the reason why there are a lot of continuous studies on campuses all over the world and thank God for technology, online courses accesible in countries where internet connections are available.
We eat, drink and live music. You got no choice but to deal with that. Thank the universe for the gift of music and the musicians who continue to keep the legacy. The legacy of creating a GOOD sound. #LornaCifra
Changes are inevitable. It’s like death. Like a thief in the night. I do not believe in tarot cards nor fortune tellers but what I believe in is that change happens everyday in our lives. We do not have the faintest idea why all of a sudden, without any notice, we need to say goodbye to people, things and others that have been with us for years, or we have gotten used to for the longest time. These events can leave us unprepared, taken aback and make us even emotional, for crying out loud. I’ve shed many tears, and this year 2019 is not new anymore.
What is a big question to me is that, have I become stoic to these sad events that I can no longer feel a lump in my throat building up as if anytime I will just burst into tears? No more tears. Does that mean I’ve become anesthetized and numb that i treat life , along ( with its’ ups and downs ) with full acceptance and became a full blown adult or otherwise? Have I become non human, unemotional, detached and impassioned?
Things happen for a reason is an old school cliche. I’m always on the lookout for those reasons but I end up concluding that things, just happen. A writer once wrote that being too positive and optimistic in life, makes a man dumb and dysfunctional. I will agree to that. Adversities and tribulations come in so many different shapes and sizes. We often think that they are heavier than what we can only carry. Getting through a day is already stressful, tedious and could be fatally soul-destroying. I am not insinuating that life actually sucks. Although reality is, it does.
These trials and challenges we face on a daily basis make us better people. We become fiercer, bolder, better problem solvers and head strong, we get though these hurdles by mastering mind control. It boils down again to ‘Mind over Matter’ theory (which personally works for me) all the time. What you don’t mind doesn’t even matter. Believing that what happens at the present stays there and it becomes the past. The future and the consequence of what has happened is not even a part of the deciding factor to find solutions to certain unthinkable situations. As we are pumped, knocked, jabbed, smashed and cuffed by these travails, we bloomed into becoming better warriors in life. We learn to accept and embrace change.
lornacifra 