7 Reasons why you need to buy handmade products by Philippine artists

Everyone has the heart of an artist, when we were younger, many of us wanted to be painters, sculptors, dancers and singers but not everyone is able to fulfill their  life-long dream due to practical reasons.

A lot of individuals, had to give up their own ambitions to support their families, a lot of people had to sacrifice what they wanted out of life- in order to fulfill their parents’ wishes.

*Smorgasboard

The current economy that we have right now is not forgiving, many individuals are forced to take jobs that they do not feel they belong to, and many still have the longing in their heart to continue what they love to do.

We need to buy locally made products by Philippine artists, in order to shift this type of market economy.

To purchase handmade products by artists who continue to dream and take on the challenge says a lot about what we want for the future.

#1. Purchase local made products in order to contribute to establishing a new economic model

Instead of purchasing gift and items that are mass produced, we can support Philippine artists who continue fighting for their craft.

We can bring a spark, a positive statement for artists to continue- in every product that we purchase—we are supporting creativity.

#2.  Crafts people have a higher tendency of using recycled materials.

  By using handmade crafts you can effectively reduce pollution and contribute your energy into transforming your local community into a better place.

#3, Philippine artists enjoy creating their crafts, there is thought and energy put into it, and it is a form of meditation for them, unlike the products that are mass produced from factories.

 The materials that artists produce contain positive energy and by purchasing them, you invite good energy into your home.

*Origami Pilipinas

4. Support creativity- if you want to change the world you have to put your financial resources and direct them to causes that you believe in.

Philippine artists need encouragement, by purchasing their craft you tell them that their work has value, and that they are contributing something positive to this world.

5. The value of handmade and locally made products by Philippine artists is definitely worth more than the mass produced items.

*Origami PIlipinas ( Arca's Gallery- Baguio City)

Even, if they will cost more, it is definitely worth every penny, the item has been made with love, care and attention, and this is what the receiver of your gift will see once they get to have the item as a present coming from you.

#6 You are making a personal connection with the artist who has created it, you get the chance to spread the ideas of the artist who wants to share something to the world.

By purchasing the locally produced items, you empower Philippine artists and you help pave the way for creative and sustainable means for everyone.

Artists all over the world, help us get inspired. For who are we without new ideas, imagination, new songs, new dreams.

By giving respect to locally made materials and products by local artists-we are slowly but effectively changing how artists are viewed.

And lastly

#7 Support the dream that is inside you—each of us have always wanted to express ourselves—while not everyone can continue in this life journey of creativity—we can help live it- through the work of our fellow artists.

Pictures featured in this blog are handmade products by various local artists in the Philippines.

Check the link for further information:

https://www.facebook.com/Origami-Pilipinas-193473777495646/?pnref=lhc

https://www.facebook.com/smorgasbord00/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ili-Likha/555594861166052?fref=ts

For further information contact: 09054043363

On Giving Freedom In Love

I have been pondering the question of relationships for a very long time.

 I have been observing married couples and how they conduct their daily life, conversations and arguments. I also compare the relationships that I see from new couples and how they respond to each situation.

Most of the time, there would be competition, if not competition or a series of dominating their partner's choices--it would fall into a comfortable routine.

 When I was younger I was in a relationship with a guy whom I was not compatible with.

Every day was a series of power play between the two of us, it was filled with insecurity. 

 This was mostly because I didn't know what I wanted from life- yet ( I will not recommend that teenagers have kids or to get married at an early age) 

The relationship would have succeeded, if I knew what I wanted out of life during that time, but a 21 year old hardly has any grasp of what they want out of life.

 This is the reason why I traveled, volunteered my time, joined as many travel expeditions as I could and made friends will all sorts of people-- it helped me heal.

Being in a relationship when you have remaining issues with your family members, and you are still not sure of what career you want to be in-- is a hard journey to be in--while some people come out alive- most people just bear the days- the routine, the unsolved questions.

It is a must for everyone to travel on their own, to travel with friends, go overseas--explore before they jump into a series discussion about commitment. 

There will be days inside a relationship, where everything would be total high, and the next day would be hell- and if you do not have a strong sense of what you want from life, and if you yourself have not enjoyed being alone- knowing your priorities- you would most likely depend on another person to make you feel fulfilled or happy.

You would become clingy, dependent and insecure- and when insecurity comes in-- love, or the ability to see everyday as fruitful and happy with your partner becomes hard to do. 

I always thought relationships should be like this, that they should be hard, that I have to win over it every day.

But are relationships meant to be draining? must you prove your jealousy and insecurities all of the time.

 Must it always be a battle of who is going to text who?

This was an energy draining experience, which is often present in most relationships that I know.

 So when I encountered the words of Osho,  with regards to relationship, it struck a chord in me. This was what I was exactly aiming for.

Can we love without asking for commitment and can it be about friendliness?

Most of the love that I know and the relationships that I see, is about possessiveness. 

I have observed that despite being married for more than 20 or 30 years a lot of married couples still have a sense of insecurity and wanting for security despite being with the same person for the rest of their life.

This means that you can be with a person, and you can live with them, sleep in one bed and do everything together and not feel secure-- if Marriage was supposed to provide that- why isn't it present in a lot of marriages nowadays.

And is security something to aim for?  Why do we want to have security- when the world is a series of passing experiences-- nothing remains the same--nothing ever will.


And so, thus began the need to  understand,  how does one arrive at Unconditional love.
What does it mean to love someone unconditionally?
 And what is Unconditional love vs. sick Relationships

Most people believe that if they are jealous and if someone is jealous in the relationship- that the relationship is healthy?

Does it mean, that it is healthy to be jealous that someone or some other person admires the one you love? Is it healthy to feel jealous when the love of your life is having a good time, even if it is not with you?

In order to be able to have a full realization of this, I became single for about five years.

I have discovered that there is depth and beauty to being single. 

Not single in a very alone and abandoned way- but single in the sense that you have remained available to your community- 

To the people around you- you do not view love as something that is closed--rather, every person you encounter in life-- is a part of your love extension to the world. 

In the process of changing and meeting myself,  I am able to flourish and respond well- when I was given the chance to meet a new person- I am able to welcome a man who can be a part of my happiness.

There is really nothing different, and we are not even at the point of committing- with us there is no sense of security but the love is alive. 

Most of the people we date immediately ask us to merge their life with us, we tend to compete and tend to want more.

When we give something, we want it returned and when it is not reciprocated we feel vengeful. We start competing, we start plotting on how to win the relationship war, and this is what drains us.

So, when I started relating with this man, when I  started connecting with him without any promise of security, loyalty or reciprocation--

A change came over me-- I felt free. Freer than ever, for the love felt organic and flowing.

 I removed all of the so called rules and standards of society of what a relationship should be. I just freely gave him what I wanted to give, without hindrances and without holding back.

When you say “yes” to the “isness” of life, when you accept this moment as it is, you can feel a sense of spaciousness within you that is deeply peaceful.

—	Eckhart Tolle

I stepped out of the relationship circle and started entering the zone of unconditional love. Can we really love someone unconditionally? Without any rules? without demands and can we be thankful for their presence every day of our lives?

I did not need any assurance of in a relationship status on social media, I wanted nothing of any public declaration of some sort--it felt more honest.



While I am still in the process of finding it out, there had been several positive instances.

 When I allowed this man his freedom and did not ask for commitment, when I allowed him to be his true self when he is with me, and when I did not ask any questions, and when I did not have any doubts as to the love that he has, and the love I have for him-- 

When  I just focused on giving him support and love-- things have been really working out well.

This is a hard to understand concept for a lot of people ,especially the ones who have banked on for loyalty for a very long time.

For individuals who have been directed by certain religions to believe certain things.

In observance, most relationships are just fascist in nature.

Love in many ways should not be about who is superior, who is going to dominate who, it is not something that must be governed by the ego.

The surprising thing here is the more that I have given him his freedom, the more life flowed inside my heart and the more I had direction over my life.
I have been running to and fro for a very long time, and only this kind of redeeming love has opened me to my mission in life.

The mission was of course, not to make him my entire world, but to turn him into someone who will inspire me to do more- for people, for everyone. 

 A deep desire, that has not existed, despite traveling to so many places and being with so many people.

There is another quality to this kind of love, perhaps because we were also connecting in the physical sense and transferring energy to one another.

" Love in the utmost sense if a state of being, as stated by Osho".
I am assessing if the love and inspiring feeling that I have is the kind of love that could move mountains, and if it is something that is not destructive in any way.
The only thing that I have observed is that I wanted to have a better version of myself, I truly wanted to strive for more.

There is only one possibility for sanity to exist in relationships so they don't turn into inferiority and superiority games, so they don't become sado-masochistic tortures. And that only possibility is in the presence of an unconditional love. Love is the greatest alchemy.- Osho 

 In many ways, this was the kind of love that fully completed the circle. I invested my time heavily in my community and have provided my service and love for a very long time.

And everything was returning in a good way, and this love for life became even deeper when I was also able to love a partner in life- this love was not in anyway superior to the love that I have for each  of my friends and loved ones- it just allowed me to express myself more...

It made me want to dance more, it made me feel alive, I was already alive and thriving and do not really depend on this kind of love from a man, but it catapulted me into feeling and completing something that was foreign and u unknown to me before. 

I am self assessing myself, so that whatever I am feeling right now will not turn into a bondage of some sort, it will not be a dependence but rather just a rich quality to who I am and what I already have inside of me.