It’s A Tuesday Afternoon and While Most of You Are at Work...

... I am enjoying my little sliver of heaven. No, I’m not talking about a sinfully scrumptious piece of cake, or a naughty little outfit that I got on sale, or a soothing massage at a spa.

I am working, too. Only, I’m at one of my favorite work spots (the conference area in Starbucks Leviste), and trying out my first-ever glass of caramel macchiato while taking mini-bites of multi-grain bagel with tomato, mozzarella, and basil. It’s 3PM, and I just came from Fully Booked at Bonifacio High Street, where I had to return some books that I pulled out for MEGA’s April issue. And, of course, I couldn’t go home to the Mother Ship without taking something back so I did a bit of book shopping and finally got my own copy of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello, and Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink. Long-overdue purchases—for the sake of intellectual stimulation, “research,” and “community support.”

And Rogue! Oh my goodness, Rogue. If it were possible to fall in love with a magazine at first mention (not even at first sight), that would be my relationship with Rogue. I knew the instant I heard about it that I had to get a copy—and that, someday, I have to write for it. (And my editors at the top magazine publishing houses will kill me for saying this.)

The magazine is obviously not a lad mag—and it’s not gentlemanly GQ, either. It’s intelligent and polished but somehow rough on the edges. It’s artful and soulful but not cheesy and romantic. It’s seductive but not “sexy.” Hmmmm... Now that I think about it, Rogue is what Paul was on our “magical” Havana date—the night I knew that I was looking at forever. Hahaha—‘nuff said.

The March issue is a particularly good buy, I think. Its take-two on Philippine cinema is somewhat educational—at least for non-film buffs such as myself—and its features are as intelligent as they are candid. (I even found myself reading Lourd de Veyra’s piece on Ace Vergel, as well as his wonderfully written exposition on thespian Ronnie Lazaro.) My favorite piece is the collaboration of photographer Frankie Callaghan and writer Luis Katigbak, in which soulful—sometimes stark—photographs come alive and inspire a closer look or a thoughtful pause, and in which words arouse haunting questions and distant memories.

(Hmmm... The Rogue man and the MEGA woman would go well together, methinks.)

But more than my impromptu shopping trip and my serenely solitary moments today, what stands out are the conversations I had with three beautiful and empowered women, all of whom I had to interview this morning for MEGA’s June cover stories. In conversing with actress and model Teresa Herrera, I caught a glimpse of what real beauty is all about—and why women everywhere need to be shown that they are beautiful inside and out. As someone who grew up with serious self-esteem and self-image issues, I appreciated her candor as we talked about her “journey” towards wholeness and balance. More on that in MEGA in June!

And now, I’m working to kill time since my Team RP meeting doesn’t start until 6PM. Again, it’s been one of those days when art, business, and politics merged in an effortless stream of activities—when I found a synthesis of myself in all the little things I did, bought, and digested. I’m thinking: If everyone can find something to do that is as authentic and as “full of themselves” as today has been for me, then—perhaps—people would be working less and living more.

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Written: 25 March 2008

Copyright © 2008 by Niña Terol