I was very early on the second day of the first month of the year. My aunts tell me that my mother had gone out dancing on New Year’s Eve, and so she had gone into labor on New Year’s Day whereas I was due to be born the next month yet. My mother attests to the swift delivery – it was as if I had wanted to go out on New Year’s Day – to become one of the “firsts” of the year. My father said that they had to leave me as I was too tiny to be brought home, but after a few days, the doctors gave me clearance against the many odds.
I have felt that I was always ahead of the others. I used to plan ahead with my classmates in my younger years. We would plan both our work and play schedules, as we were loathe to neglecting both. When I first started working, I always got the job of planning company outings and parties. To this day, I do not like people who procrastinate. Perhaps trying to be born on January 1st has led me to become the planner that I am today. If I would have children in the future, then the one thing that I would certainly make them do and be good at would be to plan ahead for everything and to be prepared for any eventuality in the bigger game called life. I am still spreading my “planning skills” wings, trying to tell everyone that it pays to manage one’s time very well and to be prepared for anything and everything.
Mythology Post Two:
The myth for this post is that of the story of Malakas and Maganda (The Strong and the Beautiful) who, according to Philippine folk legend are the first man and woman on earth. It is myth of explanation stating how man first walked the earth. They both came out of a big chunk of a bamboo trunk, with the man first coming out, and the woman following soon after. They then lived on earth and began to procreate.
There are several interesting things about this myth. That both the man and the woman came out of the same piece of bamboo first makes the reader think that there is nothing vastly different between the man and the woman – that they are “cut from the same cloth”, so to speak. However, the sense of equality becomes shattered when the man first emerges from the bamboo and that he then makes mention that there is someone else in the bamboo with him and it is only then that the woman comes out – there is a gendered difference being emphasized at this point in time.
Finally, the bamboo pole is worth mentioning here. In the Philippines, the bamboo is a precious resource. People use it to build houses, and they say that the bamboo is the best material against the storms that plague the country, as bamboo poles are said to simply sway with the wind rather than break off in cases of very strong storms. Perhaps the desired perception is that the bamboo can be considered as a source of life – it provides shelter, food and can be used to earn a living. Hence the selection of the bamboo as the ultimate source of the first man and the first woman in this myth of explanation.
Source:
Bambooman.com (2014). “Malakas at Maganda – Philippine Folklore”. Retrieved from: http://www.bamboomusic.com/malakas_at_maganda.php
