GENEVIEVE, MY SEATMATE

Last Thursday was my second time attending meditation class at Brahma Kumaris. I met this lady by the name of Genevieve. She was sitting on my right, in dark-gray-almost-black dress accentuated with black semi-precious stones bib necklace. She maybe five-feet flat tall, with long colored hair, fair skinned, has mestiza features and wears a scent of nice perfume I could not recognize. She's probably old enough to be my Tita. The class was about the Art of Seeing. And although the topic was about "perspectives," I kept myself from looking at anyone. Instead, I was contented observing each one secretly in the meditation room. Most of the attendees are mature adults although, I've noticed a couple of people my age. Or, perhaps they maybe younger than I am. Genevieve caught my attention when she shared something about her childhood experience when she was growing up in Pikit, Cotabato.

She remembers it all well how life was in Pikit where each house has foxhole. They would hear gunshots here and there from time to time and as soon as they hear the sound of the guns, they'd go down the foxhole with candles and stay there until the sound of firing guns stops. It was a hard time, for those who may have watched them, yes. But for children like her in Pikit, it was a normal day-to-day living. And for her, as she relates, it was never a cause for her not to see herself succeeding in life. And never did she considered that life in Pikit would never bring her to where she is now. She even considered being a maid in Manila while studying and it didn't matter to her for her goal was to succeed in life. She has the most inspiring voice resonating in that room and the whole class was seeing her, watching her life flash before our very eyes as she relates it to us. She said that she chose to see what is positive for she knew that she may not be good at everything but she was so sure that she's really good at something. And that, she discovered and was her bullet that she carried around with her.

Why am I talking about Genevieve? Because the moment I decided to rename my blog, I was determined to find and write about women who are living or who have lived their life the way a beautiful woman should. And Genevieve would be my first. That moment, I saw through her, felt her determination and her compassion even though it was my first encounter with her. I saw how beautiful she is the way she reached for her dreams. She inspired me to believe and see, to choose to see what is positive, and to get curious. She is, for me, living a life of a beautiful woman.

Cheers for Genevieve!

More love to life,

Bella Donna