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"We are on the eve of the new millennium." This phrase has become so cliché in the last decade. So, is our understanding of time and space constrained to numbers and dates? The measurements we use to define and locate ourselves are really artificial constructs. Time is relative. Yet, the year 1999 is, for many, a clear historical marker. Not because it is the threshold to the 21st century, but because we are on the eve of a new movement to redefine ourselves as Filipinos and Filipino Americans.
We are part of a legacy of culture and heritage that stems from the Philippine Archipelago. Its roots, our roots, are embedded deeply within those 7000 islands. Roots have not only survived 500 years of Spanish colonialism and 100 years of U.S. imperialism, but have become stronger because of it. Like the blood in our veins, they are necessary for life. It is the root that initiates, ensures, and protects growth; growth that inevitably brings change and ultimately causes movement. Even as our legacy remains rooted in the Philippines, we are experiencing a new history, a new movement as our people branch outward.
Never limited to the physical boundaries of a nation so small, Filipinos have been rediscovering the world. We, as children of Filipino descent, are part of a worldwide Diaspora, representing ourselves in multitudes of countries, cultures, religions and societies. Filipinos have been migrating to areas of the world that were once foreign and inaccessible. Like the tree whose branches grow outward and upward and whose roots strengthen to match this growth, Filipinos are expanding globally and internationally, yet are still bound together by a single legacy. The legacy of the islands.
As Filipinos immigrate to countries across the globe, we are experiencing movement. Not just movement from one physical location to the next, but a movement of the mind, a movement of culture, a movement of vision. We can see past the islands, past the waters that surround us, past the physical boundaries to someplace new. We can move beyond cultural stereotypes, beyond racial myths, beyond our own personal subjectivity to something different. We are envisioning a new being.
A seed buried in the most fertile soil cannot grow on its own. It needs to be cared for and nurtured. It needs attention and support. It needs time. This is critical. After being in the ground for so long without any change or progression, the seed seems infertile and barren. Abandonment would seem natural. But herein lies the mistake. The seed that appears inactive is actually growing beneath the surface. This is when the seed needs the most attention. It is the turning point between seed and plant. The seed no longer remains embedded in the soil but begins to emerge and to grow. Like the seed, our visions are not lost more desolate. They are beneath the surface growing, changing, evolving. Our visions cannot be abandoned; they need to be nurtured, supported and given attention. Our visions are not fading. They are there, they have always been there, waiting and anticipating.
The concept of vision is not new. It is the ability to manifest our visions that is groundbreaking.
maganda99
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