"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."
-Lao Tzu
Philippines is rich in culture and tradition. Each city or province has a local fiesta. Being a very religious centered country, a fiesta is commonly about the celebration of a city or province’s patron saint or of harvest. It is normally a large and joyful feast joined by large group of peoples interacting with each other, singing, dancing, drinking and playing.
Here in Vigan City, we have a fiesta held every 25th of January in honor of the patron saint of Vigan, St. Paul the Apostle. St. Paul was known as Saul, a zealous persecutor of Christians. After he was touched by a personal encounter with Jesus Christ on his way to Damascus, his name was changed to Paul and he endured a lot of hardships and danger to spread the word of God to far places.
Celebrating the Vigan City Fiesta during the pandemic was hard but thanks to the Vigan City Government, the Fiesta took place. By performing and obeying the Health and hygiene protocol, we were abled to enjoy and still feel the essence of this feast.
Fiesta, be it in the new normal or the old times, we must still hold onto the meaning of these celebrations. Even though we have varying levels of restrictions, accepting the reality of our situation without holding on to the hope that maybe things will return to ‘normal’ in time, can help us celebrate this feast realistically and with joy.
Covid-19 might limit the things we can do but it can never limit our creativity. Let's try something new like doing the things you'all normally do during fiestas before the pandemic started but do it virtually. By trying new things, we will gain experience and knowledge and if the certain problem will occur again, we already know how to handle it.
REFERENCES:
https://www.zenrooms.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/vigan-calle-crisologo-768x576.jpg
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2622245.Lao_Tzu
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I like the message from your blog. This pandemic may be scary and strict in prohibiting us from socializing or gathering in a crowd, but it would never stop us from celebrating the festival.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting blog I say. I know its been hard for us during this pandemic and all. With or without a festival, we should at least stay positive for our own sake.
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