A friend from LA Asked me to draw “what it meant for me to be a pinay in America” or something along those lines… and I tried to put as much thought and truth as I could in the last 2minutes I had left in LA before I had to head out to Delano… and ^above is a result. Excuse the kindergarten scribbles, but this is pretty much as honest as I could’ve made it. Though it gives me an overwhelming feeling of appreciation and pride, I’m also filled with so much hurt and hopelessness. MY personal struggle will never EVER match my father’s struggle. My mother’s struggle. Even my older brother’s struggle. And sometimes it pains me to be reminded of all the sacrifice, energy, effort, and support put into MY education. MY happiness. MY future. MY life.  I can never EVER fully repay them for all they have done for me… and the simple truth of the matter is that all they ask in return is for me to live a proper, responsible, happy life… but lately even something as simple as that is difficult to do. The point I am trying to put across is that there is no greater love than those of the people that come before us… who pave a way for a simpler life with more opportunities.. a life with easier circumstances that will allow us to make something bigger of ourselves.  The people before us spend most of there life creating the world they want for US. And I’d be blessed if I can be half the people my parents and older brother are.  The blood and sweat my father poured into the grape fields and cold Alaskan seas will not be in vain. The countless hours my mother put into raising her children and providing for the family will not be in vain.  Even the sacrifices and never-ending support my old brother has given me will not be in vain. It’s time I step it up  and make bigger changes in my life. And I know I may be ‘just’ typing this as I think at 2am in the morning… but the reality is that this has been on my mind for a long time. It’s time to take bigger leaps. 

A friend from LA Asked me to draw “what it meant for me to be a pinay in America” or something along those lines… and I tried to put as much thought and truth as I could in the last 2minutes I had left in LA before I had to head out to Delano… and ^above is a result. Excuse the kindergarten scribbles, but this is pretty much as honest as I could’ve made it. Though it gives me an overwhelming feeling of appreciation and pride, I’m also filled with so much hurt and hopelessness.

MY personal struggle will never EVER match my father’s struggle. My mother’s struggle. Even my older brother’s struggle. And sometimes it pains me to be reminded of all the sacrifice, energy, effort, and support put into MY education. MY happiness. MY future. MY life.  I can never EVER fully repay them for all they have done for me… and the simple truth of the matter is that all they ask in return is for me to live a proper, responsible, happy life… but lately even something as simple as that is difficult to do.

The point I am trying to put across is that there is no greater love than those of the people that come before us… who pave a way for a simpler life with more opportunities.. a life with easier circumstances that will allow us to make something bigger of ourselves.  The people before us spend most of there life creating the world they want for US. And I’d be blessed if I can be half the people my parents and older brother are.  The blood and sweat my father poured into the grape fields and cold Alaskan seas will not be in vain. The countless hours my mother put into raising her children and providing for the family will not be in vain.  Even the sacrifices and never-ending support my old brother has given me will not be in vain.

It’s time I step it up  and make bigger changes in my life.

And I know I may be ‘just’ typing this as I think at 2am in the morning… but the reality is that this has been on my mind for a long time.

It’s time to take bigger leaps.