Authenticity By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   EARLY morning past midnight, I received a call from Luz Maria Lopez, a friend from Puerto Rico. Luz and I met at a 2016 literary conference in India and maintained our friendship since that time. We have occasional video chats that lasted for thirty…

March and the first full moon By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THE term “Ides” refers to the first full moon of a given month, normally occurring between the 13th and 15th. At some point in time, Ides “signified the new year, which meant celebrations and rejoicing”. The first thing that comes…

Radius of trust By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   IN personal relationships, almost always, there is a radius of trust, that is, the circle of people among whom a relationship can be openly nurtured and shared. The radius of trust could be bigger or smaller depending on the quality of relationships…

My religion By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   MY Christian friends, both from the Catholic and Protestant religions, would like to see me a Christian. My Buddhist friends would want me to become a Buddhist. My Baptist friends, of course, would want me to go back as a Baptist, once again….

Babaylan Feminism: An Imperative for Women Now By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   IT is a fact that we owe the advancement of women to those who have worked towards women empowerment through the years. What we owe to ourselves is to retain whatever gains they have made and to contribute…

Communion with the water bearer By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   The water in the river (03 February 2021 6:14 a.m.) in time, you and I will flow over stones and on the bends where we stay one or separate ways   on this journey we leave our conversation with the…

The voice By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   OVER a period of time, I listened to the poet Leonard Cohen. I needed to listen to his soft voice to engage the roughness of the environment I move in, like I needed to regularly breathe fresh air, to cleanse my thoughts of…

The Appointment By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THERE was an ancient Mesopotamian tale, retold by W. Somerset Maugham, which appears as an epigraph for the novel by John O’Hara: “A merchant in Baghdad sends his servant to the marketplace for provisions. Soon afterwards, the servant comes home white and trembling…

The man from the sky By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THERE are times when the body and the mind cooperate not to cooperate. Today for example, my body wanted to remain inside the bedsheets, when it was time for me to water the plants. After watering the plants, I should…

The thing called happiness By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   IN 1972, the 4th King of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck declared, “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.” It is the very first time that the concept was articulated, changing the perspectives and measurements of Bhutan’s overall development. As an alternative…