Self Love Is A Battlefield (Exploring Capones and Camara Island)

I carried it always…that scarf stolen
as you walked away

Wore it as a knight…adorned in my lady’s colors.
soothed myself
…with its soft texture

breathed deeply
...imagined scent
…long faded.

Wrapped my wound in it
….tied tightly
…a tourniquet
…to stem the loss of blood protection from death’s coldness.

Hoping it would work as I shivered
…on that day you walked away.

Source: John Glawless, 12/14/2015

Conquering the hidden beauty of Zambales was indeed grueling. Pardon me for my getup. It has always been one of my childhood dreams of becoming a US Marine where I find them like the best of the best alpha males in the whole world. Extreme training especially in islands where I found it fit for me to at least live it to the fullest based on how I perceived myself behind the sweaty top and digital camouflage... trying to fight the pain and despair with uncertainty of your own life...for the sake of others' security( man that's deep)

Four kilometers off Barangay Pundaquit, Zambales in the main island of Luzon, Philippines is the Capones Island or “Isla de Gran Capon” during the Spanish era. It is a two kilometer long bone-shaped island surrounded by white sand and rocky shores. If you are coming from the east side of Capones Island, you have to trek for an hour or less, to a rocky shore, passing to an unfinished building and statue of Mama Mary. Good thing our boatman, Kuya Rey(too bad I forgot to take a photo of him) was there to give me directions since it was already past afternoon that time.I suggest you have someone with you who knows the place since the trail up has no signage, (only stone guides) and you may get lost. But if you are coming from the other side of the island (near the stairs), the lighthouse is already visible so it is easier to reach the place passing through a field, this side of the island however has rocky shore and some huge waves making it impossible for small boats to dock. Here is an actual photo of me after reaching the island where the banca itself has to be placed few meters away. Worth riding the waves and getting the tan lines then LOL

There was a saying that " In a world with more distractions than ever, it can be increasingly difficult to focus on the present. It takes effort and practice to resist predicting the future and/or dwelling on the past. " So without wasting time, I did made my own style of meditation and simply embraced the spirit of the high seas renewing my energy together with the smoothness of the easterly winds calming my entire body within. I had to completely take it all away whatever is still on my mind, heart and spirit. No matter what road you choose to pursue, there are many benefits to doing so. Meditation can help with everything from reducing stress and improving concentration to better cardio and immune system health. If you need further proof of either, try your own or try what I did. So I did included some of the best quotes in accordance to my movements here:

I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.” – T.S. Eliot

“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” – Amit Ray

To wrap up and seize the day, I can't miss to drop by Camara Island. Camara Island is the closest island from the shores of Pundaquit Zambales. The island, like its close neighbor Capones, is also a big lump of rock with very little soil. The island has a great view of the open ocean. It has two sides separated by a white sandbar that becomes visible during the lowtide and disappears during the high tide.

And because I wrote this, I entitled it this way. Every soldier in us must know, before he goes into battle, how the little battle he is to fight fits into the larger picture, and how the success of his fighting will influence the battle as a whole. And so I am sharing it again and I ask that you share it as well because there are a thousand voices behind it. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands.

Truly,
@darylsid11