All we don’t want for Christmas

Sure, Christmas is one of the best times of the year. There is an invigorating crispness in the air, streets and homes twinkle with festive multi-colored lights, wonderful memories of past Christmases are stirred up by sentimental carols, and people sort of become more cheerful and friendly.

But Christmas can be the worst time of year, both for us humans and for Mother Nature. The once simple and heartwarming celebration of Christ’s birthday has become a commercial monster that devours us year after year. But the strange thing is that we love it. We are addicted to the wild high of consumerism that Christmas opiates us with each year, and we are actually hooked to the harrowing and stressful, not to mention expensive yearend festivities.

Unwanted Gifts

This year, we will once again be spending millions on unwanted Christmas gifts. What senseless waste! We give presents because tradition tells us to (okay, you may blame the Three Kings or Santa!), and our shallow, little brains have been programmed that it is the thing to do.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want to be a killjoy – I enjoy giving and receiving gifts, too. But we tend to go overboard and overdo the whole process. We are seduced by clever advertisements and glittering promises. We get attacked by the must-have-it fever and afflicted with the must-give-it pangs of guilt.

We tell ourselves to shop early, send our greetings early, but those things rarely get done. So, we get sucked into the maddening Christmas whirlpool again. Trying to figure out which gift to get whom with which money from where is horror enough. And what about the stressful shopping rush and the gallant but later regretted overspending?

If we put on our wisdom glasses, we would see that Christmas has become a blatant commercial orgy, an over-the-top material rat race. Yet no matter how many brightly wrapped toys and gifts we receive, we still feel empty, non-satiated. All this misleading fanaticism is exhausting. Will we ever grow tired of it?

If Only Trees Could Talk

If only trees could talk, they would object to what we do to them every Christmastime. We load them with lanterns and tinsel, and entwine kilometer-long Christmas lights around their trunks and delicate branches. Pretty, yes, but all the holiday décor could be a heavy burden for the trees to bear. The lights can get hot, leaving the tree thirsty and dry. And if we make the mistake of using a defective set of lights, the poor little tree could be electrocuted and burned.

Have you ever considered that the lights when turned on at night could actually disrupt the tree’s circadian rhythm? Trees go to sleep, too, you know. When the lights are on, the tree gets confused as to whether it should photosynthesize or not. And the leaves turn their photosensitive side to where the light is; thank God, trees are more intelligent than we think they are. And we sing, "Little Christmas tree, no one to buy you, give yourself to me." Hello, it would be frightened stiff!

Killing The Earth

Every Christmas, we pollute our planet and hasten its aging by many years. The end of the season leaves us with frightening tons of garbage from remnants of commercial abuse and excessive packaging – gift wrappers, plastic bags, boxes, ribbons, advertising materials, used décor, etc. There is also a huge amount of waste from food packaging – Styrofoam containers (non-biodegradable! Why haven’t these been outlawed yet?), plastic cups, and utensils (these don’t biodegrade in 50 years!), used paper napkins, not to mention the food wastage and spoiled leftovers which ironically could feed the world’s hungry.

And during the yuletide season, the earth nervously gears itself for the greatest annual ecological fiasco of all – New Year’s Eve, when we burn millions in firecrackers, pyrotechnics, and gunpowder to the great discomfort of poor Mother Earth. The waste in the aftermath is disgusting and the air becomes so polluted that your nostrils turn black. We are not only killing Mother Nature, we are asphyxiating ourselves to death.

Ditch The Junk

Is there a way we could enjoy all the glorious, wonderful, fuzzy feelings that Christmas brings without being too excessive on our part and abusive of Mother Nature? Yes, but we must use our common sense. We must get rid of most of the pointless junk that Christmas commercialism brings.

That would mean buying sensible gifts so we don’t add more junk and dust-gatherers into our abodes. We must give gifts the receiver could really use. Be creative in your gift packaging; use natural and biodegradable materials if possible. Recycle materials and dispose of waste properly. And be concerned about the country’s economy as well; Buy locally made products so we won’t sink deeper in foreign debt.

And please try to refrain from singing carols that speak of tropics-irrelevant things such as "Dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh," and stop "Dreaming of a white Christmas just like the ones I used to know" unless you grew up in a wintry place. Dream of a green and ecologically right Christmas instead. Right, JC? Merry Christmas everybody, and happy birthday JC!

How to start a mini-herbal garden, according to Domini Torrevillas

Start with a locally known plant like pandan or tanglad. These are available at local wet markets. Make sure that the bunch you buy still has roots.

Choose a sunny spot in your yard. Loosen up the soil with a spade or with an all-around kitchen knife. Dig holes in the soil and pour water into them, then stick the plants in. Tamp the soil lightly.

Don’t water the plants immediately after planting to prevent the soil from hardening. But do water them every morning thereafter. Avoid "over-watering", though. Look in on them upon coming home from work each day, to check on their progress. Treat them gently and well.

After a few weeks, you can begin to snip off leaves to add flavor to your meals.


Going organic

Going organic--that's the way an increasing number of Filipinos are headed. This simply means growing herbs, vegetables and other crops the natural way, without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

.....Organic farming, they call it. By most accounts, it's cheap, it's easy and definitely, healthful because the produce is free from toxic chemicals.

.....Some do it as a hobby, others as a means of livelihood or as a way to have a steady supply of fresh health food. Still others go into it as a momentary diversion from the stresses and pressures of urban living, Whatever the motivation, the lifestyle of a growing number of people has gone "organic".

.....Organic living was the topic last Thursday (March 16) of the third in a series of lectures in celebration of Women’s Month organized by the Sentro ng Manggagawang Pilipina and Quezon City’s Program for Gender and Development. (ProGAD).

....."Learning the many uses of medicinal and edible herbs would help women in many ways," ProGAD’s Larraine Abad-Sarmiento said.

.....Actually, organic farming or gardening, including the planting of herbs for medicine, food or food seasoning, is nothing new in this country. It has only been pushed to the background by "modern agriculture," with its heavy dependence on chemical-based farm inputs, which have been found to pose risks to human health.

....."Our great grandmothers were planting and using herbs,'' said writer and farmer Domini Torrevillas, one of the lecturers.

.....Even today, especially in rural areas, common ailments like colds and cough, fever, diarrhea, muscle pains and cuts are still treated with decoctions and poultices made from herbs and other medicinal plants.

.....Herbs are also used to spice up dishes. Lemon grass (tanglad to Filipinos) is used in recipes with chicken and fish, or dishes using coconut milk such as laing and ginataang langka. Pandan leaves are used to lend fragrance to steamed rice or to wrap chicken slices cooked in coconut milk. Coriander (wansuy), onions, garlic, ginger and chives (kuchay) have been in use in Filipino kitchens for a long time.

.....Thanks to the growing awareness about health foods and chemical-free vegetables, people are again taking serious interest in organically grown herbs and vegetables.

.....And the interest doesn't end at the dining table or the medicine cabinet. "There is a growing interest not only in using herbs, but also in growing them," said Torrevillas.

.....To Sarmiento, this trend is very promising, especially when taken in the context of organic farming. "There is a House legislation, which the Department of Agriculture is highly supporting, that promotes the use of organic fertilizer even in rice farming," she said. "But the problem is, local producers can supply only 10 per rent of the agricultural demand for organic fertilizers."

.....Why did traditional farming practices, including organic farming, fade into the background? Because such practices were considered inadequate and thus below standard when measured against "modern agriculture."

.....However, Jeff Palmer, in his book Nitorogen Fixing Agroforestry for Sustainable Soil and Water Conservation, wrote that "modern" farming methods, even though scientifically proven, are often out of reach of the majority of the world’s farmers and can actually cause a decrease in productivity if not used properly.

....."Over-fertilization with some commercially produced nitrogen-based fertilizers may cause negative production in the long-term future due to sterilization of the soil, acidification, etc.," Palmer wrote.

.....Cautionary words like Palmer’s could have spurred the comeback of traditional ways of farming.

.....Because it looks new after being neglected or even forgotten for so long, Sarmiento conceded that there is still a great need to educate people on the practicality and usefulness of organic farming, a view shared by Torrevillas.

.....Torrevillas dispelled the misconception that one has to have a vast tract of land to go into organic herbal gardening. Or that one has to go into it full-time, to the exclusion of other activities.

....."You can grow your own garden," she said. "If you have no land for a garden, you can buy pots to grow herbs in."

.....It isn't true, either, that busy career people cannot do it, she said. "A three square-meter garden would require only 15 minutes of work every day. Even less for herbs-on-pots."

.....All that is needed for organic planting to regain its old glory, she stressed, is a complete re-education of Filipinos in the way they look at farming or gardening, "and a readiness to give that tender-loving-care treatment to your plants."

Benjamin Franklin's Success Secrets to Conquer Yourself.

Benjamin Franklin’s Success Secrets to Conquer Yourself! Here are the 13 Traits you'll learn to master:
• Trait #1 Appreciation (Or Gratitude) - Notice the blessing in everything, big and small. Dwell on the beauty in all I see, hear, touch, taste and smell. Realize that everything is a gift from the Almighty and is put there in order to enjoy and learn from.
• Trait #2 Positive Speech - Judge the value of my words before I speak. Speak only what may benefit others and myself. Avoid evil speech/gossip.
• Trait #3 Tranquility, Peace, Patience - Interpret everything quietly without undue confusion, excitement, or anger. Be not disturbed at trifles or at accidents common or unavoidable. Whatever is happening in life, be patient. Determine the lesson to be learned in every challenge in order to become elevated. Control anger.
• Trait #4 Righteousness - Do unto others as you'd have done unto you, and as they desire to be done unto. Wrong none by doing injuries. Be just by accepting my duties and responsibilities.
• Trait #5 Gentleness - The words of the wise are spoken softly and peacefully.
• Trait #6 Respect/Honor Others - Be extremely careful with the honor and feelings of others. Strive always to make the other person feel good about himself/herself.
• Trait #7 Physical Health - Exercise daily and eat with health and moderation.
• Trait #8 Quickness - Do all I need (or have) to do without wasting time (procrastination) and with maximum productivity per moment. Cut off all unnecessary actions. Focus.
• Trait #9 Resolution - Resolve to perform what I ought/have chosen to perform, without fail. Act with consistency, as well as persistency. Be diligent.
• Trait #10 Order/Cleanliness - Keep all living and working environments both clean and in order. Be organized. Clean, file, straighten up as soon as necessary and right away. A place for everything and everything in its place.
• Trait #11 Thrift/Frugality - Use money wisely and for the benefit of all (to do good for others and myself) and with no waste.
• Trait #12 Truthfulness - Be truthful in all that I say (based on motivation/intent).
• Trait #13 Humility - Understand that I have great ability, but that that ability is a gift from the Ultimate Source of all. Recognize my own weak points in order to improve upon them, but do not dwell on the faults of others. Be a servant-leader.
But even more importantly, once you've learned this method of personal mastery, you'll be able to use it to change any trait or habit you desire. This is a dynamic "hands-on" program that not only teaches you why -- it teaches you HOW!