Last weekend I went on immersion to Barangay Kaingin, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. It was a fisherman's village where livelihood was sustained by the Laguna Lake. Now, life is much harder for them because of the pollution plaguing the waters. The once bountiful lake has been relegated to few catches that is not even enough to last a day.

What struck me most about the area was not the cramped living conditions, the lack of basic necessities, the insects or the unhygienic lifestyle. What struck me most was how the people could find so much joy in such simple things.

A little candy, playing games, just joking around with the kids gave them so much happiness. It wasn't a happiness bought by material things, it was happiness sincerely felt in the heart.

I guess like them I understood that the most meaningful of joys can come from the simple. Shopping sprees, vacations and great things sure are great but they hold such fading feelings. I find that like the kids, the happiness that means most to me is that of mundane things - from just the thought that a friend is saving just so to visit me in time, to the simple "Hey how are you? How was your day?"

I guess I realize for me it's just the thought that we are linked, that despite differing lives and distant places, that somehow, even for just a moment in a day, I glance by a place in your mind. I guess for me it's not having you to be there when I need you but rather knowing that you're here even if you're not... your present on normal days and that I am present in yours... even if that place lies in our heads and hearts... encompassed and translated in a simple "just wanted to drop a line and say hello..."