When the pandemic reached the country, VP Leni Robredo told her team, “We respond to the worst of times with the best of ourselves.”

Every December, my friends and I choose a word that serves as our guiding theme for the coming year. For 2020, I chose WHOLENESS. This is a brief reflection on why I chose it and what that word means to me.

You won’t regret investing in good shoes, a good bed, and a clear conscience. 

Pinugu is such a unique and yes, incredibly funny-sounding last name. It’s the kind that piques the listener’s curiosity, attracts a lot of teasing, and inevitably gives the unfortunate bearer some form of emotional baggage. Marriage was supposed to be my shot at reinvention- the chance to live freely under an inconspicuous last name. So when time came for me to renew my passport, the decision to have the new one issued in my maiden name surprised the people close to me.

This included my own Parents, whom I honestly thought would’ve been overjoyed to have such a steadfast champion for the family bloodline. 

I felt that today was a lesson not just on trying harder at practicing compassionate dialogue, but also on putting in the effort to make amends whenever I fall short. 

“Everyone’s just pretending, no one really knows their sh*t,” a friend going through an extended midlife crisis once commented. Experience doesn’t necessarily make a person wiser, sometimes it just means a longer and juicier memoir.  

Sometimes all you need to do is ask. The meek may eventually inherit the earth, but they certainly won’t get paid well while living here. Four amazing women who come from different industries joined us to weigh in on the topic: P&G APAC Brand Manager Nicole Villarojo, HK-based Branding Expert Jane Dee, CEO of Status Media Group Rosario Herrera, and Actress/Talent Manager Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan.

Our lives require pruning too. Through time, we accumulate things, narratives, relationships, and ideologies that we carry with us. Pruning is about taking a step back and letting go of all those that are weighing us down; saying no to what is no longer aligned with the life we’d like to build, so we could be free to become the version that we seek.