Dreams List

Have you watched the movie, “The Bucket List?” I guess those who did were tempted to make their own list after the movie. In my case, I have a similar list but it just remained in my thoughts, until today. I call it my “Dreams List”, and it never entered my mind that not only will I document that list, but will also share it to the public. Here is my list, from the oldest which started when I was just a teenager, up to the latest (photo at left was shot by Lauren Venida at the Cassope Ancient City in Greece):

1. To travel to Greece. FULFILLED.
2. To study Interior Design. HALF-FULFILLED.
3. To have my own family and a home with a garden. FULFILLED.
4. To be an announcer or an emcee. FULFILLED.
5. To be a soprano. FULFILLED.
6. To deliver a speech in public. FULFILLED.
7. To have a painting exhibited in public. FULFILLED.
8. While in Singapore in 1998: To be back someday. FULFILLED
9. To win in a photography contest. FULFILLED
10. To win in a singing contest. FULFILLED.
11. To win in a speech contest. FULFILLED.
12. To win a speech contest in the international category.
13. To write a book about life.
14. To have my own laptop. FULFILLED.
15. To have a smaller laptop.
16. To bring Lyca, our special child, to U.S.A. for a program at Elks.
17. To establish a “Life Every Artwork Foundation” (LEAF).
18. To build an art gallery for LEAF.
19. To win in the Philippine lotto.

The last item, to win in lotto, is necessary for me to be able to fulfill the last three items before this, first , to bring Lyca to an Elks branch in U.S.A., second, to establish a foundation which requires a million pesos capital according to our Philippine government laws, and lastly, to build an art gallery for the foundation. My idea about the foundation came about a long time ago after I was blessed with scholarships. Originally, I thought of an educational foundation that will give scholarships in return to the blessings I received. However, when Lyca was born and we looked for government funded institutions for cerebral palsy patients, we discovered that these institutions seem to lack the necessary funds for personnel and building maintenance. If well taken cared of, the life of a cerebral palsy patient can be extended up to 40 years. Aside from the right to live, I believe that each cerebral palsy patient has missions, whether at his own home, or in the society where he belongs.

Every artwork in the “LEAF Art Gallery” will be dedicated to a cerebral palsy patient. The art gallery will benefit not only these patients but also the artists, some of them the street children who were developed by Fernando Sena, Philippine's Father of Art Workshop, through his Art Discovery and Learning Foundation, Inc. (ADFLI), where I am now an inactive member (photo at left with Mr. Sena and my "Birds" in pastel was shot by OC Venida).

Some big dreams on the list were changes from my original dreams, like the educational foundation that became a foundation for cerebral palsy patients, and “my dream house” that is no longer on the list because it was replaced by “a home with a garden” which is owned by my in-laws but an ideal home for Lyca. I believe that most unexpected changes are part of God’s plans, so instead of trying to fulfill all those dreams, I prefer to wait for His plans for me and my special child.