DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 30 July) — Joan Mae Soco-Bantayan thought of writing a book two years ago but buckling down to work was another story.
“I had ideas but I needed clarity,” says the 33-year old mother of two, educator at the Steiner/Waldorf school Tuburan Institute, Inc., who was Mutya ng Dabaw in 2003.
Determined to see her vision manifest, the author created a mock-up of a book to always remind her of a work that had yet to be accomplished.
From out of the two-year impasse, Joan learned “there’s no such thing as ready.”
“Ready is a word we use to make us think that we are going to do something some time,” the author writes.
Now is the perfect timing, she adds.
The author devoted most of her summertime this year writing “Remember Who You Really Are: 12 Questions to Help You How,” a book inspired by the lessons from seminars like Ike Pono of Bruce Conching, a Kahuna and a Hawaiian life coach, and Mission Courage Workshop of the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ awardee Nicanor Perlas, who is also an environmentalist.
The two teach about the values of love and respect, gratitude and sense of duty to empower oneself and others.
Bantayan says her book is both personal and reflective, and readers will learn to understand the rhythm of life. As she puts it, it is in the polarity of things in this world that we appreciate its wholeness.
“When we feel pain, we appreciate joy and we learn. When we feel anger, we later see compassion. When we go through doubt, it is our faith that needs to be fortified. When we feel fear, there is no better antidote to it than pure love. Through embracing polarities, we become whole,” she adds.
Bantayan says the lessons that are written in the book are borne out of challenges and internal battles that helped her grow and nourish her being.
“When I was writing the book, I kept looking back to the times when my perspective of the world was so dark. Each day back then was such a burden. Despite my struggle, a still small voice kept telling me inside that there is more to life than misery. It must be my guardian angel sent by God to take care of me. My longing for good thoughts were provided by the books that I read and the people that I met. And so, I decided to write in the book, with all honesty, the insights that I got from my life journey,” she says..
Joan Mae Soco-Bantayan, autographs copies of her book, “Remember who you really are: 12 Question to Help you how.”
In “Remember Who You Really Are: 12 Questions to help you how,” the readers will know “life goes through ebbs and flows; it follows a beautiful rhythm that, us, humans may rejoice and learn from.”
“A lot of us have forgotten this rhythm and, with it, our identity. It is part of the fervent hope of the book that at least one of the 12 questions will help you in the process of remembering your true self,” she says.
The author intends to uplift people who are going through challenges in life and those who are seeking to have an idea of their essence.
Her book was launched last July 21, 2017 in Abreeza Mall here but will be rolled out nationwide sometime next month with 2,000 copies.
“I met a lot of people and I have attended many seminars, many were so inspiring. They tell stories about how they face life,” she says.
She explains her book discusses personal questions “we can use as compass so that we are able to cope with our lives better” because the pre-occupation makes one forget “to look deeper into oneself and find that deep inside lies fulfillment.”
Bantayan aspires to contribute in the spiritual awakening of the people.
“I wrote this book because I feel the need to contribute to the light. Even Lady Bam and Evelyn Buendia also operate from that plane when they decided to work with me on the book. I also feel that I have to honor this gift and when Lady Bam pushed me to write about it, I knew that this is the best time,” she said.
Lady Bam T. Petilos is a local personality working for TV network ABS-CBN while Buendia is an Angeologist.
Bantayan believes “everything was provided by the heavens when I was writing the book.”
She recalls that each time she would get confused, “I would stop writing and sleep over it. Before sleeping, I’d ask the angels for guidance. In the morning, I’d get the answers.”
Joan quotes environmental advocate Perlas’ “in the creative space, there is no fear.”
“That’s what I really felt when I was writing the book. I felt that there is a message that has to be carried out,” says Joan. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
