LOVE. LANGUAGE.

This reflection was written on February 1, 2012 while I was immersed in a totally different culture, with a totally different language from mine. I lived in a province in Northern Mindanao, and my frustration to understand people and to be understood, was so deep. I visited people who were directly affected by strong typhoon. I asked their experiences, but I saw how hard it was for them to express using my language. They express their feelings using their own language, but it made me feel frustrated and depressed because I couldn't understand them. At the end of the day, what's important was that my presence made them feel a sense of comfort, support, and love. Their sincerity gave me a sense of hope, courage, and love. And that's all that mattered. Such is the magic of love that can transcend languages.
I just saw this again today and thought I could share it with you. 

It has always been important for me to communicate well. Now that I am in this city where they are deeply rooted in their Cebuano language, I feel that my “Tagalog pride” is being humiliated. This is a very humiliating experience. Anyway, it is hard not to understand what they express, and it is harder to express but they cannot understand you.

I am a fan of language. Language of the heart, as I often call it, is very important when one expresses his/her own feelings. It is through one’s own language that the real feeling is expressed. Otherwise, the expression can only be considered as artificial.

Artificial expression is what you call it when one tries to express his/her feelings using words that he/she is not used to. Using English language to express my own feelings is hard enough. When I am in pain, in so much joy, confusion, or trouble, I use my own language to express it.

When someone here tries to share their personal stories, we would always be caught up in a situation when we will just both stop because that person will begin to express his own language which I do not understand. Meanwhile, when I also try to express myself, I tend to use my language so deep that it becomes very hard for them to understand. Such is the game of language. As such is the game of love. It is incomprehensible. It is incomparable.