Ecology Enhances The Good Life

 Ecology Enhances The Good Life

Original Title: Ecology - Reflection of the Good Life

Dr Abe V Rotor

There are people who live happy and full lives while others do not. This leads us to look into the role of human faculties. When we talk of human faculties we refer to holistic intelligence. It is beyond IQ. It dwarfs the common concept of rationality. 

The Good Life in two perspectives. Mural painting by students in Humanities under the author's supervision, SPUQC, circa 2000

In fact, it defies definitions that scientists thought of plotting into various fields.
All of us are endowed with a wide range of intelligence which is divided into eight realms, namely:

• Interpersonal (social intelligence)
• Intrapersonal (meditational, spirituality)
• Kinesthetic (athletics, dance, body language)
• Languages or linguistic
• Logic (dialectics, mathematics)
• Music (Auditory art)
• Spatial intelligence (drawing and painting, sculpture, architecture, photography)
• Naturalism (green thumb, relationship with the Natural World)

These realms reside in both left and right hemispheres of our brain, with the left doing more of the reasoning and the right of creativity. How we live a happy and fulfilled life largely rests on how balance we use our brain, making use of these eight God-given faculties. It is also with this premise that we find peace with ourselves and with our environment and ultimately with God. Thus it is not only how much we are endowed with this gift, but more importantly, it is how we make use of it fully and in the right way.

Why don’t you make your own assessment? Rate yourself in each realm. Analyze your top three. Are you not proud of them? Look at the other realms. You may not have tapped them well. Do you realize that there is a big room of improvement, and that there are latecomers in this world?

Lastly, let me emphasize another component of peace, that of sharing. I can not find a shorter way to explain it more clearly than to present this excerpt from “How to Live With Life,” published by Reader’s Digest. To wit:

“Every human being on this earth faces a constant problem: how to make the most of life. There is no simple solution; the art of living is the most difficult of all the arts. But fortunately for all of us, experience can be shared. Insights can be learned. Wisdom can be taught. Experiences, insights and wisdom of men and women – from teachers to clergymen, housewives to scientists, ordinary citizens to statesmen - who have lived deeply, thought profoundly and cared enormously about sharing with others what they learned have found some fragment of truth that cushions the harsh impact of reality or brightens the marvelous tapestry of living. From them we find some answers to the most fundamental of all questions: how to live with life.”

A Piece of the Lost Eden in acrylic 

by AV Rotor 2024 

Final Reflections
Let us

• Reflect on re-creating Nature with the image of the lost Eden
• Reflect on bringing the dead tree back to life.
• Reflect that everything in this world is interconnected. Reflect on the lost lamb, the prodigal son.
• Reflect on the new concept of heroes, hope of a tired Planet Earth
• Reflect that our lives can not be ruled by the faceless side of
• science and technology
• Reflect on long life but one lived with noble cause
• Reflect on that sailboat riding on the wave and wind towards a destination.
• Reflect on the multiple intelligence which God endowed singularly to man and how we make use of it in gratitude to the Giver.
• And if we think we are too little in this wide, wide world to make any difference, let this verse permeate in our thoughts and heart.

                                       Cumulus

Rise up from the sea and come as rain,

wake the ponds, make the rivers flow,

fill the lakes, make the fields green;

the trees a curtain to hide the sun

a moment of your ephemeral beauty

of changing faces and a myriad figures;

delight many a child to draw,

to dream and grow;

and if one day the water of the sea is not enough,

drink, drink deep

from my little cup.

Rocky cliff against cumulus cloud,

 in acrylic by the author 2020

Allergy-Proof Your Home: 10 Simple, Quick and Inexpensive Ways

  Allergy-Proof Your Home

An allergy is an overreaction by your body's immune system to a harmless substance (like pollen, pet fur, dust, or certain foods) that most people's bodies easily ignore. AI Overview

Dr Abe V Rotor

These are fairly quick, simple, and inexpensive methods of making your home friendlier to your asthma and allergies.

Brick farmhouse, painting by the author

1. Build house on spacious lot and surroundings

2. Free house of carpet and wall paper

3. Knock on wood. Wood is preferable to any construction material.

4. Prefer shiny floors, materials of low-gas ingredients.

5. Provide good natural ventilation

6. Let sunshine in, façade towards the east

7. Integrate house plan with garden

8. Screen out plants that are allergen potential

9. Design home in unity and harmony with natural environment, 

     not the other way around.

  

10.Always maintain cleanliness and orderliness at all times.

Five Practical Ways to Combat Pollen Allergy (Allergy rhinitis)

 Five Practical Ways to Combat Pollen Allergy (Allergy rhinitis) 

Pollen allergy is often the cause of sneezing fit and asthmatic symptoms.

Dr Abe V Rotor

It is true.  It is called allergy rhinitis There are people who are highly sensitive to pollen grains. And their allergy is specific to certain plants, and at certain seasons these plants are in bloom. Plants belonging to Family Poaceae or Graminae which include rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, talahib, cogon, and the like generally bloom in the last quarter beginning October when dry season the habagat season is about to end and dry season starts. 

 

Here are tips to prevent or minimize pollen allergy.      

• Keep away from flowers and flowering plants
• Stay home to prevent exposure to pollen
• Avoid touching eyes and skin to prevent spread of allergy.
• Don’t bring in flowers and plants inside the house.
• Use mask and proper clothing. 

There is a pollen calendar developed by the late Dr. Lolita Bulalacao* of the National Museum, a pioneer in palynology (the study of pollen grains) in the Philippines. The calendar warns  people who are susceptible to allergy to keep away from pollen coming from certain flowering plants in season and from specific areas that may cause allergy. The symptoms of allergy rhynitis are generally relieved by antihistamine, which comes in different preparations and brands, as tablet or ointment.~

 Lolita J. Bulalacao, 'Pollen Flora of the Philippines, Vol. 1 Siwert Nilsson To cite this article: Siwert Nilsson (2000) Lolita J. Bulalacao, 'Pollen Flora of the Philippines, Vol. 1', Grana, 39:1, 63-64, DOI: 10.1080/00173130150503821 Acknowledgement: Internet images.

Time out! Nature awaits you on a wall mural.

 Time out! 

Nature awaits you on a wall mural.

Wall Murals by Dr Abe V Rotor

 

"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated ref- rains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter."- Rachel Carson

The biggest heart, the measure of three,

if only the wall is alive to make it five;

Alone, one can't be truly happy,

although able to survive.

The blue whale, biggest creature on earth ever;

while man is supreme in every corner;

they live in fear and suspicion together,

one the hunted, the other the hunter.

The most relaxed moments of life come with Nature abiding,

give her your worries and cares, your pains notwithstanding.

Who is afraid of the sea, they seem to say;

knowing her moods and rules, and obey.

A pose as fresh as a stream flowing

down the mountain laughing, singing,

weaned from the shed, its mother,

lovely and free as a teenager.

Animals in the wild, gentle, tame,

if we treat them just the same.

Dwarfed by a wall of trees and endless stream;

Paradise is regained from a beautiful dream.  

“Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.” – John Muir

While away time for good reason,

hold the world on a standstill;

true freedom to control your own

and emptiness in life to fill.

Only a child can see the sun in the deep

from his mother's womb to deep sleep;

while grownups miss the sun rise and set

with so many things to do and keep. 

 

 "We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us." - Albert Einstein

Annex - AI Overview

Time out! Nature awaits you on a wall mural.

Dr. Abercio "Abe" V. Rotor uses wall murals and eco-art to bring the tranquility and order of the natural world into urban spaces, schools, and homes.

Key Themes in His Work
Nature as Art and Order: He views nature as an ordered, divine arrangement that connects humanity, the earth, and the cosmos into a single harmonious family.

Transforming Concrete Spaces: His murals convert plain or decaying urban walls into lush landscapes, forests, and parks that offer a visual refuge from city life.

Notable Installations: 

• A tropical rainforest acrylic mural at his residence in Lagro, Quezon City.
• A wall mural at St. Paul University Quezon City (SPUQC).
• Composite murals and stage backdrops in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.~

Halloween: Dialogue with the Dead. "Remember our dead beloved, the unsung, unknown;..."

Halloween: Dialogue with the Dead 

Dr Abe V Rotor

"There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand."

 - Mary Shelley, "Frankenstein"

Remember our dead beloved, the unsung, unknown;

     catch up with time for our failed expression,

prayers unsaid, love denied,  gesture unrequited -

     day of the souls to amend our infraction. 

 

   The evil spirit comes for a visit. Merging of the real and imaginary. 

 "What’s the good of being a ghost if you can’t frighten people away?" - Barbara, Beetlejuice

Dialogue with the dead. 

Come let's visit Dante's Inferno, and Milton's world,*
call on Frankenstein,** his monstrous creation;
travel to Transylvania, track the undead Dracula;
join the dead, their ghosts in celebration.

Good and evil for once their boundary open,

so with that of heaven and hell we implore;
take the backseat apostasy, paganism alive!
make haste, before Hades closes the door.

Transported to the land of the dead. 

"Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see." Edgar Allan Poe

 

 Treat or threat.

"A witch never gets caught. Don’t forget that she has magic in her fingers 

and devilry dancing in her blood." - Roald Dahl

   Whose party? Where have all the people gone?

"Halloween wraps fear in innocence, As though it were a slightly sour sweet.

 Let terror, then, be turned into a treat." - Nicholas Gordon

 

 

            Masks or real faces?

   Faces, faces, young and old,

  fair and coy and bold;

masks, masks, masks we are told,

sans feeling, and cold. 

    

The dead takes center stage. 

"Everyone is a moon and has a dark side, which he never

shows to anybody." - Mark Twain

* Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, epic by John Milton

** Frankenstein, novel by Mary Shelley ~

^ MMSU Students Visit the Living with Nature Center. "To see a World in a Grain of Sand..."

MMSU Students Visit the Living with Nature Center

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand..."

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Dr Abe V Rotor

   MMSU students pose with their work in a quick painting session

       

"Nature is the best teacher, model and friend." Painting by the author. 

 

Begin the begin, a song goes on;

end does not end in perfection;

yet in between lies the challenge

of art to its fullest expression.

 

            

Living with Nature museum and art gallery

Bring Nature home in an art gallery,

     a home museum and library;

preserve history into a living memory,

     folk stories and mythology.

    

18th Century Basi wine cellar

Basi meets European standard of Port and Sherry,

reminiscent of the Galleon Trade's long history,

basi long controlled under Spanish monopoly,

until a Revolt broke up, so with the basi industry.

MMSU guests pose with the author-host at the Center's museum and library.

A museum is best described in imagery,

in William Blake's famous allegory:

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,

And Eternity in an hour." 

- William Blake 

Auguries of Innocence

“Real museums are places where Time is transformed into Space.”

― Orhan Pamuk, The Museum of Innocence

 

"Books are the greatest treasure of mankind, its collective attributes as humanity, the very stimulus of man's rationality to rise above other creatures - and himself." - avr

 

"Learn and Live" (Motto of the Open University)

"Books enlighten man to care for the environment, guide the young and future generations to a better future, and lead man to save his own species 

from extinction." - avr

 

Symbolism of The Old Man and the Sea

defined in Frankl's logotherapy;

countless in real life wanting to be free,

make the world's greatest story.

"Books grew with knowledge, brought new schools and movements 

in arts and philosophy, in unending search for truth." - avr

 

Books that changed the way we live

      are seemingly impossible to believe. - avr

"Books are the most widely read, the Bible; the shortest, Albert Einstein’s e=mc2, and book-to-cinema versions of Spielberg, Lucas, Cecil B DeMille, et al." - avr

 

Enshrined bust of Dr Jose Rizal in the Living with Nature garden, 

with heritage trees around.

Known mainly in books and in the classroom,

     little understood as hero of his kind;

yet closest to his fellowmen in far away Dapitan,

     and in a garden he is now enshrined.

 

MMSU coeds pose with seedlings of palomaria  (Calophylllum inophyllum*).

At the background is a garden shrine of Dr Jose Rizal.

Now endangered this tree once locally common,

into the hands of the young hangs its future;

lest lost to man's folly and greed to oblivion;

hurrah! to the new breed of heroes of nature

* Calophyllum is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Calophyllaceae. They are mainly distributed in Asia, with some species in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, and the Pacific Islands. Wikipedia

---------------------

* The Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) is a state university in Ilocos Norte, Philippines, established on January 6, 1978, Main Campus: City of Batac (300 hectares with Satellite Campuses: Laoag City, Paoay, Currimao, and Dingras. Academics: 14 colleges offering undergraduate and graduate programs. University President: Dr. Virgilio Julius P. Manzano Jr. 

-------------------

Annex - AI Overview

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand..."

Mariano Marcos State University Students in Humanities 

visit the Living with Nature Center” 

In Dr. Abe V. Rotor’s blog entry on the MMSU Humanities students’ visit to the Living with Nature Center, the phrase “to see a world in a grain of sand” is used as a poetic metaphor to express the idea that small, seemingly insignificant details can reveal the essence of the whole. naturalismavrotor.blogspot.com+1.

Meaning of the metaphor
The expression comes from the philosophical and literary idea that a microcosm can reflect the macrocosm — that by closely observing a small object or scene, one can perceive patterns, values, or truths that mirror the larger world see2think.wordpress.com. In this case, the “grain of sand” symbolizes the small-scale experiences, artifacts, or natural elements encountered at the Living with Nature Center, while “the world” represents the broader cultural, historical, and ecological narratives that the Humanities students are meant to understand.

How it applies to the MMSU visit
According to the blog, the Living with Nature Center is described as a museum, art gallery, and home library that “brings nature home” and preserves history, folk stories, and mythology naturalismavrotor.blogspot.com. The Humanities students, through activities like painting sessions and guided exploration, are encouraged to engage with these small but rich cultural and natural elements.

Rotor’s use of the metaphor suggests that:
Close observation of local traditions, artifacts, and natural features can lead to deeper understanding of the community’s identity and history. The humanities curriculum is not just about abstract study, but about finding meaning in tangible, everyday details — much like seeing the whole world reflected in a single grain of sand. The visit is meant to connect the students’ academic learning with lived experience, fostering empathy, cultural awareness, and ecological consciousness.

Why it matters in the blog
By framing the visit this way, Rotor emphasizes that the value of the Humanities lies in the ability to “see the world” through these small, tangible experiences. It’s a reminder that learning is not only in books but in the direct encounter with the environment and culture around us, and that such encounters can reveal universal truths.

In short, in this context, “to see a world in a grain of sand” is a poetic way of saying that the Humanities students, by engaging with the small but meaningful details at the Living with Nature Center, are learning to perceive the larger world through its smallest, most vivid parts. ~

A Halloween Story: “To Heaven and Back"

A Halloween Story

“To Heaven and Back"

Remembering the good old days and thanking people for all the good things they did, is perhaps the best offering one can give to someone who had "died, and came back." 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Towards the Light, Concept of the way to Heaven based on Christian teaching. On-the-spot painting by the author at the Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches QC

This is a true story - the story of Auntie Dorotea who went to heaven and returned for a second life.

 

This is not an unusual story.  Many people I am close with have a story to tell about close encounter with death.

How close is this encounter? It is leaving the world of the living and going to the world of the spirits, of the saints and angels for those who led a life worthy of a place in heaven. In the process the traveler encounters a mysterious scenery, a realm strangely beautiful.  The spirits are simply suspended in place, they appear weightless, and have no mass at all.  Angelic notes pipe through the calm and fades out into the din. There are no boundaries, Nothing moves except the travelers, in slow animated pace, all toward the source of light. They are all in white, flowing white. They seem not to know each other as they traveled on the long, long road. 

Finally Auntie Doting reached the source of light.   It is a kingdom different from any kingdom. She saw her son who died when he was a young boy. She saw uncle, her husband.  She recognized others, relatives, friends, neighbors. But they simply look at each other. And nothing more.

"Did you see my mom?" I ventured to asked.  To which she readily answered, yes. I felt happy mom is in heaven, even if I knew by religious belief.  

I allowed her to enumerate all acquaintances she saw in her sojourn. I was expecting a very important name. My father’s.

She paused and thought deeply. "No, I can't recall," she said. She was drawing in the air  with her fingers.an imaginary map.

"Try to remember, Auntie," I pleaded. 

Silence. 

Auntie Doting and my dad were partners in business for years in Ilocos. When I went to college in Manila Dad entrusted me under her guidance, together with my two cousins who were then high school teachers. Had it not been for them I would not have made it to what I am today. I was a wartime baby, and mom died when I was two. Dad never recovered his health although he lived to a ripe age. 

As a farmhand I used to tell dad, "I can't leave you alone, I can help you manage the farm." Dad would just remain silent. Dad graduated from De Paul University in Chicago during the Great Depression. He was among the bona fide balikbayan.  He returned and put up a mechanized furniture shop and bought some land.  Then the war broke, my mom died, so with my baby sister.  Slowly dad manage to put back what was left in his business which enabled us his three children to go through with our studies.  

Although I was the youngest I insisted to stay put on the farm.  Dad finally confronted me, "Is that  all you aspire in life?" Finishing a college degree was far from my dream. That was the time he sought help from Auntie Doting.   

Remembering the good old days and thanking people for all the good things they did, is perhaps the best offering one can give to someone who had "died, and came back."  It is a special way of expressing how grateful I am to my Auntie Doting. 

Days passed, Auntie's condition was fast deteriorating. At her deathbed she held my hand and whispered, "I saw your dad." ~