A solitary, single,selfie, shopping day Our understanding of the solitary soul is the epitome ofself-awareness vis-a-vis wholeness, whether in hedonistic sensuality, theself-affirming sense of merging with the One among the mystics and desertmonastics, the self-negating Buddhist chant, or the self-surrender to Nothingthat is core in Islam. After numerous terminations of intimate relationships,I've taken to the solitary life style without any problem. Being solitary, however, is not necessarilybeing single. It is an understandingthat sees one's being as totally and profoundly being alone! China has an addiction to numbers' games, includingrepetitions of markings in time. Forinstance, Yuan Dan, one-one is NewYears, Qi Qi, seven-seven is the dayof hearts, like Valentines, Jiu-jiuis nine-nine, for elders, ten-ten was Sun Yat Sen's national movement, taken byChiang Kai Shek to Taipei, downplayed though not ignored in Beijing. There are others. Eleven-eleven is auspiciously Guang Gun Jie, a parents' day to lookfor a suitable partner for their "single" offspring. The romantic impulse in marital pairings is new in Chinesemarriages. With "one childonly" in China's urban centers in the last two decades, and where girls by18 are socially pressured to be child bearing, tomorrow's Single's Day seesorganized efforts at public parks by parents promoting to other parents thegifts and virtues of their children. Romance is fine but parents still command their children's "sayso". Marriage fits into thatcategory, though not for long. The "selfie" is the artform of the times. The art is technically possible by default inthe smart phone industry, universally welcomed, though often condemned in somequarters for their focus on the "self", a biased that is deeplyrooted in missionary-led civilizations from the day Eve grabbed the apple inthe Garden of Eden story, later evolving into the thinking that preoccupationon self is similar to "original sin". I am not a fan of Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston,though a foray into Texas' Sugarland through the old Compaq Center introducedme to the megachurch he pastors with his wife. The zeal Victoria recently articulated got them some press ink. She said: "When you come to church, when you worshipHim, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself, becausethat's what makes God happy." Critics dubbedtheir ministry as a "Me-centered", a version of cheap Christianitysince the Osteens injected pentecostal emotions into their SouthernBaptist-dom. Maybe. But "Me" as today's operatingcontext is no longer as vilified as it was in the previous era of westernpsychology where "ego" was condemned a no-no. Of his jail cell,the late Nelson Mandela wrote: “The cell is an ideal placeto know yourself. People tend to measure themselves by externalaccomplishments, but jail allows a person to focus on internal ones, such ashonesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, generosity and an absence of variety.You learn to look into yourself.” Religiousintensity in the molding of self-consciousness is a welcomed phenomenon. I am a student ofthe human journey seen in world religions and cultures. It is clear that previous description of"godhead", couched in the language of eternity and infinity, incelebration of a culture as golden age, or utopia, redounds to the rich textureof "selfhood". In post-VaticanII, names like Bultmann, Tillich, Bonheoffer, and the Niebuhr brothers amongProtestants are mentioned withChardin, Rahner, Gutierrez, Illich, Kung, Rahner, and Schillebeeckx of ourRoman Catholic familiarity, quoted as individuals in varied traditionsexpounding an existential understanding of human profundity vs. the previouspious collective groupie-ness. The"self" denigrated by a term like "selfish" misses the pointof the authenticity of human experience. We do not aim to glorify ego; we recognize self-consciousness as thebeginning point of knowing anything, otherwise, there is no wisdom at all. Shopping Da¥started in China on 11-11 four years ago, replacing the Single's Dayfrenzy. Crass commercialism is nowunmistakable, as the young are more anxious if they will have enough money forthe "sale" that they hope to spend their earnings on, rather thanlocate a mate. Spending day now has thesingle's heart! Friends aresteeped in the language of eternity and profundity against a veiledself-depreciating, apologetic tone on self-awareness. A necessary task for most religions still tread on the "other world"dream, a promise of heavenly bliss, or, in the "spirit" of condemningmatter as evil. It is time to move outof the "other world in the midst of this world" language andcelebrate the boundaries of selfhood directly within the walls of one'sfinitude. The frenzytomorrow is to shop till you drop. Iprefer focusing on the single self. Tobe is. Simply. In time, location, and role. That's my story and I am sticking to it! j'aime la vie pinoypanda2031@aol.com yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!