Manila, October 2020.
I had stopped tracking the Covid positives in our country. The reality of how difficult this sickness has become very real to me as I am able to witness some of my closest friends go through it. Today the numbers are high but seems there are more who overcome the sickness. But we still to this day cannot take it for granted. The irony though is that the more people are infected the more we are getting back to normal. Some are just able to come out and go back to work, some are able to dine out in restaurants or go to the beach and unwind. For some it was the hard truth that kids cannot go back to school just yet but to go on online classes. For a lot of moms during this pandemic going on online schooling has become a daily grueling job on top (and prioritized) of their jobs, their businesses and the endless chores at home. Also, We truly sympathize to all those who have lost jobs, suffered pay cuts and worst to have lost a loved one during this time. Many businesses have dropped and we feel a lot of broken hearts as this reality have set in. Most especially to our fellow leather bag makers who had to slow down and take that forced break as we wait for better days. During this time where bags are part of the non essential, all we can do right now is really wait until we can fully come back to reproducing a high number of units. We're all on Survival mode.
Despite the difficulty of this time, we remain steadfast and hopeful that things will definitely turn up again. As we wait on "going back to old normal" we take this opportunity to make sure we don't waste our time during this new normal. As we speak, our team has been busy with product development. This is the time to really let our imagination loose and find out what bags to produce. This is also the time we individually let our creativity take its course as we come up with different content to show you all. This may have been the biggest break God has given us, yet He has provided so much creativity during this time. Another irony, creativity, in the last 7 months all of us has become more creative. We think it may be lack of things to do but little do we know it is training us to take care or our homes better, to train our minds to create things from scratch or to learn new skills that we never knew we could actually do. So many of us have become creative at cooking, baking, fixing up the home, creative in finding new ways to earn despite the pandemic, creative new ways to connect to people, creative ways to work and study from home, creative ways to serve others, creative ways to use our time, people discoverred new talents, new artistic skills, all of which are how we are coping throughout every challenge we have faced during this time. We have been given such a special gift to really use this time wisely. Consider it training so that we may come out of this mature and ready to face any challenge that comes our way. Its good to know that this creative time, is the hope that we need to survive this pandemic. And so we wait and press on and have faith in God. To look at the bright side of life, Covid 19 may have set us back physically but our hearts, minds, and our souls have learned that all of us are our own creators of our current destinies.
Keep safe, hopeful and positive. We will make it.
