Embracing Emotions
During the typhoon Ulysses, I experienced a mix of gratefulness, loneliness, and anxiousness — emotions of which Leonardo da Vinci pointed out in his principle of Sfumato. I felt grateful because I was blessed enough to have a comfortable life wherein I do not have to worry about not having enough food or necessities and live in a place wherein it does not flood during typhoons, but, at the same time, I felt lonely and anxious because of the continuous issues that the whole world is facing. The only impact of the typhoon for me was the water interruption for almost a week in my neighborhood as seen in the picture given. In addition to these are the emotions that were stuck with me because of the COVID-19 pandemic together with how the Philippine government “handles” the many pressing issues of the country, exacerbating the extreme emotions that I already had to begin with. As a college student, there is really nothing much I can do about the government and the betterment of the country except to help the people in need in these times of crisis, and I was able to achieve this by donating almost all of my clothes and other apparels because I believe that doing these small acts of kindness can easily bring joy to other people which eventually can bring joy to the world as well.
Regarding the student strike, in all honesty, I am not really the type of person to participate in rallies. Let alone have knowledge about strikes and anything related to politics because if I think about it, I only end up having even more anxieties, therefore I tend to have the mindset of “whatever happens, happens.” However, upon reading the document of the strike the first time, I felt that some students were supporting this for the wrong reasons — because they simply wanted to have an academic freeze, but upon reading the revised document, I think it was an acceptable proposition given how the government clearly lacks competency in addressing the crucial issues of the Philippines. This strike can trigger a lot of emotions. In actuality, the fact that a student strike is being held is already causing enough anxiousness among the students ; and this is one example of why I felt the need to develop my Sfumato.
Relating all these to the Da Vincian Principles, I read somewhere that in order to overcome extreme emotions or anxiety, one must learn to confront these emotions as if it were a living person; and I believe that this is similar to what Leonardo da Vinci is trying to convey in this principle. Feelings of ambiguity is a common feeling being experienced by everyone no matter how rich, poor, young, wise, or any description there is. No matter how happy a person seems to be, there is no doubt that he or she is also experiencing mixed emotions and anxieties just as much as people who seem to have a lot of problems. Although, as earthly beings, we tend to believe that we know how to judge of which problems are worse than the others; however, no one can really truly know the scale of which problems are heavier, no matter how narrow it may seem, because there is the possiblity that the people are experiencing the same level of emotions whatever the problem is. With that said, as stated in da Vinci’s principle of Sfumato, the only way to defeat these overwhelming feelings of ambiguity is to embrace them and, instead, think of it as more of a friend there to guide you rather than an enemy there to devour and control your life; and therefore, it is at these times of uncertainty wherein the development of this principle is necessary for our well-being as humans.
