--- Of Masterpieces and Works in Progress ---
" Under Construction .... "
The last time I actually had a conversation with Gary Valenciano - I cannot recall, but my rough, rough guess is that 'twas Two Decades Ago thereabouts ...
..... and just so happens, during those few random minutes I decided {yesterday afternoon} to relax on a couch, at the SPARTA lobby - before a [coached] warm-up routine - this tall, lean [smiling] dude casually walked in and greeted me with a warm [framed w spectacles and a dark cap] smile.
Truth be Told - for a micro-nano second I did not recognize the dude ...
but no biggy - in the NEXT micro-nano second, a 20-years-or-so gap was finally closed, and as if no time gap ever actually existed - the connection was instantaneous.
What could I say ?
In as much as Gary V, was all set to enter the 360-Pro Gym - the words came easy for us ... To catch up {after 20 or so years} in a few fleeting, borrowed minutes ? Was that even possible ? Whatever - I just made sure that handed GaryV my calling card and let him be [after such a cheerful catch-up], to do gym time.
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Fast-forward, an hour or so later .....
Luckily, i managed to start another conv w Gary, after he gym - and found out that he was actually going to bike, from SPARTA, towards his next several appointments, in the QC area ['twas 3pm-thereabouts already then].
So, as he started assembling his bike [after pulling it out from a van] - 'twas relatively easy for me to take a few candids, as we continued our conversation - and hoping [as i intimated to him] that maybe within a month or two we could get to reconnect again [and hinting that] [possibly, on my part, be able to finally meet and even take some location portraits of his youngest, Kiana.
Well, so much for that - I did tell Gary that I'll just
"let the photo opp present itself".
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The Thing, tho, that actually made the conversation what it was, was that parting, "simple" question - I threw to Gary V.
I asked him - " Gary .... Who IS Gary V now ? .... a father, a musician, a producer, a servant of God ....a sportsman ? ....
"Wow, that is a difficult question" went Gary.
A pause or two, maybe, a fleeting, pensive smile - while looking for the right words to answer my querry ....
then, Gary went ..... "Under Construction ... "
"Damn ", I said to myself - Can this man get any more humble than that ?
I said "Yes, Gary - like a work in progress - right ?" and he noddingly agreed.
What quickly came to thought, for me, in those fleeting seconds was something I had read, recently {cliche}, again - about how our lives should be a learning Xperience, literally - everyday - Wether in good times OR bad we must move forward [even with the smallest and humblest of increments, mind you].
And for me - getting reminded again [and again] - that even if times are Xtremely Tough - when nothing! ever seems to go right OR i can't seem to come up with a single good photo after shooting so many frames [that happens to me, still, mind you]
- that one simply has to persevere, and move forward, Refresh, Relearn, Reboot, No Matter what - Because the Good Times do Come Again, Things WILL turn out Right - DESPITE so many seemingly insurmountable obstacles {Life Never Stops} .....
and for me, that I WILL Eventually craft the Masterpieces I try so hard to produce though, few and far between, they might be - [that's OK]
know what ? then ..... I thought
--->We are ALL Masterpieces ---> We are ALL Works in Progress -
--->WE are ALL "Under Construction" - as Gary V simply nailed it on the head -
---> and ALL in the same Breathe !
and That truly IS, how Gary V's answer actually [eventually] resonated in me.
{ though he Never used he word "masterpiece" -
that context/word just came to thought }- whatever -
--- Gary V ---
"Under Construction ...."
AND
{if I may say so}
Looking Very Happy
- as always
- as always
brosi gonzales
