ALON

It has been a while since I read a piece that perfectly captured my thoughts and evoked so many feelings. After going through each word and photo in ALON, I felt a sigh of relief knowing that there is a sense of community in people who silently hurt yet continue to face love head on. A silent love. A deep silent one.

The kind of love that does not express itself loud enough, but is pure, muted, and unadulterated.

The kind of love that does not seek or demand, but only wants to give, give, and give.

The kind of love that is essentially invisible to the naked eye, but when you deconstruct it, is full of the right elements that make it what it is.

In an article about what we could learn from well-acclaimed Filipino director Antoinette Jadaone’s films, it says, “Real love is somehow less climactic and more affecting than that. If Jadaone’s predilection for the subtler things in life has taught me anything, it’s that I could just be walking along Maginhawa with the boy that I like in deep silence and still feel the same electricity one feels in a kiss.” On this, I could not agree more.

And love can be just like ALON. Aluminium Oxynitride — a ceramic composed of aluminium, oxygen, and nitrogen. ALON is optically transparent.

February 15, 2021

(Alan, thank you. Then and now, your words and actions continue to make an impact in my life… Maybe even without me really quickly noticing it.)