Magandang Umaga Po!

As we find ourselves house locked during this fragile COVID19 time I want to share some activities to still help you love where you live. I started a project called, Kita Kita Manila, a year ago in hopes that it would be turned into a book. Unfortunately, that never happened but it wasn’t for lack of trying. I wanted to give Manila an offering for all the love she has shown me and what better way than for us to reflect on her beauty and our relationship with her.

During the next few weeks every Monday (I know it’s Tuesday today - late post!) I will share a Kita Kita Manila activity to help you find beauty or noteworthy for that upcoming week.

The activity worksheets and practices can be for any age group. All you have to do is save and print the image. I’ll share more about each weekly activity and even how I created them. I look forward to growing with you. I hope these activities bring a shimmer of hope and peace during these times. As always, whatever we look for we will find - may we look for the good.

Kita Kita,

Amber

I often get asked what I love most about the Philippines my answer is always the warm people and warm weather. I wonder if part of the reason Filipino culture is so sunny is because it is a reflection of the physical temperament. I am a sunshine girl through and through. I love the endless summer the tropics give us. I love the heat of the warm sunshine on my face when I get out early enough to greet her and as a family we often enjoy catching the pink sky and the sunsets.

Sunsets in Manila are some of the most colorful I have ever seen, and now that the pollution has subsided to due social distancing I am sure she is really showing off! The gift of natural transitions of sunrises and sunsets mark us new beginnings and ends. Realizing that tomorrow is a new day to begin again can ease our conscience but also prompt us to have gratitude for the day we have lived and the gift of tomorrow. With buildings crowding our skyline we oft forget that a whole atmosphere exists above us. Taking the time to appreciate what is beyond the sky scrapers allows us to feel connected to something bigger. Have you stopped to watch the sunrise or sunset lately? Noticing the pattern and predictability of our sunrises and sunsets allows us to feel connected to nature and one another. We are all living this human experience under one sun and one moon.

Activity Guidance: Choose a duration of time to take notice of a sunrise or sunset consistently. Note that colors of the sky, wether sunrise or sunset, over the course of a few days and weeks will change dramatically. You don't have to be an artist to draw or paint, just give it a go and you'll be delighted with what you have created. Notice the placement of the sun or moon and the color it shines. What color is beaming behind through the sky? Are there multiple colors? Don't forget to appreciate your work after you've created a number of paintings/drawings.