When I attended the convergence of Influencers International a week ago, I wanted to leave Tagaytay discovering something new about three long-time friends who were with me on that adventure. Let me tell you about them and my recent discoveries.
Beng. Having her as my roommate during the convergence gave me the chance to discover more about Beng. I have known her since I was in fifth grade, but I was closer to her sister Chayen who was my contemporary. The short greetings after church service is never enough to discern this lady's mind and heart, though you get a glimpse of both through her blog. But being a blogger myself, there are just some things you do not write about for everyone's consumption - and usually, these are the things that reveal much about you. I'm glad to have had access -- even for a short time -- to such things in Beng's mind. Things you will not see her write in her blog. It is then that I have confirmed that she is a woman of depth. Yet, despite the profundity of her thoughts, she still is shallow (o di ba, deep but shallow?). For I discovered that Beng is one of the enjoyable companions when it comes to "girl talks." To spare you the mystery, we mostly laugh about the idiosyncrasies of men (hehe) and how much we enjoy our differences with them. Everytime Beng gives a piece of her mind, I know for sure it is a "piece" can definitely make you learn and laugh.
Toto. I remember calling him Kuya Toto way back in college for he was two years my senior. Soon afterwards, I had to do away with the
kuya - not that I lost respect for him - but somehow, as you get older, the age gap closes. I missed my chance of getting to know Toto during my college days since I used to steer away from people his age thinking they were a bit too mature for me. That is why, it was only through this convergence that I had a glimpse into the extremely opinionated -- almost volcanic -- mind of this individual. You would see him talking with different people, debating, discussing. I recall seeing him get into intense discussions and heated debates back in college. His emails in our yahoogroups and the exchange between him and some other opinionated movers is enough proof how passionate he is in expressing his views. And I enjoyed listening to him debate and challenge other people's thinking and stimulate discussion. The discussions were more interesting with him around, for he was not afraid to go against the flow. What an interesting discovery.
Pierre. I never expected to discover anything new about Pierre during the convergence. He has been one of my closest friends since college, and I've seen that the years have not changed him much. I saw that he is still the quiet leader I've known him to be, only wiser now. He still had the habit of asking hard questions, though they are more thought-provoking now. He still takes time for one-on-one conversations, but now, such times are more precious since they are subject to the limits of his schedule. Having been constantly in touch with him, I held no expectations of new discoveries about Pierre during the convergence. I was right. Because it happened the week after: I was rummaging through the pictures in his wallet, which allowed me to see a side of Pierre I have not seen in the twelve years I've known him. The girl in the picture inside his wallet whom he calls his "first love" is actually his mom when she was still a teenager (all the while I thought it was someone else!). And, it was only then that I realized that he had a brother (for twelve years, I lived with the notion that all three of his siblings were girls!). Sometimes my discoveries surprise me. "Imagine knowing a person for more than a decade and all the while she thinks you're the only boy among four siblings," he reacts, "that's new."
Lesson learned from all these? No matter how long you have known a person, you cannot say for sure that you actually know them. There will always be something new to discover. =)
