It's easy to say we love someone. It takes a mere second to utter the words: "I love you." But we often fail to realize the immense weight those words bear. Loving someone does not stop at admiration; it requires knowing them by heart. Just like the Philippines. It's easy to wave a flag and say we love this country without fully understanding the fires it has gone through. In a museum, people will simply glance at an artifact, take a photo, and move on. But those who truly stay are the ones willing to look beyond the surface—those who want to learn about the country inside out. To love someone is look beyond the exterior and see their beauty within, no matter whoever they've been, whoever they'll be, or whatever they lost. The Philippines is so much more than it's pristine beaches or romantized armor like "resiliency" and "hospitality" that we force our people to wear. To truly love this nation you must walk deeper into the museum. You must stand before the painful exhibits: the centuries of colonization, the scars of oppression, and the quiet, aching struggles of our ancestors. You have to look beyond the framed art and see the blood on the canvas. You cannot claim to love the Philippines if you remain blind to the history that shaped its soul. The same goes for a person. You cannot love a person's spring while ignoring the winter seasons they had to go through. But maybe it doesn't really matter. Maybe this is just a useless analogy in the end. After all... the rest is just history. 10.19.26 - ms. kae