What does “Beauty” mean for Marielle?
Marielle is a young adventurer with a knack for turning dream destinations into unforgettable experiences. She also manages a travel agency and is a part time Virtual Assistant.
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When we use language, we often mean different things because of different life experiences and life stories.
Marielle
The BEAUTY OF TOURISM lies within the fact that tourism helps us showcase what we are all about. So for example, in the Philippines, we are known for our beautiful beaches, our friendly people, our delicious local food. So I think that's the beauty in tourism, because you get to experience all of these things. And I think tourism doesn't have doesn't always have to be beautiful. That's the beauty in tourism, because it doesn't always have to be beautiful, but it has to be real. Yeah, sometimes we don't really have the best experiences when we travel. I mean, that's true for me, like it's not you're not there to travel, to be like a princess or like a king. You're there to experience what it is to be in their culture, in their tradition. So I think that's the beauty in tourism, because you get to see the real side of, let's say, a country or a certain place.
Darryl Lim
It's nice. Your connection between BEAUTY and REALITY. Want to say more about that?
Marielle
Um, I think beauty and reality can be together. Since beauty is subjective, you know, and my reality can be the most beautiful thing to me, but it might not be the most beautiful thing to you. So I think there's beauty in reality because it is real, the fact that you get to experience things, that it is real, I think that makes it beautiful. Because you get to have an experience. So for example, when we travel, you know, there might be some things that might cut you off guard, or something that you'll be shocked in a certain country, but that's their reality, and I think that's what makes it beautiful, because you are there to experience it. And you know, it's not just in your phone, it's not just in your laptop that you see a beautiful beach, but it's right in front of you. You can feel the sand, you can feel the water. So I think, yeah, I think that's the beauty in reality.
Darryl Lim
Why is reality so important for you?
Marielle
I think reality is important to me, because that's what makes us human. We get to experience the reality. It's not all in our head or not in our dreams, you know? I mean, we do get dreams when we sleep at night, but when we do wake up, we're in this reality, and we get to experience it. And one day, it may become a memory, or like a distant memory to us, but at least at this certain time, at this certain moment, it was real to me at some point. So yeah, I think reality is important, because that's what makes humans, you know, the ability for us to experience real things, yeah.
Darryl Lim
Okay, when you said "EXPERIENCE REAL THINGS", you brightened up a bit. Do you have personal examples of "experiencing real things"? It can be from any part of your life, because experiencing real things seems to be something important for you.
Marielle
Experiencing real things. I mean, we do get to experience real things just by the fact that we think of it as of this certain moment, but maybe it's... One of my best experiences of reality would definitely be traveling to a very far country. Just recently, I was with my parents when we visited the United States. Yeah, so it was such a great vacation for me, since I was experiencing it, you know, I wasn't always on my phone the whole time. And I also have this thing, like, where I don't really take that much photos, like I do take photos, you know, just for the memory, but I want to experience it now. So maybe one example would be when I was on top of this very tall building, the skyscraper building in New York, and we were just looking over the different buildings, and we were just like on top of... I think it was like on the 90th floor or something. So we paid for that experience. I think it is beautiful for us to experience these things and in reality. Because, yes, it's amazing for us to dream, but it's also different for us to experience it firsthand. You know, dreams are beautiful, but when we have it right in front of us, it makes us emotional, or it makes us tear up a little bit too, because, wow, we're actually experiencing it.
Darryl Lim
What were those emotions that you were experiencing during moment on top of that building? Perhaps you could even link it to other real experiences that you had.
Marielle
Oh, the emotions I was experiencing was just like... overjoyed, like you're just overjoyed by the fact that, wow, I'm actually here. Like, before, you were just imagining it, like, what would it be like if I was on top of that building? But then just a snap, you get to snap yourself back to reality. Like, okay, I'm actually on this building. You're actually overjoyed, you're excited. You're somehow still pinching yourself that, okay, it's not a dream anymore. You're actually here. You can take some photos for the memory and to share it to some friends or family. But there's also some time for you to just put down your phone, look at it with your naked eye, and experience it yourself. I think I feel this emotions too when I do achieve some of my goals or some of my lifetime dreams, like, for example, when I graduated from the university. So I do feel the same emotions, like, when you're up there on the stage, they're calling your name, they're calling your awards and stuff like, wow, this is not a dream anymore. This is a reality I'm experiencing.
Darryl Lim
It's a reality that you are experiencing in the here and now, which is, for you, personally, at that point in time.
Marielle
Yeah, yeah, I believe so it was quite personal to me, and it is like a moment that you'll forever want to cherish and something that you never want to forget.
Darryl Lim
When did you first realize that these kind of moments are important for you?
Marielle
I feel like sometimes you don't realize it right then and there, like you're so overwhelmed with everything, but you don't feel it, or you don't realize it in that certain moment. I feel like you feel it a few moments after. For example, when you're on the top of the building, you don't feel so emotional right then and there, but I feel like the emotions rush in when you're, let's say, on your way back home, when you're in a taxi. It's like, oh, wow. Wait, that actually did happen. Or I feel like our realizations for me, let's say, for this trip, for the United States trip that we had, all of my emotions were just rushing in when I was on my way back, at the airport, when I was alone. Because when I went home, I was just alone because my parents had to stay back. So I feel like the emotions or the realizations rush in when you're somehow alone with your thoughts, maybe? When you have a time to reflect.
Darryl Lim
When was the first time you realized that such experiences really matter to you?
Marielle
I feel like, ever since I was a kid. I was like an emotional kid. I'm very much easy to please, and I'm very emotional, like I cry easily, like just by looking at a movie, like a quick movie scene, I can easily relate or empathize to a movie or to my experiences, but yeah, maybe, to answer your question, maybe I couldn't pinpoint just one exact moment, but I don't know. Just far as I can remember I was such an emotional kid, I can laugh easily. I can cry easily. So yeah, I feel like ever since I was a kid, I was quite emotional, and, you know, it was quite easy for me to feel emotions and not really hold them back.
Darryl Lim
So what's your relationship with your emotions?
Marielle
Oh, my relationship with my emotions. It's quite personal. I am not one to hide my emotions, usually, like you'll know if I'm happy, you'll know if I'm sad, you'll know if I'm angry, like it's quite easy for people to pinpoint my emotions. I feel like it's quite authentic. It's my reality. It's real for me. You see the correlation? My emotions to me, they're quite personal, and I hold them quite close to me. And yeah, I'm quite open to it. I'm quite transparent. People would know if I'm sad, people would know if I'm happy, but yeah, my emotions, I show them. I'm not the one to hide them.
Darryl Lim
Talk more about the TRANSPARENCY.
Marielle 13:44
I feel like I got it from my parents. I'm just thinking about it, you know, my parents... they're quite open to their own emotions too. I feel like I've got it from them. My mom, she's a very jolly person. And also my dad. My dad is the one who can cry easily. My mom, she's quite like a happy person, and my dad, he's quite emotional. I think I got it from him.
Darryl Lim 14:34
It's super interesting the way our experiences connect to the here and now for you, and way the here and now connects to your real emotions. What are the other connections that you see from our conversations thus far? The here and now, the real experiences, your emotions...
Marielle 15:15
I feel like there are a lot of connections. I feel like when I mentioned my childhood, me being quite an open book, or like me being an emotional kid, I think that's what shaped me to becoming an emotional grown-up as well. Like I didn't try to change that. I feel like also our relationships with our parents. They're quite connected to what we have become now. Yeah, I feel like something that we've been in our childhood... I feel like that doesn't really leave us when we grow older. I feel like there's always a part of us that is still a kid, or, you know, like, even though we're like in our 20s, in our 30s and in our 40s, I feel like something from our childhood still stays, and is still connected with us, and doesn't really leave us.
Darryl Lim 16:29
Tell me more about the KID IN YOU right now.
Marielle 16:43
When I was a kid, I was always taught these different values or learnings from my parents. And when I grow older, I don't really forget them. So I feel like maybe one concrete example would be my mom telling me, for example, when we're on the phone, like, the last thing she says is, be good. And then we hang up the phone. And maybe some things like that. They're still with me when I'm older. When I'm older, I'm like, it costs nothing to be kind. I have to be good. So, um, I feel like those are some things that are just, you know, part of the kid in me, and they don't really leave me. So they're just part of me, you know, my body grows old, my mind a little bit old. But you know, some things from my parents, or some things from my childhood, they're still there, and like they're maybe forgotten for some time, but I feel like they just come back eventually.
Darryl Lim 18:15
Being good can sometimes mean very different things to different people, but with that reminder of being good, you are able to embrace your emotions, continue being in the here and now. So what does "BE GOOD" mean for you?
Marielle 18:55
I feel like "be good" as a phrase or as a statement, is so vague. It can cover a lot of things, but I feel like when my mom says that, she means well, that we do good in every aspect that we do. Our work, be good. When we deal with other people, we be good. When you treat yourself, be good. So I feel like it comes as a whole. I feel like it's not only how we deal with ourselves, but I feel like it's also how we deal with others. Don't don't be too harsh to other people. Don't be so hard on yourself as well. In totality, I feel like, be good is... it's a whole. It covers a lot of things, and it's like in general.
Darryl Lim 20:01
And it's super interesting also, because it's not only about embracing your emotions and being in the here and now, if we go back to your very first word about beauty, maybe that's how it ties everything together where you're not only being like real with yourself, with your emotion, but also with the people around you.
Marielle 20:28
Yes, that's true.
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