LABOR OF LOVE

(From the Editor, the editor's letter in the February 2008 issue of Sense&Style)

On the fashion front, 2008 has great things in store, which is perfect for our theme this month. What’s inside is all that matters, true, but you can’t just go in there, unless the outside appeals to you. That’s why, in pursuit of romance in this issue, we are happy to dwell on the surface en route to “what’s more important” within.

BLURB
If we want to be sincere, there is a well-nourished love and an ill-nourished love. And the rest is literature. —Colette

After all, attraction is the first step to romance. Whether it is deep brown eyes or perfect skin or diction or smartness or a soul connection that leads you even to love at first sight, that’s all just skimming, which is just as good as any a springboard to, well, something more meaningful as a long-lasting relationship.
The return to the Seventies, as envisioned by Spring/Summer 2008 collections all over the world, promises to be as fun as Saturday Night Fever as we all put on that “watch me, like me, love me” vibe in this rather breezy, nippy month of February. For woman power, it’s a blessing that Grecian influences are back, so that the woman in power, now too tired and tiring in the usual power blazer, can shift to something more befitting of a goddess like Aphrodite whose power did not have to hide in the fabric of pseudo-masculinity to be recognized. In this issue, divinity takes a feminine form as we herald the trend predictions of the Spring/Summer 2008 collections of women “empowerers” like Valentino and Armani (“World Fashion Report,” page 92).
Taking inspiration from Greek goddesses, our cover girl, star-to-watch-out-for Maja Salvador, puts on floor-sweeping, flowing, and feminine dresses by Filipino designers Rajo Laurel, Eric de los Santos, and VJ Floresca as the better half of her love team-in-the-making with Jason Abalos (“Love Team,” page 110). I have seen the young actress in a movie-made-for-TV and, if talent were the only basis, I believe this one is destined for immortality. Already, she has awards to prove it, but of course, there are many other variables, many of which have nothing to do with giftedness. In fact, rumor has it that many other actors, like Rayver Cruz, are to be teamed up with her this year, if only to push her further into stardom. After all, even Nora Aunor had to have Tirso Cruz III to get people interested enough to discover the stories her eyes alone could vividly tell.
But Maja is young and, like her acting career, her life before her is an endless stream of possibilities, finding true love, whether or not in a love team, included, although, as they say, you can’t (and shouldn’t) hurry love. Still and all, as a tribute to romance, we gather in this issue some of the most inspiring love stories of real life, such as that of Bayani and Marides Fernando (“Leap of Faith,” page 120), Andrew and Ruth Co (“Room for More,” page 122), Kirk and Ciara Serumgard (“Love Knows No Distance,” page 124), Rolando and Jacqueline Laudico (“Happy Together,” page 126), and Edwin Aguirre and Imelda Joson (“Written in the Stars,” page 128).
Indeed, love brings out the best in people, but it also brings out the worst. Here at Sense&Style, we treat every page like a love affair, giving it the time (more), the dedication (so much more), and the passion (more, more, more!) a lover would demand of us. Embedded in this, our first edition of 2008, are all our hopes and dreams, guided only by our mission to inform, entertain, inspire, and empower the reader as well as ourselves.
In the pursuit of our exciting vision for the year, whose fruition, I believe, is already apparent in this issue, we might have spent less time with family and friends. But that’s only because we are at the doorstep of great changes, one of which is to do as we preach in our quest to inspire all to live life to the fullest. Balance is key in living life well and wisely and that, like success, like glory, like power, like happiness, like love, is a goal to aspire for every day of the year.

A
Post me at aapatawaran@yahoo.com.