Inspired by the Birds of El Nido
I recently came across a photo of myself with a bird flying across the sky, taken at the Gate of Heaven in Bali. It immediately brought me back to the birds in El Nido.
There’s a certain stillness you notice when you watch birds in El Nido. You still hear them chirp, there’s no silence there, yet the sound feels soothing rather than intrusive. Their presence wastes nothing, especially when they hop onto my window straight from the wilderness. They arrive unannounced yet unmistakably welcome, sitting there and chirping as if in conversation with me.
I don’t understand what they’re saying or what occupies their minds, but their energy says it all. No hidden agenda. Maybe only a message that reveals itself over time.
It speaks of presence, intention, and movement that needs no explanation. Energy doesn’t need words. What arrives in alignment doesn’t need to perform. And alignment here isn’t strategy.
So, leave the tactics and strategic moves at the office, your personal life doesn’t need to be overthought.
LheanStorm Artwork of the Year: BOAT RIDE
BOAT RIDE is one of the pieces I created in El Nido.
The more I reflect on this work, the more I am in awe of creation.
Urban Reset: Gallery Floors and Open Skies
After six months of quiet living in El Nido– six months, which is long for me, I realized this was the longest I’d ever stayed on an island, and an even more remote one at that. Back when I lived in Bali, I used to bounce between Manila and Bali constantly for over a year, especially with all the visa runs I had to do. Movement felt normal then, almost like a rhythm my life was built on.
El Nido slowed that rhythm down so much that coming back to the city felt like stepping into another dimension, almost like a quantum leap! Everything was suddenly fast-paced, and loud, almost too sharp after months of soft landscapes and ocean breeze. A whole month slipped past before I even realized a week had gone by. (Sounds like a different kind of breeze!)
Here are a few snapshots from my recent gallery visits as I reconnect with the local art scene.
It feels surreal moving from pure wilderness to the city’s interpretations of it, seeing how artists translate oceans, skies, and inner journeys onto walls and sculptures.
Mindblown Printed
An artwork admiring the clinical rigor of psychological science, the discipline that strips human behavior down to data points.
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