Excerpt from Rica Bolipata-Santos' essay, In the Beginning was the word. Published in Heights. 

Filipino words are like cameras. They click on the context and attempt to render the entirety of it all. Kapatid -- not just brother or sister, but someone whose link I share with. Bahaghari -- not just rainbow, but a king so mighty that his undergarments moved across the skies, and filled it with color. Nagdadalang-tao -- not just pregnant, but actively carrying (not even a child) but a full human being. Maykapal -- not just God, but a dimension.

Ay Naku, we say. Susmaryosep, we encounter. Anak ng pating, we exclaim. And in the 70s it was the "patuka na lang ako sa ahas!" an expression I've always wished would return. And the ubiquitous "ano" that stands for anything and everything! It is noun, verb, adjective, direct object, symbol, metaphor, joke, the mish-mash of an entire world in a word. 

O ano?, she said.

Pupunta lang ako sa ano, he said.

Anong bibilhin mo, she added.

Ano lang, yun lang, he explained. 

And all was understood.

I sit here in my tiny room and try to find the perfect word for what sits in my heart. Ennui definitely. Angst always. Ngunit, puno ng pagsa, nananatili, nananahimik, na-uudyok mag-isip ng mabuti, at higit sa lahat, malalim ang tiwala sa kinabukasan.