I Embrace My Gift of Making People Smile - Bam Petilos

(This blog is 15th of a long series of profiles on friends and acquaintances I have met in my life journey. I invited them to share my spot because I believe in synergy, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We are parts of the whole, and together we are indeed great!)

(Photo by Anoy Catague)

A few years ago, after a long day of facilitating a workshop, I was given a massage by my new friend Lady Bam. In that short session, I felt Bam and myself forging a connection between us that would later become spiritually intimate. I went back home to Las Vegas, Bam remained in Davao, and we maintained our connection through FB groups. A few months ago, I learned that she had launched a fragrance business and was exploring other business possibilities related to wellness. In fact, she was one of the collaborators and writers in the book Remember Who You Really Are by Joan Mae Soco-Bantayan. Prior to the launching of the book, I asked Bam a few questions and she gave me a few short, happy answers. Bam’s brevity does show her essential nature as well as her authenticity in following her dreams.

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Dot: Please tell me a little bit about yourself.

Bam: My baptismal record says I am Benjamin T. Petilos Jr. but I prefer to be called Lady Bam. I finished AB Language and Literature and I love to play volleyball. I sooo love to sing and, at times, dance. I love to recite affirmations and I know it (reciting, that is,) works. I touch a tree when I am happy, sad, or worried, and I want my beloveds to realize that nature is our ally.

Dot: And your passion and life lessons? What beautiful changes are you seeing in the world now?

Bam: I am TV host of a tele-magazine travel show and radio anchor in a station in Davao where I talk about life and happiness. I feel I am one with everyone. I embrace my gifts of healing and intuition and the gift of making people smile and laugh. That is who I am, for I am the beautiful HappyNest!!! The nest of joy and bliss. I am thankful that despite the hi-tech world, people are more aware about the mystic that is actually not mystical but just part of the unchangeable truth - that we are ONE in GOD’S LOVE.

Dot: How would you use PhP500, 000 if the universe gave it to you next week? 

Bam: Well, I will eat alone at the most expensive eat-all-you-can restaurant, and then plan about who to feed after. The most expensive here is PhP 800. I want to feed as many as I could. Part of the money will be used to pay my debts. I want to be debt-free. But really, despite my financial challenges at times, I will never ever stop helping, sharing, and extending help in any way to the needy. I want part of the 500k to be used in the project De-Clutter and Decorate. I want to beautify rooms and give people a nice place to sleep in so that their mindset will be of abundance. I won’t fix the whole house; just the room, just to awaken them and let them move.

Dot: Is there anything else that you would like to tell me? 

Bam: Well, I want to tell you that I “blame” you for me being more focused in my journey about HAPPYNEST. You are one of my favorite influences. And while it’s true that I need and want money, well, like you, it’s not my great priority. Money is just part, but not a very big part, of my amazing journey. And thank you for your wisdom. I ask for your support in the book about HAPPYNEST that I shall write soonest. We are all nests of joy. Let’s spread love and happiness.

The happy Lady Bam can be found in Facebook as Bam T. Petilos. I look forward to buying her book on HappyNest very soon! Interestingly, she partners with Evelyn Princess Villaflor-Buendia in most of her activities in Davao. See Princess in my May 25, 2017 blog. Bam and Princess welcome your purchase of the book Remember Who You Really Are.

Love Everything, Because Nothing Can Go Wrong. – Dr. Gina Cembrano

(This blog is 14th of a long series of profiles on friends and acquaintances I have met in my life journey. I invited them to share my spot because I believe in synergy, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We are parts of the whole, and together we are indeed great!)

(Photo by Rosanna Sasuman)

Gina Cembrano was one of the participants in the Angel Workshop I did in Davao some years back. That was our first meeting when she appealed to me as a well-grounded, confident, and dynamic professional in the field of Tomatis Listening Program. Our subsequent meet-ups showed me that Gina was more than her personality and profession. Read on to know what I mean.

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Dot: So far, what great spiritual or esoteric lessons have you learned in life?

Gina: The great esoteric lessons I've learned are mind-blowing! All my experiences in life brought me to where I am right now. I know that I am powerful and can do great things beyond human understanding. I AM boundless and limitless. I know that what I know at this very moment are just minute things compared to who I am and what I can do and become in this form. Openness, trust, and perseverance work. I did a lot of research and readings and found out that "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

I feel like my life is perfect but I do know I am also a work in progress. I am evolving to experience my highest potential. So my passion right now is to talk to people. I like to share whatever wisdom or knowledge I have that another person might need to hear, that is necessary for his/her growth as a human being. I believe we are right now in an exciting moment where we human beings are responding to the call of awakening to accomplish what we came here for.

I have opportunities to mentor preschool teachers and do administrative jobs, work with preschool children and their respective families, and be a regular guest in a Sunday radio show here in Davao City. This show, It’s a Beautiful Life, talks about anything in life. I feel happy when I know I am able to help or contribute something.


Dot: What do you think are the best positive lessons you learned from your parents that you want to pass on to your children?

Gina: From my father, the lesson I learned is to give respect and importance to human beings. My family is important. From my mother, to provide for the needs of my family, especially education, and to find ways if need be. In connection with being limitless, the belief systems that I gathered since childhood will determine my limitations and success in life.


Dot: Can you tell me about your top three wins/successes in life? Have they something to do with your lessons?

Gina: Definitely my success stories are related to the lessons I learned from my parents – to prioritize my family, and that provision is always available. First, I had a desire to build a family and be a hands-on mom. I made myself available to my family and especially to my children and husband when they needed my support. Now, seeing my children as loving, self-reliant, independent, confident, and conscientious human beings makes me confident to face the next phase. Second, living a purposeful life - doing what I love to do, helping others find their paths, too, and mentoring others especially my biological family. Third is living my dream: life-coaching teens, young adults, and adults, and running a child-centered (not curriculum-centered) preschool where children are free to Be who they are while experiencing Music, Play, and Touch Therapies.


Dot: Who are your role models? What makes them your role models?

Gina: My father may not be a perfect father and husband but he showed by example how to value his family and how to respect a person regardless of his or her status in life. My mother has a generous heart. She is persistent; she will not settle for "no" as an answer and doesn't easily give up; she showed me how to stand and fight for what I believe in.
My maternal grandfather was always cool and grounded amidst challenging situations. I didn't see or hear him raise his voice. He always used his talking voice.


Dot: What beautiful changes are you seeing in the world now?

Gina: Human beings are awakening, raising vibration to higher consciousness, and are seeing the connectedness and humanity as one. People are valuing freedom.


Dot: In connection with these changes, how do you take care of yourself physically? Emotionally? Spiritually? Mentally?

Gina: I practice mindfulness and self-mastery. I am mindful of my thoughts. What I think becomes my reality and therefore affects my body, mind, emotion, and soul. I know that it's the meaning that I put onto things and the experiences that I have; therefore, I think of and focus on what I want to create or to happen, and not on what I do not want to happen. I eat only what my body needs. I am re-engaging in something physical like arnis and yoga. I master my emotion by "knowing myself," especially my belief system. I keep learning or remembering who I truly am through reading, research, meditation, and being with like-minded people. I do release works through Ho'oponopono and EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique. I also connect with nature through gardening and my pets.


Dot: What legacy would you like to leave the world, and how can you be reached by people who wish to connect with you?

Gina: My legacy would be Courage, Freedom, Love, Respect, and Gratitude. To my family and friends, I say, know thyself. Belief systems and programs that are not working should be released and re-programmed. Trust the process. Believe in yourself. Be in the now. Love everything, because nothing can go wrong. All is well.


I can be reached through my FB page: Beginnings Child Care Center, I Listen Enhancement Center and email: g.cembrano@yahoo.com.