Pagbalik sa Sadya: Returning to Our Intention
Sharing our intention and commitments this 2025, and some gatherings and practices you can join to start your year with intention
Hello, mga ka-Ugnayan!
We’ve been quieter on our Instagram since the holiday break. Sinasadya namin yan.😁
We wanted to carve out time and space for ourselves and our individual projects too, and so, our social media taken a backseat. 😅
It was also intentional that we didn’t schedule any gatherings this January, as we’ve decided to pare down our Ugnayan Tambayans this year, and limit them to carefully planned ones — no more than once a quarter.
It was never our mission to run so many events ourselves. But our eagerness in putting Ugnayan out in the world had us sprouting so many gatherings of our own in 2024.
While all that was full of joy and meaning, we’re slowing down to root in our intention.1
What might we learn from trees about living and growing with intention?
Sadya ng Paglikha | Intention for Creation
We created Ugnayan to support you, our ka-Ugnayans, in creating circles for connection, so together, we can form an underground root system of care for and from our kapwa.
By creating tools like our Ugnayan Cards, Ugnayan Postcards, and the free digital Gift of Ugnayan we shared last December, we hope you feel more courageous in connecting with your loved ones, your colleagues and cultivating your own communities of collective care.
It is our dream that everyone, wherever they are, can find pockets of meaningful connection, that remind them of the love and light that is possible in this world when we really see each other.
Malasakit starts with connection.
Ang pagkilala ng kapwa ang simula ng Ugnayan.
Mga Paninindigan | Our Commitments
In light of this intention, here’s what we’re committing to in 2025:
Creating new Ugnayan tools. Because we were out and about so much last year, we didn’t have as much time dedicated to creating more tools to support you. So, we’re really hoping to do things differently this year. We’ll keep you posted when the seed we’re germinating has transformed into fruit ready for you to eat.
Supporting you in holding space. When we host our own gatherings this year, it will be less about making meaningful connections with strangers (though inevitably, there will be that). Instead, it will be more oriented towards building your capacity to hold space for others. Our all-too-brief tambayan on Making Meaningful Gatherings was a taste of that. We hope to create deeper, more experiential learning opportunities for that this year.
Sharing your Ugnayan circles. If you are planning your own open community gatherings with the use of Ugnayan Cards, feel free to tag @ugnayancards in your post, and we’d be happy to share it with our community too.
Related reads:
• Magsimula sa Sadya: Starting the year with intention
• Showing up with intention by Jen Horn | January 17, 2025
Community Shoutouts
Before we end this Liham ng Ugnayan, we’d also like to take this opportunity to holler at some friends of Ugnayan — sharing some gatherings you can join, and some practices you can try to start the year with intention.
3 Gatherings to Start the Year with Intention
#1: Way to Glow 2025
WHEN: January 25, 2025, 10:00AM-12:00NN
WHERE: Online via Zoom
Our friends from the Psychology Association of the Philippines’ special interest group on positive psychology have put together a webinar on starting your year with mindful intentions and habits. I’ll be sharing some ideas for grounding yourself in your intention this year. 🌱
#2: Book Talk with Haemin Sunim
WHEN: January 25, 2025, 2:00PM-4:00PM
WHERE: Fully Booked BGC
Join me in listening and learning about living more mindfully from Haemin Sunim, zen buddhist monk and author of The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, Love For Imperfect Things, and When Things Don’t Go Your Way: Zen Wisdom for Difficult Times.
#3 Visioning 2025
WHEN: January 26, 2025, 2:00PM-5:00PM
WHERE: Ayala Triangle Gardens
Our long-time Ugnayan friends and supporters, Z and Gen, are putting together a community care workshop for you to embrace a more aligned, creative, and intentional way of living. Catch you there!
A Commitment to Reflection
Whether you write on your journal, an IG story, or record a vlog or an audio note, carving out regular time for reflection (whether daily or weekly) is a great practice!
We’re taking inspiration from Aerrol Ampeloquio (@ayyyroll on Instagram), a Fil-Am producer, writer, actor, director and more, who’s making a commitment to reflecting on one Ugnayan question every week and uploading his response on his YouTube channel.
If you wind up taking on a regular reflection practice, we’d love to know. Feel free to tag @ugnayancards as a collaborator in your post/s if you wind up sharing your reflections like Aerrol!
It’s wonderful when people who love the cards wind up creating posts we can share with the community. 🤗
Anong sadya ang itinatakda mo ngayong taon?
Anong paninindigan mo para dito?
What intention are you setting for this year?
What commitment are you making for it?
Sa patuloy na pakikipag-Ugnayan,
Jen Horn | @pagbubuo