For the past twenty years of my life, I have always lived in the green towers of Dansalan Gardens Condominiums. It is the place where I grew up. It is the place that signified the start of who I will be in the future. Or shall I say, this place was pretty much the foundation of my developing identity. I do still kind of remember my very first birthday after all in the snack bar by the swimming pool, which looking back, does symbolize that this was indeed the true foundation of who and where I would be in life.
When I was around at probably the age of four, I used to play and hang out with the other children around here almost every day. We would slide and see-saw in the playground, play “ice ice water” in the garden, and swim in our pool area. Although these childhood friendships I had as a kid did not last long beyond these childhood years, I guess I can say that I am still very thankful for these people since that is probably my first taste at experiencing what friendship is like in real life.
But even without these childhood friends, I think my favorite memories as a kid in Dansalan Gardens that still resonate with the person I am today are my own little fantasies that stimulated my imagination when I walked around these amenities. Even when I was with my friends at the time, I would often go off to admire the places we go to at my own pace and time. While my friends were playing around and our guardians were being protective of us when we went out, I just tended to casually explore my surroundings in Dansalan Gardens with my own little whimsical mind.
Also as a person who loved to sing a lot as a kid, there was a time I made my own little route of where to sing my favorite songs as if I’m making my own musical number just by strolling down the wounds and singing what it is like to fall in love and yearn for something bigger in their world. So as I sing go-to songs at the time, oftentimes being “Shoulder to Shoulder” by Carly Simon, that route would start with me singing on the main gardens by the Willow Tower with green environments and colorful flowers around to start off the serenity I feel when I sing.
After which, I would walk past the now off-limits shortcut to the gazebo since I wanted to reach my singing towards the swimming pool for no particular reason. There was once a cemented path near the gazebo surrounded by green environments before and I used to go through that path just to increase the peaceful vibes I get when I sing along by the plants and the bushes. And once I make it past the snack bar to finish my song by the pool, I just go back and I might start the same song and path all over again or a different one.
Overall, I just admired the feelings I got from these natural sceneries as they prompted me to just be my own self who loves to have a little adventure in this world filled with cars and roads that do not reach my ideals of being a fantasy character like in my favorite movies. Even if it means just sitting by the pond of fishes near the gazebo and looking at the blue sky, I was already in my own adventurous feelings in my mind because the environments around me in Dansalan Gardens already inspired my whimsicality.
Even when our guardians were being protective of me and my friends to not go into off-limits areas, most notably the deepest parts of the swimming pool, I still wanted to get that sense of adventure and whimsicality for myself because the little me prides in these things. It was a big swimming pool after all and although I was rather a bit scared to go to the deepest parts, that fear alone made me even more curious to try going there because the waters there evoked within me that adventure and whimsicality I needed to find optimism in my surroundings. Luckily, I took a lot of swimming lessons here during the summer as a kid and was finally allowed to be in those deepest parts of the pool so no adult can yell at me to not go there.
Unfortunately, some things had to change as I grew older, especially during the transition to high school where many of our childhood friends had already moved out of the condominium by then and I found more peace being in my room a lot to immerse myself in reading books and watching animated shows. That and it was high school after all, where I found some new friends, interests, and lifestyles there over the ones I had here in Dansalan Gardens during my childhood. Over time, I gradually forgot the memories and feelings I wrote about earlier here. My family still wanted me to attend events here in the condominium like some events at the Sky Lounge and Christmas parties at the snack bar, which were pretty fun but I was not feeling them the same way I had when I was little.
Later on in my life, while I was making my own personal transition from high school to college during the COVID-19 pandemic, I allowed myself to remember these particular moments during my childhood where I used to sing by the condominium’s amenities and I miss them. Especially after listening again to “Shoulder to Shoulder” for a very long while, I suddenly missed what it feels like to walk around the halls of Dansalan Gardens when I was little. Not only is that why the song and that particular memory hit differently now, but also because of how much I thought they also help me understand now the person I truly am: a whimsical Edwel who lives in their own world and just wanted to explore their possibilities at their own means and ways.
Flash forward to my college times in the present, where I felt my most passionate self who knows more about the little things and moments to appreciate in life, I just randomly thought to fall back in love with the place I spent my whole life in as I go out a lot more to do my assignments instead at the snack bar cafe by the pool. While I do my assignments there, I would get a good cup of Iced Macchiato for good motivation and even hellos from a few neighbors whom my family knew and actually get to know a lot more beyond these usual greetings when I see them.
As someone who considers themself not really that of a social person, I think I now love more those little individual conversations I had with people like those at the snack bar since I realize in my life how simple yet beautiful these talks are like two little characters talking about what has been going on in their lives. It is nice to know how these people I would rather care little about in my teenage years can be really awesome ones too.
And once I’m done drinking coffee or writing anything, I’d walk to the gazebo, one of the places in my condominium where I used to sing in. There, I would either be in solitude thinking about life or secretly from my family, dancing to whatever music reflects my mood the same way I used to sing around before.
You might be wondering, “Dancing in public as an adult? Really?” Yeah, so? As someone who’s never gotten into gym workouts since they don’t really intellectually stimulate me, although props to those who do in Dansalan Gardens, dancing is just one of my ways of keeping intact with my creative and playful self. Like when I sing, I love to create a story too with my own moves, especially when accompanied by some nice music in the background.
May it be to some slow music or an upbeat pop song, I love to dance and I thought it would be fun to do that in the gazebo even if it may be a public area here. Admittedly, there are times I can get nervous about being watched publicly given how others might find it weird or embarrassing for someone to dance in public. But luckily, it appears no one minded and just minded their own businesses. Sure, there may be people who side-eye my ways but it’s nice to know they’re kind enough to let me do my own thing.
I even asked a dad, who was teaching his kids how to play football at the time, if I could dance by the side of the snack bar for a bigger space to do my moves. He joyfully accepted it. He didn’t mind. I was happy with that. Unfortunately, the internet was low at the snack bar at the time so I had to go back to the gazebo. But when I was making my leave, the dad approached me and just asked with a smile if I’m done. I just said, “Yes” before I said goodbye. I can tell he was a good person I’m proud to have briefly met who just wanted to let others have a good time and I think we all need people like that: someone who acknowledges what makes us happy and lets us express ourselves the way we want to.
I’m just glad to know there are people like them in Dansalan Gardens who are just simply happy neighbors who love to see other fellow neighbors around. Even if I still prefer to stay in my room most of the time doing my own thing, it is nice at times to go down and just still do your thing there, only with some nice neighbors around and nice environments to look at like the fish ponds and green plants I’m glad are still here since those days of singing around when I was little.
As I conclude this writing piece, one day, I know there’s a time I will eventually have to leave Dansalan Gardens behind to further pursue more of my dreams outside this place and explore more of my personhood on my own terms. I’m almost twenty-one years old after all and I want to understand more of my truest desires in life beyond my own home and family.
Still, one thing’s for sure. All the places I have been to and all the people I talked to in my condominium definitely served well as my home for the past twenty years. In all the moments that have made in this beautiful community, I’m proud to have grown up here. But most of all, I’m very grateful for this home to inspire the freedom that I needed to value the most at this stage of life as I grow further in my adulthood.
And even when I leave, I’m sure there’s gonna be plenty of children who will feel the same feelings I had when playing and walking around this condominium they live in. Indeed, it was nice to see those kids running and playing around like we did when we were their age. And who knows? Perhaps, there might be a little kid who is currently exploring their own ways in life just by singing and dancing around Dansalan Gardens the same way I did when I was little and now as a twenty-year-old.
But right now, I just want to live the way I want to as the Edwel that I really am: one who loves to express themself at any time and place in Dansalan by the winds of these gardens.
About the Author
Hi there! I’m Edward Emmanuel “Edwel” I. Florido, currently twenty years old living in Dansalan Gardens Condominiums. As someone who is taking up Literature in college, I consider myself as a person who admires the art of writing, which has always been one of my most favorite passions that allow me to best express my own values and feelings about anything. And through this piece I made, “By The Winds of These Gardens,” I wanted to showcase the things I have been thinking about regarding how well I am living in my condominium for the past twenty years. And through this writing opportunity given to me, I am thankful for all my favorite places and moments here with others in Dansalan Gardens that allow me to further understand the person I am and who I wish to be in this life and world I am living in.