Silya

According to Heraclitus, we can never cross the same river twice. The river of life carries with it the currents of change. Nothing ever stays the same. With this, people in relationships (be they platonic or romantic) either grow apart or grow stronger together.

 

Project Sil(y)a focuses on the former. It is a somber contemplation of relationships that dissipate as they wade through the currents of change. 

 

This slow dissipation may start with misunderstandings, disagreements, or lack of communication. It then snowballs into arguments and decisions that leave the other person hanging. To those of us who are often the ones left behind, we are also left with all the questions like “Where did I go wrong?”, “Should I have fought harder?”, “Are we ever gonna be able to fix this?”

 

Sometimes, the best answer to all these questions is to accept things as they are. Embrace the ending and find comfort in the thought that we did the best we could. And that is always more than enough!

 

We always find somebody and somebody will always find us. We just have to keep wading through the waters and embrace the change that is always inevitable.

 

For now, take a seat dear audience. This may have been your story once or this may still be your story. Know, that you are not alone in this.

 

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The project name, Sil(y)a, derives itself from the Filipino term for chair: “Silya”. If we take out the letter “y”, we are left with the word “Sila”. Sila is a personal pronoun that loosely translates to “They/Them”. Because the story revolves around them, the people in the two chairs, and their relationships that come to an end. Additionally, if we take out “l” in “Silya”, we are left with “Siya which is another personal pronoun that can refer to “him/her”. This him/her can be the person who gets left behind or the person who has to make the decision to end the relationship.

 

Project Sil(y)a is a story that can belong to anyone. Project Sil(y)a is a story that belongs to anyone.