Laarni Lozada

She sang, she cried, she cried some more and she won ...

When I heard her audition, I think I shed a tear ... When I saw her enter the Pinoy Dream Academy, I shared in her tears. She was so broken, there were only pieces of herself to put back together again.

She wasn't ashamed to show her emotions, neither did she care. She was ashamed that she was making the others feel bad but they didn't understand her. All she needed was love but all they thought about were themselves.

I could empathize with her because I was once like her. I lived in the prison of my mind. I looked myself as an ugly being, unworthy and without talent. IT took a lot of people and a lot of love to cure me. But it worked. If it weren't for the many people who always told me "you look pretty when you smile, smile some more" ... or the other signs of building up, I will not be where I am today. I thank everybody who never lost hope in me. Who believed that I could be a better me.

I hope the same for Laarni. Now that she's the Grand Star Dreamer, I hope she will have more confidence in herself. That in her brokenness and in her imperfections, she is perfect in God's eyes, just like everybody else ... I hope that she will begin to love herself for who she is ... a very talented and blessed person, full of emotions, and full of love ... that even in the ugliness of the world, she can still be beautiful if she can only see with God's eyes.

I'll refer again to Bo Sanchez' book "7 Secrets to Real Freedom", that sometimes, we are locked in into our own prisons ... our own created limitations ...

I would say we should break out of the prison in our minds. I hope that will happen for her.

Congratulations Laarni!