In honor of Independence Day, I have been thinking a lot about rattan.
We often see it as just another light, airy look for a beach house or a tropical hotel, but if you look closer, there is so much more to it. Rattan is a wild, climbing plant that grows high in the trees. It is not made in a factory by machines. It is pulled from the forest canopy by hand. When you sit in a chair with a hand-woven seat, you are not just sitting on furniture. You are sitting on hours of someone’s quiet, steady focus. You are being held by the work of a person who knew exactly how to bend the vine without breaking it.
There is a deeper, harder history here, too. For many years, the rattan stick, or the baston, has been the main tool used in Arnis, our local martial art. During the time when our country was under colonial rule, the people who took over banned our steel weapons. They did not want us to know how to fight or protect ourselves. But we did not stop. We kept our traditions alive by using a simple vine instead. It became a symbol of who we are because it is so flexible. It can bend to absorb a hard hit, and it can spring right back into shape. It does not snap. It survived because it knew how to yield, and that is a big part of how we finally won our freedom.
This makes me think about what it really means to have a good life. We are often told that to have a good life, we need to buy more things, own the best brands, and fill our homes with expensive labels. We are taught to be obsessed with having. But true luxury is not about what you own. It is about bringing things into your home that grew from our own soil and were shaped by hands that knew how to work with the material instead of trying to force it.
As we celebrate our independence, we should try to move away from the need to just collect more. When you choose something made with care, you are not just a shopper anymore. You are a part of a long chain of people who respect the land and the craft. You are surrounding yourself with things that have a history of being tough and flexible. Just like the rattan vine, we are at our best when we can bend with the hard times and stay true to who we are.