For Jasmine Curtis-Smith, patience key to dealing with life’s challenges

Jasmine Curtis-Smith

Living alone can get lonely at times, Jasmine Curtis-Smith admitted—and more so now that there’s a pandemic, and her family is hundreds of miles away in Australia.

So, if there was one thing she had to relearn in the past couple of months to somehow bridge that distance, it’s patience.

“Instead of feeling bad about the separation, I looked at it as something that taught me to look at the positive side. I just think that I will have so many more years with my family,” she said in a video conference for the return of GMA 7’s adaptation of the popular Korean drama series “Descendants of the Sun” (DOTS).

“There’s the feeling of wanting and yearning to be with them. For people who live alone, it tends to be lonely. It’s hard. But it’s about learning to use that and turn it into something to look forward to,” she added.

But luckily, Jasmine was able to squeeze in a quick trip down under in March and met her new niece, Dahlia, before lockdowns were put in place around the world. “I’m glad I really pushed the trip because I wanted to make sure I saw my niece as soon as I could … at her youngest,” she said of sister Anne Curtis’ firstborn child with Erwan Heussaff.

Less than a week later, international flights were canceled.

“I nearly got stranded in Sydney; not even in Melbourne, where my family is. Now I wonder, ‘What if I had gotten stuck there? Maybe I could have stayed in Melbourne and be with my family.’ But then again, it would have been hard for me to fly back to the Philippines and resume shooting,” she pointed out.

“Maybe everything happens for a reason,” surmised the 26-year-old Kapuso star, who plays Capt. Moira Defensor in DOTS.

Jasmine Curtis-Smith in “Descendants of the Sun”

Patience was also key in dealing with the challenges her indie music label, Funky Records, is currently facing because of the pandemic.

“I discovered how impatient and unforgiving I can be of myself especially with all the time we have. But now I understand that it’s important to give yourself a chance to breathe; to take in what’s in front of you day by day,” Jasmine said in an earlier video interview.

Funky Records is home to such up-and-coming artists and bands like Bea Lorenzo and Flu.

“You have to accept the reality of where things are, and think of the best way to move forward. Do you invest more? Is it time to take a pause?” she asked herself.

It’s important that Jasmine remains emotionally detached, because some of her business partners have also become her friends. “It’s about being logical with business matters. We don’t want our emotions to affect our decisions,” she said. “It’s hard. But it is what it is, so we just have to deal with it.”

How does she deal with the stress? One of the things that has kept her sane amid the quarantine, she said, is taking breaks from social media.

“One of the most effective ways is to stay offline because many of us work online, too. It’s important to give ourselves a break from all the things we’re trying to listen to and understand. Sometimes, when you take a break from it all, that’s when you find your real core, your center,” she said.

It’s the quiet moments, she added, that can make one feel calmer, more appreciative of the things around us. “Give yourself a chance to breathe. We could always use a bit of patience and self-forgiveness, because tomorrow is another day,” Jasmine said.