Nameless…
“Baket bumili ka!?! Sana dinaanan mo na laaaaang!”
That was my editor Denice by the way… After I told her that I literally bought the magazine that contained my first official write-up printed in Philippine soil.
It’s been almost 5 years since I forced myself away from the geeky life of a computer builder / programmer to a not so (or more) geeky life of an aspiring writer. I didn’t really hate my college course; it was just that something inside of me wanted to scream my excesses away in a manner different to the one that I was practicing then. Or maybe I was just insane…
It’s not easy, really; I mean there I was penetrating the literary world armed only with enough knowledge to keep a computer running instead of the actual ability to feed it with any readable content worthy to be called a literary piece. This is after all the era of bloggers; these days people can just write about anything and gradually develop the skill to turn ordinary fertilizer into something actually palatable to the human mind; going along or against such an abundant flow of talents swarming the web is like cutting a modern day Red sea using a pencil with an angry pack of Egyptians hot on your tail.
It was the Koreans who first took notice of me while I was waving my pencil vigorously at my imaginary Red sea. Ignoring the fact that the only skill I had in me was a small stint in my elementary yearbook, they actually gave me really serious projects for actual Toefl based books on the spot. 2 years and 2 companies after that, another Korean company had me writing freely for a website for English-based teaching for their students to have something interesting to read on their website.
Seriously, they were THAT crazy… but thanks to that amount of trust, my writing level soared like an angry SAM missile. I mean seriously, you’re still reading this after 333 words right? Oh, better make that 340…
I know it was a big privilege on my side to actually be given such important tasks considering the amount of experience I have under my belt; and the funny thing about it is that the Korean readers actually thought it was a real-life Cambridge-raised westerner who was writing their stuff since I remained nameless the whole time. Sometimes, I just can’t help but feel sorry for them; they never really knew what hit them.
And so fast forward to a rainy 2009; I was then standing in front of a stall in PowerBooks, staring at a white colored magazine with a rabid looking monkey gracing its glossy cover. As I flipped the pages and stared at a slightly edited article bearing my very own pen name, my head flipped as well; the next thing I remembered is that I was a hundred and twenty pesos poorer and was already clutching a neatly wrapped magazine, receipt and all.
It really sounds ridiculous to buy a magazine that actually contains one of your written articles because other people would just grab the complimentary “free” copy instead, economic recession and all. But the way I earned my wings was enough for me to shrug off the sudden compulsive act. Being able to write for a publication which produces their works on the very same country that I live in really made me feel blessed. It was like I officially became the person that I wanted to be after almost 5 years of being the one who was unnamed.
God may never give you what you want on the spot, seriously. But he will surely get you ready for the one that you deserve to have.
Tags: SFC
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