I won't say that I've had dreams of becoming a writer since I was a kid. In fact, in one of those Reading and Language essays we were often forced to write (anyone here who didn't have to write "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" ad nauseam, raise your hand), I distinctly remember writing I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up. I also remember I chose that profession randomly. I was just so tired of being expected to know what I wanted to be in the future at the tender age of eight. I prefer my Papa's (grandfather) adage, which he sang to us any chance he got - que sera sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see...I think my love for writing developed as an offshoot of my passion for reading. In high school, I wrote for our school newsletter "The Melting Pot", won in many essay competitions, including in the National Secondary Schools Press Conference, and was Features editor when I graduated. These contributed to my dream of becoming a writer, much to my father's consternation. My father wanted me to take up medicine to follow in his footsteps. I remember we had a huge argument when I sent in my UPCAT (University of the Philippines) application form with B.A. Journalism as my course of choice. But spoiled brat that I was, I ultimately prevailed.
But I didn't feel happy in the Institute of Mass Communications. I wasn't entirely sure I was meant to be a journalist. I wanted to be a writer and there is a huge difference. My favorite teacher Rene O. Villanueva told me that if I wanted to be a writer, I was in the wrong course. That was all the reason I needed to change course. That summer I decided to make my father happy and shift to pre-med. I entrusted my papers to a friend who was also shifting. By some strange twist of fate, she decided at the last minute to shift to B.S. Economics. She submitted my papers with hers and since I didn't want to incur my family's wrath by shifting again, I stayed there for the next three years. Writing about the effects of devaluation on the trade balanc and the balance of payments (that was my graduation thesis, but don't ask me what the effects are) instead of essays and stories. I consoled myself then that I can always write if I really wanted to write. I now know that writing is a vocation that needs to be nurtured and fed. You need to make room for it in your life.
I must thank the readers of this blog for giving me faith and confidence in my writing abilities. This blog has been my creative outlet, not only in scrapbooking but in writing as well. And thanks to Sheryl's KAYA challenge, 3 wishes, I took baby steps to making one of my dreams come true.
In February 2008, I wrote Good Housekeeping Philippines for an opportunity to write for their magazine. They immediately came back to me and requested an article for their Blessings column. I submitted my article ASAP and after months of waiting, my article was finally published in their September 2008 issue. I am now "published in a widely circulated local magazine." That's one wish down, two to go. Well, actually if I win in the Lotto, I wouldn't need to wish for an international fellowship. I will be a scholar of my own foundation. LOL.
I hope that this is the beginning of a life-long dream although I know that this time I will have to work at it. I have had some people tell me to let it go for their own selfish reasons. I'm glad that I never listened to any of them.
The title of the article will be familiar to many of you. I also created a layout about this last August and it was featured in Scrapbytes.
Funny, we bought that pink dollhouse when Diego was a toddler. No signs of the girls then yet. Diego had fun sleeping in that thing. We also used it as a shelf for his baby things.
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