I have always felt frustrated that I wasn’t artistic enough.  I wanted to draw, paint or even capture a moment or scene in a photograph so that it will be forever documented and captured as a memory.  My only talent was sad to say writing.  Sad because I only discovered and used this when I was already in 3^rd or 4^th year college.  Actually, I accidentally discovered this during 4^th year High School when we had a group project to come up with a school paper and I really enjoyed the experience though challenging as we had to come up with a lot of articles and we even have to do the layout on our own and this was a time that computers were not readily available as it is now.  During that time, I didn’t think that my writing was special because a lot of other students wrote better than me nor I felt that writing is special to me because we were being forced to do all sorts of essays, book reports and theme compositions in English or Filipino.  To be honest with you, I hate writing in Filipino as I feel my words and message are shallow.  I also viewed writing as a chore because we had to do it as part of our school requirements.

And then at a point that I was in the crossroads of my life when I was moving from High School to College, I was pondering on what course to take up in College.  I was looking at Journalism, Psychology or Engineering (1^st choice Electronics and Computer Engineering and 2^nd choice Chemical Engineering).

Psychology because I liked listening to people, helping to guide them to find solutions to their problems and understanding how the human mind works and what makes a person tick.  But I began thinking that in order for me to earn well I need to study to become a doctor and I really don’t want to study too long.  And did I tell you I don’t like seeing blood?  It makes me feel nauseous.  I have this impression that if people call you a doctor even if you are in the field of Psychology you still need to undergo the basics of being a Doctor and thus you need  treat wounds.  Also, I felt that if I just take up the 4-year Psychology course I would just end up being a school Guidance Counselor which appeals to me as a job but would not pay well.

Journalism because I enjoyed the time when I was writing articles, creating brain teasers like crossword puzzles and word searches and doing layout.  When I saw the finished product of our newspaper which was our major project in English, I felt a sense of accomplishment and pride.  I thought it would be exciting to be going all anyway covering the latest news whether it be about a coup d’ etat or a basketball game or a foreign diplomat visiting the Philippines.

But then I forgot about writing for a while as I was very busy trying to cope with College life especially with the very technical subjects in Chemical Engineering.  It was only in 3^rd or 4^th year college with the prodding from my friends that I decided to go for the entrance test and I surprised myself when I was one of the few who were chosen to be part of the College of Engineering School Organ.  But to be honest with you until now I don’t think I have fully maximized my talent or put it to use.  It’s been like years since I’ve had writer’s block.  I feel like I can’t compose anything artistic that is unless I would consider writing formal letters or emails artistic.  Even writing notes to friends I have not done for so long.  I miss the beauty of written works.  When I read someone’s essay or blog, you get to know more about the person.  You see another side of the person that you will not see by merely talking to him.

I felt envious of friends who can opt to follow their passion but then being envious will get me nowhere.  So, I have taken a giant leap to restart writing and use my own blog versus before I was contributing to a group blog.  I felt that with this, it will force me to take a break from the frenetic phase of being in Supply Chain, to stop for a while and lose myself in the magic of writing and let the creative juices flow again.  This will also encourage me to rekindle my love for reading which will help and inspire me to create new ideas which I would want to write about in the future.  So I hope you will join me in my journey and I hope you too will enjoy the ride.

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Disclaimer about the writer:

I am a work in progress like you.  I don’t claim to be a highly effective person or a financial genius or the perfect outreach program organizer.  But I want to be a better person and I want to challenge myself to continuously improve so I hope you don’t mind if I share with you some of my thoughts and musings while enjoying this wild ride we call life.  If I can inspire you, give you hope or even make you smile, my dear reader, it will be a blessing for me that I can make a difference even in my own simple way.