My Own Personal Legend

A Re-post of my Blog in Multiply

July 29, 2008, 10:01 P.M

 “I am not a writer.” This is what Maggie Dela Riva said in her introduction to her book, “Peebles in the Pond” Yes, I am not a writer, too. I don’t write professionally. Rather, I write for pleasure. I write because I wanted to.”  And just like Ms. Maggie, I write because it is my way of expressing my real self, my feelings and my thoughts. I couldn’t even recall that I have received an A+ in my writing composition back in my high school days. One thing that I am proud of, I have two strict but loving and cruel but kind teachers in English back in my elementary days namely, Mrs. Lena Grasparil and Mrs. Annabelle Paccial (+) who taught and inspired me to love their  subject. They provided me with a strong foundation in English and that gave me enough confidence and self-esteem when I took up English as my area of specialization in college under Mrs. Divina Mabasa-Muyargas, my English professor and also my mentor.

I cannot say I’m good in English. My grammar sometimes quarrel with each other. I couldn’t even construct a perfect sentence. But, it doesn’t stop me from writing. I write because it is what my heart whispers me. I find joy in writing. I have written poems back in college but I didn’t dare to let other people read it, except to those who understands my language. I just keep it for myself. A friend even offered me to be one of the staffer in our school paper but, I refused to accept it. I thought that when I write for the school paper, I will be forced to write and submit the manuscripts to meet up with the deadline. I cannot write when I am not in the mood. I cannot write when someone pressures me to write. I write because it gives me enough time to appreciate life and ponder on things that happened in the past that simply connects into my present life and my future. I write because I am enjoying it. I write because it is one way of releasing the pressure and throwing all the excess baggage in my heart. I write because it makes me feel good about myself. I write because I want to share my thoughts to those who reads my stuff. I always keep a journal of my everyday life. And it’s good to know that at one point, when I feel so tired and exhausted from work, I scan through the pages of my journal and refresh my memories with all the things that happened and end up laughing. Writing is indeed very therapeutic for me.

Yes, I am not a writer. I don’t even have the gift of being one. But maybe, in my past life, I was an aspiring writer. And just as Maggie pictured herself as an Egyptian girl in her past life in one of her contemplation, I, too, can picture myself as a writer in the medieval times, only without contemplating on it. Hehe =)