When Dreams Do Come

We dream and we hope against hope that these dreams come true. For some, it takes millenniums before their dreams are actualized. For me, it took around two years. Roughly.

I am not a born writer. I detested writing the same way I abhorred reading. For me, both activities eat up precious time to socialize—to be present in the world, to see and breathe what is real.

I wrote because I needed to. It’s either I whip up something or I’ll fail in school. Whichever way I look at it, the latter was not an option.

I can’t say I survived school by submitting half-baked papers. Heaven knows they’re not half-baked! Come to think of it they were never baked at all. They were all utterly raw. Just imagine what kind of gibberish results from inserting a decent piece of paper on a worn out typewriter then typing one’s thoughts extemporaneously. Anyone who lived in the pre-word processor days knows that typewriters aren’t equipped with one (or two) of the best keys computer keyboards today offer, the backspace (or delete) key.

And I dared to dream of becoming a writer. Must be something I ate. Or my insatiable masochism—my subconscious must have known what torment it would be to turn me into a writer. But I went on with the bumpy ride armed with a dream, not with talent. And what fun it is!

One Sunday night, I got an unexpected call from the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I had to sit down and catch my breath, otherwise I would have passed out without hearing what the person on the other end of the line was about to say. And then she said it. They were considering the first article I ever submitted to them. That meant, the glory of the byline was soon to be mine. I shrieked and jumped and cried. Although I submitted my work, I never saw such privilege coming.

Almost one month after, I savored the sweetness of having the public listen to my written voice. I would say it is the best thing that ever happened to me. It kept me in cloud nine for months. The dream I thought of constructing two years ago just came true!