"What are your hobbies?", the interviewer asked me.
"I write", I told him with my signature smirk, "I watch movies and TV series, I play the piano, guitar, and drums. But I write most of the time"
"I would be happy to read some of your works one of these days", he smiled as he continued to browse and read my curriculum vitae.
______
Yes, I write. Or I used to. It has been months now since I last wrote a decent entry on this blog. I may have some articles written and saved on MS Word but most of them are unfinished and I can't seem to my mojo to finish them.
Until one rainy afternoon, out of boredom, I grabbed my copy of Gerry Alanguilan's critically-acclaimed graphic novel Elmer. Even though I have repeatedly read and finished that comic book, I still browse and admire its way of telling a story. Perhaps to get an inspiration from chickens.
And then it came to me. On one part of the story, Elmer Gallo wrote in his diary that one should write because it is important not to forget. That message inspired his son, Jake Gallo, to write a book about the story of his father and the story of how chickens fought for their rights and equality.
It is important not to forget. Back when I was still in School, I used to keep a journal. I wrote there my reflections, dreams, and even those one-paragraph ideas that would eventually be the basis of my full-length article, short story, and other things that are worth writing and publishing (for our school publication, at least).
I had ideas, great ideas, and to borrow Jake Gallo's lines, "great ideas that would make great movies", that were eventually lost just because I forgot it. Because I did not write it. Because I just let them slip past my consciousness.
Sayang naman.
I don't want to make a promise to myself, or to this blog, or to you, whoever you are who stumbled upon this page, that I would start writing more regularly. I believe that is is a slow process of recovery, of getting used to it, of making it a habit.
But for now, write. Write even the smallest things. Write even the craziest one-liners. Write on any medium - on a piece of paper, at the back of the receipt, or at the calendar hanging on your wall.
Write as if no one will read your work. Write for yourself. Write for the universe. Screw your readers. You don't owe them anything yet.
Write.
Because it is important not to forget.
