A Fleeting Soul’s Journey
A youngster’s quest to feel every ounce of her emotions for a better understanding of the deeper meaning of life.
“It’s more fun in the PHILIPPINES!”
— the known slogan of my country.
I grew up in a province called Bicol. The small town I lived in is quite far and diverse from the big city. The nearest mall would take up to an hour drive with no traffic. It’s the kind of community wherein you won’t see anyone roaming around at eight o’clock in the evening. Although I was born in the capital of the Philippines, my 5-year-old self had to move to a different region because Mom and Dad had bigger business plans for the sake of our family’s brighter tomorrow.
I was typically the shy and wont-talk-unless-asked type of little girl. I have an older brother who survived cancer and is diagnosed with ADHD. As the youngest and only sibling, I had to act mature with a whole bag of understanding and patience. My parents gave their love equally but having the least attention is hardly avoided. I had to acknowledge at an early age that life cannot be fair sometimes but if you positively take those struggles it can lead you with a stronger personality.
Even back then, I had the thirst for knowledge — the curiosity of every little bit of everything keeps my soul alive. At the age of four, I wanted to learn how to read and my ever-supportive parents taught me. Until then, the beginning of my endless reading of storybooks was born. The first story I wrote at six was about Pokemon, my older brother and I are avid fans of that show. Then I wrote about a haunted cookie — which is astonishingly funny when I think about it now. My passion for writing continued until I was able to write poems and prose. In high school, I was awarded Best in Essay Writing and my poems were printed in our school publication and yearbook.
“Why did you take him away from me, God?”
My life paused for a moment when my father suddenly passed away in a country far from ours and all due to a massive heart attack. Arrived in a wooden coffin, eyes were closed, and never will it be exposed. At that time, the whole lot was blurry for me. I lost the will to do anything, even my love for writing came to a stop. I even randomly chose a course for college that I think would better me at developing my public speaking. I have earned a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Broadcasting.
“Everything happens for a reason. We might not know what it may be yet but in the least expected instance, enlightenment will soon befall.”
All of us are living our lives for the first time and there are no guidelines nor a manual. Making the most out of everything must be our goal. Now back and residing in the Pearl of the Orient city of the Philippines — Manila. I had my internship at a broadcasting media company as a production assistant for a TV show. I didn’t like what I was doing and so I thought, this isn’t the career for me. Landing my first job working for the government at the Bureau of Customs wasn’t for me either. I was the so-called “job hopper”, I did different lines of jobs — hotel and management, sales and marketing, teaching, had my own business, and currently ended up as a banker. This was my journey — the means of experiencing various perspectives so I would end up with my fated purpose. Finally, the year 2020 openly led me to a calling — I am a writer and this is my happiness. Rediscovering my passion here on Medium gave meaning to a life worth living. I am and until my last breath will inspire and motivate those in need. I am concluding that my quest is to feel all different kinds of emotions and share how I coped up, showering positivity all the way.
I am a 25-year-old who believes that I am destined for greatness and my journey has yet begun. We are our own teacher and thus we learn and get wiser from the exposure to existence. Hence, we are capable of teaching ourselves to pursue living in satisfaction.
“Life isn’t about finding who or what you want to be. It is about creating YOU.”
Cheers to building a soul hailed with fullfillment!
Here’s an article I wrote relating carnival rides to my life:
https://readmedium.com/relating-life-to-carnival-rides-fe423cf79c08
I would like to give my sincerest gratitude to Dr Mehmet Yildiz for giving me the opportunity to be one of the writers of his publication, “ILLUMINATION”.