No matter how great a person is, without validation, he still is nothing.

I’m ecstatic with the thought that I earned it, that I am “it.”

I know a lot of you won’t have any idea what I’m talking about. But in my line of work, an email from my boss (a portion is posted below) is as important as hearing the words “Good Job!”

The wait is finally over and new challenges are yet to come but I welcome them, like they are rain from the sky after a dreadful drought.

Long way ahead but I’d make it. I will make it. Deym, I’m proficient and that means something.

With my book in the works (I’m in Chapter 6 now, hurray!) and yes it’s taking a while but before the end of this year, I already have something to present.

Hopefully my friend who knew several publishers would be able to do something to get it published.

Cheers to life. And this one's to the future!

Let's talk about hair.

It's been a long time coming and this is the perfect time to talk about it. While everyone else is celebrating Holy Thursday and skipping meat as part of their penitence, from my end, I think I had been doing mine ever since I graduated college.

During the Lenten Season, they say that you have to give up something that you really love. It just so happen that for most people, they love their food. I'm not Catholic so the practice shouldn't bother me. But for the sake of this article, let me tell you why losing my hair becomes my penitence and why the Lenten Season never stopped for me.

This is the usual conversation.


Office Colleague 1: Hey, where are you going?
Me: Out. Just buying lunch.
Office Colleague 2: Let us go with you.

Outside.

OC1: It's so hot. Why is it so freaking hot?
OC2: That's actually not my problem. My problem is that something hurts my eye.
OC1: Oh. I see what you mean.
OC2: (Looking at me.)Would you mind covering your head. The sun's reflection is killing me.

Boohoooo!!!! Funny!!!

I'm not sure if you get what they mean but everytime we are out and the sun is blistering hot, they blame my head for creating so much eye sore. It use to annoy me a lot and God forgive me, I pray for the day that everyone else start losing their manes so that they would know how ashamed they make me feel.

I have genes to blame for this tragedy. Well, I use to think of it as a tragedy but not anymore. Looking at my pictures in college with my voluminous hair and taking picture with me on a wig (well-sort-of), I look like an idiot. It's actually better that I totally get rid of my hair.

The usual banter about my being bald (more of thin hair) is not causing me distress anymore. Deep down inside, everytime they call me names for my apparent lack of hair, I shout "Is that the best you got?"

And deep down, I'm also praying that God would do justice and I pray hard that one day, those who bully me will get what they deserve. I don't want them going bald, that would be too funny. I just wish their teeth get all knocked off. How's that for a tragedy?

(Or maybe I'll knocked their teeth for them, just for the fun of it. Hahaha)

The best thing about being an editor is discovering talents. Of course, there is a bigger chance of wasting your time on people who are just trying hard and yet call themselves writer but the moment that you find them, those diamonds in the rough, and help them become better writers - is too much of an honor.

When I was in college, one thing that I always find unfair even at present is how people seem to be fixated with schools. A lot of people think that the school makes and defines the students but I'd like to contradict it. Time and time again, stories after stories, I can say that students make the school. The students bring prestige and honor not the other way around. If students pass the bar exam, it's not because the school took the exam for them but rather, it's because the students studied hard to pass it.

Good writers in the Philippines are barely recognized. For one, to be a recognized writer, you have to have money and should come from a well-known school. Everytime that I come across with a good writer, I come not to pity the writer for not having the chance to showcase his/her talent but I pity the world for not meeting one of the gifted writers it badly need.

The world especially the Philippines is currently experiencing a widespread writer's block. Watching Philippine TV show is like being transported back to the 60s or 70s. I don't mean that as a compliment. You are transported back to the past because it's where the good stories are. TV writers cannot come up with anything new and they end up with recycled materials (like Machete, Mula sa Puso, Mara Clara etc) and borrowing from foreign media (take Lobo and Imortal).

Somewhere out there, I believe are more talented writers waiting to be given a chance to showcase their talents. They wouldn't come from well-known schools and those who will find them, will be lucky enough and for sure, will have fresh materials to present to the public. And God knows how much the Philippine public needs new stories and fresh materials.

On a related note, two of my recent discoveries are budding writers from my old student publication. One calls himself Ryan Adik Na Lambay and the other is Rolyn.

Ryan's writing is sarcastic but it's true and often very humorous. He paints a clear picture of what he wanted to write about. He may need a little tweaking on the logic of his story but once he overcomes it, I believe that he would follow the footsteps of Filipino writers Bob Ong and Eros Atalia. And maybe he'd be a little better.

His short story, Anak ng Teteng!, had me laughing. It was a simple story but the picture was so vivid I can imagine the character like I was with him. Here's an excerpt:

Rolyn on the other has the best ability to create fluent and fluid conversation among her characters as evident on her short story, The Stranger. She also have a beautiful way of presenting her story. Here's an excerpt:

In time, I believe both Ryan and Rolyn will be very good writers. I hope they will be given a chance to develop their talents. But what I hope the most is that they would not forget the reason why they write.

They have 9 children. My mom, Juliet, became the eldest when the very first child, Judith, died when she was in her teens. She was married to one man, the same man she married some 50 or so years ago. Her husband celebrated his 74th birthday just this April and she herself will celebrate her 74th soon. She's not the hopeless romantic type.

She's part Spanish and one of the prettiest in her youth. She has many suitors but my lolo said he never said any word. He bragged that he just looked at her and they knew.

Their growing up years were not the best of years. They have seen the atrocities of war and they knew suffering more than anyone having to raise 9 children with only their land as a source of income. They have seen the worst and the best of each other and despite thousands of disappointments and frustrations, they are still together.

Through her experiences, I believe my lola has every right to define what love is. And for my benefit and some other young people who have trouble understanding what it means, this is how she put it:

Death is a common theme among civilizations. The great civilizations like that of the Mayans and Egyptians had acknowledge death as a part of life - a temporary stop where everyone had to pass by in order to move forward to a future more fulfilling if not cursed.

Having said that, the Philippines is perhaps one of the world's most exotic places not only in location but customs, traditions and beliefs. It has some of the most unique and peculiar burial places and practices and the most colorful of history as well.

Here are four must visit cemeteries in the Philippines.

1. The Hanging Coffins of Sagada
Sagada, Mountain Province




There is no proper name given to caves and cliffs where these coffins are hung. But technically, I think it is fair to say that these collection of hanging coffins located at numerous spots all over Sagada can be considered as cemeteries.

What is magnificent about this burial practice is the way the coffins and its contents are preserved. At present, most people who were buried (or hung) had been preserved so well that if one is to open the coffins, the mummies inside are still intact.

Noteworthy: The townsfolk have a paganistic belief that those who died naturally and those who died from sickness or childbirth should be separated so as not to spread diseases or curses.


2. The Sunken Cemetery
Camiguin Island



Of course the Sunken Cemetery didn't start out as that. It was a regular cemetery so many years ago but due to several eruptions of Mt. Vulcan Daan, the cemetery was forcefully driven underwater.

Today, during high tide, only the big cross marker can be seen since the rest of the cemetery is totally submerged. There are days however, when the tide is really low, that one can see the eerie layout of this burial ground.

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49064485@N00/487883845


3. Familia Luzuriaga Cemetery
Bacolod City, Negros Oriental


There are no special or weird practices involved with this cemetery. What makes this cemetery remarkable is its location.

As the Guiness Book of World Record had put it, this cemetery is "the only cemetery in the world at the intersection of two highways."And that pretty much summarizes everything.

This cemetery belongs exclusively to Ruiz de Luzuriaga family, a prominent clan in Negros Occidental, whose great great grandfather, Don Eusebio Ruiz de Luzuriaga, settled in Bacolod City in 1840 after self-exiling himself from Spain.

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunshinebunny/4041249617/


4. Death March Marker
Corrigidor, Bataan



On April 9, 1942, Bataan fell. About 75,000 American and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese and these POW (prisoners of war) were forced to walk (more than 100-km) from Mariveles (located at the southern tip of Bataan Peninsula) to Camp O'Donnell.

Out of 75,000, only about 54,000 reached the destination due to inhumane physical abuse and murder.

The atrocities of the Japanese and this event was later called the Bataan Death March. At present, the path that the soldiers took is marked by white markers. The estimated number of fallen soldiers - 11,000 scattered all over the path they took.

Photo source: http://visitpinas.com/the-unknown-clark-cemetery-and-death-march-marker/

Going home had enlightened me about a lot of things primary of which is that I have to let go - let go of people, of ideals, of fantasies and of the past.

To summarize, going home is about closure.

I'd been judged. I'd been asked to do things I don't like and pressured to make the decisions I don't agree with.

But those days are over.

I have decided to move ahead to the future. I've decided to never look back.

Last night, I have a long conversation with my brother. We talked about a lot of things and finally, I was able to say things I'd been keeping for so long. Finally, there was someone to share with the sorrows about our little imperfect family.

The truth is, I don't know if telling my brother the things I told him was a good thing but somehow, at the end of the day, it felt right. So it was a closure for a nasty internal conflict for me. I've decided to let it go.

And then I closed that chapter - the one that I'd keep to myself, the fantasy that will never come true because as already said -it's a fantasy. It was a childhood dream which failure of coming true hurts a lot. I have to accept defeat and face it like an adult. And I am an adult now. No more make believes.

Lastly, I will no longer be pressured to do things I don't like. It's a thing of the past. I will make my decision at my own time, at my own pace. If people hate me for it, so be it.

I was in 3rd grade when I was taught how to write a haiku. It's been a while since I made one and I've forgotten the rules in writing one. This is me trying. If I fail terribly, I have but my ignorance to blame. :)