Friday, June 25, 2010
Telltale signs of a future career as a writer, do you have them?
When people are asked to talk about how they started their business and how they became a successful preacher or actress or a doctor for that matter, one would never miss out to tell a story about that one shining, defining moment in their lives when destiny calls and signals - this is it. Most people would just ignore the early signs of brilliance, but those people who do not belong to the 'most-people' category will chase that little light of stardom until the light becomes them. A little girl started selling lemonade at 4 and after 40 grandchildren becomes a mall tycoon (there should be a shining moment in between the 4 and 40). A balut vendor, who pedalled his bike the entire day to sell his goods, later on becomes a tour-de-france cyclist. We should never fail to see the signs. I hope I didn't. When Mel - our YMA advisor - asked if I love to write, I just said, yes! I do.
I started writing in my sophomore year at high school - writing love letters. Slow start, I know. I wrote love letters for my seatmate and some of his friends at no charge. Then, before graduating from high school, I had my name printed in our school paper for contributing one poem about friendship and such. I take credit to the feedback sessions I got from those wide-eyed boys, telling me how I was able to capture in words what they wanted to say to a girl (whose names they'd forget after a week!). So, after much thought and one poem published, I threw away all my interest to ever write again.
I turned out okay even if I decided to just sit back and be a part of the audience, or a critic when I feel like it. I collected clippings of the Youngblood and Highblood column of the Philippine Daily Inquirer because I love the similarities and contrasts of perspectives of the young and the old. I still have tons of newspaper clippings from 2bU ( a youth oriented portion of the Saturday edition of the Inquirer) and Youngstar (from the Philippine Star) tucked away in a 'green bag' somewhere in the house, with my other "very combustible" treasures; but these clippings kept me nourished, I devoured them during weekends to live and see the birth of blogging. I was rather forced by circumstance to prefer newspaper clippings because being a student doing part time jobs, I could not afford to read a book, more so, buy one. So I guessed it was a sign. Day after day, I found it easier to appreciate the works of others and find beauty in their creations and surprisingly, it was getting harder and harder for me to write even love letters. Still, it was an awesome, lazy period of my life. However, as much as I enjoyed it, there's that growing, gnawing feeling in my gut telling me that I can create something out of molded words and provide soothing comfort to those who crave for it. I just wasn’t so sure though because hunger feels about the same.
When I look back in all those years that I thought I stopped writing for a purpose, I realized, I never stopped writing. I dug up my old notes and I have journal entries dating back 2001 until 2005. Spanning this half a decade of journal writing are just a few pitiful entries - one liners, a short prayer, a crush, a letter for my niece, another crush, some thoughts about a sad birthday and there was even one entry when I wrote about one of my college professors being very sexy (what was I thinking!). There was another entry - a poem about a 'peso', yes the money! Pathetic. There were a couple of entries however, when I actually talked about life and death, very reflective. I may not have seen the purpose of writing these entries before but reading these old entries for me has been very cathartic. I laughed at myself too many times and wondered what character or persona could I have had when I wrote those entries. Then it hit me, I did not have to have another persona, all these entries are shouting "M-E".
Twenty years from now, people will ask how I got to be a writer and a successful one at that. I will just tell them how the Young Minds Academy opened the doors for me and made me chase what matters most to me. My turning point? Not the writing of love letters. It was when I spoke from my heart, "I do...I do love to write".
Ma. Socorro Tejedor
( YMA 4 - Generation I )
( YMA 4 - Generation I )
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Brain WORKS!
Non-dominant hand anyone? Unusual to use, isn’t it? Do you know that by using your non-dominant hand, you are improving and exercising your brain? A very bizarre but helpful learning I gained in the first session of YMA. We were taught to also use our non-dominant hand in doing the basic works we have to do every day such as brushing our teeth, combing our hair, sweeping the floor, texting, receiving calls, eating ice cream and many more to get used to it.
In one activity, we used our non-dominant hand in drawing a man known as a universal genius, Leonard da Vinci. Surprised with the results of my artwork knowing that I’m not that good in drawings, I was encouraged to do better with my dominant hand and practice with the opposite to achieve equilibrium. There are really no impossible things in this world. “Remind yourself that you are an artist, make drawings regularly.”
Our brain does a phenomenal job of keeping the world understandable and keeping our bodies and behaviors in harmony with that world. Using our non-dominant hand may have an interesting effect in our brain since it is confusing it. Our non-dominant hand is linked to the non-dominant hemisphere of our brain. Some studies indicate that one hemisphere is active when using the dominant hand but both hemispheres are activated when the non-dominant hand is used. Either way, many people find that they ‘think differently’ or that surprising things get written down when using the non-dominant hand.
After this session, I used and exercised using my left hand. From this single learning, it really challenged me to do differently for the better. Gently and politely, even if it be bad handwriting, I am now slowly exploring my creativity and new ways of thinking.
Ana Marie Mamba ( YMA 4 - Generation 3 )