On Writing, On Dreaming

The Feast PICC taught me to visualize my dreams. The Novena to God’s Love trained me to set specific goals with feasible timelines.

In 2014 I decided I want to become a published writer. I was serious with the dream but not yet with the corresponding investments (physical, financial, and social) to make it happen.

Baby steps

I found the Internet as a great space to share my thoughts and experiences so I created a blog where I post anything that interests and affects me.

In May 2014, I joined the Feat PICC Print Media Ministry as a writer. I diligently covered my assigned talks and homilies and submitted my articles on time. The sacrifice paid off when, for the first time in a long time, I saw my byline in a publication. It brought back great energy to my insecure hands.

Bolder aspirations

I also wrote in my Novena that I aspire to be published in Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Young Blood column, a section that accepts contributions from young writers who have relevant opinion about basically any topic under the sun.

Fast forward to September 2014 and my first essay “Papa, Don’tPreach” was published. As the year turned, my second article “Pope of ManyQuestions” was also accommodated by the editors.

No longer a ‘virgin’

God made my first two dreams come true. I took them as signs that He wants the best for me so I wrote another bold prediction. I asked to be one of the playwrights in Virgin Labfest (VLF), a festival of untried, untested, and unstaged one-act plays in the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

I knew that achieving such goal entails bigger and bolder preparations. I took up Theater Arts and Basic Acting classes at the Philippine Education Theater Association (PETA) to immerse in theater. I bought books featuring some of the best local and international plays ever written (big credit to the ultimate bookworm haven, Book Sale), I watched several productions from different theater groups to appreciate the craft, and I wrote ideas in my phone and in my notebook to make sure that I don’t forget good dialogues and hard-hitting punch lines.

To cut the long story short, I poured a generous amount of time, money, effort, and mixed them up with bowls of creativity and courage, and flavored them to perfection with pitchers of hope and faith just to be called a writer.

Fast forward to April this year – my play “The Wedding Planners” was chosen as one of the Staged Readings for Virgin Labfest 11. The festival opened up opportunities for me including working with young actors whom I admired and developing the play to an emotional and entertaining piece of work.

It was staged last June 26 and several friends, colleagues, and loved ones (most especially my parents) were there to watch it. That was a night filled with love, support, and admiration.

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I feel truly blessed as I look back on my VLF experience. I was calling on God to bless me from the time I dreamed of becoming a writer, to the countless days-turned-nights when I wrote my play, to the day of the announcement, until that moment when the lights turned off and the actors became my characters.  

I have a lot of people to thank for but God comes first and last. He is writing one hardworking life story and I am fortunate he is letting me contribute. I am thankful that God gave me this talent, through which I am able to bless, inspire, and entertain many. I will end this blessing blog with my favorite quotation from Mother Theresa, “I am but a little pencil in the hand of a writing God.”

Keep on writing your own story but remember you are just a contributor. He is, and always will be, the author.

Note to readers: This was originally submitted to the Bulletin of Feast Bay Area, the author's Catholic charismatic community led by Bro. Bo Sanchez.