starving artist

Things were the same when she returned to Iloilo.

Her room still got this artsy scent and an inviting atmosphere. Past issues of Reader’s Digest, untouched, piled neatly on the top of one of the Kaha de Oros. Pillows and stuffed animals hugged each other comfortably on the left edge of her bed, barely giving space to an additional hotdog pillow which she bought from Divisoria. The only change that she could see in her room was her suitcase of clothes and a big black bag of literary hand-outs and contemporary Philippine novels.

Rosemarie lazily plopped on her bed, edging out a little a stuffed dolphin. I’m finally home, she thought. She pinched herself in the arm, flinching in the second pinch. This is real; I’m not dreaming.

She stared at the ceiling for about five minutes, got up, pulled the suitcase, and opened it. Rosemarie took out all the clothes and rearranged them on her bed. She sighed. Some of her shirts were left in Tagaytay, she remembered upon seeing only a couple of white shirts resting beside pairs of of multi-colored striped socks, Avon bras, and cotton panties. No need to worry; clothes are not my top priority anyway.

(cont.)

When I was a senior in college, our professor had us made our own version of Desiderata, this time for literature. I would like to share this to the readers (that is if they really read this newspaper page by page) with the hope that they may get something that they can use for personal consumption. So, here goes:

Open the pages of those books but do not stop there. Read it and if you know those books will give you knowledge and heighten your maturity, continue reading. Literature is God’s way to let you know the bright and dark side of life without experiencing one.

However, if you encounter such literary pieces that will only add to your burden, destroy your beliefs or construct unjust imaginings in the corners of your mind, stand firm. Do not be affected for there are pieces that are not meant for growth and development.

And there are lots of good literatures around you. You may have already taken hold of some of them. Others just caught your glance in a second but you never mind of them. And the rest are in your dusty shelves, where molded pages are waiting to be touched, to be turned.

But do not stop there, I repeat. Literary pieces are keys to locks, answers to questions, questions to answers, air to lungs, blood to heart. In reading them, be keen to find the keys inside those texts, between words. Soon, finding them will be an easy task and answers to your uncertainties will flow.

Be the person you want to be, like the characters of these literary pieces. Like you, they struggled to be understood, to be cared, and to be loved. Like you, they wanted to express how it is like to be hurt, to be the center of controversies, to be down, to be the most useless person on earth. But like you, they also strived to rise from where they fall, to regain whatever they lost, to show the world once more that they too, like real human beings, can fight to live freely and to love, to be loved, and be unloved.

Thus, do not be afraid. Shed your inhibitions upon entering the world of literature. Do not close your eyes; see different kinds of persona. Do not cover your ears with your hands; hear the words, sentences, paragraphs with rhythm and melody. Do not keep your lips pursed in doubt; speak what you feel with eloquence and logic. Do not keep your tongue in its cave; taste what the world could offer you and this may be a ticket for deeper literary understanding. Do not inject insensitivity in your veins; let your body feel the smooth and rough sides of the world.

Loose yourself. Be yourself. Be your own hero.

Comments and suggestions are very much welcome. E-mail me at starving_artist23@yahoo.com.