WHY do I feel I have to address you in this Christmas issue, my dear readers?
Is it because I love you? Is it because I feel guilty having neglected you in a way?
It is true. I have not really been concentrating on my column writing in the last 52 days.
I tried to write a novel in November (but I still need six to eight chapters in order to finish it).
And to kill two birds in one stone, I published my daily output here until Day 7, I guess.
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Then, RPW happened. I got involved with the (R)ole (P)lay (W)riters community online.
Because I was a supercool 51-year-old, they celebrated me as a hero, as a friend, as a social media influencer.
My engagement with them was deep and committed.
I was thinking, if I could influence these young people online, I could really make a difference in shaping the mind of the Filipino youth.
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I established The House of Peter on Facebook.
And I gave it my full attention. I ministered to the kids.
I wrote thoughtful essays for them, answered their questions, spent time with them, and made funny stuff that helped them smile amid the pandemic and the yearend stress of their studies.
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But you already know all that since I also published here The House of Peter essays.
Again, why write about something else? Killing two birds with one stone!
If they are good enough online to change the lives of our young Filipinos, I’ll take my chances with my Panay News readers.
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If I didn’t feel the urge to address you today, dear readers, I would have published the moving success stories of my Yakap (Hug) Challenge online.
How youngsters braved their guts and embraced their parents which almost always ended in tears and loving words.
I think I have six or seven of them.
Maybe I’ll publish them next week, or next year, who knows?
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I’ve been hysterical on Facebook myself.
I mean, I played for these RPWs, and I kind of got in touch with my inner comedian.
I’ve always been a funny guy.
But I’m such an Englisherist (yep, that’s their term) that my jokes often bomb to those with lesser English.
But when I decided to adopt their language for a while, I was superfunny.
You got to see it to believe it.
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I need to collect those great one- or two-liners for you.
You will find them funny.
Maybe I’ll give them to you next week, just so you can have a good laugh before this horrible 2020 ends.
But in 2020, I discovered these: That I can be funny even to people 35 years younger than I.
That my humor knows no limit.
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That if you don’t find me funny, the problem is with you. (The problem is you, not me!)
That I cannot apologize for my humor.
But also, that I can take it if people can’t get my humor.
I mean, it’s not my fault that you got constipation and hemorrhoids.
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Except for the cold and the snow of the American East Coast, my Christmas is not much different from yours.
It’s still COVID season here.
There’s still social distancing, and even family gatherings are not suggested.
I haven’t been to a mall in nine months.
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Because I’m not sure when this COVID-19 pandemic ends, I hold on to my money.
I didn’t send or give gifts this Christmas.
I also instructed people not to send me anything.
I only ask for prayers.
And it’s your stupidity if you don’t believe that I prayed for all Filipinos, all Ilonggos, and especially my dear readers of My Life as Art since March when this pandemic began.
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I am Peter Solis Nery, and I have a reputation for being ruthless, brutal, vulgar, and blunt.
Well, there’s also the image of brash, brazen, arrogant, and brilliant.
But you know what, I love those words said about me.
Because I know in my heart that I am a loving, compassionate, caring, and warm person.
I am prayerful, slow to anger (but I am so adorable when I am angry! I can tear the stupid down!), and generous with prayers and pep talk.
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I’m writing you this column for this Christmas issue because I wanted to make sure I took the time to face my computer, think lovingly of you, and say a little prayer.
This pandemic year also taught me: To love you is to be honest about my feelings.
To be spiritually naked. Like that Holy Infant that to us was born.
My Life as Art is not artifice. But it is an art, a human effort to be true.
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I can dazzle you with my words and literary pyrotechnics.
But the truth is, my heart always swells when I say and write something honest and true.
My life on the pages of Panay News is testament to the fact that God’s gift, when it is finally revealed to us, always takes the form of humanity.
And I may be many other things, but you cannot take the (scarred, but beautiful) human in me.
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From my most prayerful heart, Merry Christmas.
Stay safe, and don’t let your guard down with this COVID-19.
I love you, all — my dear readers! Thank you for staying with me through the years. I really, really love you./PN
