BY NOW, you must already know that I am not a lazy person.
That I do a lot of things that I consider meaningful.
That I nurture and nourish relationships.
That I accommodate new people in my life.
That I fall in love every so often.
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You also understand that I am a most sane person because I reflect on my life more than most people think about their lives.
You might think I’m just a social media whore because I am enthusiastic with my Facebook, and Instagram, posts.
(I do Twitter, too. But it’s just a crosspost of my Instagram mostly.)
I must admit that there is a certain vanity in the religiousness of my column here at Panay News.
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But in all these, you can clearly see that I think deeply about my life.
And how it affects other people.
Early on, it was clear to me that I am called to be an inspiration to others.
I try to be that.
And if you try to be honest, you will agree that I have been pretty successful with it so far.
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I know people cannot be all like me.
I understand that not everybody will be like me.
Or will even like to be like me.
But, admit it, there are a lot of people whose desires and wants I settle (for them) just by speaking out, and sharing my life stories, in social media, and in my newspaper columns.
I am an influencer.
And I am also a scapegoat.
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I am the bad person you cannot be.
But I am also the good (great!) person you want to be.
I am the Life that you do not have.
Always the breath of fresh air in your humdrum, if not constipated, life.
In me, you see the real possibilities of living life to the fullest.
Of not caring for what the stupid world thinks.
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I have my public.
I have my audience and readers.
I am not worried of what they think of me.
I do not care if they become disloyal, and unfollow me.
I know that people are going to pick up only what they want.
Or simply what benefits them.
And that’s okay by me.
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I told you I cannot always be brilliant.
But I promised you that I will always be true.
Honest and truthful.
And also original, true to my calling.
And so far, I have delivered everything that I have promised.
So far, I am living the best years of my life.
And if you have subscribed to me, you can read these lines with a smile.
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For my creative writing, I only wrote a volume of children’s poems, and a Hiligaynon short story this year.
But as a filmmaker, I made a movie, a 15-minute French film.
And posted a record as the first Ilonggo filmmaker to make a French film!
For most of the year, I wrote my column here at Panay News three times a week, only slowing down to twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays) beginning November.
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I ran a monthlong online poetry workshop in June.
And gave several writing workshops in the Philippines when I visited in August until November.
I even posted another record as the highest paid literary speaker when a DepEd group in Koronadal City paid me P14,000 for a five-hour talk.
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As a performer, I held court at my Troi Oi stand up comedy performances, where I did a total of three shows this year.
I also posted another record as the first Ilonggo performer (and first Palanca Hall of Famer performer!) at the annual Palanca Awards ceremony.
Now, tell me who is the real big winner of them all!
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But it is mostly in social media where you saw me most in 2018.
Especially on Facebook.
Total Likes (and other reactions) to all my posts reached over 500,000.
And I like what Facebook said about it: That means I have made people smile at least500,000 times.
I really like that.
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I have made many friends this year.
But there’s one with a girl that I cherish the most.
I think it is mostly because this girl shared with me her most intimate secrets.
And she did it, she said, because she knows I will not judge her.
And I like that.
That people see me as someone trustworthy.
And who doesn’t judge people.
I don’t need many friends.
One, or two, of this kind is more than enough.
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Right now, there are only three people who can wake me up in the middle of the night for a silly, nonsense Messenger chat.
I mean, almost always, I answer people’s call even in the middle of the night.
But only for emergencies, and for suicidal tendencies.
But for these special three, I can be up for hours talking nonsense.
I mean, what exactly do you talk about when you speak for four hours at a stretch on a regular (read that as daily) basis?
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I have completely detoxed myself of my family this year.
I’m still there, but I’m no longer absorbing what problems they have.
My mom becoming a gambling addict?
I no longer stress myself about that.
I’ve said my piece, and if my siblings do not support me (Just leave mom alone where she is happy, they would say), I leave it to them to deal if Mom squanders their little inheritance away.
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Building my multi-million peso Casa Dom Pedro also freed me of financial worries.
When my family says they are short of money, I just tell them, Well, I’m building an apartment complex, and I don’t have extra money.
The other week, a cousin asked if I could help finance his mom’s cataract removal surgery.
It was easy for me to just say No.
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It is good to review our lives as we close the old year, and begin the new.
This is an easy thing for me to do.
My life is a well-examined life.
I write about it almost everyday.
I mean, this is My Life As Art!/PN
