core-ganization...

CORE-RELATE! Countless random thoughts are running through my core and I can't pick exactly which one to start with.

A question popped up as I was trying to gather my wits: Which blog do I post them in? I considered Blogit but fearing that I might have to cancel my subscription anytime owing to my sub-par credit standing (and reader stats), I decided to click on the address of my default core-relate blog: http://core-relate.blogspot.com. Yeah, this blog.

In retrospect, my previous post:"But random I am not... at least not totally. Because I love organizing things." I beg to disagree with the author. Well, at least a disclaimer followed: "Or rather, I'd like to think that I am a sucker for system." I'm not so much of a leader/organizer really. Breaking the ice is not my cup of tea and certainly, I don't like being the initiator of any activity.

If I'm good at anything, that will be core-ganizing in my journal the conundrum of random thoughts lodged in the corners of my feeble mind and the plethora of emotions contained in my tattered, deceitful heart. Blah, blah, ha, ha! And, uhm, weaving words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, paragraphs into manuscripts... so that, in coherence, they'd be able to paint a clear picture of my ideas and my message and somehow unburden myself of it.

The Ugly Duckling

I had my first brush with 'serious' writing -- journalism to be exact -- around 1985. I don't remember exactly how I got in that meeting, considering that I was a transferee the previous school year. But I do remember being nominated by my crush (first ever, and I'm glad he's in my Friendster) to be one of our schoolpaper's copyreaders. I was awestruck firstly because I wasn't expecting that he, a cute and smart 5th grader would notice the dark, skinny 8-year-old girl from grade 3; secondly, it was for Filipino not for English which I was confident at. Apparently, my crush saw something in me because a couple of years and around 10 schoolpaper-published articles after, I brought home an award in copyreading (Filipino category) from the National Young Writers' Conference participated in by schools all over the Philippine archipelago.

Filipino, It Is

I transferred to a private school after finishing elementary and started having a diary in highschool because it was part of the school's R&R. The school provided a color-coded diary for its students as part of the 'uniform.' My freshman diary was basically an amalgam of class assignments, exam schedules, school notices, and meetings of the MathSci and CommArts clubs in which I was a member. In my sophomore year, the pages included from time-to-time the principal's signature: I was often late. My "serious" writings then were found inside the pages of our theme notebooks in our Filipino and English classes.

In my junior year, I started writing poetry out of sheer obligation. It was a requisite in my writing class to have a journal so I made myself one and called that little black (note)book "Sunny." We had the liberty to choose the language so most of my poems were in English. I never published any of those writings... even in the school paper.

One morning, to excuse myself from a dreaded Chemistry exam, I signed up for the CommArts Club's on-the-spot literary writing contest. I had set my mind in joining the English category but a good 5 minutes has elapsed and I couldn't pull my rhymes together for the theme on God being there with us all the time. My first stanza, to my judgment, was drab. Out of desperation and time pressure, I tried the Filipino counterpart of what I've already written and strove. Thirty minutes later, I was smiling my way back to the classroom knowing that win or lose my exemption from the Chemistry exam paid off. At the end of the school year, I was awarded "Poet Laureate of the Year" for my 24 stanzas evoking the theme in all its splendor.

I knew I would have been popular in school if I took part in the school paper but for some unknown reason, I didn't try out for it and contented myself with being a member. In my senior year, I bagged the presidency for the school's Filipino club when the CommArts split-up into English and Filipino.

That First Column

I have tried column-writing two years ago in our branch's now-defunct newsletter, The Pillar. I'm not so sure if the positive feedback I gathered was because my writing was really good or because my stint (along with some 6 workmates) was somewhat unparalleled, considering it was our branch's first-ever complete newsletter. Oh, well, those were the days of my published thoughts via my COREL8 column. And now, Core-Relate belongs to three of my public blogs.

It feels good to know that after I've squeezed out the ideas and core-ganized them in my journal or in any piece of paper at hand primarily for myself and decides to have it published, I am able to elicit feedback. I know I've touched a life in one way or another; I've pulled a trigger or ignited a spark somewhere in that person's core. I've spurred someone into activity or, even better, productivity.

My current companion "Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul," is partly the culprit behind what I'm still trying to write. I won't know if I've made any sense until I've clicked the Publish Post tab after I'm done with this. Soooo... because core-relating is my cup of (green) tea, I core-relate on the lessons I've been learning from my (borrowed) bowl of Chicken Soup and my core-oscopes for today. No, I don't believe in horoscopes per se. I just happen to ponder on their essence and applicability to my circumstances. I just want that to be clear. And I guess, I'd be writing for as long as I can tinker with the keyboard and read.