Back to the old house

 Uling, my dog, died in 2005. I was heartbroken and needed an outlet, so I started writing on my first platform, Blogger. I played around with other sites but always came back to this ancient but reliable platform. It's simple and clean, just what I needed as someone who only wanted a place to type my feelings away.

I don't own a computer back then. Before I go to bed, I would write my thoughts on a notebook and visit a computer shop the next day to post it on my blog. Eventually I familiarized myself with blogging and different niches, and from 2006 to 2009, I was at my peak blogger era. I learned how to get paid by writing reviews of everything- from cheap headphones to local landscaping company. I would grin at my parents who insisted I needed a “real job”. I would cash my checks and blow it all on silly things like action figures and stationeries. I managed to save away a little, which to my twenty-something self meant that I was the definition of an adult. Yes, it was fun. But despite getting monetized, I somehow forgot why I started blogging in the first place.

2010 comes and I got a full-time job. I got work clothes, desk work, and health benefits, the kind of perks my mother had been preaching to me since college. And honestly, I felt like a real adult. Like I was finally becoming a good citizen to my country. I had by that time stopped blogging almost entirely. Work and commute left me so little time I barely slept at home, let alone write. Until one day I just deleted the whole thing. All those reviews, off-topic essays I spent hours writing gone with the click of a button. Did I regret it? Yes. But at that time I was certain that that era of my life has ended and that it's time to embrace a new one.

And then COVID happened. I was trapped in a one-bedroom apartment and couldn't go home to be with my family. Although I communicate with them daily, it didn't stop me from having breakdowns. That's when I decided I should start a new blog. But lockdown scrambled my brain so much that writing felt like torture, so I dropped it almost as fast as I started with only a single entry. A year later, I quit my job and moved back to the province, leaving the city noise behind me for crowing roosters and a spotty cellphone signal. Since then, I've been slowly finding my way back to blogging.

I am now forty years old. I don’t know if I can still write regularly and keep this blog going. But for now, I’ll try, because I miss having a place for my thoughts to exist. And somehow, writing still feels like home to me.

When you didn't land the job you wanted

Earlier today, I received an e-mail informing me that my application for a popular graphic design platform is no longer being considered. Although I am currently enjoying my "jobless era", the company offered this part-time position that suits my skills, and so I decided to give it a try. 

Of course, getting rejected can be frustrating, especially when it's from a company you admire the most and aspire to work with. I've applied to many companies before and got rejected so many times. But hey, it's not the end of the world. You can use rejection to your advantage, bounce back and maybe even land an even better position than the one you initially applied for. Remember these simple tips as they may help you in the future.

There are better options out there. Take rejection as an opportunity to explore other opportunities. Remember: there are plenty of companies looking for people with your skills. Review your applications, make some tweaks, and apply again. Even if you don't get the position, there's a chance you'll be contacted by the company about other roles that may be available in the future. You never know what might happen until you try.

Invest in Yourself. It's not always easy getting rejected after putting in so much work. The best way to get back on track is by investing in yourself. There are many different ways you can do this, such as going on job interviews or networking with people that have the same interests as you. If you have been rejected from a job interview, don't forget to ask questions about what could be done better next time. Then make adjustments accordingly and try again!

Take care of yourself mentally. It's okay to feel disappointed about getting rejected. As soon as you can, take the time to get out of your head and do something nice for yourself. This will help you put the rejection into perspective, and give you an opportunity to work on your mental strength. It might also be helpful to think about what went wrong during the interview or job hunt to avoid making those same mistakes in the future.

Don't give up. The first time you apply for a job, you're usually less experienced, so it's more likely that you won't be the best candidate. Instead of taking rejection personally, try and see it as an opportunity to learn. Read up on how to interview better next time, or reread the job description to see where you went wrong with your application this time. You might not get the job now, but perseverance and patience will pay off in the future!

The point is, when you get rejected, take time to breathe and reflect and assess. Then get back up and start over again. The perfect job for us is out there waiting. It may or may not reveal itself, so it's up to us to explore and look out for them.

Evaluating your own writing skill is key

How do you evaluate your writing? Some may think of it as a hard task, especially without the help of their colleagues. But when you are in the process of writing, you are already undergoing self-assessment. Whether you are a pro or a newbie writer, it’s important that we assess ourselves and how we write to identify and reflect on our strengths and weaknesses. We must critique and acknowledge our works as they help improve our skills.

Just like any performance evaluation, you must have guide questions that you can use to score your skills. Prof. Mary Warner from San Jose State University has published a comprehensive questionnaire on assessing one’s writing skills. It’s taken from the book ‘A Community of Writers: A Workshop Course in Writing’ by Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff, and it’s divided into 6 categories: attitudes toward writing, generating, revising, feedback, collaboration, and awareness and control of the writing process. While you may think that this is catered to students and that some of these categories may not apply, they’re an important set of questions. Plus, according to the site, one will benefit from the questionnaire if they’re all filled out three times, that way one will be able to see what changes are taking place.

Although I’ve been writing since my elementary days, I do not consider myself a professional. I’m 100% amateur, although I may have a bit more experience than others. For most of my time at school, I wrote news and short stories. When I left school, I did creative writing and wrote more short stories and fiction. And recently, I’ve been involved with advocacy writing for the organization I work for, writing press statements and sometimes propaganda speeches. I had no formal writing or journalism education; only workshop/training sessions from pro writers. Ever since I was young, I’ve always dreamed of becoming a novelist or a short story writer. I remember moments in my 3rd-grade years when I always ask my grandmother how to translate a specific word into English and then get back to my notebook to continue with what I’m writing. It’s funny because I’ve been trying hard to write in English since 3rd grade. But honestly, I can’t even write any short stories nowadays. Is it because my interest or genre of writing is slowly beginning to change? Or is it because of this thing they call ‘writer’s block?’ Anyway, I will try to post about this later.

Self-assessment is a great method as it nurtures one’s writing skills thru reflection and analysis. It may include a wide range of practices and lots of questions to answer, but all are essential to foster the growth of an aspiring writer in terms of skill and ability to take on future writing tasks. You must assess yourself from time to time; set a specific date and time of the month when you can perform a self-assessment. It’s also important to keep track of the questions you’ve answered. That way, you can compare and check what areas are improving and what needs to be improved further. As I am writing this blog post, I am currently writing a short story that I never went on to finish. Hopefully, with my little motivation, I can finally finish it by the end of this month. Wish me luck.