August 4, 2008 marked the first night of the rest of my life. It was official, this day (or night) I become a vampire, a creature of the dark. Someone who wanders in the streets in the dark, looking for a way to get to work while rubbing away sleepiness from my eyes. God, I never thought I'd be in this kind of ritual again.
One year ago I promised myself that I will cease to live the life of a nocturnal creature so I resigned from my call center job. It was sad because I will miss my good friends who got me through all those nakakatamad and nakakaantok nights, the joy of smoking pot (kidding, yosi lang, Marlboro lights pa nga eh) in front of 7-11, and most of all, the hefty pay. But I didn't look back, I was ready to live a normal life, to face the sun once again. So I took a job at a PR firm, a daytime job, which I eventually left after several months and gained a lot of relief and some well-deserved break.
So back to the unemployed club again. There were several attempts to go back to the workforce, but to no avail. I almost landed a job at a big cable channel, something I have been waiting for a long time. I got the call, asking me to report to work but after some thinking, I decided to pass. I almost kicked myself for doing that but then as the Halliwell sisters always say: Everything happens for a reason. It turned out that it did happen for a reason.
There are two things that I want to do in life: 1.) Be on Survivor, and 2.) Become a writer. The first one didn't work out well, maybe this season is not for me, so I decided to stop sulking and see if the other one would work out fine. Again, the Halliwell sisters were right. I almost did not try out for Survivor thinking that I might face some problems taking a leave for work (being the over-thinker I am). But because "things happen for a reason," I forced myself to think that something good will come. And it did. Quite unexpectedly, the one thing I've been trying to get since college has suddenly fallen into my lap due to another frustrating encounter (thank you Ms. Interviewer from Convergy's). The very same day I got rejected in a call center post, I got accepted as a --what else? A writer ! In just two hours.
For a while, the Survivor thing didn't seem to be as frustrating as before. Now I got something I've been working hard for a very long time. I finally got a shot in this writing stint and it did open a couple of doors for me right now. Hopefully, this writing can branch itself out some more. And who knows, the Survivor thing will present itself next season.
Last year, when I walked out of Sitel, I swore that I will never take a job that requires a graveyard shift. I went back on my word, because now, I am sitting in front of my laptop, typing these words at 4 in the morning while trying to think of a fourth article for the day. I should be cursing my situation right now. Should be bitching because no one deserves to break backs (or fingers, in my case) working at night and grumbling because I am very sleepy.
But I am not complaining. This is the life I love. It's not work for me. Yet I earn.
I am anything but resentful. I am grateful. Very grateful. I live to write, even in the wee hours of the night.
Thankful to God that my efforts paid off. Now that I am what I have always wanted to be, my lips would not utter words of complaint.
August 4, 2008 marked the day that I became a vampire again. But it gave me my soul. I am a vampire, a vampire with a soul - Angel.
