What do you do?

After I was introduced as a writer, I was asked: "Why did you become a writer? Maganda ka naman." I was dumbfounded. Do I have to conform to type? Are all female teachers old maids? Are all radio jocks unattractive? See why I don't like labels? I would rather surprise people I've just met as well as people who've known me a long time. The best compliment I ever received came from a high school teacher who had no idea that what he said meant a lot to me. "Ano'ng di mo kayang gawin?" he remarked when he saw me painting a simple sign for the class booth for the school fair. The task needed no skill, no artistic talent. He could have been sarcastic, but I was dumbfounded then. Now I have a ready answer to that question. What can I not do? Sports.

I didn't choose to be a writer. It just happened. I did want to be a writer when I was in grade school, but after an unpleasant experience with the school paper, I abandoned that hope for theater all the way through college. Writing simply proved more practical than either performing or production work. That's also why there are millions of writers. I want to teach, research, paint, and do so many other things that it's impossible to do them all--at least not at the same time. I'll try anyway. Save me. Is this NYT article trying to tell me something?

For most of us, the options aren’t teaching or writing all day in a barn but teaching or working at the Dairy Queen. It’s not just a question of success or even genius, but temperament and discipline. Young writers think all they need is time, but give them that time and watch them implode. After all, there’s something basically insane about sitting at a desk and talking to yourself all day, and there’s a reason that writers are second only to medical students in instances of hypochondria. In isolation, our minds turn on us pretty quickly.

True, I was paranoid about catching mumps on my out-of-my assignment last week (which you didn't even notice, thanks to scheduled posts). Time to put together that syllabus?