Hope is also a four-letter word

“Oh, xxxx, the world broke,” I told myself, as I carried my bags to my friend’s place. I am not the type who swears, but here we are.

“Or were the systems meant to rescue us broken, to begin with?”

Physicists might say it does not matter. To them, time is a human construct. Everything is happening all at once. Our concept of the past is defined by our memories.

Our regrets.

“Do you ever get tired?”, a Facebook fan asked me on the Messenger. I stopped staring at the bags I brought to my partner’s bedroom. It’s been three months since the mandated lockdown due to the pandemic, and I’ve been entertaining random messages from the small community I’ve built as a blogger.

“Get tired of what?” I asked him.

“Of rejections?”

It made me pause before answering. 2020 should have been my year or so thought the feng shui master on the morning TV show. This Ox planned on staying in a condo unit so he could concentrate on work, and visit his mom and brother over the weekends.

However, my consultancy work for a city was discontinued. The new mayor reorganized his office and I was among those that were let go. I packed my bags and left the unit I was renting.

Right before the Luzon lockdown took effect, my consultancy work for an LGU ended.

Fortunately, I eventually got two job offers - one that nearly triples my salary, from a BPO, and another that retains my rates, from an international marketing company. 

I picked the one that paid more, but because of the lockdown, my start date was moved every time the quarantine period was extended. The job offer went poof, with the client citing business reasons.

Couch-surfing was not an option when there were stay-at-home orders and curfews. I tried my best to do chores at my partner’s house to compensate for their hospitality, including grieving with them for the untimely passing of their family dog, Bingo.

Bingo died three days after I took this photo.

Much like how we deal with grief, we also reach that level of acceptance when dealing with financial loss.

To get back on track, I tapped my network of media organizations and PR firms to explore income opportunities. I wrote about comics addressing the confusion brought about by a pandemic for a news site. I also revisited a job offer I initially declined and was fortunately accepted. This week, an entertainment site, where I used to do tech reviews, asked me if I could write weekly articles for them — an offer I grabbed in an instant. 

These days, putting all your eggs in one basket is risky.

So do I get tired of rejections?

“Dude, I’ve experienced my contract being ended and then being hired by the same company years after. Habang buhay may pag-asa,” I replied. The idle time has made me realize that I have experienced previous setbacks before. And not only did I survive them, but I also redeemed myself.

I was a pinchitter reporter for GMA News in 2007. In 2019, I won a spot in the reportorial roster of GMA Public Affairs' digital show, Stand For Truth.

To those who've been laid off or have experienced rejections, believe me, things will work out eventually. There have been lots of times I did not get what I wanted, I regretted doing, I was given the pink slip or was dumped for someone else.

The reality of life will never be perfect. These things happen, self-inflicted or not. But these setbacks also make life great. Life shows us that we can make new dreams or rediscover an old one. Moving away from our comfort zones or consciously ignoring the bad things people say about our failings means we have the opportunity to take charge of our lives.

Yes, the world broke.

But there’s hope we can still fix it.

An international education marketing company hired me as a content editor and senior communications specialist during the quarantine period.

This is a contribution to ComCo Southeast Asia’s “Write to Ignite Blogging Project”. The initiative is a response to the need of our times, as every story comes a long way during this period of crisis. Igniting and championing the human spirit, “Write to Ignite Blog Project” aims to pull and collate powerful stories from the Philippine blogging communities to inspire the nation to rise and move forward amidst the difficult situation. This project is made possible by ComCo Southeast Asia, co-presented Eastern Communications and sponsored by Electrolux, Jobstreet and Teleperformance.

Update: This entry is among the Top 40 finalists of the competition, as announced by ComCo Southeast Asia.