Transit Dialog has shared my essay on my writing process a few days before my book launch. I wrote this piece while my book was being published. โ๏ธ
"๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด."
๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐
๐๐บ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข ๐๐ถ๐ค๐ข๐ด
Unlike most crocheters, I did not learn the craft in school. Instead, I learned how to crochet from a DIY box from Target during a summer vacation spent in LA. My first project was a slim scarf, and that was it.
I later rediscovered crochet after learning how to knit during the 2018 edition of the "Knitting Adventure" tour at the storied Banaue Rice Terraces. The tour was hosted by Knitting Expedition, a social enterprise that trains mamas in Banaue to knit plush toys, accessories, and home decor.
As expected, Ifugao women are innately skilled in knitting, and have become expert makers in no time.
Joining their tour was a blast! It was my childhood dream to visit the terraces, and I simply did not have the chance to go there before. Finally, a painful breakup motivated me to seek new experiences, and knitting became one of my goals.
The Banaue tour let me see the famous terraces and interact with the friendly locals, while I learned the basics of knitting from the women who are so gifted with their hands. By the time I reached Manila, I was hungry for YouTube tutorials to supplement my knowledge on my newfound hobby.
After a few months, I found knitting to be too slow for my liking. This led me to revisit crochet. I picked up a yarn and a hook from a craft store in the mall, and it all came back to me. I managed to crochet an infinity shawl through muscle memory.
From there, I continued making shawls and scarves for myself and my loved ones. I loved crochet so much that I had this belief that I did not create for profitโs sake. Instead, I wanted crochet to become my safe space, and my happy hobby. It was never an option for money-making.
I brought my yarn bag with me wherever I went. I crocheted during seminars, in between meetings, and during coffee breaks. Crochet became a natural extension of myself. It helped me beat boredom during my long commutes and alleviated my anxiety before interviews and important meetings. I was able to churn out ideas for my blog while making my scarves.
They say that the best ideas emerge while bathing or driving. For me, the best ideas come to me while crocheting. Maybe this ideation process is the reason why crochet became an addiction and a source of joy.
When the lockdown was imposed in 2020, I thought of ways to contribute to society as the Covid-19 pandemic raged on. Luckily, I found an organization online that collected handmade earsavers for healthcare workers. I joined them as a volunteer, and I ended up donating more than two thousand earsavers to medical heroes in various hospitals.
My passion for volunteerism was further ignited when I found another organization for crocheters. This time, they collect octopus amigurumi dolls and beanies for premature babies in government NICUs. I donated 76 octopus amigurumi dolls and 60 preemie beanies. All of these handmade donations were made possible because of my love for crochet.
My ability to crochet for hours on end has inspired me to apply myself to the other aspects of my life. I am also a writer, and with four years of blogging under my belt, I realized that it was time to fulfill my childhood dream of publishing my own book. I wrote the book using the same discipline I acquired through crocheting. I worked on a certain number of words a day, then I took breaks to refresh and recharge my mind.
After writing my manuscript and several productive meetings with a leading publisher, I am proud to share that my self-published book, "Speak Blog Live", will finally be released soon. It is currently undergoing registration and publishing.
It is a nonfiction book that teaches you the discipline and habit of regularly writing on oneโs blog. I give examples on how one can enrich his or her life in order to be inspired to regularly compose blog entries with a unique voice. I am so excited to share this book to the world!
Who knew that my crochet habit and hobby would lead me to writing a book? Indeed, a solid work ethic and a healthy crafting mindset can open doors and opportunities. The pandemic may have forced me to stay home, but it has also switched on my passions for crafting, volunteering, writing, and self-publishing.
It is my dream that more people will discover hobbies that enrich their lives and inspire them to become the best versions of themselves.
๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข ๐๐ข๐ช๐ญ ๐. ๐๐ถ๐ค๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ.๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ข๐ฎ.๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ, ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐บ 2017. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐&๐.
๐๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ค๐ต. 7, 2021.