On passion and chasing changing dreams.

"As in anything in life, you can't expect yourself to enjoy what you're doing if you're not passionate about it." - Sarah Santiago, MEGA Magazine Features Editor

Yesterday I went to a free Public Relations and Fashion Writing workshop organized by Schu held at the Schu Factory Outlet in Ortigas, having won a slot from Ana's flash giveaway. It was a small and intimate event attended by SoFA students, bloggers, and their giveaway winners. We missed the talk of ONE Mega Group Inc PR & Events Manager Tedrick Yau about Public Relations because of the horrible traffic in Cubao, but thankfully we arrived just in time for Sarah Santiago's topic.

Sarah gave a brief background about her job as Features Editor for MEGA Magazine and discussed how it calls for passion, hard work, and dedication. She also gave us some pointers on how we can pursue a career on the field, and reminded us that if we want to make it big, we have to start from the bottom rung of the ladder. For someone like me who dreamed of working for a magazine, hearing from someone who works in the industry was simply fascinating.

Yes, I am aware that I used the past tense for dream in that last sentence. No, that is not a fluke.

In this week's episode of Glee (which I loved!), Sarah Jessica Parker as Vogue.com's Isabelle Wright told Kurt that "sometimes dreams can change." Now that I am 26 years old and working for the social media arm of a PR firm, I feel that the same thing happened to me. So maybe I am not cut out for a job in the magazine publishing industry, something that I dreamed about every day ever since I held my first issue of Candy magazine when I was 14. Does that mean I am a failure? Does that mean all those days I spent writing on my journals were for nothing? Does that mean I have given up? I don't think so. I don't think we have to be bound to our preconceived notions of ourselves, because doing so would mean closing ourselves to other wonderful things we can become. I have a friend whose childhood dream was to be a priest. While on break from the seminary, he met a beautiful girl. Long story short, they are now very happily married. One more thing, when I was still in my teens, social media wasn't as rampant as it is now, so there were no Social Media Marketer jobs to aspire for. Isn't technology a wonderful thing? :) Will I stay in PR forever or will I branch out to other fields? Maybe I really want to become a doctor, what do you think? Or maybe I am really destined to become a top chef, even though my kitchen skills are currently limited to the many different ways of cooking an egg (and mashed potato)? Or maybe when the time is right, I will find out that I am really destined to work for a magazine, after all? I honestly don't know. All I know is that I am very passionate, and as what a former officemate told me, I have such a zest for life, and I pray that this enthusiasm, this energy, never leaves. One of the greatest things about life is the limitless possibilities it offers. I am open for all these possibilities, and I am excited for the many different things and surprises the Universe still has in store for me so for the meantime, I will just stop questioning and start enjoying the ride.

Special thanks to Schu and Ana for letting me go to the workshop, Rovie who was so cute when she showed us possible pegs for her wedding gown, and Arnie and Carizza who endured horrible EDSA traffic with me on the way home. I also saw Tina there, who I met at BU3 (hope to see you again at the BU4!) I wish I can attend more workshops like this in the future because I am such a big nerd who loves learning new things.

And oh, regarding the gorgeous black suede heels in the photo above? I actually won a MYTH gift card worth P1,000 after I answered a question correctly on a mini game after the talk. I was hankering for a pair of shoes instead, and Carizza was kind enough to exchange the Schu gift card she won with mine. So, yay for free shoes!

How are you? I hope September has been good to you ♥