first step

two days ago i was sitting in my first photoshop class and trying to stay awake (from hunger) through the instructor's discourse on pixels and resolutions, when lor sent me an msn message asking me if i'd be interested in writing a column for their new artsy quarterly free magazine .

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just like that. it was my first step towards becoming a (paid) columnist. i ran to see her at the gallery after class and she told me i can write about anything under the sun (so long as it's culture/arts/lifestyle/fashion related, on a more global scale), and write it in my own voice. nothing ever felt so liberating.

the job also came with a tight first deadline--i had two days to work on it, as well as come up with a pseudonym, a title for the column, and a topic that i do not need to do a whole lot of research for, given the short time frame. i decided to write about eco fashion, as it's all the rage these days and i have sufficient literature on-hand to fill in the gaps. it is also an issue that does concern me a lot.

and so i just finished it. i learned a lot about the whole eco movement in fashion, and i learned a lot about myself in the process. it dawned upon me that my life is clearing up finally; the scattered, broken pieces in the last 6 months are coming together and now i begin to see why i had to do what i did. i'm not sure where this is taking me, as we seldom are, but today as i worked i felt genuinely happy. and for the moment, that's good enough an indication that i'm doing the right thing.