The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book

Before I came to Japan, I gave this book to my best friend and told her to pass it to another person after it had helped her to reach a certain point where she felt ready to move on towards whatever career her heart sends her cartwheeling to. This book helped me a lot when I was struggling with my job. I was caught between pursuing the possibilities the world of fashion magazines could offer and a boring desk job in a government institution to draft bills and write speeches. I decided to stay in my government job while inside I know I am nurturing an artist who wanted to break free. I have no regrets. Never will have. Most people feel that as an artist, their craft is obliged  to pay the bills. No matter how good and noble it sounds, it doesn't simply happen to everybody. For varied reasons, a lot of writers kept their day jobs while pursuing their passions for their craft. Fyodor Dostoyevsky worked as an engineer while translating French literature. Arthur Conan Doyle passed the time between patients by writing stories. Being an artist is not simply about what you do, it's who you are amidst all the things you choose to do. 

Sisters forever.

After three years, I let go of the book to move on, not because I got fed up up with job, but because I wanted to grow more so that one day, I can go back, not exactly to that same job, but to something of the same nature - service to the nation and to the people. I am very happy I stayed with my job because it broaden my perspectives.

I then gave the book to my best friend. After a year, she gave it to one of our other best friends. And now, after two more years, she passed it to another best friend. Sometimes, the journey takes too long, longer than what we imagined, expected, or planned to be. Sometimes, it's not the changing of circumstances that spur you into moving on, sometimes what counts is a change of perspective. Seeing yourself and what you do in a whole new universe that you've only regarded as hell before.  I am very happy I chose to stay with my government job because it broadened my perspectives about law, life and love for what you do. I realized, I could be an artist and maybe something else. Being at peace with yourself is not a quick journey, it's a never ending journey but you surely get past major hurdles along the way. And one day, you'd just realize how far you've come. At that point, your craft might have improved, how you perceive your craft might have evolved, what kind of art you create might have even revolutionized, you as an artist might have significantly changed too. But in the end, you remain an artist. You live as an artist. You breathe life into your soul as an artist and you breathe life into others because you are an artist. You are a bringer of life. You are a creator of non-existent hopes. You are a spark of inspiration in a bright-lighted city where people can no longer distinguish between fireworks and short circuits. You are an artist. In your boring office. In your crowded school. In your crazy world. It's a part of yourself that no one can kill unless you decide to kill it yourself.