Let's Talk About Our 'Multo' (Ghosts)

“I am half inclined to think we are all ghosts…it is not only what we have inherited from our fathers and mothers that exists again in us, but all sorts of old dead ideas and all kinds of old dead beliefs and things of that kind. They are not actually alive in us; but there they are dormant all the same, and we can never be rid of them. Whenever I take up a newspaper and read it, I fancy I see ghosts creeping between the lines. There must be ghosts all over the world. They must be as countless as the grains of the sands, it seems to me. And we are so miserably afraid of the light, all of us.”
― Henrik Ibsen, Ghosts

When Henrik Ibsen released this quote, my mind circles back to memories I used to avoid speaking of. I used to be amazed how people can lead lives and we would never know what secrets they could carry, and what ghosts would keep them awake at night, and now as of writing this, I realized I have become a part of them without even knowing it.

As George Bernard Shaw used to say, "If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best take it out and teach it to dance."

My hiatus from internet back then could be described as a symphony made in parts. Just like how there are four seasons in a year, there were seasons of breaking, recovering, reflecting, and rebuilding back again.

The breaking season lived up to its name, as not only did it involve a personal break-up, but following it was also a breaking of familial routines and responsibilities brought upon by my dad getting fired from his job. What was to be expected by that change other than the panganay-- stepping up as the only one with a regular paying job at that time, to help keep my family afloat? I had to tighten my grip, one hand on my public school educator post and another on my second part-time job as a blog writer, all while licking the wounds of my personal losses. None of my bratty complaints mattered anymore when it came to my family's survival.