OF COURSE, I got family members who caught Covid-19.
Of course, I got friends who caught Covid-19.
And some of them got pretty sick.
Some of them were in the ICU.
Some of them died.
***
As far as this pandemic goes, I am just like you in vulnerability, and sadness.
I am with pain, with depression, with even a little despair.
And still, I pray.
And still, I fight.
And still, I do not give up.
***
For a while, perhaps a very short while, I withdrew from social media.
Sometime in the very beginning; like April and May 2020.
I felt that the world has gone crazy.
Everyone was in panic mode.
We did not understand this Covid-19.
And so I thought, go into yourself first, before you go out to help others.
***
If I posted on social media at all, they were prayers.
Words of caution.
I did advise physical distancing, frequent hand washing, increased intake of Vitamin C, and prayers, prayers, prayers.
***
By prayers, I meant resting our hearts in God.
I meant silence.
Heart being still.
Listening to God.
Reflecting on our lives.
***
Some people took to social media their religiosity.
Prayers for healing.
Bible verses.
Words of assurance.
I did not believe those sh*t.
I advocated praying in the privacy of your room.
***
Then, in June 2020, I came back online.
I wrote some poetry.
I engaged some teachers to write something else.
I even started a Facebook page on Covid literature: the Covid Lit Project with Peter Solis Nery.
And in 2021, I made it official: I announced the Peter’s Prize for Covid Literature.
It was the first Peter’s Prize category open to three languages: English, Filipino, and Hiligaynon.
***
In August and September 2020, I kept everyone busy with DepEd issues.
And in October 2020, I attacked the smut writers on Wattpad with my now famous essay “Why Wattpaders Can’t Win…”
The essay was posted on October 19, exactly one year tomorrow.
***
The reactions has been rounded up to 6,000.
The post had 3,721 shares as of last count.
The comment section remains as interesting as my thesis, if not more.
***
For sure, I have turned off some people.
I did lose a lot of followers from that fallout.
What used to be my 7,000+ followers on Facebook is just 6,858 now.
But I have no regrets.
I knew it had to be done.
***
And so it happened that while the rest of the world was grappling with the pandemic, I was there engaging the Filipino youth on what is literature versus pornography.
Those were fun months for me, October 2020 until about March 2021.
I smacked teenage smut writers, teenage smut readers, and their adult enablers.
I even involved the Role Play Writing communities.
***
Six months after my initial attack, I’m the only one left standing.
Either the teenage smut writers stopped, or they just unfollowed me.
Either they listened to me, or they just realized they can never outwit me.
And they who argued, or attacked me, they have fallen.
***
Again, the comments in the comment sections of my posts are instructive.
They are a joy to read.
At 3:1 ratio, more people have taken my aside, and have even defended me.
So I know that I made a difference.
At least, to the 3,721 sharers (or netizens who have reposted my essay).
At least, to the 6,000 netizens who reacted.
***
But in the six months that I entertained and engaged the Filipino youth, and those who cared about their social media and writing engagements, I was also there praying:
Saying novenas for the dead, and those who have fallen.
Leading intercessory prayer groups for the sick, and their families.
Living four to five hours of prayers a day.
***
It pains me that many of my friends have fallen sick—if not with Covid, perhaps triggered by what’s happening all around us.
It pains me that my family and relatives get sick.
But this I have known: I cannot save everybody.
I am not the Messiah.
I can try to help, but I let God do the rest.
***
I am a believer.
And God is good.
Therefore, my heart can rest, chill, and relax.
I can stay calm, keep calm, and even have fun.
For all the rest, there’s Visa or Mastercard./PN
