By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
I have had 2 homes growing up. One lies all the way outside of Baguio, my first home. The second one is my parents’ office, located within Baguio. This is because all the way from preschool to early highschool, my schools had all been near my parents’ office. I have spent so much time here in Guisad Valley, going to school and heading back, the back and forth has helped me memorize the streets to the point of me probably remembering them even when I get old.
As highschool passed, I was never able to walk those same routes I had taken for many years. But recently, I was able to return to the same path and walk the roads as If I was back in highschool going to my parents’ office to eat.
I saw some familiar cracks on the streets that to this day have yet to be fixed. The same sari-sari stores from back then are still open and surviving to this day. And at a certain point during my walks, I would always look right to see the nicest house of the neighborhood. That habit has stuck through and I can be jealous with such a beautiful mansion again.
Over the course of my walk, I also saw some new establishments. Those still under construction from before then had now been accomplished. Walking down the roads that have been a part of so much of my past, it was easier to spot the new developments of the present and those coming in the future. It was a surreal feeling that reminded me just how much time had passed since I was just a highschooler with a bad haircut.
The walk down memory lane was a nice change of pace from this week of chasing deadlines and practicing for performances.
I have this habit where I always try to plan out what I have to do tomorrow, sometimes even planning down what I should do every hour of the next day. And this has allowed each day to pass by in an efficient manner and also quicker because my schedule had not allowed for much respite.
Walking down among precious memories have helped me to actually imagine and think with freedom and fun, free to look back at precious moments from the past and have fun. Because thinking only of tasks to get over tomorrow efficiently is a boring and tedious task.
Thinking should not always be boring. Thinking while having fun should also happen. After all, I have found so much motivations from thinking wild and with fun. While thinking only of distress kills my imaginations.
A man is always thinking, so why not have fun doing it, I always perform at my best in life when I have fun.**
