Picking Up the Pen by Invitation

The Page that Housed my Craft

I remember back in the day when we had assignments for our English and Filipino subjects, I would barely pass the minimum grade because I was bad at making original literature. It's rather surprising that the kid who used to flunk creative writing projects would join an artists' community, and that her medium would be the same thing that she used to have a great weakness at.

So how did that kid manage to get creative and become a writer anyway?

It was rather weird.

I was invited out of the randomness of a person I did not know well. All I knew was that we met somehow in real life, and that I don't remember his name anymore. In fact, that was the first message we shared in the conversation; unfortunately I really did not recognize the name so I could not give him any other answers.

Nevertheless, he contacted the founder of The Artidope who decided to interview me and recruit me to create pieces of art according to my own style. She did not tell me what I needed to do, so I just left the group alone for a month or two.

Then, I made my first posts.

At first, it spouted from random photographs along with short captions, and I eventually picked up a tablet and began drawing to submit works there. If you try to search up my name, you would have a hard time finding my first pieces because I changed my name over time.

My name used to be credited as Ericka Millares

Facebook Name Change Prompted a Small Change

I also began to do poetry as a source of catharsis for my experiences since I thought that it would be good exercise to flex my grammar skills for practice in case I need to pursue any sort of higher education.

For those who know me well, it comes to no surprise that my poetries were rather dark and pessimistic.

Eventually, I delved into the world of prose and loosened up my poetry style to accommodate a voice that was compatible with free verse to save me time and connect with my subject more. I also changed my name in the community again, and this time I permanently used the pen name Kali.

The Last Entry of the Page that Contains My Work

There was one specific reason as to why I chose the name Kali as my pen name which can be summarized into one word: rebirth. If you are familiar with the Hindu gods and goddesses, then you could guess as to the reason why I chose the word.

If not, then let me give you an idea: Kali is the goddess of Time, Destruction, and Liberation of the Ego of man.

As my literary pieces finally brought itself to life, I thought that I might benefit from this if I do freelance work in my spare time in order for me to create an option should complications occur when I decide to pursue my career in the Forensic Science-related industries.

I began posting my name at UpWork, which is the largest community for freelancers and companies who wish to collaborate and create careers in an international setting. When I finally refreshed my knowledge in the professional field of work, I started submitting applications and gained some clients who were more or less considerate regarding my condition as I was still a student at the time.

An Example of my Work Online

When I graduated, I realized that I was better off being a writer instead; given that I was more or less a novice freelance writer, I built solid relationships with my clients and did my best to gain skill sets that I would need should I turn my sights to the corporate world in the local scene.

Now, The Artidope, frankly, is no more as of this posting.

However, most of my works can still be found as long as you search for them in Facebook, since that's where most of my literary pieces went anyway.

So, that's it. This is my journey as a writer as of the moment.

I still plan to move most of my works in here, since I do not know when Facebook might begin taking down pages due to a multitude of reasons that sometimes are too convoluted for anyone to understand.