WELCOME BACK MY ACHING BACK/


Morose… somber… melancholic… words that aptly describe my mood four hours after getting back from Boracay. Who can blame me? Who really wants to be back here in the stressful real world where the sunset signals the end of the work day and the start of your battle with traffic. Where you’re lucky to spot a star in the brightly lit skyline of the city… where you slave away to get from point a to b only to find out that there are 24 other letters to get to.

In Boracay, your biggest concern is whether or not you are getting enough sun, where you occupy yourself with questions like, “Am I dark enough?”, “Is this dirty dark or golden dark?”, “How do I get that sun-kissed complexion, sunblock then oil or no sunblock at all?” or “My back is burning up… can I turn over now?”. So complicated is the life of a four-day beach bum.

Ah well, all good things must come to an end. And despite all my lounging around, I did get a lot of things accomplished. I think hours of star gazing and beach bumming has led my soul to a somewhat peaceful place. As I told my worrisome mom, I am eager and ready to start a new chapter in my life.

I floated back home as light as a feather, but one day at work has managed to burden me once again with the heaviness of my dreams and the weight of my inferiority complex. Fuck. My back is throbbing again. And to think, I just got a massage two days ago. The pressure is even heavier now knowing how quickly it vanished just a couple of days ago.

Ah well, enough of this damn complaining. This burden is a personal choice. I could easily say goodbye to this life and start my own massage business in Bora. I could also be a professional skim boarder (despite my lack of ability in the two days I practiced it). Boracay was beautiful as always. I’ve been there three times and still there were new things to discover. I saw my first five shooting stars on this trip and I think it was well worth the P9,000 I shelled out to go. Being able to sit and watch the sun set and look up the millions of stars is priceless.