Hey there, Hive!
I’m thrilled to finally be here, and I can’t wait to get started!
I’m excited to contribute and connect with all of you. After seeing incredible contents and positive vibes, I whispered to myself, “This is my place, this is home.”
Let me welcome you in my story. Hi! I am Rhodora, but my friends call me Ara, and I prefer it though. I came from the place where churches are tourist’s spots, where the largest indoor arena can be found, where rivers are as beautiful as the sea, and where many great heroes came from, none other than the amazing province of Bulacan.
Do you see this little girl right here? A middle child whose shoulders are so little, so little that she would not believe this fragile girl will carry a big responsibility for her family. With eyes full of hope that her future is as bright and colorful as she sees it. She loves playing outside from what most girls do, Chinese garter, playing house, cooking leaves, to being one the boys, playing ‘luksong baka’, marble, rubber bands, to riding a bike and racing with others kids.
As a girl who was not born with a golden spoon, I had a fair share of the so called survival of the fittest. My father was a construction worker back in the days, and my mother was a domestic worker in our neighborhood. As they don’t have stable income, my siblings and I are not able to attend school on a regular basis, sometimes we can go to school, many times, we cannot. As struggles kicks in, and my parents could no longer support our study. They have decided to give me to one of our relatives who needed someone to be with them as their head of the family needs to go overseas. In exchange, I can continue my study as I help and accompany them. But don’t get the wrong idea, this family loved me as if I’m their own and not just a mere company. With their help, I was able to finish my study.
Here is the picture of my mother and father, all smiles, as I was able to finish college even without their supervision. Fast forward, I entered the corporate world, and grind as much as I could to be able to support them and send my youngest sibling in college. But it was all worth it as she was able to graduate. I was a proud Sister that time.
But God really knows who are his strong soldiers, when I thought that I can now save money for myself, my mother got sick, and it was not a simple illness. She was diagnosed to have a cervical cancer, stage 4. My youngest sister who just recently graduated, took a long pause to start her career. She took care of our mother and accompany her in the hospital as I grind as hard as I can from morning until late night to be able to support her healthcare needs. Only my computer and piled up documents knows how much tears I shed every night as I was the only one left in our office just to be able to have extra salary just so I could survive this fight. We fought for two years until God took back our mother’s life. It was indeed a long, painful journey.
Four things that I love. Travelling, my family, my husband, and of course our dog which is definitely our first child.
I travel a lot before my mother suffered from cancer. Together with my friends and co-workers, we visit different seas around the Philippines so as to relieved our stress from work. Funny as it may seem, most of us can’t swim, but we love swimming, island hopping, and exploring what is underneath our beautiful mother nature.
On the left side is my husband, we just got married last June of 2024, but we are currently in a Long Distance Relationship. See? As I mentioned before, I am one of the strongest soldiers. I got a husband who loves me dearly, and takes care of me more than I take care of myself, but He set us up on a long distance relationship. For those who are in LDR like me, hang in there, better days are coming.
On one side is that fluffy, adorable, cute little one, our first child, Toby. Loves eating and sleeping, but loves her mom and dad more than anything.
When I was in high school, I used to be a feature writer for our school paper. But when I graduated and became busy from college life to corporate life, I only write maybe one or two poems within a year. In a usual boring hot afternoon, while scrolling through various social media platforms, I saw someone posting about Hive. As a curios person, who was once had a burning passion for writing, I researched about it, read descriptions from the site, and said to myself, “I think I am at the right place”.
Reading alone did not satisfy my curiosity, so I searched and scrolled numerous time on facebook, that is where I found the Sir Intoy Bugoy. I read his posts and as an introvert person, gathered all the courage to message him and ask about this amazing platform. And my courage did not betray me, it landed me on the right person. Sir Intoy introduce me to Hive along with others. He tackled what is inside the Hive, its promising features and possibilities and its friendly environment. And with that, I gained a mentor, and a friend.
As I embarked on this new adventure, I am excited to explore and share my thoughts and stories. I am thrilled to discover communities, gain friends and learn a lot from everyone.
So, after ten long years working round the clock, exhaustion kicks in and I left the city to start a new journey in the province. So while I am figuring out what I really want to do in my life. Kidding aside, writing really helps ease my mind.
Maybe this is just a break, maybe this is just a pause, or maybe this is a start of something new where I can find the place that is right for me. Where this journey will take me, I sincerely hope you can walk with me.
See you on my next blog!
Ingat!😊
