Hagbayon

It was such a delight when a group of graduating nursing students led by Kate Amaranto invited me for a chat about the writing life. It turned out that it was for their Philippine Literature class at Naga College Foundation where their teacher, Mr. Joward Diocos
required them to interview Bikol writers. Now this is something great
because I refuse to believe that getting into the so-called Nursing Syndrome
necessitates a cessation of cerebral synaptic sparks for anything
artistic or regionalist. After-all, one can still be a nurse and still
have interest in the literary arts, making sure to visit bookstores,
museums and libraries after taking hold of that much-coveted UK or US
Visa. And should I say that it is cool that NCF is really into the
literary and dramatic arts, even caring to have their future nurses
interview Bikol-based writers before they jet set to unknown lands and
subject their cultural identity to various contortions and hybridities.

As they say, from
womb to tomb—there is the nurse. That is why I emphasized to them the
need to immerse into literature and know the core of the human soul.
The written word leaves an architectural imprint to history and human
existence as it struggles to co-write the universe, approximating the
interplay between matter and spirit. Reading a poem for instance, is
like breathing the air right from the nostrils of generations after
generations of humanity—past to future. As poetry is simply recycled
breathing space.

Literature as they
say will make you more human as hospitals would tend to dehumanize. And
considering that it is almost the gateway to and from life, this speaks
of humanity’s need for rational detachment when witnessing such a
personal and emotional experience like death. But then literature will
make life and the tragedy of it (like the recent Glorietta bombing)
bearable. Great fiction for instance, is not meant to obscure reason
and scientific thinking but augments it. Getting into the bottom of a
narrative will not make a nurse panic at the sight of a bleeding body
but will make him or her play the part of the healthcare front liner in
some grand plot that is life.

We conducted the
interview at Beanbag and for my part, I shared how it is to be a young
writer (who used to be a pre-med geek) in this part of the planet. As
requested, I gave them copies of my works, all the while considering
their background. So apart from letting them have my podcasts via USB,
I showed them some of my clinical stuffs, sort of convincing them that
it could be done. Yes, nurses can write too and create their niche.

So I heard their report was well-appreciated, exempting them from the
final exams. Now they can focus more on their hospital rounds. Keeping
my fingers crossed that they really will read literature when they are
free (and no fundamentalist would see it wise to blow up another mall
and fill the ER), for the meantime, I will enjoy the Parker pen that they gave me. Another for my collection.

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