Let's first start with a thought about who is going to read my blog. I am not sure if anyone will read it. But anyway, let's move on. This is the first step and I am hoping that I will take serious and be consistent of writing posts. This is not a promise, neither to myself nor anyone.
Literature is beautiful and nourishing. I used to enjoy living within books during my teenager life. And, I also had a dream of being a poet or an author which was sort of a hipster dream for rebellious boys at that time. I spent 35% of my incomes to buy books and I was proud of collecting books. I used to finish almost two books everyday at that time. And, I enjoyed whispering into my diary every night. I transformed my angers or joys into poems and shared these poem to my homies with a cup of tea and some cigarettes in busy teashops of Yangon. We used to do window-shopping along Pansodann Street where most of Yangon's grand old book stores are. Sometimes we had nightmares if we were not affordable to buy a book we love. We loved to attend poetry workshops and read contemporary poems out loud. I would fight with my parents for reading under candle light during the blackout nights in my home. I used to sleep with the smell of books every night. What a memory!
Unfortunately, or fortunately, whatever you say, we grew up in the time of best technologies and also social media. I started using internet at some cyber cafe when I was 16. Before that, I have never seen a computer or a mobile phone. My grandpa taught me how to type on a keyboard at a cyber cafe in front of the secretariat office in Yangon. Someone introduced me the internet chatting and "Gtalk" during my first days of a university life. But still, internet and those cyber cafe were some sort of luxury which we enjoy only when we have money. It was not necessary yet.
I got my first mobile phone when I was 23 after my graduation. I spent around $130, which was my saving from a few months for a Samsung phone with small touch screen. It was fun. After that, I get addicted to Facebook which I already sign up since before I had my first phone. Someone explained me how to download videos from the web. I watched a lot of movies on that three inches screen every night. The tragedy is that I didn't notice the small distance between myself and the bookshelf which stands just next to my bed.
I get better jobs and made better money and use better gears. My brain was dipped into retina screens for almost every hours of my day. I text, reply emails, watch Youtube videos, learn DIYs, use Facebook and Instagram, etc. I started having rain covers which I never keep it with me a few years ago because of all my gadgets which can't be wet. My iPhone stays right next to my pillow even while I am sleeping.
I continued collecting books with the hope that I would escape from this tech trap and will have time to get my old life. And, I will probably write, basically the reflection of daily lives around me. But it never happened.
In 2019, I moved to Arizona to be a student again, but this time is to learn what I love. I think I should read more books and I should reflect more on my life abroad since I have many struggles here and I miss home. Also, one of my instructors asked me to submit assignment on a website with public access.
Let's see how I am going to be in next year. If this is the only blog post that you see on this website, find and kill me!