Fifteen years ago, on a night when the veil between worlds thinned, I chose to change my fate.

I like to think my life didn’t really begin in a bright, antiseptic birthing ward but in the salt, soot, and sweat of Burgos, Makati’s red-light district. People write about escorts and paint our stories in shades of tragedy, with brushes dipped in sorrow. But that night, the night I stepped into the demimonde, I wasn’t afraid or full of self-pity. I was hungry. I was cold. I simply had bills to pay.

“Embracing our desires is not mere indulgence; it is a vital component of a meaningful life.”

It leaves one to ponder, how will we be remembered a century from now?

Will our own missteps and indiscretions be forgiven if we ‘succeed’ by the standards of the future society?

It’s not the destination, but who you’re on that journey with.