Blogger Stories: Rico Mossesgeld

When he was just a little boy Rico Mossesgeld discovered he had a passion for the written word. He loved to read and he loved to write. However, instead of cultivating his talents teachers and classmates were far from supportive. Through the kindness of a friend Rico was introduced to the world of blogging. He eventually regained his confidence and rediscovered his love of writing. If his childhood friends could see him now .. today Rico is a successful freelance pro blogger.

Blogger Story Teller: Rico Mossesgeld, Fool for Five

Rediscovering Writing Through Blogging, Thanks to a Friend

Even when I was young, I loved to read. I'd leaf through children's bible stories, Aesop's fables, even encyclopedias, manuals, and brochures. Thus, my mind buzzed with ideas I simply had to write down. I'd pass the time in class by composing short stories, essays, poems, and even plays.

But in high school, my enthusiasm suffered. The teachers were stricter, confiscating my works, reading them in front, and punishing me for not listening. Probably the biggest blow was when I asked a girl to a prom, through a poem. That effort, inspired by a misguided sense of romance, was shot down with laughter.

I never took these personally, thinking these events simply indicated poor writing ability. And in no way do I condemn my school's methods. Like it or not, classics like Shakespearean plays, Don Quixote, King Solomon's Mines (a personal favorite), and even Latin versions of the Iliad and Odysseus were incessantly drilled into our heads. I am lucky to have read these at such a young age.

But I digress. Understandably, I unconsciously decided writing wasn't for me. I did write an article or two for my college newspaper. But my university years were spent exploring a new passion: graphic design.

When I finally graduated, my good friend Jayvee's passion for blogging was suddenly apparent to me. I realized the cause of his enthusiasm. Here was a platform that catered to his unfettered expressiveness. I was intrigued; perhaps this blogging thing would do the same for me?

I decided to start my personal blog, Fool for Five. At first, I had a hard time, mainly discouraged by the fact no one would leave comments…in the first few days! But Jayvee, the level-headed veteran, assured that they would come, as long as I had interesting content. I stayed the course, and sure enough, they came.

It was around this time that Jayvee encouraged my writing skills in other ways. First, as managing editor, he set me up with local tech magazine Mobile Philippines. Writing five product reviews (and counting) for them was great, since I got to play around with the latest gadgets while honing my writing skills.

Then one day, Jayvee informed me of openings at Creative Weblogging. Before I knew it, I was writing about smartphones and PDAs on The Smart PDA. So after graduating just last March, I can honestly say that Rico the writer has returned. A large part of my freelance career currently involves writing, and through the blogosphere, I've met great people like Liz Strauss.

So, there you have it, a short narrative on how blogging helped rekindled my love for writing. But none of this would've happened if I didn't have a friend who had my back.