We recently had the chance to connect with Jeehan Quijano and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Jeehan, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Are you walking a path—or wandering?
Both. I am wandering along the way as I’m walking a path. Sometimes I drift away, pause, stop, get lost, go back and move forward again, but these are all part of the journey. I embrace the crossroads and detours because they’re part of one’s growth and certainly make life far more interesting and fulfilling, and reaching the destination this way feels more rewarding and meaningful.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a Filipina novelist and essay writer based in Los Angeles. My novel, The Unfolding, was published by New Meridian Arts and is available at the Central Library in downtown LA. My essays are featured in literary magazines and can be read online.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I’ve always been a writer before the world acknowledged that I am one. Writing has been a constant passion of mine since I was young, and I was always writing something even back when I was growing up in Cebu, when I did not yet have dreams of becoming a published author. Deep inside we know who we are, but sometimes we ourselves are the ones who put constraints to living our essence because, perhaps, of the fear of rejection and being judged, or of being an outcast, or the lack of support from our immediate environment and community.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
This excerpt from a letter written by screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to his daughter:
“You have, in common, with every child who ever grew up, made minor mistakes, but are you also aware that regardless of those small concerns we may have felt from time to time about your development (and all parents feel such concern), you have given us so much more happiness than discontent – in a ratio of, roughly, a million to one – that we shall never be able to reward you adequately for having entered our lives.
We wanted you, took measures to have you, got you – are forever the winners.”
Also, I would read to myself these words from “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rilke where wrote:
….. “ be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
As a novelist, writing books requires a solid commitment because it may take several months or many years to finish writing a book. But I find that whenever you have a desire or passion to do or achieve something, no matter what it is, commitment comes naturally and free of burden.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What light inside you have you been dimming?
My belief in the goodness of humanity is becoming frail. Excessive greed, violence, divisiveness and hate are rampant. I recently became a victim of hate crime, and that experience has shaken that belief. But thank goodness it’s not completely shattered because of the little acts of kindness that I’ve received and witnessed, and reading and listening to stories of brave ordinary people fighting against injustice, extending generosity of spirit, raising the voices of the marginalized and powerless, those people who really live by example.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jeehanquijano.com
- Instagram: jeehan_quijano
Image Credits
Ian David
