Mainstream.

"The road less taken". We have heard it a number of times but have actually never got the courage to take that road. Unfamiliar, scary, mysterious, unheard of - some of the best words to describe it, to make it the less taken path. Yet, there is that curiosity that made us think: what if we took that road? Is it worth it? Will it be full of adventures? Where would it lead us? What would we be after?

The cold breeze of December smells of joy and festivity. Lights from Christmas decorations and moving vehicles fill the streets with liveliness. December it is and every Filipinos were busy celebrating their most anticipated season.

It was the last day of work and a lot of us were out and rushing to buy last minute Christmas needs. Taxis were not accommodating those destinations traversing EDSA because of the Christmas traffic. But one taxi driver took our request not because he was patient enough to cross EDSA nor chasing for the big fare. It was because he was to take the road less taken. He took the risk of traversing alternative roads, never sure of the traffic there, just to skip EDSA. In the end, he made us happy commuters. Away from the traffic, saving us time.

As I rode the taxi, I was a bit frightened by questions boggling my mind - Where would he take us? Does he attempt of robbing us? Will the road have light traffic? Will we pay much because of the alternative routes he took?  And I realize, in our life, in our careers, we mostly take the main road. What is mainstream. The road that you knew, many knew well, less frightening because of the familiarity. We are sure of the way, everything is familiar, mostly everyone was there and other mainstream stuffs are there. And we stay on that road, though it is slow and congested, though boring, because we are certain that after a long time of waiting, we will reach the end. We never got the courage to take the road less taken, where we have to risk the certainty to something unknown - something successful? Or a failure, maybe? We never want to move fast, to be adaptable to the ever changing environment, to continuously learn and to spend a lot of energy to take the small roads that will equally take us to that end. We never changed our mindset to think that what is important is not the end but the experience itself. We never had the heart to say yes to that curious mind seeking adventure. And we never had the strength to move away from our comfort zone and live fully.