Prelude to Oscars: This is the Greatest Show!

More than two months have passed since the opening screening of "The Greatest Showman", which shows no sign of abating, with its recent release of a "Sing-along" version in theaters (the only other recent movie to have done so was the wildly popular "Frozen"). This is perhaps the best testament to the origins of the entertainment industry, that no matter what the motivations driving the production of any film, all members behind the production unanimously agree that they definitely want the audience to have a great time. To get into the festive mood before the results get announced, I am penning this fun post of using the musical numbers from "The Greatest Showman" to have a look at the generic life lessons behind great shows, enjoy!

"A Million Dreams"

One may directly or indirectly draw encouragement, strength and even inspiration from film and its characters, be it whether the film is wholly fictional or inspired from true events. Films are ultimately stories about peoples, providing wisdom and insight on how to or how not to proceed onward during dilemmas, so that we can continue full speed ahead to pursue what is key to us.

"The Other Side"

Sometimes films may discovery journeys. They throw curve balls to push our limits, bring us down rabbit holes to venture into realms out of our usual comfort zones, introducing us to themes, issues which we were formerly oblivious to, unearthing principles and mindsets which lurking within us.

"This is Me"

Many use the film watching experience as a vehicle of escape or diversion from the burdens of life, and once in a while we encounter a film which seems to affirm our own efforts, making film watching a divine positive review of the movie of our current stage in life.  Coming of age, a theme present in many films, is actually a never-ending process, which we will only fully actualise at the end of our lives.

"Tightrope"

Rarely do films only set out in single mindedness, to teach us a sole lesson, mirroring how we try so hard to juggle and balance multiple identities, to fulfill many needs and wants in life. Meeting the expectations of all members of the film-going audience is also a precarious challenge, and there will definitely be some who will be lost along the way, just like how we may falter once in a while in life's balancing act.  

"From Now On"

Life is messy, and will sometimes leave us feeling like wrecks. This dissatisfaction may not be necessarily be a bad thing, as it may prompt us to scrutinise ourselves properly, identifying what we sorely lack, and direct us towards any much needed decisive changes that have been long overdue.

"The Greatest Show" 

Film making is ultimately an art, and it is very easy for critics like me to rip the product to pieces according to my own beliefs or preferences after a simple viewing session. Despite this, I still cannot negate all the hard work and team work that all members of the production team went into painstakingly putting on the show. To extend on this point, we also should bestow this basic recognition towards each other for the our own life's "Greatest Show". Let's give each other a hand of applause!

Word Play 1: Professionalism

A recent pet phrase of mine has been the term "professionalism", especially in the light of the office politics that has been been rocking me to and fro for the past five months. In the previous blog entry, I touched on the concept of how commitment to your job is actually related to your love and passion for this calling. Today I'll try correlating love and professionalism.

Here's the definition of the term "profession" from dictionary.com
profession (noun)
1. a vocation requiring knowledge of some department of learning or science
2. any vocation or business.
3. the body of persons engaged in an occupation or calling
4. the act of professing; avowal; a declaration, whether true or false
5. the declaration of belief in or acceptance of religion or a faith

The noun "profession" is usually used in a more bombastic context to replace the drab term "job". However when we look into the dictionary, we see some hidden element behind the term profession which the word "job" does not necessarily mention or include.

In the first point, when you go about your profession, you definitely require some knowledge of it, or else you wouldn't have gotten accepted for the post. Consecutively as you progress in this profession, you knowledge in this spectrum is expected to grow, or you would not deserve to call this your profession. Usually a dynamo of sorts is essential in driving us in pursuit of knowledge. This dynamo or force is a love for something, be it promotion in hierachy, earning, status, the enjoyment during the actual act of carrying out the tasks required for the job. Next, in the third to fifth points, the concepts of calling, avowal, declaration and faith appear. All this are highly related to the concept of love and do not need further elaboration. Thus, we can safely deduce that the critical element differentiating "job" and "profession", is the presence of love. If you love your work, it no longer is just a job, it becomes your profession.

The next question to ask ourselves is, how do we identify and define "love". Well, the famous 1 Corinthians 13 chapter gives us a lengthy insight into the concept of love as I'll transcribe it later. Below is a reflection on how I am performing in each aspect.

Kindness: joy in helping others.
Sad to say I'm calculative in this element, such that the amount I dispense is also according to how the other party has treated me first. It may be high time for me to throw away the bookeeping for how much to help others, in correspondence to how they much they help me.

Patience: accepting the imperfections of others
Drat! I am an epic failure at this one. Don't even dare to describe how I perform. I don't even show patience to myself, thus this causes huge misunderstandings on the part of many who do not know me, thinking I love to find fault with others. I do self-bashing much more than they know...

Forgiveness: Freedom from the grip of anger
Ok, my past track record at this was not much better than the previous aspect of patience. Thankfully the past five months have improved my performance in the humility aspect and this has rubbed onto the forgiveness part. Many old baggages of anger towards be it others or myself have been thrown away. The anger still simmers once in a while, but most of what I feel now is melancholy and wistfulness at how things could have been instead, if I had just been more humble, courteous and patient...

Courtesy: Treating others as friends
This one is kinda tricky, because different people treat others who they truthfully declare to be friends, differently. Thus when I treat other in a manner which I feel is already courteous enough, it may not match up to the other party's definition of how they feel a friend should treat them. This oversight in putting myself in others' shoes has been one of the major culprits behind the mayhem for the past five months. I need to remember to be conscious of how my friends what to be treated by me, not only how I want to treat my friends...

Humility: Stepping down to let others step up
Another chronic problem of mine. Many close friends have chided me for having this "I know better than you" mentality, when I tell them what's happened to me in the workplace. Even if my intentions behind giving an insider, more experienced POV is actually kind, it may not be taken so by the other party, because of the "I" term which crops up way too much. I must train myself to use the word "you" more instead while reducing the "I", and to change their sequence, letting "you" appear before "I" more often...

Generousity: Giving myself to others
I've shown fairly consistent performance in this area, since under the mentorship of Jamie two years ago. She's long left that place and so have I. However, she is the angel sent by God who has been propelling me in the discipleship of love towards my profession. I don't think I'll be able to show consistency in this area without her guidance under her tuelage then. And now in this new place, there are also other mentors whom I must remind myself to look up, lest I let up my diligence.

Honesty: Revealing who you are
Hahahaha. Seems like I have not much trouble underperforming in this area. In fact I overperform, such that it is too bare naked for some to bear. :p The confusion then comes in is the misinterpretation by others of the motives and agendas behind my naked honesty... Sigh... I may need to clothe myself in kindness, patience, courtesy and humilty more, such that they see better...

It's good to reflect on how my love for my work had grown since 2008. It can indeed be a profession, and no longer just a job for me. A final big thanks to God for having helped me identify my calling, and I pray for his guidance and care in helping me remain faithful in my love for it. Amen!


P.S. This blog entry was inspired after reading "Love as a way of life" by Gary Chapman. Anyone who feels the dousing on love in any part of their life, I would highly recommend picking this book up. Enjoy! :)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13: 4 - 7 (NIV)

Perfect job??

Lately the articles written have all been with a very critical and bitter edge. Thank God I realised how I was mutating and decided to put a stop to it once and for all. Will do my utmost to make this one a pleasant one of thanksgiving.

Some khakis and mentors have pondered and still do to this day why I wish to stay in the VWO sector and work, despite its lack of perks. Ok, I'll be very frank, initially I had no love for this sector at all. Nada, nyan, nyet, zilch. It was because of sheer desperation, due to my previous condition, where I was unable to be accepted in any other jobs with my qualifications. Was at the point of almost hopelessness when the offer came. And during the process of my first three years in my first VWO, I learnt and grew.

I learnt how brattish and cocky I was, always thinking I was king of the world, when some of my plans were very outright junvenile with no clear concept of what I was getting at. I was just doing for the sake of doing.

I learnt how lazy I was with lack of initiative to do follow up on many tasks, which I always assumed to be other's responsibility.

I learnt how unreasonable some of my demands were, as if I owned the workplace and other colleagues needed to kowtow to my every need and whim.

Slowly I learnt to appreciate the beauty of the VWO sector, though my appreciation of it in the initial two years were fairly shallow. I had this "I only love what I like from it", not it as a whole. Then, the butting out happened. During the first three months, still harboured bitterness towards the upper echleons who made the decision. Felt that I had already made improvements to myself, throughout the process which led to my resignation I had fulfiled my duties it seemed, was always questioning to myself what the heck was wrong with them. I forgot to also ask myself what the heck was wrong with myself, thinking I always knew best.

Turns out in devotion to getting the issue or duty tackled, I was on the correct track. I had picked up the virtues of initiative, commitment, responsibility along the way for my past three years there. I had yet to pick up the virtues of patience, empathy, forgiveness and peace. God then had to come in to give me a wakeup call.

No matter which workplace you are in, it will never be perfect. There will always be flaws present, as it comprises of human beings. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. However I need to remind myself that we are made in the image of God too. I must keep the constant lookout of God in that place where I am. In God's eyes, I am just the same as them, no better, no worse, but most importantly we are loved all the same.

Been reflecting this week and really thankful God has placed me back in the VWO sector again for the past three months, though this time another charity. I would now proudly declare that yes, I am in love with my job. Yes, I get very stressed up by its many aspects which make me want to throw in the towel very badly. However, I always remember that it loved me first. It opened my eyes up to a lot of things many may take for granted. I really cannot use words to describe it.

During the previous two months of intense stress where I had really considered leaving, some of my current colleagues have advised me to either "just treat this as a job" or "if you really feel so miserable, then leave". Previously in other scenarios, my parents have always told me not to do comparison with my siblings and peers for fear of envy mounting in me. I am still tackling this deadly sin daily. It is a constant battle but I thank God for having increased my prowess against it. However here comes the bombshell. When it comes to thanksgiving of what I have been blessed with, I need to compare myself with others.

I know some Christians do not like to use that term due to its negative connotation. For this, I have come to laugh at myself. The competitive streak in there will not disppear till the day of disciplehood on earth is complete. Why not use it towards the glorification of God?

Finally today I realised why despite all the frustration and agony of being in the teaching line for so long, my father has always stayed put. After the initial anger and disappointment with what you see, you calm down and reflect and then you realise that God is still there. Personally I dislike using the term "just treat this as a job", because my own interpretation is that it smacks of irresponsibility, something which I have come to abhor as it was grossly present within me in the initial years. I then remind myself, this is my interpretation of the term. Who am I to be so sure that when others "treat it as a job", there is no element of devotion to the cause? It is more of a difference in phrasing. Maybe what they have been advising me, was to inject the element of empathy, understanding and forgiveness. I really need to just look back and laugh, praying to God that we all have learnt along the way.

If it comes to the second phrase pertaining to level of misery, then my answer would be the joy definitely overcomes the misery. This is where I do the comparison act. I compare the amount of joy God has blessed me in this current job, compared to amount of misery the evil one has tried to inflict upon me to make me stray. Then the answer becomes very clear cut and point blank. No need to doubt God's plans anymore.

I'm not writing off the beauty of other workfields. It is just that God has not granted me to the ability to view them in the light I view mine. I can always do worrying and grumbling about the imperfections of the VWO field, but I must always remember to pray for it. Afterall, it loved me first.

Attahed is above is the flipchart of a presentation I had made at NVPC around 12 weeks ago. I need to constantly remind myself with the flipchart of how clear headed I was then surprisingly. What matters is not who starts the dynamo. It is just to keep the dynamo running.