Indulgence

what defines us?

Mother Teresa
Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.

Slowly, it has begun. The pace has begun to slow down and there seems to be more time to think and that's a good thing. There'll be one more hurrah of energy and then everything becomes steady. What's scary is that the "steady period" will be crucial. Our lives in the future will be determined by what we do and how much we do during this "steady period." It amazes me how what we will do in the next few weeks will determine what our lives will be like in the future.

Yesterday, I went to Greenbelt to meet up with the gang. We haven't been together, complete as a group, in a very long time. I haven't seen my friend Anne in two months. It was all laughter and happy voices. It was good to catch up and fill her in on the things that have been going on with me and vice versa. I had said that "I'm glad I don't see Anne that often because that means she is busy." And it's true. For people like us who work in such a volatile job in production, you never know how long you'll have work. Who knows? Your show might just get cancelled or nobody calls you anymore to do anymore commercials. I'm happy that she's booked for a long while. It means that she'll be busy with work and that she'll be learning so much and meeting a lot of people. Anne is an amazing person. She'll be directing very soon. I know it. She can make it.

During our conversations last night, we kinda were trying to debate whether your work should define who you are. I had said that I'm happy for Anne because her being busy means that her life is busy and it's a good thing. A friend of mine remarked that work shouldn't define us. There's work and then there's your life, she remarked. She said that they are two separate things.

But I had to disagree. I said, You work half the time, most of the time and so you can't help it if your work defines you. Afterall, it's what you do, it defines what sustains you. It's where you spend most of your time so it also, somehow, relates to who you deal with and how you deal with them. I don't think you can help it. I said, if you don't think your life is defined by what you do, it probably means that you are not happy with your work.

I think that kind of makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? I'm not ashamed at all to say that my work defines me. I'm a story-teller. I write and direct segments for a television show. Othertimes, I get paid to write; be it brochures or a live event. I try to find a story and bring it out. Well, maybe not for brochures, but I try to make them more accessible to the reader. And that defines me. I'm proud of that. My world revolves around visuals and words and transmission of messages. Most of the people I deal with are creative people or people who bring other people's creation to an audience. How exciting is that?

I think your work says a great deal about you and if you can't accept that; if you try desperately to make distinctions between what you do and who you are, then there is seriously something wrong with what you are doing. You cannot possibly be that happy with your work. Why are you doing it then?

Geez, I think I'm beginning to sound preachy. Better stop now.

posted by wanggo @ 9:50 PM