Friday, November 4, 2011

An hourglass

To sum up my day : Went to watch "In Time", WASN'T impressed with the acting. At.all.

BUT was satisfied with the drive home message.


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Well to be honest, the movie was rather bland and boring. On the story and plot perspective, it managed to capture my attention, for the full 2 and a half hrs.

By coincidence, the drive home message was related to the short powerpoint presentation I saw during lecture. U see, my lecturers stepped into class today and gave a wonderful powerpoint presentation.

It wasn't bout the usual study material. That sort of bullcrap has been fed to us consecutively for the past God know, how many days. They were doing much more than that. They were subconsciously expanding our Emotional Quotient.

The powerpoint related teamwork to the natural flight pattern of geese.

The migrating species of birds, fly in a unique "V" shaped pattern.

They have a leader at the center, but it doesn't hog all the spotlight to itself. As the leader gets tired, another of it's kind will replace it. Hence they rotate, allowing others to show their capabilities..

If at any one point, one of the goose decides to take to the skies alone, it will feel the harsh cold wind beating against it, restricting its abilities. The others will welcome and encourage this loner to participate and fly together. Together, the work done is amplified. And much more is achieved.

If any of the birds feel sick/tired..some of them will stick to it. Accompanying it, making sure it fully recovers, or stick with it till it passes away.

Lastly, they often quack at each other, encouraging each other to keep at it as they fly through harsh weathers.

The spirit of teamwork and synergy among members was so well demonstrated in lower animals *I don't consider my species more superior than others btw, but such amazing act fascinates me*

Now the question is, Why don't we see much of it among our kind?

This is the part where the drive home message from "In Time" comes in..

Individualism was pretty much all over the place in the movie.. The need of an individual overpowers the mass. Survival of the fittest was the theme addressed in this movie. The strong survive, and the weak die for the sake of the strong to live on. This sort of individualism was termed Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Moving into the next phase and securing a high position in the hierarchy at the expense of sacrifice from lower beings of the same kind/different kind.

I will take a direct quote from the movie :
"No one deserves to be immortal, if another person has to die for it."

Similarly, in a group, no one deserves to triumph over others, if the other members are to sacrifice for it. That is, disruption in group synergy. A negative energy that many fail to see.
Teamwork is abstract, pretty much like art.

Some get it, cuz they really feel it.
Some get it, but they 'understand' only bcuz everyone says yes.

Some get it, but they pretend.

These are the worst kind of people.

Personally I try to limit the amount of interaction I have with people that disrupt the chain of positive feedback among groups. Its never nice to see the same take home message for years only centered on the fact that you suck. I guess I've seen it happen before my eyes for so many years. Yet I only realize it now.

My exposure to group work and its synergistic effects prove beneficial after all. In a way, we were encouraged to survive as a pack. Not as loners.
In the end, though your achievements are based on your individual actions, the path towards achieving such glory is often never a lonely one. Often, we seek help when we are not sure. We seek the aid of others to push through difficult phases in life.

Hence the great string of achievements awaiting at the end of a long struggle, is never spawned from individualistic actions. Failure to acknowledge such a contribution by the team, is ignorance.
Ignorance upon the fact that our friends helped us, and that we are never alone.

"It is better to admit ignorance, than demonstrate it."

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During the 7 weeks of my study phase, I've been grateful.

Grateful and blessed, I have wonderful lecturers.
Though they are my lecturers, I'd prefer to fondly refer to them as my inspiration.
They are my tutors in the philosophies of life.
And they all encourage the same take home message,
kill individualism

and long live collectivism.

Grateful that I have wonderful coursemates, groupmates and friends.

Grateful that my parents finally opened the door between us
and we started communicating.

Grateful that I met my girl.
She resembles a large Energizer battery packed into a tiny frame.
She gives me the inspiration to write.


Grateful to God, that I got a 2nd chance at life.
No matter what religion background u are from,
it doesn't hurt to spend 10secs praying together before a class. :)

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It however pains me,
that individualism has spawned in my close group of friends.
Some had it a long time ago,
I failed to acknowledge that earlier.
Some display them on and off, yet fail to strike me.

Its sad but true, I was once upon a time,
a person that understood teamwork,
and the close bond formed thru synergy among members.

Time passed, and I thought I still knew,
what teamwork and collectivism is.

I thought I knew it.

But I was wrong. I lied to myself.
That sort of spirit was long gone.
It eroded like mud, under the rain.

"Collectivism is like a blade, it must be polished.
When left to rust, it becomes individualism..
separate pieces broken from a once sturdy blade."

It was not easy sitting down and thinking bout things,
the fact that I had led the group into individualism.
I too have my own portion of the fault to shoulder.

But the fact that I chose to be an initiator,
the very 1st person to voice it out,
the very person others will frown upon,
framed for spoiling and causing disunity among the group,
shows that I still do care bout us.

It strikes me as ignorance when others refuse to acknowledge a problem within a group,
Pinning the matter on the fact that we are all busy is ignorance.
Frankly even I do it.
I myself have many a time, claim to be too busy to give "a f*ck" bout other ppl's life.

That was me, being stupid and ignorant.

I feel rather sad, that such a concern has been brought up time and time again,
only to be shrugged off by certain people as nothing more than an attention seeking stunt.


My dismissal from the latest group performance has not thrown me off track,
Though it weighted heavily on me that I have to commit to another path in life,
I have never once blamed anyone for it.
For the issue was well understood by me,
and I never wanted to be a burden.


I am sad, but becuz I cant perform anymore.
I have no hard feelings to anyone, bcuz I understand the whole story.
Neither do I blame anyone for suggesting that I quit.
U are right, I should in order to not burden the group.


I am sad, but becuz I have seen individualism spawned in this group,
It saddens me that it has become the common language spoken,
Regretfully, I failed to bind everyone closer to one another,
I did not encourage any form of participation
We were once sumthing, becuz of how close we could relate to each other.

Not becuz of our dancing skills.


I choose to chase after abstract things,
only felt by the heart.

Viva la Collectivism.



Till then,
U know u have certainly grown more mature, when u start talking and reasoning out things that surprise even urself.. I have certainly, grown in many ways. Becoming more team oriented and positive.
Regretfully, another flock of geese have demonstrated better collectivism.. That is the painstaking truth..

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