I am obviously still hung over from reading Freakonomics, especially after following it up with Superfreakonomics, where seemingly unrelated things are unified by something; ergo, my question.
Here goes my attempt at answering it:
In medias res
Here goes my attempt at answering it:
In medias res
I encountered the phrase in Steve Jobs’ sister’s eulogy, where she said “we all die in medias res - in the middle of a story, of many stories”.
I am not a big Apple fan, which is probably an understatement since the only Apple product I own is an iPod classic, which I bought several years back. In fact, I am a technology-challenged individual, who has been a frequent customer of the IT help desk in my previous companies. But, surprisingly, I got hooked on learning about the life of Steve Jobs and how he sadly died in the middle of his story.
I just finished reading his biography (the Kindle edition - I’m not that out-dated), sacrificing a lot of readings at school in the process. After shedding a few tears (okay, not just a few), I contemplated on the thing that struck me the most - what drove him to do the things that he did. He had this belief that you have to contribute something to the world, like the people before you, and since he wasn’t a mathematician, nor an athlete, nor a singer, he believed his contribution was inventing these great things – the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad – and he did it with such passion and care and intensity.
This got me into thinking about what I have contributed to the world. I’m also not a mathematician (I do like math though), nor an athlete (I don’t think I have to reiterate the number of sports I have attempted, and failed, to learn), nor a singer (if I can only convince everybody else to change their taste to listening to my kind of singing). Worse, I am under constant pressure by the fact that I have two doctors as my siblings (while one is searching for a cure for cancer in the U.S., the other is saving the lives of numerous children in my home country).
Is what I’m already doing meaningful enough to count? (Let me qualify – I’m actually not doing anything right now except go to school, but I meant the question figuratively, rather than literally.)
This brings me to the next item on the list…
Okuribito
My professor in my Asia Business Environment class, following his belief that not everything you learn are found in textbooks (I second the motion), scheduled a series of Saturday sessions for the class to watch a movie produced in the Asian countries we were studying.
I was able to watch the Japanese movie, “Okuribito”, which means “Departures”. The film won an Oscar award in 2008 for Best Film in a Foreign Language.
In as much as I liked watching movies, and reading books, I somehow find the combination (i.e., watching a foreign movie while reading subtitles) unappealing. After watching the movie, however, I suddenly want to watch more foreign movies, despite the subtitles.
“Departures” is about Daigo, a young cello player who lost his job when the orchestra he was playing for got dissolved. While searching for a new job, he came across an ad for “assisting the departures”, which requires no previous experience and offers a high salary. It turned out that the job description in the ad was a typo error – it should have read, “assisting the departed”. Daigo thus became an encofinner, who cleans and prepares the body before being cremated. In the process, he realizes the meaning of what he does, and he does his job with great care. Towards the end of the movie, his wife asks him to quit his job for others view it as dishonourable, but he chooses to keep it. The last few scenes show his wife finally accepting what he does, and him being given a chance to be reunited with his estranged father as he prepares his father’s body for cremation.
I was trying so hard to quickly wipe away my tears for I was watching it with the rest of the class. But I later saw my tear-stained cheeks in the bathroom mirror.
Personally, I don’t think it’ll help me to be an encofinner for I’m afraid of dead bodies, I never watch horror movies and I almost failed high school biology. This time off from work though does give me the chance to watch movies such as this, reflect and think about what I have done and what I have to do and what I want to do.
Which brings me to the last item on the list…
My pause button
I am not a big Apple fan, which is probably an understatement since the only Apple product I own is an iPod classic, which I bought several years back. In fact, I am a technology-challenged individual, who has been a frequent customer of the IT help desk in my previous companies. But, surprisingly, I got hooked on learning about the life of Steve Jobs and how he sadly died in the middle of his story.
I just finished reading his biography (the Kindle edition - I’m not that out-dated), sacrificing a lot of readings at school in the process. After shedding a few tears (okay, not just a few), I contemplated on the thing that struck me the most - what drove him to do the things that he did. He had this belief that you have to contribute something to the world, like the people before you, and since he wasn’t a mathematician, nor an athlete, nor a singer, he believed his contribution was inventing these great things – the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad – and he did it with such passion and care and intensity.
This got me into thinking about what I have contributed to the world. I’m also not a mathematician (I do like math though), nor an athlete (I don’t think I have to reiterate the number of sports I have attempted, and failed, to learn), nor a singer (if I can only convince everybody else to change their taste to listening to my kind of singing). Worse, I am under constant pressure by the fact that I have two doctors as my siblings (while one is searching for a cure for cancer in the U.S., the other is saving the lives of numerous children in my home country).
Is what I’m already doing meaningful enough to count? (Let me qualify – I’m actually not doing anything right now except go to school, but I meant the question figuratively, rather than literally.)
This brings me to the next item on the list…
Okuribito
My professor in my Asia Business Environment class, following his belief that not everything you learn are found in textbooks (I second the motion), scheduled a series of Saturday sessions for the class to watch a movie produced in the Asian countries we were studying.
I was able to watch the Japanese movie, “Okuribito”, which means “Departures”. The film won an Oscar award in 2008 for Best Film in a Foreign Language.
In as much as I liked watching movies, and reading books, I somehow find the combination (i.e., watching a foreign movie while reading subtitles) unappealing. After watching the movie, however, I suddenly want to watch more foreign movies, despite the subtitles.
“Departures” is about Daigo, a young cello player who lost his job when the orchestra he was playing for got dissolved. While searching for a new job, he came across an ad for “assisting the departures”, which requires no previous experience and offers a high salary. It turned out that the job description in the ad was a typo error – it should have read, “assisting the departed”. Daigo thus became an encofinner, who cleans and prepares the body before being cremated. In the process, he realizes the meaning of what he does, and he does his job with great care. Towards the end of the movie, his wife asks him to quit his job for others view it as dishonourable, but he chooses to keep it. The last few scenes show his wife finally accepting what he does, and him being given a chance to be reunited with his estranged father as he prepares his father’s body for cremation.
I was trying so hard to quickly wipe away my tears for I was watching it with the rest of the class. But I later saw my tear-stained cheeks in the bathroom mirror.
Personally, I don’t think it’ll help me to be an encofinner for I’m afraid of dead bodies, I never watch horror movies and I almost failed high school biology. This time off from work though does give me the chance to watch movies such as this, reflect and think about what I have done and what I have to do and what I want to do.
Which brings me to the last item on the list…
My pause button
After so many years in the workforce, I felt the need to hit the pause button, take a step back and just breathe.
I did.
So here I am, taking a step back. And breathing. And reading several textbooks and cases. And writing several project reports. And studying for several exams. And yes, still breathing.
(Maybe I should have written this blog much, much later.)
I did.
So here I am, taking a step back. And breathing. And reading several textbooks and cases. And writing several project reports. And studying for several exams. And yes, still breathing.
(Maybe I should have written this blog much, much later.)
Seriously, nearly one semester into this program, my views about the world and my perspectives have changed, not radically, but enough to get me out of the myopic way I used to think. I’m not expecting a light bulb to suddenly go off in my head and illuminate my way into a meaningful life, because I would like to believe I am already there - living a meaningful life. I would also like to believe that these three seemingly unrelated things – Jobs, Departures and the NUS MBA program – will inspire me to live a more meaningful one.
Charisse Rossielin Cruz (Filipino)
Full Time MBA student, Class of 2013
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