Choose Your Own Title
Monday, August 29th, 2005I learned new things the past few days. For instance, I learned that there’s a certain rhythm to follow in sawing a block of wood. Yes, you heard me right - I just mentioned about sawing a block of wood. Well, this was what I discovered when I first cut a block of wood with a good old fashioned saw: you don’t use force and force alone and you don’t try too hard. This means that you take a firm grip of the wood, a firm yet relaxed grip of the saw handle, then glide it smoothly unto the wood as if the saw is the one controlling you instead of the other way around. That’s the best way to do it.
Aside from that, I also learned the effects of painting walls. The sight of people doing it always fascinated me; but little did I know it was among the most strenuous job in the world. It was not my job to apply the first coat; my job was to cover the parts where the paint was not able to get into. And yes, that is possible with a wall not unlike the surface of the moon. I’m exaggerating a bit but I’m hoping you get my idea. I was ever wondering when I was ever going to finish, but I did it after 48 years. Dili sad tanto’ng dugay. I finally finished the job and realized that I was right about one thing: it is rewarding. I literally issued a sigh of relief. It was among my happiest sighs.
The next thing I learned was installing vinyl on the floor. I learned how to cut them (which was fairly easy), I learned how to apply the glue, I also learned that it’s a bad exercise for the knees. The hardest thing to learn was cutting vinyl for the sides and corners. After a few trials and errors, I learned how to cut them in just the right size for those tricky parts without the use of a ruler or a measuring tape. I got it better than my companions that they - allow me a bit of ego boost in here - depend on me to do the sides and corner jobs. I also did a job of applying a sort of paste to walls that are uneven. It’s what they call in the dialect, “basilya” or “nagmasilya.” It left my fingers sore.
The reason why I was doing all that is because me and two of my companions (my brother and stepfather) were trying to improve my room. With the encouragement of my aching muscles, I learned one more thing. Being a part of something big, something you did as part of a group - a group with one common goal - is more satisfying and fulfilling than pursuing a job because you want it. It is much better when there is another person, or even a group of people who share the same pursuit, who want to reach the end of that pursuit as much as you do. It is sharing the times whether good or bad, sharing aches and pains, sharing worries, all for that one goal; and alas in the end, before one such journey starts again, sharing the joy. It is like the state of being happy. One can be happy alone, but I believe one is happier when others around him are the same. Pursuing a certain course with the intent to get from it what you want is trivial. Pursuing a course with the intent to share the experience from start to end, can be the most rewarding. Now how do we find one such course? The next time we ask ourselves what it is that we really want, let’s try to ask instead where we could be more needed. Sometimes it is not what we want - it is where we are wanted. That is the only way we could be part of something bigger than ourselves. Satisfaction from that, I learned by doing what was tagged as ‘man’s job’, never ends.
Now I only have one wish before retiring for the night - I hope I have put this in the right category.