The Power of Cut-and-Paste

Living life without a vision is like building a house without a blueprint or a floor plan. It's like getting up one morning and saying, "I'm gonna build myself a great house!", then rushing off to pick up some bricks, wood, nails, and stones, then beginning to work on a structure that has no plan and (worse) no foundation. Sounds funny, doesn't it?

But it happens. Everyday. To millions of people around the world who wake up each morning, then rush off to work with nary a sense of where they are REALLY headed. YES, they go off to work, and try to beat their deadlines, which will put them on their boss' good side, WHICH may someday catapult them to the holy chamber of "high cubicles" (or even "rooms with a window"). But then… what next? What's going to happen after reaching Room with a Window 1? Will it be Larger Room with a Window? Or Million-Peso Bank Account? Or Large House with American SUV? There's nothing wrong with those things, but let me ask you…

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING FOR?

Beyond the position, the perks, the money, the house, and the cars, WHY ARE YOU REALLY GETTING UP EACH DAY? Is it to be a damn good CEO so that you can change the face of Philippine economy? Or is it to be the most prolific writer of your generation so that you can rekindle our passion for the arts and the written word? There's gotta be SOMETHING in you that fires you up! What is it? (Please, please, PLEASE don't say it's money for money's sake! If it were that, at least donate some to charity! Hehehe…)

Recognizing a dream, or a vision of ourselves, is not easy. It takes a long time of soul-searching and experimentation before feeling the perfect fit. Kinda like dating, actually. You have to meet lots of bad ones before you see The One. And, sometimes, you don't even know that s/he's The One until it just hits you. Hard. And when it does, you just feel your defenses shatter, your barriers break, and all sense of superiority dissipates.

Recognizing your dream makes you get a grip on reality, and shows you that your dream is LIGHT YEARS away from where you are now. It humbles you, makes you cry sometimes, but it gives you a renewed sense of purpose. Life suddenly becomes more significant.

I met my dream again through the power of cut-and-paste. My business mentors told me to think hard about why I was doing this. Why did I want to get into business and try to make some money? Certainly not for money's sake! They encouraged me to excavate the dreams that lay buried within me, and extract that one thing that will keep me going when the road gets all bumpy and slushy and pothole-y.

So I did. I unearthed the magazine clippings and pictures that I had kept all these years, then tore off more magazine pages (much to my brother's dismay), and cut and clipped until my fingers hurt from being stuck within the scissor-hole for hours on end. I unearthed a four-year-old scrapbook that had lain untouched, and then slowly, almost religiously, I began building my dreambook. The manuscript of my life.

I witnessed images of an exciting future unfolding before my very eyes. Images which, until now, had only been in my head. Okay, so they were magazine cutouts, but they could be real someday. At least the pictures will help me recognize my future life once I come into contact with it!

I saw the house in Provence which I (artfully) clipped from Architectural Digest (I know, I know! My mom will kill me if she found out where the picture came from!). The house which will someday be, or at least look like, mine… I saw the fine glassware and china that I will someday use to entertain my friends… The BMW that I will get to drive (as soon as I learn how)… The Tiffany & Co. diamond-and-platinum engagement ring that I someday hope to wear (if nobody gives it to me, I'll buy it myself!).

Yes, these are all material things, but as I went on, the things became just mere symbols of the kind of life I wanted to live. I wanted to travel, I wanted to experience as much of the world as I possibly could… and at the end of the day, I wanted to return to my little nook at home, and WRITE. Write until my fingers hurt and my eyes watered. Write about the world and its people, and bring the magic of a larger life back home to the Philippines. About what WE can do, and what WE can reach. About the possibilities.

All these from cut-and-paste.

Amazing, isn't it?

You should try it and see how liberating it can be to see your true self emerge… from formerly ordinary pictures within Cosmo, or Life, or Gadgets. Never, ever underestimate the power of cut-and-paste. It could be your key to a larger, better life.

(Written: A Spoonful of Sugar, 30 June 2003)