Finding Nemo or better yet...
Voices influence us through different stages of our lives. As a child, my parents’ voices guided me. Growing up, the voices of my maternal grandma, my relatives and my school teachers followed me around. As a teenager, my friends’ words determined most of my decisions. At university, only one voice mattered (my ex’s).
As I grew older, I started recognizing those voices for what they were. My parents’, while filled with love and good intent, were biased. I lost the voices of my extended family when I migrated to Australia. As for those of my friends in high school and that of my ex, time and distance diminished their power. Nowadays, the voices I listen to mostly are those of my mentors and my closest friends.
A new voice
Recently, I discovered a new voice. It’s supportive and inspirational yet at the same time, very confronting. On occasion, his words force me to face the fact that my own views are flawed. He discredited some, if not most of them, with his line of reasoning.
I am at this point of my life where I am trying to find my own voice. I am ashamed to say that I am very bad at following things through and standing by my principles. For example, ask me about human cloning and I’d say I am against it. Yet if someone suggests that human cloning research would help find the cure for cancer then I would change my stance. See what I mean?
Debate? J Hova says it’s so necessary
I watched this TV show about a doctor, let’s call him Dr. Zeus* (I can’t remember his name), who is doing studies on human cloning. He is related to the doctor who pioneered IVF treatment. The reason I brought this up is that Dr. Zeus’ relative faced the same kind of criticism during the early stages of IVF treatment research as Dr. Zeus is facing now with human cloning. Taking aside the ethical implications of human cloning and its impact on human evolution (bah!), Dr. Zeus is right about one thing. He said:
‘There has to be a debate about human cloning and for that debate, we have to pay the price.’ Note that he didn’t try to reason why it is good but that there has to be a debate. Sadly, not much of that is going on and perhaps it’s because no one wants to pay the price.
Paris is NOT intriguing
I passed by the News Stand several weeks ago and noticed that People magazine had the special ‘Top 50 Most Intriguing People’ issue out (or such like). On the cover was a scantily-clad Paris Hilton squeezing her Photoshop-amplified breasts.
Okay, lists are lists and you have to take them with a grain of salt (or more). But in this case, the list is an indicator of what people would want to read (or buy).
Let me think. Paris Hilton. What exactly is intriguing about her? The fact that her vocabulary is limited to ‘That’s hot.’? That she’s a happy-go-lucky hotel heiress who spends most of her time perfecting her pout or her catwalk style?
Can she act? No. Can she sing or dance? No. No. Does she have any talent at all? No. Is she smart? No.
Okay. I must be missing something here. Is she pretty? Apparently. Is she young? Yes. Is she rich? Yes. Is she a party girl? Yes. Can she pull a short skirt? Yes. Can she bat her eyelids? Yes. Does she have a video tape of her having sex with an ex out in the public domain? Yes.
Ohhhkay.
If I recall correctly, Mother Teresa and Princess Di died at around the same time. In one newspaper, Princess Di’s death was page one, top fold while Mother Teresa had a side column reference linking to page 5 or something.
Listen to your own voice
These are signs of the times. Sometimes, some voices are so loud and pervasive that what they say become norm. There was an article on Harvard Business Review (*raise an eyebrow here*) not so long ago about research conducted in the workplace. It showed that most people do unethical things every day. In fact, it’s part of the office culture.
What I’m trying to say is that Paris Hilton shouldn’t be on the Top 50 list, Mother Teresa’s death warranted more newspaper pages than Princess Di’s and corporate greed is not good.
But like I said, I’m still trying to find my own voice. Right now, other voices either take precedent or overpower mine. In many situations, I’m not confident enough to rock the boat. Worse, I often bend my rules when the occasion calls for it. (Gah!) I never said I am perfect.
Slowly and surely though, I’m allowing my voice room to grow and take shape. A voice governed by convictions and not by expedience. I might not get the popularity vote but - excuse the pun - in the end, that vote doesn’t count. :-) Especially if it favours Paris Hilton.
As I grew older, I started recognizing those voices for what they were. My parents’, while filled with love and good intent, were biased. I lost the voices of my extended family when I migrated to Australia. As for those of my friends in high school and that of my ex, time and distance diminished their power. Nowadays, the voices I listen to mostly are those of my mentors and my closest friends.
A new voice
Recently, I discovered a new voice. It’s supportive and inspirational yet at the same time, very confronting. On occasion, his words force me to face the fact that my own views are flawed. He discredited some, if not most of them, with his line of reasoning.
I am at this point of my life where I am trying to find my own voice. I am ashamed to say that I am very bad at following things through and standing by my principles. For example, ask me about human cloning and I’d say I am against it. Yet if someone suggests that human cloning research would help find the cure for cancer then I would change my stance. See what I mean?
Debate? J Hova says it’s so necessary
I watched this TV show about a doctor, let’s call him Dr. Zeus* (I can’t remember his name), who is doing studies on human cloning. He is related to the doctor who pioneered IVF treatment. The reason I brought this up is that Dr. Zeus’ relative faced the same kind of criticism during the early stages of IVF treatment research as Dr. Zeus is facing now with human cloning. Taking aside the ethical implications of human cloning and its impact on human evolution (bah!), Dr. Zeus is right about one thing. He said:
‘There has to be a debate about human cloning and for that debate, we have to pay the price.’ Note that he didn’t try to reason why it is good but that there has to be a debate. Sadly, not much of that is going on and perhaps it’s because no one wants to pay the price.
Paris is NOT intriguing
I passed by the News Stand several weeks ago and noticed that People magazine had the special ‘Top 50 Most Intriguing People’ issue out (or such like). On the cover was a scantily-clad Paris Hilton squeezing her Photoshop-amplified breasts.
Okay, lists are lists and you have to take them with a grain of salt (or more). But in this case, the list is an indicator of what people would want to read (or buy).
Let me think. Paris Hilton. What exactly is intriguing about her? The fact that her vocabulary is limited to ‘That’s hot.’? That she’s a happy-go-lucky hotel heiress who spends most of her time perfecting her pout or her catwalk style?
Can she act? No. Can she sing or dance? No. No. Does she have any talent at all? No. Is she smart? No.
Okay. I must be missing something here. Is she pretty? Apparently. Is she young? Yes. Is she rich? Yes. Is she a party girl? Yes. Can she pull a short skirt? Yes. Can she bat her eyelids? Yes. Does she have a video tape of her having sex with an ex out in the public domain? Yes.
Ohhhkay.
If I recall correctly, Mother Teresa and Princess Di died at around the same time. In one newspaper, Princess Di’s death was page one, top fold while Mother Teresa had a side column reference linking to page 5 or something.
Listen to your own voice
These are signs of the times. Sometimes, some voices are so loud and pervasive that what they say become norm. There was an article on Harvard Business Review (*raise an eyebrow here*) not so long ago about research conducted in the workplace. It showed that most people do unethical things every day. In fact, it’s part of the office culture.
What I’m trying to say is that Paris Hilton shouldn’t be on the Top 50 list, Mother Teresa’s death warranted more newspaper pages than Princess Di’s and corporate greed is not good.
But like I said, I’m still trying to find my own voice. Right now, other voices either take precedent or overpower mine. In many situations, I’m not confident enough to rock the boat. Worse, I often bend my rules when the occasion calls for it. (Gah!) I never said I am perfect.
Slowly and surely though, I’m allowing my voice room to grow and take shape. A voice governed by convictions and not by expedience. I might not get the popularity vote but - excuse the pun - in the end, that vote doesn’t count. :-) Especially if it favours Paris Hilton.