Dear Perry (Again)

Dear Perry, 

That double-edged sword hangs over our heads each day we work in any organization. It is most pronounced in government sadly. Yes, I agree with you that indeed, 'together' has evolved into something of a dangerous state, rather than that which is desired. And it is simply people who allowed that evolution, fuelled by self-indulgence. I am not one who would deny that I do think of my interests, because I have just recently decided to love myself first than others. I read somewhere that one cannot serve from an empty vessel, but for so long, I thought the key to achieving fulfillment was in selflessness. That notion is wrong. It is in filling yourself to the brim with what feeds your soul that enables you to be the best for others. 

The question is what should we feed our souls? I feel that our souls' hunger stems from what we value. Some people value ego, pride, authority, recognition, power. Some value humility, responsibility tempered with conscious accountability, upliftment of others, and constancy. What we feed, we strengthen in us, and project to others. What we become affects others, in fact, in extreme cases, we produce our clones. The clones multiply, until like an army of ants, they have the numbers to build a fence, alienating themselves from the rest, demarcation, as you called it. Meantime, cloning happens in another part of your world, multiply and fence. Multiply and fence. Multiply and fence. Before we know it, turfs have become one too many. Soon, each turf believes in their own version of the truth. I guess the same can be said of everyone in a village, a barangay, a sitio. 'Together' is defined by the truths each turf believes in. In the end, there is no longer 'together' in its genuine sense, just in its parochial sense. Hence, the concept of 'interdependence' can never be in an environment of fences. 

So in my own way, which is really crazy-bitch way, I tried to surface interdependence, by getting all the throughputs out there, however belatedly we recognized the importance of looking at everything we do from that perspective. I told my colleagues, we cannot ignore what the other is doing, because like or not, we are 'together'. Those who insist that they can make a difference alone, on their own, I asked to think twice about being in government. The exit door is so wide open for anyone who would be so self-involved to think that. Like dominoes, if one screws up, we all do, there is no in-between. Concomitantly, if one does terribly well in the job that others would be green in envy, all are lifted. Precisely because we are 'together'. To keep it 'together' will usher us all back to the 'soul-feeding'. When we decide then what to feed our souls, we can better make sense, and give sense. 

Crazy, 

Christianne