[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’BENEATH & BEYOND ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY SONIA D. DAQUILA
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
When is work a play?
JULY 14, 2017 was a lucky day for a few teachers of the University of San Agustin. Miss Teresita Silma Balgos, professor of Economics and president of the USA Labor Union, invited us to attend the 2017-2022 Philippine Regional Roadshow at SM City Iloilo Cinema 1.
Three of us were late because we had a consultative meeting with the Father President concerning a draft of policies on Supervisory Functions which lasted for four hours. It was a healthy exchange of ideas and we were glad to have a leader who LISTENS.
In that roadshow, the speakers presented the Philippine Vision on National Economic and Development. They were all interesting but what engaged us most was the talk of Mr. Jose Mari Oquinana, a kababayan from Bacolod City and an alumnus of UNO-Recoletos. He had his M.A. at the Asian Institute of Management and now serves as the Operations Head of Gawad Kalinga. He walks the talk with his glowing achievements.
Mr. Oquinana was an effective speaker who captivated his audience. I had heard similar jargons or expressions in business many times before but how he expressed his thoughts etched in my mind something: Not only to “think in the box” or “out of the box” but to become disruptive by “creating our own box”, that is, to INSPIRE other people because with a pleasant disposition and motivation, work is no longer work but play.
After the talk, Joey Ayala, a popular Filipino songwriter and singer, rendered his patriotic songs and shared a glimpse of his life as a student, activist and nationalist. His message is also worth pondering and I connected it with our meeting with the Father President when he asked us, “Is your work making your life miserable?”
Ayala’s songs were simple: about work, about nature, about environment. The audience playfully sang with him, and he echoed what was said by Mr. Oquinana. He said, “Do what you love doing and work becomes play. I play and people pay me. Yet, we do not sell our capital, the healthy state of mind…”
Joey likewise spoke of gratitude and industry. “Ang gratitude ay nakakayaman, at ang lahat ng pagsisikap ay may gantimpala.”
The dialogue with our Father President, the talk of Mr. Oquinana and the song of Joey Ayala reminded me of the article I wrote on May 1, Labor Day. Homo faber, man is a worker and his work is a kind of homage to God as shown by the ancient people who took pride in bringing to God the best of their produce as offerings.
Theocentrism, however, was replaced by anthropocentrism; human beings substituted God by man as the center of the universe. Karl Marx was right when he asserted that man is alienated from the products of his work. There is no sense of ownership. He sells his time, his strength, his mind, his talents, his skills, and instead of proudly claiming the product of his labor as his own or being part of it, man is reduced to becoming an automaton. He is paid by the hour, by the day, by month…work is no longer a homage to God, no longer a play but a curse.
From these, I gathered some nuggets of wisdom. We can be tough, punitive and exacting but trust, empowerment, pleasant disposition, and inspiration can make people go the extra mile without compensation, without so much prodding, without threat or punishment because there is a feeling of gratification, of self-worth, and most of all, INSPIRATION from leaders who are disruptive. (delsocorrodaquila@gmail.com/PN)
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
