Of Dignity and Circumstance

Before, I used to jeer and poke fun at what I saw. These days, I find myself responsible for those same things I used to poke fun at. It’s different when you’ve seen how ‘the industry’ works. You begin to realize all the hard work that goes into the finished product which (in all honesty) isn’t much. Even worse, all the little details you slaved over go largely unnoticed. And the reasons that led to thus shall and forever will be invisible to those outside it.

Back in Ateneo, we’ve always talked about the harms of selling out (relinquishing all dignity for the sake of a decent living). No matter what, dignity was always more valuable than any compensation. That doing the right thing really was a simple matter.

It all seemed simple when we were in a secular sectarian school funded by the seemingly boundless pockets of our parents and allowances. So much for ‘coming down from the hill.’

It’s now become a matter of priorities. Preserve your dignity within the ‘industry’ or preserve your dignity among peers. One will find you spiritually fulfilled but financially hungry. The other, vice versa.

You’d like to strive hard to ascend the corporate ladder in hopes that one day, you’ll be above all the pride swallowing. Then again, at the top of the ladder is an excess of just that — to the point that humility is simply not an option. At least not at the cost of some valuable dignity. It makes you ponder about even aspiring to rise above at all.

Deep down inside, you pray that whatever you have left lasts through the climb, and all that repression doesn’t explode into hot and volatile gaseous cloud once you’re at the top.

It all starts with good intentions. It’s the circumstances that mutate them.

Let’s hope these roots hold.