崔樂怡 澳門大學

Pressure VS Passion: To Strive, or To Dream?

People always say, “We are born as a piece of white paper". I disagree. The fact should be, “we are born as a piece of single lined paper”. According to the White Paper ideology, as we grow, we start to write on the paper. Since there is no restriction on this piece of white paper, we can write freely as we want. However, is that the reality?

Nowadays, there is a formula for us to follow in our lives. We have education, starting from kindergarten to university, and then we enter into society, working at least 10 hours per day, trying to earn and save enough money to buy an apartment of our own. Sometimes, when we have to make decisions, there are so many things for us to consider as well. For example, our parents' wishes, others' expectations, society's norms, etc. That is exactly why I say, we are born as a piece of single lined paper. The lines on the paper represent restrictions that we follow and consider throughout our lives, even though they are not explicitly stated.

Some people follow the lines and write neatly on the paper their whole life. They have very neat and tidy handwriting. However, you may think, “Why can’t they jump out of these lines and create their own personal style? Why do they have to follow these lines and limit their creativity?"

Some people ignore the existence of these lines and write wherever they want. Some of you may think, “Wow! That’s really creative! And you don’t find the handwriting messy either". However, the majority of you may say, “Urggh, what is that…. I just see a splash of ink and lines and nothing else".

To try something new and unique involves a lot of risks. Very few innovators actually become successful. Take Thomas Edison as an example. He invented the light bulb, but before he succeeded, people called him weird and crazy. Or the great painter Picasso, who insisted on his own style. Many people think his paintings were over the top and impossible to understand. It is a long way before one can finally succeed. Since the road of innovation is so rough, many of us avoid it. Instead, we follow what the others have done. We copy paths of those who have already succeeded, since the costs and risks are much lower. In addition, people who try to do things differently tend to be isolated. When they fight for their path, they feel lonely. Since we are social animals, we want to feel being needed by others. So, to avoid this loneliness, we conform…, we follow…, we do not make changes.

However, if there are no innovators, there will be no improvement. So, what should we do? To follow, or to change? To strive, or to dream? Actually, it isn’t a contradiction, as there are steps in a process. Before we run, we learn to walk. Before we fly, we learn to flap our wings. Before we compose a poem, we learn to write. Therefore, what we have to do is, first learn to write neatly according to the lines and build a good foundation. Only until then, we can write freely. And even when you are later given a piece of white paper, you can still write as neat and tidy as on a piece of single line paper, and gain the applause of the others.

Thank you very much.