 |
managing director's comments
 |
(Wordcount: 600) It starts with a loosening belt. The belt flings into the air and onto a child's legs. The tears and stinging is temporary, but the scar is permanent. And so is the cause - a little sister. When a little sister cries, it's inevitable that the older sibling - particularly if he is male - is to blame. The older brother - especially if he is the first-born - will always be cherished, but the younger sister will always be spoiled. The older brother, not knowing the reason the spotlight shifts from him to his younger sister, with painful consequences - the anticipation of which hurts more than the actual event - is left with no other logical conclusion than to hold his younger sister responsible for his perceived suffering. And so, without the capacity to understand his unfair existence, the older brother grows cold and unforgiving of first, the deliverer of pain and then the cause, for the cause is harder to recognize than the deliverer.
The boy grows up without paternal guidance into manhood. He accepts that he must be resourceful, for he realizes that hoping on salvation from ignorance is hopeless. This missing component of his rearing is pronounced when he observes his sister receiving an unending supply of maternal guidance. The feeling of neglect runs deep, and the scar is re-opened. So the solution is obvious: detachment. Detachment from family saves his mind, but fails to heal any pains.
With uninterrupted dedication, the man evolves into a stranger. Our stranger never learns to communicate with his kin, disregarding their support and not appreciating their worth to his own development. And despite reclaiming the spotlight forfeited as a man, this stranger isn't satisfied. Although his accomplishments are now far and wide, what becomes of success when no one celebrates? Our stranger understands that "whales [that] come up and spout off get harpooned" so his greatness becomes nothing more than a string of everyday occurrences. It is at this juncture of pointless achievement that our stranger has his revelation: his inability to see the spotlight prevented him from acknowledging that the spotlight had a new origin - his younger sister. Who but family can puff up without envy, can encourage as though they themselves were engaged in the encouraged activity itself? And, in a family of four, who but the little sister is the biggest cheerleader? Especially when it's her only brother?
It is generally accepted in our society that everyone, be him the most successful of all or the least successful, needs recognition of that success. We create prizes, awards and certificates of appreciation for every conceivable activity, including breathing. Although our stranger, in his "evolved" state, regarded minor commendations a perpetuation of mediocrity, they are, in fact, critical to the satisfactory existence of a person in a society. It is recognition and celebration of that recognition that serves as a society's benchmark of progress. And it was from this perspective that our stranger simultaneously realized the futility of achievement without an external benchmark that acknowledges his achievement and that no one but his only sister has ever served that function more faithfully.
Sis, it is with regret
that I belatedly thank you for your unswerving commitment to me and my continuing
success. Know that you are a brilliant light which spotlights our entire family,
and I, more than Ma and Pa, have been its constant beneficiary. I ask that you
never turn it off and that I may reflect just a glimmer back to you in your
journeys. And if you'll permit me, congratulations on achieving your dream of
expressing yourself as you see fit.