Today I spent my time by working. Not the office or clinical work, but my casual work. I have a part-time job at BRIDGE office, which facilitate Sister School Program between Australia and Indonesia. I’ve been working there for almost 5 years (since AEC office).
BRIDGE is a project funded by Australian Government, and therefore it won’t stay forever. The project will end this Dec 31st. So, these days will be pack with packing the stuff.
I will share a bit about paper shredder, by which I’ve spent most of my time today to shred unused documents.
While the machine was doing its function, I saw at how the cutters shred the papers. They destroy the whole page within seconds into tiny parts (3mm wide). I saw that the used-to-be-important document was nothing when it came to the paper shredder. As if it came to an end or death.
I was wondering if our mind can work the same as the paper shredder. Would it be easier for us if we can tear or destroy bad memories within seconds? Would it be nicer if we can throw the trauma and bad images into a machine – so that we don’t have to remember it again?
All of us bear some burdens, in which we all carry our traumas, mistakes, grave errors, bad thoughts, nightmares or our darkest past. We are all the same. The difference lays on how we react to that burden. Some people choose to stay in the trauma – somehow enjoying the pain. It looks like paper jam in the paper shredder (happened to me few times this morning). Some other people choose to wait for while, embrace the feeling and then drop it (what a great message from Richard from Texas in Eat, Pray, Love). But some other people choose to ignore the trauma and walk through life as if nothing happened. Well, how can you live a life that way? Even though you act as if nothing happened, the trauma is still there – burning inside you!
If we have a machine or organ inside our brain who can work like a paper shredder, I believe we won’t learn from our mistakes. We can easily throw away our mistakes, wipe it away. We won’t have any reminders of that mistake again. Mistakes and wrongdoings are there as reminders for us in living our lives. They act as reminders to stop our ‘id’ in leading the decision making. Mistakes were made as a lesson for us today.
Thanks to the paper shredder at BRIDGE office which turned out to be my inspiration.
Writing is my way to share it to you.
My Writing Paper 