VirtuaLife

Was driving back home after Work Service placement some days ago and happened to flick the radio to Nova for some bouncy music. Instead what I got was a talk on… relationships.

Charlie (self-named) was talking about letting her partner sleep around. To paraphrase Charlie… “I can’t control him, and I don’t want to be hurt not knowing what he’s doing, so as long as he tells me about it, I’m okay with it.” To further put an interesting twist on matters, Charlie herself prefers not to sleep around.

I’m not sure how the conversation started, but I believe it had something to do with one of the talkshow hosts who was asserting that there are no real rights or wrongs. Interesting assertion, because that brings us right to the heart of morality, and whether it is relative or absolute.

Evolutionary science either purports a state of no morality – spontaneously we arose, eventually we’ll die, and there’s no rules in between – or an anthropic, subjective morality – what we do and what we believe is ingrained due to a need or desire to survive – but never a position of absolute morality. Because believing in absolute morality confers the honour of human existence to something that preceded it… something that set the standards long before we could humans do so ourselves.

That something... is someone. That someone... is our salvation.

In a Godless, secular society, Charlie’s views are perfectly justified and the talkshow advocate is right in saying that the customs and norms of our culture will soon be supplanted by a newer, more liberated one. Indeed, the Australian constitution is based on Christian beliefs, and in a society that is increasingly un-Australian, that constitution is outdated and inappropriate. Kudos to Chris for pointing out that only 7% of Australians attend church service weekly, and another 14% attend it monthly. Might I hazard the controversial suggestion that only a fragment of those who even attend the physical church understand what it means to be Christian?

ONe thing I take out of this is that I have many secular friends who do not believe in sleeping around or other such… liberties; friends who believe in, without saying it in so many words, a relative morality. Friends who support and often ardently defend their beliefs without realising that they’re already straddling the fence of disbelief.

Many aspects of human nature demonstrate absolute morality. For example, intentionally killing a human baby without rhyme or reason is a reprehensible act. Violating someone physically without consent, particularly in a sexual manner, is both vile and detestable. Asking somebody for their opinion and then not accounting for that opinion at all is a most outspoken form of insincerity. Seeing suffering or injustice and not doing anything about it is wrong. Universally. All of these ‘cause-and-effect’ scenarios are universal. With the exception that a particular culture creates rules that justify immoral acts, they are universal.

The Bible says that we were ALL created with an aspect of God in us. People who believe and people who don’t, we are all reflections of an Intelligent Designer - our God - who left His fingerprints over all our design. People can question it, and people will fight it, or find ways to work around it as Charlie did, but at the end of that path is only despair and loneliness. I can’t say I envy her… choices.

It’s not pretty.

On a more light-hearted note I did my scoping report today on my 36yo female security guard and single mother of a 12yo boy. She sustained a FOOSH (broken [R] collarbone) and an impact assessment of her life needed to be done. As the case was a mockup, we (the ergo team) had some leeway to be creative. My favourite picks…

Chris H – A marine biologist called Jacqui Cousteau who specialised in dugong rodeo, had developed carpal tunnel syndrome while in her second trimester of pregnancy.
Zoe R – A 19yo female ski patroller and aspiring musician who was diagnosed with bilateral moderate hearing loss after a snow machine exploded in close proximity to her.
Amy OK – can’t remember her guy (apart from him being called Stan) but it had something to do with TBI? We were laughing throughout the whole presentation, though. Good job, Amy!

My client was called Margaret Thatcher, an English immigrant who had serious family issues and a love of fondling guns. If the irony is lost on you, look up the history of British Prime Ministers and gun law in the UK. Not exactly coherent, but I had much fun in creating the scenario, and the delivery of it seemed to go well with the team, supervisors included. More than once I had to stop my speech coz I was afraid the next noise out of my mouth would be a goofy giggle. What more can you want than a workplace who you can be your own silly self to?

I’ve cooked for the team as well. I’m taking the opportunity to embed in myself a responsibility for home life, which I see as yet another piece of the ‘future’ puzzle I’m preparing for. I’d rather do it now than when my girlie expects me to be churning out super dishes as the norm, hahaha =). The OTs are great guinea pigs; they’re very supportive and give good feedback on how to cook better or refining the taste. I can rely on Jason (and Chris if it’s lactose-free) to eat at least one portion without complaint. The three supervisors are a hilarious lump of personality; each with very polarised but funny views of the way things should be (including guys and cooking).

Mid-unit feedback tomorrow. Will be good knowing where I stand with ergonomics. I wouldn’t mind graduating into this area, to be honest. Personal gratification from miraculously curing chronic patients is a bit overrated when I feel more beaten than a punching bag at the end of a clinic day.

Gonna bring in the camera tomorrow and get some picture action! I love my workplace, love this OT-PT mix; passing would be a bonus hahaha =)

Had a good conversation with mummy Lim the other day. We were talking about… excellence.

It is a blessing of my upbringing; I’ve never found excellence hard. Now I don’t mean that I’m a brilliant person, coz I’m not. Nor is excellence a lightbulb that I turn on or off at my slightest fancy. No, the reason why I don’t find excellence hard is because when I see the point in something, I surrender myself to it totally. I surrender to learn, to master whatever is given to me. And even if it’s not always recognised by secular systems, I’m more than pleased with the results.

It’s also a downfall of my character. Because ‘excellence’ is not an issue for me, I see hypocrisy whenever people claim to have the conviction but do not exhibit any of the trademarks of one aspiring to excellence. I’ve been called snobbish or elitist many times for my lack of tolerance for such people, personalities. Not that I mind; in principle, many of these people claiming a hair of pride in my life have humorously neglected the logs in their own.

The consistency of such claims is telling, in many ways. On one hand I have a group of people, mostly Christian friends, some work mates and some course mates who think my nose is so stuck up it could be mistaken for a miniature mountain. On the other hand, I have a larger group of work mates, school friends, and some Christian friends who have called me humble beyond a doubt. Whose right? Are any of them right? Do the opinions of one group balance out the other? Perception is a funny thing.

One thing I do know is that I cannot abide in anyone for long who does not have the same commitment to excellence as me. There are many girls I’ve liked, many guys who I thought I could have nursed a cold beer with, who in the end I’ve let go because our contrasting views on how life should be lived are so disparate.

I just want to be me. I just want a close group of friends who think and act the same way as me. Popularity is overrated. Controversy is a full-time job and a half. And when both sides of the relationship don’t match, there’s so much friction it wouldn’t be a surprise to see sparks fly.

Last night I made kuejadas and pandesal. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment things, and I began to mix the ingredients even before I’d worked out if I had enough of every ingredient in the first place! The timing was right, though; I’d just pumped myself through the pain barrier doing a hill climb and needed to take it easy. The peeps at work also go gaga over baking so I thought I’d do myself a favour and clear my contribution early, before the work piled on…

Despite poor time management (my 2 hour affair with pandesal turned into a 3.5 hours slumberfest) I managed to get the darn things done and looking pretty decent. Was annoyed with myself for not budgeting a buffer but happy that I’d be doing my teeny weeny bit to make work a happier, better fed place =).

And that’s the key, really. I realised that it’s been a while since I’ve given anything to anyONE I don’t know well or don’t like without seeking to test them in some manner. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit back, just be myself and not care what anyone thinks, regardless of whether they are my best friend or a complete stranger. Of course, my best friends get me at full intensity, but even those I don’t particularly like… they deserve to at least see me for who I am, right?

Defensive. That’s what we all are. I hesitate to say that it is what [society] has become because I’m sure that the human condition has always been this way. On my part, I didn’t consider myself defensive until I realised the protections I’ve built into my life are so much like a second skin… it’s all over me, but I hardly pay it any attention. What defences? Being dismissive, for one; regarding the musings of other people as simplistic and predictable. Howabout misleading? I can put on personalities like I put on suits, yet instead treating it as a blessing I use it to mock others’ shortcomings. And cynical? It’s an attitude that generally hits the mark for a fallen society but falls woefully short of the mark when somebody genuine comes along.

I’m happy with where I am at the moment. I am in a workplace with people whose habits, personalities and sense of professionalism stands as a sharp contrast against my own, yet I am perfectly contented to give to them, and give again, expecting nothing back.

This is life… unrestrained.

teDDe~