To be honest, this is my best creative piece by default as I have not attempted any other one. Why I chose this question? Well, I always liked exploring my mind and the different experiences it tries to comprehend on an ordinary day. I know for me, I jump from thought to thought rapidly, which is hard for me to convey through words. As such, I just tried to illustrate a small segment of my day. This is my first creative in a long time, so hopefully it isn’t too bad.
Question: “Examine for a moment an ordinary mind on an ordinary day…” Try this strategy as an experiment. Write your own paragraph that grows from the examination of your own mind….. Let’s see what happens!
Lazy and indifferent, I drag my legs across the spotted grey floor, trying to reach the end of the corridor. The only form of lighting comes from the rectangular florescent lights which emit its goldish white glow above me. Although I cannot see it through the cover of night, I can hear the water tumble down the moss covered rocky slopes, and into the bottom pool of the miniature waterfall. At the end corridor, I see the nurse sitting on the dark blue ledge of the window, head down – left hand covering his mouth and supporting the weight of his chin.
I enter the emergency room and make my rounds around the department. I walk past the toilet only to be intercepted by a small Asian child.
Bandages covered most of his small frame. Any body part that wasn’t covered with the cotton bandages, exposed his patchy crimson red skin. Upon inspection, I notice that various sections of the epidermis layer of his skin was peeling off – strands of skin desperately hanging onto his body. Our eyes briefly meet for a few seconds, only to be separated as he ventures of in search of his dad. In that brief moment, I see a feeling of indifference in his eyes, the same one that I see when I look at the mirror at work. It’s not that I do not feel sympathy for these children. It’s just that… I am at work and as such, I have to do my job.
For you see, my friend has recently enlightened me on the Japanese term, Gaman. It means “enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity.” I cannot to stop each time I see a child in distress nor can I stop each time a parent has their head down, weeping in agonising silence. I genuinely do feel sorry for them, but I cannot afford to emotionally break down just because of the things that I see.
You can go to any of the hospital staff and ask them about how they cope with the things they see at the work. They will reply with what I am about I say: sometimes you just need to emotionally detach yourself. The best that people can do in my position is carry on with work and wish the parents and children all the best.
From the second I enter the hospital, I switch everything off in my brain, ignoring every other aspect of my life. I am only focused on doing my job and trying to survive the next eight hours of life.
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Jesse Ocsan 