#Writing101 The Death of Originality?/My Search for a Passion and My Purpose

Have you ever thought about the death of originality? This has been on my mind for a very long time. In my opinion, the death of originality is imminent, or, it is already here. Maybe it does not include all aspects of items, but surely originality is dead in a more than one area of life.

I think there is no more originality in names. These names can include names for our children, song names, etc. Search on the internet for your favorite song and don’t include the artist’s name. What do you think you will find? Or search the internet for one part of your name. There must be at least a few thousandĀ other Fredericks out there.

This may or not be an influence by my father, but originality in car designs seem to be dead as well. I’m sure there’s a completely reasonable explanation for this, but there are a range of cars out there which looks exactly like one another, apart from minor differences in rearlights, tails etc. The general frame and body and size or shape of certain cars are almost similiar to others. I can’t name examples; I’m somehow unable to memorize cars.

Don’t you find this worrying? What if one day, you come up with something authentic… just to realize later that some bloke has already patented it? We have been designing new products for a good two thousand years. What if one fine day, the few million engineers, designers and artists finally run out of genuinely authentic and original things to create?

I wonder if the general contents of this post I’m typing runs along the lines of some famous theory that has already been publicized…?

(*checks stopwatch* what!? That took a mere ten minutes.. ten more to go)

Okay, let’s talk about another topic. Let’s talk passion and purpose.

Are you clear where your passion lies?

And do you have an inkling of what your purpose is?

I don’t. I am at the matureĀ age of nineteen now (mature, you said? Is that doubt, I hear in your voice? Perhaps young would be a more suitable adjective? It’s a matter of perspective really.)

Anyway, a big question that all nineteen year olds have is: “What university course should I enter?” (I think I exaggerated too much in this post) Since my undergraduate course decides my future career path, I then wonder what job suits me. I wonder about that everyday, really. Perhaps I should make that decision based on my talents.

I have talents. Not much, just some, but talents nevertheless.Ā I can skateboard, sing, dance, play musical instruments, and entertain people. At the same time, I have cuts and scrapes, listeners who cover their ears and contort their face in disgust, and people who tell me my jokes are horrible. I said I have talents, I never said they were sublime šŸ™‚

If I were to list my single, best talent. I would say I am multi-talented. Contradictory? Pretty much. Let me explain. I am talented in learning things quickly. However, it comes and it goes. Whatever I learn, I never remain interested in it. Maybe it’s because I learn so quickly that I am too flexible for my own good and am constantly switching interests. In other words, my passion changes every two weeks.

(The stopwatch sounded. Okay let’s wrap this up.)

In my search for advice on what undergraduate course to pursue, my questions are often answered with another question.

I ask: “What course should I pursue?”

“Where your talents, passion, and the community’s need intersect, there lies your purpose. We already know what the community needs.. engineers, artists, doctors…. but what are your talents and passion?”

“My interest comes and goes. Which course allows me to switch jobs every two weeks?”

#Writing101 The Death of Originality?/My Search for a Passion and My Purpose

26 thoughts on “#Writing101 The Death of Originality?/My Search for a Passion and My Purpose

  1. I completely agree when you said that” Where your talents, passion, and the communityā€™s need intersect, there lies your purpose”. But you know, I think a purpose doesn’t necessarily means a profession. I also change my interests and dreams a lot. But I began to discover that every job has its own ups at downs.. and despite how monotonous / interesting a job is… we will always experience moments of boredom.

    And I guess that’s why, when we are talking about purpose… it’s important to look beyond the profession. Who are we when our titles is stripped away? Who can we help and touch when we do what we are doing? #foodforthought šŸ™‚

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    1. Hmm.. I think I have to agree that purpose doesn’t mean profession!
      Your words are very wise… I don’t quite know how to reply haha!!
      But what we work as is equally important since it is going to take up a lot of our time. So our work should be somewhat related to our passion/purpose and calling, shouldn’t it?

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      1. Hahaha I don’t mean to be “wise” or whatever. I’m also still figuring myself out, and to be honest, I still don’t know the One Job that is really my “purpose”. But who am I beyond my daily routines – and what value can I bring, is something that I like to think from time to time.

        But yep, you’re right, our work should be related to our passion (because we should always enjoy it). hehe.

        You’re entering uni, right? Forget about professions for a moment… Which major are you interested to learn in for at least 3-4 years?

        (Anyways, I don’t completely believe that your major is going to dictate your future though)… hahaha. šŸ˜€ šŸ˜€

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      2. Hey your thoughts on this seem to have potential to be developed into a post, actually. So why don’t you write something about it? (Potatoes and happiness seems so insignificant now in comparison, don’t they? Haha)
        I am entering uni… I decided on business at last. It seems interesting and useful, but I’m afraid of having doubts later on D:

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      3. Haha cool, I also studied business in Sg! šŸ˜€ Just make the most out of it.. and I hope you’ll enjoy it šŸ™‚

        Hahaha potatoes are important in their own way (where would lots of fast food restaurants be without potatoes? šŸ˜› )..

        Hmm, I wrote something about a purpose http://tinyurl.com/moment-s-purpose
        and my thoughts about being a student http://tinyurl.com/learning-resilience here lol. Who knows, it might help you a little bit before going to uni. šŸ˜€

        If you have any specific suggestions on this, then feel free to suggest it on the Prompt page! šŸ˜€

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      4. Wow hi there NUS-er! (Is that what they call NUS students? I doubt it, but I’m not really very creative now…)
        I’m actually hoping to go to SMU or NUS myself.
        I just read them both and… funny how our purpose always seem to be the intersection of several things. And the thing about caring for others (in my opinion, at least) is that we risk getting hurt. I’m afraid the people we care for might not return the care, feel ungrateful, abuse it, eventually hurting us. It’s like an investment without a guaranteed return. On the other hand, people often argue the joy is in giving the care without expecting anything in return. But I can’t bring myself to wholly agree. There is always risk imo.
        And it was nice to read about the 5 tips!! They are really relevant and I am quite lacking in all 5 of them so I could really use all of the advice. Thank you so much, vic!

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      5. Hello! hahha. Thanks for reading those, I’m glad you find the little tips useful. šŸ™‚

        Cool, all the best in your application!! šŸ˜€ I’ve never heard NUS-er lol. The business majors just call themselves Bizad. hahahaha.

        About caring, what you said is true. There is always risk. But for me, I don’t think the joy is particularly in the giving care without expecting anything. (Of course we wanted to be cared back!)… But I would still risk it, because only then, would I be able to discover a few people who decided to stay. And I think, THAT is what makes it worth it. To love, is to understand that there will be uncertainties ā€“ and yet itā€™s the decision of choosing to hold unto faith. šŸ™‚

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      6. Bizad?? What inspired that, I wonder. It sounds so quirky hahahaha!!!
        And I agree, paticularly with who doesn’t want to be cared back? Haha
        But perhaps we shouldn’t expect anything from people, as I tend to expect too much, from experience. In wanting nothing, we are lacking nothing, I’ve read.
        By the way, are you Christian by any chance? If so, happy easter day to you!

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      7. Bizad is actually simply a shortened version from Business (Biz) Administration (ad). Hahahaha! But yeah Bizads / Bizaders sound quirky right šŸ˜›

        Yeah, I am. Thank you! šŸ˜€ Are you? If yeah, Happy Easter back to you! hehe

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      8. Bizad sounds quirky but I think Bizard sounds awesome!! It can stand for Business Wizard. Sounds super cool to me šŸ˜€
        I’m currently Agnostic, not Christian. um :/

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      9. Oh, I see then. Well, it doesn’t matter. You can always have a happy Sunday (or any day)! hehe šŸ˜€

        LOL Bizard sounds so awesome. We should’ve thought about that when I was in school. Hahaha. You can suggest that to your school later šŸ˜‰

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      10. “Wanting nothing, we are lacking nothing”… true. But if we wish for nothing, then we are stuck in a standstill – no movement, no possibility of finding something better, or doing something more than what is necessary. So I think it’s not bad to expect. Except I think, expectancy needs to be paired with caution. šŸ™‚

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      11. Haha that reminded me of something funny. Not quite relevant but during world war 2, France produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci etc. And at the same time, peaceful Switzerland invented a single cuckoo clock.

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  2. This was a great write-up! I do worry originality would soon disappear! There’s only so many ways you can do things differently. Rectangles with rounded corners? Can we really be surprised that more than one person came up with the same idea?

    As for your second topic, it is either going to be a very easy or a very tough choice! I have now realized that having multiple interests in life is actually not much of boon. Because no matter what you are doing, you’re always gonna be longing to do that some other thing you like as well. So your end question really hits hard, sometimes we do wish we could switch our job every two weeks! šŸ™‚ Thanks for sharing this!

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    1. I’m glad you felt the same šŸ™‚
      I was initially worried that my thoughts would not come across coherently under the pressure of 20 minutes.
      I completely agree that “no matter what you’re doing, you’re always gonna be longing to do something else”!!! I can never seem to focus on one thing. Too many distractions. But I guess there’s where prioritising comes in heh?

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