Monday, April 24, 2006 @8:12 AM
I had totally forgotten about it, until an email arrived in my mailbox that brought back the memory.
Few years back, I was volunteering myself in an organization while I was working in Country C. I met a few others who were as passionate as I was there. We became close buddies very soon. We gathered almost every weekend and some public holidays. We even initiated some projects in promoting the organization and its resource library.
I could still remember an idea popped out one Sunday afternoon. I immediately told my buddy (who’s also our team leader in the volunteering job). He was very supportive with the idea of making a comic in introducing the organization and other things in association with it. So I went away composed the dialogue of a comic that was about 10 pages in length (including pictures). I was emailing back and forth with my team-mates. One of the guys offered to draw all the pictures for the comic, while the other went around with his digital camera snapping pictures and edited them at Photoshop to put together the whole piece. A few others were helping bits and pieces. It was a fantastic teamwork. I could just feel everyone working together moving forward towards the same goal – composing a masterpiece for the benefit of the organization.
2 months later, we sent the draft to the committee of the organization. We received some positive comments. Yet we received more critiques albeit reasonable ones. It wasn’t a full green light for the comic to pass through motion; partly because it was just an impromptu idea from us who were volunteering and also partly it would involve extra effort from the seniors (the committee with better understanding about the organization and stuff) in improving the content of the comic. Hence it was put aside. We were, of course all very disappointed but we respected the decision from the people above us. So we moved on pretty quick and focused on other things that were also in the list.
4 years has past, though I have left the country and the organization, I do still stay in touch with some of the people there. Few days ago, one of the senior committee members sent me an email informing that the comic is ready for publication and for distribution! I was so elated to hear that. The effort wasn’t flushed down the drain.
When you sow a seed, if the condition is not right, the seed will not sprout immediately. But as long as you sow a seed, some day you may get to see a small plant growing out once the condition is optimal. Even decades have past and there is still no sign of it sprouting, it is still all right because we have already enjoyed the initial sowing process.
♥ every page of my imagination
