​National Transformation Inspired by Originality

by: JESUS V. SISON, PTRP
Deputy National Director, CRFV

As humans witnessed countless evolutions of ideas, acts, and deeds, does originality and authenticity still exist to inspire change?

People nowadays, if not pressured, are inclined to keep up with the present trend in our society, specifically in social media. As an example, let us refer to the AI-generated images of a person. We cannot help but notice a growing popularity among individuals to post or share their AI-generated photos. It looks fun because they can have the hair, skin complexion, looks, and outfits they never had. However, such practices collide with who we are as a person - our originality and authenticity. Conflict within oneself arises when one tries to stand out and subvert the expectations that the world has formed about who they are. Not everybody seems capable of handling the risk of rejection if they cannot meet the people's perceptions, public opinion, and society's suppositions. So, they surrender to adapt to what is popular, imperiling the worthiness of who they are, how they are built, and why they exist.
 
Who we are, how we were built, and the purpose of why we exist define our originality and authenticity. Cambridge Dictionary defines originality as the quality of being special and interesting and different from anything or anyone else. It sounds daunting. Sometimes, we think of a witty comment or inspiring quote as somewhat unique, only to realize that someone has said it before and somewhere. We have executed an activity or an action only to hear that somebody had done it before. Does that mean we have nothing meaningful or sensible to say or distinctively do that could be considered original?

This entails returning to who, what, and why we are. Even if something has been said and done before, as humans, we progressively build on the ideas and concepts that came before us. We develop innovative, creative, and exceptional acts, answers, and viewpoints through that. So yes, sharing our thoughts on things is valuable, even if somebody else has said and done that already.
 
We take, for example, the recently concluded Annual VRO Capacity Building held in Cebu last October 10-13, 2023. We've been doing this event for nine years and listened to countless testimonies and sharing of the different agencies' best practices as they implement the Values Restoration Program. Were those things heard before? Were those programs, projects, and activities done previously? People might answer yes, but listening intently close to every word and observing the details, those practices were innovative and progressively built to bring forth excellent and impactful results. Every action's authenticity and truthfulness were captivating; one would have thought we had never heard such things before. Everything was unique, engaging, and different from the other values programs and advocacies. We can't help but shed tears as every report brought inspiration, encouragement, and reinvigorated passion for the nation's transformation. The originality of such ideas gave the participants a more profound sense of purpose and instilled in every heart that there is a bigger vision for everyone to attain. Reports of innovativeness and uniqueness created an environment where dreams for the agency and nation live and become alive again. It mustered self-re-discovery of inner strength and who they are, thus making them thrive from within. Lastly, it established a culture where people view the benefit of investing in enormous ideas that contribute to something much more daring, inspiring, and bolder than the day-to-day up-and-down routines of implementing VRP.
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Despite technological advancements, AI-generated ideas and the evolution of principles, originality, and authenticity still exist to inspire change toward national transformation.