When I first started writing this post it was different. Then as I left it to simmer for a couple of weeks and as the year approached it’s end, it changed again. I guess that’s how writing goes! Nonetheless, the message is still the same. I feel it’s a little incomplete. But I have to let go. I hope you can relate…
I recently watched an episode of Star Trek Voyager and I found myself intrigued by the species called The Borg.
The Borg is a collective who exist purely to assimilate other species in order to conquer the universe.
Wikipedia explains a bit more…
The Borg rarely speak. Instead they send a collective audio message to their targets, stating that “resistance is futile”, generally followed by a declaration that the target in question will be assimilated and its “biological and technological distinctiveness” will be added to their own. Their usual declaration is: “We are Borg. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile.”
‘WE ARE BORG’
The character in this image is called, Seven-Of-Nine. The first face is the Borg – the drone. The second face is the human – the individual. She was captured as a young child by the Borg. Years later she was rescued – reluctantly – by Voyager and slowly regained her human side.
In many ways, I can relate to this character. The transformation she goes through as she becomes human again. It reminds me of when one leaves the corporate world to pursue a life of your own. A transformation in itself. Perhaps not so much on the surface, but in one’s thoughts and desires.
‘You must comply’
For most of us, our lives are lived out in working for someone else. In the corporate world you have rules, dress codes, terminology only you and the people in that building understand. You listen to everyone’s opinions of how to do your job and what you can and cannot say. Sometimes you doubt your own voice… until your voice disappears completely, and you only speak as the organisation. As a collective. This is what the BORG look like. This is how I looked like.
‘Resistance is futile’
When I started freelancing, no one told me what, how or when to do work. There were no other voices in my head except my own. This was unfamiliar territory. I didn’t know how to function. I had to decide for myself what would be next.
They say we only have as much challenges as each of us are able to handle. Through all my challenges, I had and still have my own Captain Janeway – my mentor. Helping me transform from that drone to an individual. I’m learning life lessons the only way possible – by doing them. To embrace my individual thoughts and pursue the life I deserve. A life all individuals deserve.
Gratefulness
My mentor encourages me to trust my own voice and to ignore the others. And although I may struggle with my individualism sometimes, I am fortunate to have this support. Without it, I’m not sure where I would be today.
I wasn’t taken from The BORG. I chose to leave. Soon enough we all do. But what lies beyond that world is up to you. How we live out our lives each day is much more valuable than where we end up.
These last two years in freelancing has opened new discoveries and forced me to take a closer look at myself, those around me, and the world I work within as well as beyond. I’m grateful for having the opportunity to pursue this.
As I write on the last day of 2014, my wish is this:
May we always seek to improve; May we value new discoveries; and May we be kind to ourselves – nurturing growth, failures and successes…
