Are You A Stamper Or A Painter?
There was once a man who visited a machine world.
He saw a young stamper. It’s purpose was to stamp pieces of metal and make them flat. The man was curious.
“What are you doing?” asked the man.
“I’m stamping. I’m a stamper.” said the machine proudly. “I stamp pieces of metal and I make them into perfect rectangular flat pieces. Every day, every hour, non-stop, I stamp metal into flat pieces.”
“How long have you been doing this?” asked the man.
“Well I stamp at a rate of 2 pieces per second,” the stamper said. “I’ve been doing this for 70 years. So that means I’ve stamped 4,402,944,000 pieces and counting. Over four billion and a half pieces to date.”
“Non stop?”
“Yes.”
“70 years?”
“Yes again”.
“You mean to tell me you’ve done nothing in your entire life except stamping metal into rectangular pieces?? Your entire life?? NOTHING except stamping?!” exclaimed the man.
The stamper looked at the man confused. “What do you mean nothing except stamping?”
“Well… isn’t that boring? I mean, what about art? Music? Hanging out with friends in the mall. Enjoying a piece of steak. Don’t you have a life?”
Now the stamper was beginning to get angry. “But this IS my life. And what’s wrong with it? I really enjoy it. I can’t wait to stamp the next piece of metal. I’ve been on a perfect streak for the past 3 billion stamps. No irregularities. Perfection in every output. I can’t wait to get to five billion perfect stamps. That would beat everyone and set the record for the longest running perfect stamping machine. It’s going to be AWESOME!”
The man stared in disbelieve. He knew he would never be a stamper in his life.
There once was a machine who visited Earth.
He saw a young man painting. This machine was curious.
“What are you doing?” asked the machine.
“I’m painting. I’m a painter.” said the man proudly. “I get inspiration from nature and I paint what I feel in my heart. I’ve created some amazing masterpieces in my life. They were AWESOME. But not always, some days, I could go on for months in frustration, trying to find inspiration.”
“How long have you been doing this?” asked the machine.
“Well I produce 4 pieces a month,” the stamper said. “I’ve been doing this for 70 years. So that means I’ve officially pushed out 3,360 pieces and counting. Over three thousand pieces to date. I’d probably add another thirty thousand pieces I threw away. Those were ok. But they just didn’t have it.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“70 years?”
“Yes again”.
“You mean to tell me you’ve ONLY created three thousands pieces?? Your entire life?? Why I could create that in 28 minutes!” exclaimed the machine.
The man looked at the machine confused. “What do you mean?”
“Well… isn’t that inefficient? I mean, the way you create your paintings is so chaotic. You need inspiration. You waste ten times more pieces than you create. You go months and months without output. It’s crazy! There’s no perfection.”
Now the painter was beginning to get angry. “But this is the way I do it. And what’s wrong with it? I really enjoy it. I can’t wait to paint the next masterpiece. Yes it’s going to be frustrating. Yes I’ll produce a lot of duds to get there. Yes it can go months and months before I find inspiration. And yes, there’s going to be a lot of pain. But when you get there, when you find that one RARE moment of clarity, understanding and truth, it’s going to be AWESOME!”
The machine stared in disbelieve. It knew it would never be a painter in its life.
Colin Wong lives with his wife and three kids in the always sunny, never rainy wonderful land of Seattle.
