SLC-S31/W4-“Creative Interpretation| The Object -“A Broken Clock”

When I finish school, I had one small job in a printing press. The place was very noisy, machines making sounds, papers scattered everywhere. At the entrance wall, one big clock hang there. One day, the clock stop. The hand just freeze at 10:09.

Nobody care about fixing the clock because we don't even check time like that. But something funny happen. That broken clock turn to our meeting point. Anytime someone says, "Let's meet at the clock,” everybody knows where to gather. Even though it didn't works again, it's still that same clock that guide us.Therefore, even when something just spoil, it can still be useful in any another way.

That broken clock is a symbol of identity. Normally, clock suppose to keep ticking to tell time. But when it stop, it doesn't lose all his value. Instead, it can find a new work. It was no longer useful for telling time, but it became useful for giving direction. In life, we may lose one ability, but we can still serve another purpose. The clock becomes landmark for everybody which were inside the press.

It also symbolizes truth. Twice a day, it was correct. But beyond that, it showed that being “stuck” doesn’t erase your value. People still looked at it, still used it, and still remembered it.

That's how life is. Sometimes you can lose what you were known for. At that point people can look at you like you don't have any use again. But just like that clock, you can still have your identity in any other ways.

This story is a pure second chance. The clock fail for the main work which he was design for, but it still find new purpose. It become guide, landmark, and even symbol of unity and identity in the printing press.

Many people always thinks that second chance means to start afresh from beginning. But sometimes, second chance mean to find a new way to a particular problem. Just like that clock, you can lose one role but still be useful in another.

Let's say for example, one footballer that injury ended his career can still become coach. One teacher which retire can still mentor younger teachers. Even a father or mother which have made mistake can still guide their children with wisdom.

That broken clock teach me that second chance is not about going back to old path. Its about discovering new path that still has meaning. In that our printing press, the clock didn't count seconds again, but it count people together. That was a second chance which nobody can think of.

However the lesson is really clear: second chance is real. Broken doesn't mean useless. That clock show that even when you can't do what you were capable of doing again, you can still find another way.

It also teaches respect. A person that look stuck doesn't mean that he is worthless. He can still be guide, reminder, or landmark for others. Many times we are quick to judge people which haven't move forward, but they can still be useful in ways we don't see.

Finally, it teaches creativity. Our workers in the press could have thrown the clock away, but we didn't do it. We give it a new meaning. Which means— when you break, don't give up. Find another way.

That broken clock in the printing press wasn't just an object. It was a teacher. It show me that second chance is real. It tells me that even when i lose one purpose, I can still find another identity. So anytime I see a broken clock today, I don't see failure. I always see a reminder that even in silence, meaning is still there. Even in brokenness, hope is still there. And even when life freeze at 10:09, chance is still there to become landmark for somebody else.

Cc:
@ninapenda