(Minghui.org) I first got involved in the graphic design project in 2011 when pure chance made me part of the team working for the 2012 North America Shen Yun Performing Arts show. I continued on to do the 2013 Shen Yun graphic design.
Usually I got work assignments remotely from practitioners in North America, with whom I collaborated via email and through other forms of Internet communication. During my interactions with them, I was greatly inspired by their righteous thoughts and hard-working attitude. This valuable experience helped me improve myself in my cultivation.
Moreover, as a layperson who never had any experience in graphic design, Master gave me enough wisdom to accomplish my mission well. Master also helped me balance my busy graphic design work and my demanding teaching job.
Below I would like to share some of my experiences.
Master Gives Me Wisdom to Accomplish My Mission Well
Not long after I joined the project in 2011, I realized that I would have to use professional graphic design software to do all the work.
However, I was never trained in graphic design, nor could I find a place that offered such training near my home. Such professional skills are learned in vocational schools. Even though we had some practitioners with professional training in this area, they all had their hands full and couldn't spare any time to teach me from scratch.
What should I do? Just when I despaired, somehow my mouse clicked open a website that provided free graphic design instruction. It was truly miraculous, and I was so grateful for Master's guidance. I felt so excited that I'd soon be fully trained after going through the 20 instruction modules.
The Fa-rectification process moved faster than I could learn the skills. I was just at Module 4 when the design work for the 2013 Shen Yun show began in September 2012. I would have to learn on the job.
I often found myself sitting helpless in the middle of the night, but eventually decided to keep going when I thought of Master's words:
“Yet when you deal with this issue that has long confounded you, upon seeing the challenges ahead, fully aware of them, you retreat instead of pushing forward, and don't want to do it.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference”)
My eyes got so tired after staring at the computer screen for long periods of time, yet again I was encouraged by Master's teaching, “It’s hard to endure, but you can endure it. It’s hard to do, but you can do it.” (Zhuan Falun)
I stumbled forward and managed to finish the graphic designs for the different Shen Yun advertisements, including billboard displays, posters, and brochures that were 3 to 4 pages long. I still remember how excited I was after finishing my very first large-scale advertisement. I couldn't fall asleep that night but I happily enjoyed my insomnia.
I thought I had done all I was capable of doing but was soon surprised to see that I had to advance to higher levels of graphic design. I later did graphic design for 8-, 12- and 16-page brochures, as well as newspaper advertisements and TV commercials. I even expanded my turf to website design.
Had I knew I'd have to do so much, I probably would have thought twice before participating in the project. Looking back, I still feel a little bit apprehensive.
During the six months I learned to do professional graphic design, I've overcome many difficulties, and Master has always given me the best. When told that my designs would be archived and passed on to other cities, I was deeply moved and greatly humbled. I was overjoyed to be given such an opportunity to contribute to Shen Yun. This experience made me more steadfast in doing well what Dafa disciples should do and walking solidly on my cultivation path.
I See my Omissions while Working with Fellow Practitioners
I usually received work assignments through the Internet from practitioners in North America. We seldom had a chance to talk on the phone, yet our collaboration and cooperation went smoothly most of the time.
Every day after I returned home from work, a simple check of my email box was enough to tell me what job I was given for the day. The messages left by North America practitioners were always very clear, neat, and concise yet detailed. I just loved such pure, accurate and effective communication.
I never saw North America practitioners talk about anything unrelated to cultivation, nor did they use any emotional words. Everything was orderly and timely. I could feel that they were each responsible for their part yet were also able to work well with each other. Without much fanfare, they let me feel their strong righteous thoughts, which were great inspirations to me.
I had worked with one North America practitioner for two years but only recently did I find out from others that she was actually the coordinator of her local Falun Dafa Association. Yet she never told me about this and she just treated herself the same as other practitioners. She took fame so lightly and just cared about validating Dafa, not herself. I saw the gap between me and her and realized deep inside I still wanted to show off my achievements. I knew I had to remove this selfishness if I wanted to elevate to a higher level.
I also learned something from this practitioner when my oversight in proofreading resulted in a typo in a document that was to be mass printed.
She just sent me a quick message asking me to correct the typo without saying anything more. I had a gut feeling that something wasn't quite right, so I kept pressing her to tell me what was really wrong. She eventually admitted that her local practitioners had already printed 25,000 copies of the document before spotting the typo.
I was shellshocked and knew I had to take responsibility for my mistake. I suggested we destroy those copies and reprint the corrected document. But she said her local practitioners decided to cover the typo with the correct word on those 25,000 copies, and, as a matter of fact, they had already started doing this. I was extremely frustrated at having to waste other practitioners' precious time. They were quietly fixing my mistake, while this coordinator shouldered all the responsibility herself. She never blamed me and just gave me a gentle reminder.
But I knew I must be more careful in my future work and also be more tolerant of others.
I Enlighten to My Attachments while the Watching Shen Yun Show
The typo incident made me feel that coordinator's tolerance and I had the wish to do as well as she. But it was easy said than done. When faced with real tests, I completely forgot about tolerance and just focused on holding grudges.
A few days before Shen Yun came to Taiwan, I noticed our local Falun Dafa Association experienced the same problem as in the past few years, and I became very upset as a result. I couldn't understand why they never learned a lesson and only made matters worse this year. I thought to myself that I'd bring up the issue after Shen Yun show was done.
When I sat in the first row to see the first Shen Yun show in Tainan, however, all my negative thoughts evaporated. During the last program,“Compassion of Gods and Buddhas,” I saw Master's Fa-portrait on the big screen and completely froze. Looking into Master's eyes, the following poem of Master's flashed in my mind:
"The Fa Rectifies the Cosmos
Compassion can harmonize Heaven and Earth, ushering in spring Righteous thoughts can save the people in this world (Hong Yin Volume II)
Tears streamed down my face, and I knew I was wrong. It was Master's compassion and tolerance that melted my stubborn attachments. I realized I should cooperate with fellow practitioners unconditionally and cultivate myself solidly in order to be able to save sentient beings. I was so overjoyed at assimilating to the Fa that I cried non-stop. It took me quite a while to calm down.
Master Helps Me Balance My Graphic Design Work and My Regular Teaching Job
When I started the 2013 Shen Yun graphic design work last September, it was also time to start the new semester.
I was given a new group of students to teach for the school year. Even during the summer I heard rumors that this group contained two hard-to-discipline students who blurted out dirty and violent words all the time.
Some former students of mine even suggested I retire early to avoid these two students, warning that they's eat me alive. The two kids' elementary school teachers felt sorry that they had to pass such students on to me. The provost also asked me to pay special attention to them. My colleagues joked I wouldn't be able to retire with merit because they expected that those two students would defeat me.
To be honest, I had no idea what would happen. Moreover, the design work had become really busy, and I couldn't afford to spend extra time dealing with those two students.
I decided to do what a Dafa disciple should do. I only had one wish--to validate Dafa. After all, Dafa disciples are extraordinary.
One day passed. One week passed. One month passed. To everyone's surprise, nothing unusual happened with those two kids. They instead became my good helpers.
Among all the students I'd taught all these years, I felt this group was the most well-behaved, most cooperative, and most humble. I spent the least amount of effort on them, yet their accomplishments were the best. I told the students they were a beautiful conclusion my teaching career.
I knew all the kids were indeed people with predestined relationships with Dafa. This year, more students and parents went to the Shen Yun shows that in the past. Just from this class alone, more than 60 went.
As a Dafa disciple, I am aware it is Master that is harmonizing everything and showing everyone with immense compassion. My deepest appreciation to Master.
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