If you watch or listen to "NO WAY MAN" by AKB48, AKB48 Team SH and recently, MNL48, then you'll probably know the terms "red ocean" and "blue ocean" in its lyrics, specifically on its bridge part.
Speaking of which, the terms were introduced and coined by Chan Kim and Reneé Mauborgne to denote the market universe into the contested and the non-contested. The red ocean strategy refers to a certain industry or product that is strived to be competitive over its rivals, while the blue ocean strategy refers to a certain industry or product that is strived to be non-competitive and create something that is not seen from any other industry/product.
I can rehash what I said in the latest episode of my podcast show, Yona Kuromatoki's Interactive Podcast, that the red oceans are humanity's all-time adversaries such as toxic culture and calamities, and the blue oceans or its all-time advocacies such as proper representation of persons of color, inclusivity and preservation of the environment. These two can be also considered part of our lives because not all the time are rainbows and sunshines, how to deal and live with them including our own sins, and to overcoming the red ocean through our willpower is really mattered.
Oh, and if you're listened to YKIP, I already shared my red and blue oceans in life, so I'm going to share from two of my fellas in the PPop idol and the geek universes, Nightcat (aka the podcast's two-time guest) and AQL (aka YB's recurring featured person), in this blog just in case you heard theirs as well!
Red Ocean:
College is what I firmly recognize as the most harrowing and treacherous period of my life thus far, a lengthy duration wherein nothing but the vermilion waters of misery surrounded my vessel. During my formative years, always would my immediate relatives pester me to embark on a path towards a medical profession in the hopes of one day overseeing the family business that my Grandfather established two decades succeeding the aftermath of war. Being the obligate individual that I was, I convinced myself that no other course was mine to pursue, that an eventual career as a physician was the sole reserved destiny. For that reason, I enrolled in BS Biology curriculum of the University of Santo Tomas.
Initially, I had little to no difficulty in accomplishing the strenous dealings of the bachelor studies, however everything changed when I stepped onto the Second Year step of the ladder . That was the beginning of my sorrowful streak, where failure was frequent and a wealth of woes was apparent. In the midst of this, before the Third Year, my parents petitioned for me to shift to another degree program, yet my tendency to be obstinate swayed my verdict and thus I declined their appeal citing that should I change course, all the painstaking effort exerted until that moment and every sacrifice made hence the commencement of college would be for naught. That is why I begrudgingly continued on the pernicious journey in spite of all the tormenting pain that riddled the avenue towards graduation.
Blue Ocean:
There shone a lambent light shining against the murky seas along my voyage through tertiary education. Rizal Course, English Literature and Elementary Spanish were three courses present in the academic slate of my Third Year, to me they were a welcome sight, a needed respite in the thick of grueling Scientific subjects the likes of Chemistry and Physics. While engaged in these studies in Humanities, a realization abruptly struck me, one that opened my eyes to a passion that I had long treasured yet reluctantly shunned in favor of the familial duty I forced myself to fulfill.
History has been my favored field of the academe since the earliest of my childhood days. In our ancestral abode was a library that housed an expansive collection of fictional and non-fictional titles. Whenever my parents would proceed to their respective professions, always would they first deliver me to the care of my Grandparents. Most of the hours I would find myself in the company of literature, perusing their contents or listening to my own Grandfather as he rendered a varying array of readings out loud and/or told tales about his exploits during the Second World War. From then on, my fascination on and keen interest with the chronicles of man blossomed.
Fast forward to the culmination of college's punishing days, I expressed with all candor to my parents as well as to my relatives that no longer would I chart the road to the medical career, but instead enter the Graduate School to be a scholar of History. To my surprise, none of them objected, and as a matter of fact, they even voiced their unadulterated expressions of felicitations and well-wishes.
Now, in the present, the dream that I held dear at heart is what I am now pursuing. Those crimson tides are now behind me, and the blue waters of contentment, overcoming glee and satisfaction are all my eyes see.
- AQL
Red oceans ko right now: Grinding sa acads para umabot sa graduation sa July, ako lang ang Pink (pertaining to the supporters of the graciously notable outgoing Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo) sa bahay (buti na lang 'di yan alam ng parentals ko ng Pula (pertaining to the supporters of the highly-controversial incoming Philippine President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.) kasi ninja ako lol), election heartbreak, being financially broke as hell.
Blue oceans ko right now: Siguro buhay fangirl ko, dami downs pero dami ups din. Slowly but surely returning to fanfic writing, (at 'yung) pusa ko haha!
- Nightcat
What are the red and blue oceans in your lives? Share them on my FB page, my Instagram or my Twitter @goddessyk13.
Yona Kuromatoki's Interactive Podcast is posted monthly on my Facebook page and occasionally on my YouTube channel. It is also the official media partner of Eureka Fest 2022.
Stream "NO WAY MAN" on the official AKB48, AKB48 Team SH and MNL48 YouTube channels.
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