Everybody's Changing

One of the delights of having a chance to do things that you believe while you are young is to grow with your mates.

Watching my friends grew, convinced me that I can do it too. There were friends doing their own business, researching on a material, building a brand, creating amazing design works and so doing other amazing things. Sometimes I was in awe to see what those people can do yet they're so young, they enjoy life and they're making good progress in life! That is to me, amazing.

Watching my friends grew, to me is a real feed back. We learnt on how to face different problems, we troubleshooted things together, we shared our challenges and most importantly we supported each other. Being able to surround yourself with fellow workers is an advantage that not everyone can possess.

Watching my friends grew, uplifts me. There is nothing more rewarding than helping each other and being able to make progress together. Each one of us might have different visions but everyone's going for something. "I'm not interested in competing, I hope we all make it," is a nice quote to sum the point up.

Watching my friends grew, is like a mirror to me. No one wants to see their friends fail. I think of people around me as a mirror of myself. When they succeed, I am once again glad that I didn't take the road alone because there is no time wasted when you are walking together with your mates. There is no exclusivity only openness, no secret only so much to share.

CMNNTY

If I can emphasise how important it is to be in a community for younger people, I will emphasise it once again.

1. Makes me feel humane

Sure you can be born within the richest family but what does that make you? What does driving your dad's car and playing the cool guy mean? It's all just an empty vessel. Being in a community makes me feel like human again (no, I'm not born in that family) because I get to become who I truly am. I don't have to pretend and rather I just have to let loose.

2. Bring out the best of you
You might have those crazy ideas at the back of your mind but too ashamed to explore it yourself or too afraid if they're going to fail. Sharing your ideas in your clique helps you to get direct, (most of the time) honest and supportive feedbacks. Be in a community that supports you and brings out the best in you.

3. Get your message across
Great minds think alike. Being in a community with similar thoughts and values helps me to make bigger impact. Of course you can't do all things by yourself and surrounded with people who are willing to work together is definitely worth your time.

4. Your second family 
Remembering my time in Australia and Germany, I feel that the communities I was involved in, were sort of my family while I was away from my family. These friends made me feel like I'm home and my time wouldn't be as fun if I didn't meet them.

So it wouldn't hurt to be in a community or two. Pick the ones you believe in just because you have to stick with those people and share with them. I found it enjoyable to share my thoughts with like minded people and fellow young people who are working their way up just to remove the feeling that you're on your own. I hope you're finding some good fellas too!

There are some weird moments in my life. 

Weekender: What To Do?

So the weekend always comes after a gruelling weekdays and after a heavily packed Friday on the road. Weekend sometimes is spent carelessly, laying down on the couch with a cup of sweetened coffee and some cookies within reach. But that is boring. Overcoming the boredom, I would sometimes then do work on the weekend feeling good because I can kickstart the things that I'm always forgetting among the routines. 

However, recently, weekend has not been utilised to its maximum capacity and then a sense of unsatisfactory arises. There comes the time when staying at home is so boring, going to the mall is so mundane (and you'll only end up spending money recklessly anyway), going out is so frustrating because of the traffic and you're left with no option in Jakarta. There are times that I just want to go to a park, read a book, magazine or whatever with a cup of good latte and a handsome sunnies in my pocket. And I realised, I could never do such thing here. 

Jakarta is probably the busiest, most hectic and especially noisy city that I've ever lived in. To give you some references on how noisy Jakarta is, here are some probable conditions that you can meet easily here:

1. Honking to tell the car in front of you to move will happen anytime.

2. You walk in the mall, there's a show going on in the main atrium and different music is playing at every store you walk pass by.

3. Sitting down and work with full concentration at your favourite cafe is less likely to happen unless you come at 6 in the morning (and if they're already open).

4. The sound of construction work is everywhere. It's an emerging economy. 

I feel that there is an urgent need to create a private public space in Jakarta. Experiencing it myself, I started to realise how this aspect of a city is missing here. When I was in Melbourne, I could go easily to the Botanical Garden having a bar of popsicle while having quality talk with my friend. In Hildesheim, I would go to a secluded park about 15 minutes from my flat on my bike and spent the afternoon reading my references and doing some sketches. Both are high quality experience, which sound very simple, but not doable here. The private public space is just a perfect epitome of a space to me, because you get to spend your time outside without the distraction. 

Simply the question gets back to what to do on a weekend in Jakarta, where the outside is so noisy and the inside is so mundane. Should we make our own entertainment? Make our own space? Create our own activity? Definitely there's a room for improvement.