Mindfulness

Hi. It’s me, again. 

How have you been? I hope everything’s good with your life. Can you believe 2018 is gonna be over soon? We’ve got, like less than a month! How time flies. It feels like it was only yesterday I had my seminar proposal (back in February).

Well, things are different now. I have graduated from college. I don’t know whether to be happy or sad about that. I’m very excited to start adulthood, freedom is all mine. But what scares the hell out of me is the thought of doing it all on my own. Responsibilities. I hate that word. Hahahaha. Like it or not, I might just have to get on with that.

Sooooo, lately I’ve been very into hmm what is it called... mindfulness. Yep, that’s the right word. What is mindfulness? Citing from mindful.org, 

“Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.”

It’s like to gain an inner peace, I suppose. To not be affected emotionally by the everlasting chaotic situation around us hahaha. To be calm. To be mindful, we have to possess self-awareness. Those two things are correlated. But the goal is the mindfulness. What is exactly self-awareness? In fact, what the heck are you talking about, dit? Hahaha okay this sounds so random, I know. I’ll try to explain in the simplest way. I once listened to a podcast about self-awareness. You too can listen it here in Life Skills that Matter Podcast episode 178.

Self-awareness is as the name suggests, about being aware of yourself, aware of your own thoughts, values, habits, actions, without judging them. It’s like accepting yourself as a unique human being. You’re observing of how in certain condition you react, think, or feel. The point is, it’s about being honest with your true self. It’s about embracing yourself. Cultivating love to yourself. Being self-aware doesn’t justify accepting your weakness and doing nothing about that though. It doesn't mean certain things can’t or shouldn’t be changed or mended. Maybe it’s more like not being too hard on yourself. You realize there are certain qualities in you that are good and bad. For the bad qualities, you change it without being too negative about that. Imagine it like when you have two different kinds of parents. When you fail an exam, one parent scolds you for being stupid blablabla... super negative vibes. And the other one who is very supportive, keeps encouraging you to get better by studying and putting more effort. Get it??? Which one do you prefer? 

It’s an important life skill to possess apparently, but we were never really taught about that at school, which is too bad. 

Back to mindfulness. Mindfulness can be trained by practicing meditation (yoga works too!) regularly. Hahaha okay that sounds sooooooo lame. But seriously, I think the idea of meditation is interesting to me. Schools in India have incorporated meditation into their curriculum, so the students are taught about how to be mindful by practicing meditation (I once read about this in Perry Garfinkel’s book called Buddha or Bust? In Search of Truth, Meaning, Happiness, and The Man Who Found Them All). I have to say, meditation is not easy though. I tried a couple of times and it was difficult. And in order to experience the difference, we have to do it regularly. I mean you cannot just do it one time and expect you’re a Zen master after that. It takes time.

A lot of time we find ourselves not be fully present mentally in the moment. Our physical body might be here, but our mind wanders somewhere in the past or future. We’re too busy replaying a scenario in our head over and over again, dwelling in the past and completely oblivious of present moment. Or we’re too busy thinking about the future by cultivating anxiety. Both ways, we can’t enjoy the present moment. Don’t get too preoccupied with the things we cannot control, like our mistakes in the past or what could happen in the future. It’s okay to worry, worrying is good. It means you’re anticipating the future, you’re thinking ahead. But only worry things we have control over. Other than that, leave it. Too much worrying can pose a harm to our mental health. It’s like ‘Carpe Diem’, I guess. Remember, everything in life is temporary. It’s impermanent. You only live once. Don’t waste your life time worrying over things you cannot control.

To end this super random post, I’d like to cite a quote by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen master (Buddhish Monk) who’s also an author of best-selling books. 

“The energies of mindfulness, concentration and insight can liberate us from our anxiety and worries. We let go of the past and the future, and come in touch with the wonders of the present.”

I’ll see you in the next post! Bye.

Global Health True Leaders 2.0

Hello fellow readers, how have you been? I hope you’re doing great over there. So, I’m back with another stories to tell. I don’t know if there’s anyone reading this blog (I keep saying this in my every post), I just feel like I owe this to myself. I need to share what happened over the past few weeks with my life to the world. I’m not really good at this, so please pardon me if this piece of writing is imperfect. This is more like a diary, not a very informative writing so please bear that in mind LOL.

Okay let me just get to the point. Recently I had an opportunity to join this amazing leadership training program by Indonesia One Health University Network, more commonly known as INDOHUN. This program is called Global Health True Leaders 2.0. So what is this so-called Global Health True Leaders? 

“Global Health True Leaders (GHTL) is a training on leadership and multisectoral collaboration, designed to equip the participants with One Health knowledge and skills to strengthen health systems and health outcomes. Not only do the participants work together with selected fellow young leaders from various disciplines and countries, but they also will work together to solve global health challenges and problems through cultural understanding.”

Cited from The Global Health True Leaders Students Booklet, because I am too lazy to explain it in my own words LOL.

The event took place in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara on July 16-23 2018. I personally felt very lucky because to be honest, this was my very first time taking part in this kind of event. I had never taken any leadership training before and I had never been to Lombok. So I was very excited about this.

I came to Lombok on 15^thof July because there was a briefing session which we had to attend, a day before the training started. Seeing the landscape of West Nusa Tenggara from high in the sky was already breathtaking to me. Too bad I didn’t take any pictures (that’s because I stupidly put my phone – which I totally forgot to put on airplane mode – in the aircraft cabin). That night, we were gathered in a ballroom to meet the other participants and the commitees for the first time. We were divided into several groups and I was in group Responsibility. I met so many awesome people, especially from my Responsibility group. Below are some pictures of us. 

  

Responsibility Group

(These pictures were actually not taken on the first day we met. They was taken about 3 or 4 days later, I guess?)

In the next 4 days we had in class activities which mostly consisted of lectures and group exercises. It was fun and very enlightening to me. I had new insights about One Health, a concept of universal health which emphasizes on the interdependent connectedness between human, animals, and environment. Oh, I forgot to mention. Morning exercise. How could I forget waking up at 4.40 AM in the morning because we had to be ready at 5.20 AM for 5 consecutive days??? I gotta say I loved the exercise, though. Because it made me feel good and fresh afterwards. Let me tell you my favorite part of the morning exercise. It was when we had to lay down on the ground after running, our head facing up to the sky. It felt so peaceful for a moment. I just stared at the beautiful blank sky and there was a moment of serenity in my heart (eaa) LOL. Seriously though, it was really calming. I think I woke up and did my morning exercise for that. I would do it again for that. 

On day 5, for the first time there was an outdoor activity (yeay). I was excited because I was kind of bored of being indoor all the time.... I needed to go out and see Lombok hehe. We spent 3 days 2 night at a local community called Penujak Village to do social program. This was something, because 39 girls had to stay in one house and shared 2 bathrooms (actually maybe only 1, because the other bathroom was located outdoor and most of us were just too lazy to go out of the house especially at night). I only took a bath once a day, and do you know what time did I take a bath? The first night, I took a bath at 3 AM in the morning. The second night, I took a bath at about 1 AM in the morning. This is what it took If I wanted to have a good and clean bath without having to worry people are waiting for me (eventually there were people already in queue, waiting for me outside the bathroom after I finished hahaha). You might also wonder how did we sleep? There were only 2 rooms available for us, so we had to share those 2 rooms and the other ones who didn’t get a room slept in the living room. We slept together, we ate together. It was like a refugee camp, but it was fun hahaha. Definitely a one in a lifetime experince I would never forget.

On the last day of our stay in the village, we said goodbyes to the family who owned the house. They were very kind for letting us use the house. I’m sure they were actually a bit disturbed by our invasion, because there were more than 50 of us (the boys usually came in to the house at day and went home at night, also there were some committees who stayed with us girls). After that, there was a road trip! Yeay Us! So excited because this was what I had been waiting for all this time hahaha. We went to traditional local villages called Ende and Sade. 

The Tree of Love at Sade Village

Colorful Songket at Sade Village

The Girls of Responsibility Group (not full team, though)

Narsis dikit gpp yah LOL

After that, we went to the beach which is called Tanjung Aan. It was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. It was that good, guys. It really took my breath away. I was in awe. I’m not gonna describe it in words. You have to see it by yourself.

Tanjung Aan Beach

Despite getting sunburnt (I am super tanned now, guys T_T), I was very much happy (I still am actually). Really wanted to go back, I’m missing the beach already!! After that, we paid a brief visit to Mandalika Beach, another beach not far from the first beach we visited. It was no less beautiful than Tanjung Aan. Here is the picture I took.

Mandalika Beach

At last, we stopped by a souvenir shop to buy some gifts for the loved ones back at home. It was tiring but we were all very happy.

The next day was also exciting because we were gonna have an outbond. Who’s excited for the outbond? (Not me actually, I was tanned already T_T. Just kidding. I was excited for the outbond kok huehehehe). The outbond was enjoyable. I got a chance to try some things I had never done before. Definitely left me wanting some more. In the end of our outbond, I got even more tanned than I’d already had.... that’s okay. As long as you’re happy, it’s worth it kok, dit. LOL. The night after that, we had our cultural night, which was also a closing ceremony for our 10 days stay at Lombok. Each groups had their own performances to entertain the audiences. It was very memorable. In the end, we had gotten pretty emotional.

Mandalika Jaya (The name of our batch)

The next morning was time to go home. But, I think to myself I cannot leave Lombok without exploring some more. So, my friends and I decided to go on this very short trip. My flight was at 09.55 AM. So we had to be quick if we wanted to catch our flight. We gathered at the hotel lobby at around 5 AM to be picked up by our tour guide. Our first destination was Merese Hill. It was still dark when we reached our first destination. The sky was still full of stars. Aduh pokoknya bagus banget T_T. We climbed the hill to get a closer look at the beach and to witness the sunrise. I can’t say enough praise to Lombok yaampun. Bagus banget. LOL. It was very very beautiful.

Sunrise View from Merese Hill

I don’t know what this is called-_-, this is from the same location (Merese Hill), but different spot.

On our way down the hill, The Sun was spotted

After that, we went to our 2^nddestination, which was Seger Beach. This beach was located not far from Merese Hill, and it was just as astonishing as the other beaches in Lombok.

Seger Beach

Our last destination was this beach, I don’t know what this beach is called, probably still Seger Beach? Because it was located very near from our 2^nddestination. Well, whatever this beach’s name was, it was just as breathtaking as the others. This beach was actually the place where Mandalika (the princess of Lombok), killed herself. That was what the tour guide said.

 The Beach which I don’t know what it is called

Mandalika Statues

(There are 4 statues in this picture. Mandalika is the one in the front, the other three are the men who are after her. They want to marry Mandalika, but Mandalika doesn’t want any of them and she doesn’t want to cause any conflict, so she thinks she might just kill herself so that anyone can have her in the form of colorful worms ‘Nyale’.)

Phew, that was indeed a very long post. Okay, we’re finally at the end of the trip. After our last destination, we went back to the hotel to have breakfast. Shortly after that, we just went straight to airport to catch our flight.

So, that was the end of Global Health True Leaders and my trip to Lombok. Moral values I learned from this experience are

1.    To be humble wherever you go

I met so many wonderful people here. They are all brilliant and mind-blowing. I learned so much from them. I am so nothing compared to them, bagaikan bumi dan langit T_T.

2.    To be more appreciative and loving

I realize this trip has brought so many positive things to me. I realize there are so many things that we can and should be grateful for every day. God has created this vast beautiful earth for us to live, and the least we can do to protect Mother Earth for the sustanibility for our future generation is to not harm it in any ways.

3.    To be more disclipine and responsible

Yep, Pak Jaya (The police officer who was in charge of us during our training session) really taught me to be more discipline about time, and last but not least is to be responsible for the food I take LOL. Discipline is good. I think it’s one of the main key for success.

Actually there are so many positive things I got from this whole experience. But those three above are the ones I could think of right now. Nevertheless, I’d like to say big thanks to INDOHUN for making this happen. I would forever cherish this experience in my heart, everything and everyone involved in there. I hope by taking part in this event, I’m a much better person now.

Wow that was very loooooong. For the first time I write something as long as this. Hoping you wouldn’t get bored or tired reading this. I do hope someone come in here and read this post, though.... LOL. Okay, I’m outta here. See you in the next post! XOXO

Random Thoughts at Midnight

Hi, it's me, again. The last time I wrote here, it was February and I was about to prep my thesis proposal presentation. Now it's July and guess what, folks? I am (unofficially) a bachelor of public health! *applauding audiences*

Hehehe.. okay I don't know why I'm here now actually, I just feel like writing. And I don't really have any theme for today's post. I guess I'm just gonna share what I have in mind right now.

So lately I've gone through some adversities in my life (I know everyone have, it's really selfish if I say that I'm the only one). It just got me thinking that there are so many valuable lessons I learnt from all of them. One of the most important life lesson I learnt is, to let go of things peacefully. To accept things just the way they are and deal with it. Certain painful experiences need to happen, not because we deserve sadness, but because we deserve to be stronger and wiser. I cannot lie, it does sting so badly when things don’t turn out the way I want it. But as we get through each problems in life, the pain caused by the problem itself becomes more manageable. When we stop looking for someone or something to blame for our hardship, and just trying to focus on polishing ourselves up, we will gain serenity in our mind and heart that we’re longing for. And isn’t that what everybody wants? To have some peace in their mind and heart? To be content with life. No need to blame yourself or others, it is nobody’s fault. No need to hate yourself for doing it wrong, because if you hadn’t done so, you wouldn’t learn your lesson. Respect and cherish yourself. Everybody is unique. Everybody is capable of change. No need to hate the other person, too. It’s just pointless. Whatever it is, it needs to happen. Because that’s just life. This sadness you’re currently feeling will go away. It’s only temporary. Everything in life is. 

I don’t know what I’m blabbering about. Maybe you guys don’t really know what I’m talking about, or you do? Well, what I’m trying to say is.... hang in there. Whoever you are, whatever problems you’re currently dealing with, you will get through it. You always did in the past. You, being alive right here right now, is a solid evidence that you survived those hardships in the past. And what makes you think you wouldn’t now? The more advanced your life is, the more problem you will encounter. That just means you’re going to upgrade yourself to a whole new level. Well, like everybody says, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. See you in the next post!

TV Series Review: Law & Order: SVU

Halo halo semuanya... OMG the last time I wrote here, it was June 2017. And it's February 2018 now. I'm sorry if this not-so-popular blog is neglected. I don't even think if there is anyone reading my blog. 

Well, I just feel like writing now, even though I don't really know what to write. I actually have something in my mind, but they're personal stuff I wouldn't want the world to know hehe. Maybe I'm just gonna give you guys a review about this one tv series I've been watching for quite some time now. Ini aku nonton udah lama banget sih guys, tapi karena episodenya banyak dan seasonnya juga banyak, jadi gak selesai-selesai hahaha. Kalian pasti tahu kan Law & Order: Special Victims Unit? Atau nggak tahu? Well, let me give you some information about this tv series. Jadi kalau menurut IMDB sih, sinopsisnya begini:

(ini poster latest seasonnya kayaknya, which is Season 19)

"The Special Victims Unit, a specially trained squad of detectives in the NYPD, investigate sexually related crimes."

Creator: Dick Wolf
Stars: Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, Ice-T, Richard Belzer, etc.
Duration: about 40 minutes
Genre: crime, drama, mystery
IMDB rate: 8,1/10 from 60.071 voters

Nah kalau mengacu pada sinopsis dari IMDB, bisa diambil kesimpulan Law & Order: SVU ini bercerita tentang sekumpulan detektif yang kerjanya ngurusin sexually-based offenses. Crimes yang berhubungan dengan kejahatan seksual gitu deh. Tapi sebenarnya SVU ini kayaknya sih gak melulu tentang sexual crimes, tapi mayoritas emang tentang itu.

Law & Order: SVU ini tokohnya ada banyak dan sempat ganti-ganti guys. Tapi yang masih bertahan itu kayaknya Mariska Hargitay deh, dari 1^st season sampai 19^th season doi masih ada. Partner dia, Christopher Meloni yang super ganteng and sexy itu, udah nggak main T_T. The show has been running for 19 years! Gila lama banget yah wkwk. Jadi kalau tv series di Amerika itu kan emang keluarnya setahun sekali ya, dan Law & Order: SVU first aired in 1999. And in 2018, it’s still running for the 19^th season. So far, I’ve watched the first 5 season. And trust me, it takes a really long time for me to reach season 5. You might wonder, lah kalau gitu berarti nggak seru dong? Kalau seru mah 5 season bisa dikebut dalam waktu berapa minggu gitu ya wkwk. Well, not really sih guys. Law  & Order: SVU bukan tv series drama yang mana setiap episodenya berhubungan satu sama lain. Setiap episode bisa berdiri sendiri gitu loh. Maksudku, kalau kalian tiba-tiba nonton episode 19 season 7, kalian nggak akan bingung sih menurutku. Karena keterkaitan antara tiap episodenya tidak begitu kentara. Jadi nggak perlu tuh kalian kalau mau nonton episode 5 season 3, harus nonton puluhan episodes sebelumnya. Jadi makanya aku nggak pernah buru-buru kalau nonton ini. Santai aja gitu. Dan saking santainya sampai suka kelupaan udah lama ngga nonton Law & Order: SVU wkwk.

(ini poster Season 4, masih ada Chris Meloni disini 😍)

"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories."

Ini adalah semacam prolog dari setiap episode Law & Order: SVU. Aku sampai hafal sama kata-kata di atas wkwk.

Meskipun begitu, I personally think Law & Order: SVU sangat menarik sih untuk ditonton. Aku ketagihan nontonnya. Aku emang suka cerita tentang detektif-detektif gini kan, semacam NCIS, Bones, Criminal Minds, etc. Kita jadi tahu cara kerja polisi, caranya mengungkap kasus, proses berjalannya suatu sidang dalam pengadilan, gimana caranya memutar otak supaya bisa ‘incriminate’ someone tapi dengan bukti yang sah. Pokoknya menurutku keren dan mindblowing banget deh. Aku jadi tahu, oh ternyata nggak bisa segampang itu loh untuk ‘incriminate’ someone. Kalau buktinya udah kuat banget tapi diperoleh dengan cara yang bertentangan dengan hukum, itu criminal bakalan dibiarin walk away begitu aja sama hakim. Dan aku jadi tahu untuk menjadi seorang lawyer itu susah banget loh. Dulu aku sempat berpikir lawyer itu kerjanya cuma ngebela orang yang salah. Ternyata nggak sama sekali guys wkwk, pemikiranku sempit banget dah dulu. Mereka harus pintar banget deh bikin strategi. Terus juga jadi tahu, jangan bego-bego banget deh kalau mau melakukan tindak kriminal. Pasti bakal ketawan sama polisi, because they’re super brilliant and they will find every details about what and how you did when you commit a crime. Sampe sedetail itu guys, aku juga bingung how they did it wkwk. Jadi kalau misalnya di film atau sinetron ada kriminal dan ternyata gak ketawan nih sama polisi, itu bohong banget. Di dunia nyata, pasti akan ketawan. I mean, police officers are smart, you can’t fool them. Prints and DNA can’t lie.

Nah aku juga mau ngasih heads up nih tentang Law & Order: SVU. Since it’s stories about sexually based offenses, you might find a lot of disturbing images and stories here. Sometimes they’re beyond your imagination and comprehension, kayak ngga bisa dipahami banget kok bisa ada orang segila itu. Tapi, ya memang begitu keadaannya. The world has gone crazy guys... wkwk. Ini ceritanya emang suka ‘sick’ banget gitu sih, tapi menarik banget kok setiap episodenya.

Well, I think I’m not gonna talk much here, since it’s almost 4 PM and I really need to prepare for my presentation next Tuesday. Jadi aku akan seminar proposal skripsi guys besok Selasa, doain yah!!! Aku sudah sangat menantikan ini nih dari bulan Januari. Akhirnya kesampean juga. Pokoknya wish me luck guys, and for those of you who happened to accidentally come here and read my posts, I thank you and hope kalian bisa ambil esensi dari setiap tulisanku ini hehehe. (kayaknya ngga ada deh dit wkwk) LOL

Okay guys, see you later in my next post! XOXO