JCP FEATURES: MAGIC LAMP

“Like so many things, it is not what's on the outside, but inside that counts”

- Merchant, Aladdin

“Wait. I want to post this on my insta-story.”

“I saw this on Instagram and let’s go here too.”

“This was viral on TikTok, let’s make it too.”

Those sentences are some clips of our daily life nowadays. Especially after the soaring high use of Instagram and TikTok. Many are “busy” making content for their profile. Due to the popularity of social media, anyone can be a full-time “content creator”. Compared to 10 years ago, life as a blogger was not much appreciated because it doesn’t seem to be a profitable job and it couldn’t be described as a job. But here we are now, where childhood dream job is no longer to be an astronaut, or a teacher, but to be a YouTuber or an influencer. Well basically, all job is equally good, but we need to aware that what we see is not the whole thing about that job, especially content creator.

Well, actually the content creator is not a new job description since the magazine we used to read, TV programs we watch, or even the flyers you received are created by a content creator. It’s just the form of content that is new and we don’t have the specific job description for it yet. We can call a magazine article creator a magazine editor. For TV shows, we can call the creator as the producer or advertiser for flyers makers. We started to call people who create content on the internet as a blogger around 8 years ago and people who posted a video on YouTube are called YouTuber. All these job naming is just a name for a person who creates content for other people to read, hear, or watch with a more holistic perspective. The distinctive difference between the new content creator and the previous one is the working hours and independence. As for editors, producers, etc they are dependent on a company or brand and have specific working hours. While the new type of content creator is usually self-employed, more on freestyle, and has no specific working hours.

Many think that being a content creator is just the happiest and easiest job on earth. All it takes is to make your content viral and voila! You can get instant popularity. But, there is no way in this world that success can happen in the snap of your hand. All needs hard work and few times of trial and error. (Well, sometimes lucks played some part in someone’s career, but not everyone got the same luck) I was once helped my friend’s brother in running his studio and content creation business. Our client at that time is e-commerce for outdoor activities. So, we went to the mountain to create content. I enjoyed outdoor activities and moreover, this is my first-time experience hiking plus spend the night at the mountain, so I’m very excited about this content making. But, on the way up, I realized this content creation is not easy as what I usually see on social media. To make a 15-second video I had to hike up for more than 3 hours, not taking any bath, get wet due to rain, and most of all I can’t go to the toilet as there was none. In sum, there is no such easy thing in this world, you’ve to work for it.

Besides work hard, time also plays a part in your success. Who would know that YouTubers that started their channel 12 years ago would gain the spotlight like they received now? If you look at it carefully, many of them have started their career 10 years ago and just got the time to shine. More about time and timing, you can read it here. I’ve made a post about it on my previous JCP Features, so you can check it out there.

Actually, being a content creator is not just making any content. They have to carefully think about what they should make because there are thousands, even millions type of people that will look at their content and make a judgment of it. Their reputation is at stake. As you know, there were many issues with public figures or content creators regarding hateful comments. Many of them got hurt badly and many of them chose to end their precious life.

A few months ago, there are many content creators out there that reminds their followers that what they share is just a surface of their life and just like you and me they are not perfect. Like an iceberg, what we see on the internet is just the tip of their life. They choose the best part of their life or what they do and share it on the internet. Everyone has their own problem and mistakes, so they don’t need to add more of them. Mostly, the aim to create content is to give entertainment, hope, or information. As a semi-content creator, I also just wanted to share the good things here, since life is not easy for everyone. Personally, my aim is to encourage others and share the good stuff with all. We are all the same human beings and we are given the same abilities. It’s just you need to take action to make it happened. I watched one of the TEDx Talks videos titled “Stop Looking for Your Passion”. She said that it’s okay that you don’t have passion but do something. She encouraged us to work and take some action whatever it is.

Everyone already has their own problems and crazy life, so why sharing the negativity or discouraging content? We always see other’s grass is greener, but we don’t know how the others make that grass green. So, comparing your life with others is not really a bad thing to do, but you must know that great things don't happen instantly. Everyone has their own pace and there is an endless way how people achieved what they aim for.

2021 is on the way to the end of the first half, yet I’m still doing my 2020 monthly project (surely my time management didn’t get any improvement). It might have heard like an excuse, but being a part-time content creator is damn hard! See, being a content creator need persistence and consistency, which not everyone can have. In the last month of 2020, I learned how to live a content life. Not about being online all the time and sharing content, but how to fully enjoy life. Obviously, 2020 is not the best year ever, but there is always joy in everything. I started to post my daily activities during the Advent weeks in 2018. At first, I wanted to show how great it was spending Christmas in a winter country, but then I got to reflect that there is always a grateful thing every day, especially during the year-end. Then I continued the ritual up until now.

As I enter my 20s, I started to reflect back on my life more. I started to read self-improvement books or contents (like TEDx), or I started to analyze the main idea of the movie or drama that I watched (should I become a movie columnist?). Basically, I started to pay more attention to little details around my surroundings and fill in my mind and heart with positivity. After I got some insights, I have the urge to share them. Both offline and online. I started simple, by sharing it with my friends. Sometimes I shared it on my blog, but mainly on my Instagram, where I can reach more people I know personally but cannot be reached offline.

Just like what ‘The Aladdin’ movie (the older version) portrayed, he once didn’t want to buy the lamp because of its appearance. But the merchant said, “like so many things, it is not what's on the outside, but inside that counts”. And that lamp turns out to be a magic lamp! So, appearance is not everything, but what’s inside that counts.

This is my last post for JCP Features. I’ll prepare more thorough content in the future and share positivity with all of you. In the second half of my 20s, I’ve decided to restructure my life and I will take that as a chance to share more good stuff. It took me a long time to brainstorm and deliberate for this post. Even though I know that there aren’t many people who read my blog, but I had to finish what I started. Anyways, thank you to everyone who read this post and I’m signing out for now.

XOXO,

Further reading:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQaBpe7Fxuz/

(currently the most relatable account on my timeline)

TEDx Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MBaFL7sCb8

https://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1137037/things-about-aladdin-you-notice-as-an-adult/

JCP FEATURES: GROW UP

"I want to get through these hardships 

and hold your hand"

- Future by Red Velvet (Start Up OST)

The drama “Start-Up” was trending in November 2020. The drama not only watched by K-drama fans but non-K-drama fans as well. This drama inspired me to make this JCP Features since the drama not only portrayed romance, friendship & family, but also mentorship. Have you watched the drama? If so, what do you learn from the drama?

As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, lately I felt burnout and the root cause would probably because of my workplace culture. Even though I just realized about it a few months ago, but I think it’s connected with the main topic I wanted to share in the first place.

The first time I encounter the word ‘mentor’ was when I entered university. On the first day of orientation, newcomers were accompanied by a mentor. My mentor was not really made a big impact on me, but she introduced me to the fun part of being a university student. Well, back then I have few mentors that actively participated in my life-changing journey. Even though the harsh reality separated us now, but once a mentor will be a forever mentor. Anyways, what I wanted to underline here is the importance of a mentor in our lives. After I came out to the real world, I finally realize that having a good mentor is as hard as finding your soulmate. The Oxford Languages defined “mentor” as “an experienced and trusted adviser”. And this definition has summed up all the criteria of being a mentor. Mentors themselves not always need to be older, but they might have more experience than us. Also, most of all are trustworthy. Being trustworthy means they could frankly speak about the harsh fact that we might experience or tell us the ugly truth they’ve experienced. For the past few years, there were many motivational speakers and people we looked up for that seems like a mentor to us. But, unless you know them personally, I don’t think they could be called to be a mentor. As mentioned before, a mentor should be the one we trusted. We could trust someone if we know that person personally right?

In the drama “Start-up” there is a character called Han Ji-pyeong. He is a manager of an investment company and a successful young career man with lots of hardship while he is young. Long story short he happened to become a mentor for the start-ups CEO in Sandbox, the Korean Silicon Valley. There are 3 other mentors and each mentor have different characteristics and personalities, but one thing for sure that a trust is shouldn’t be separated from mentor characteristic. A character named Alex Kwon is the most wanted mentor because he is surely an expert in the world of start-up, but he couldn’t gain the trust of the participants. Another mentor called Won Doo-jung is the CEO of a big firm in Korea. He surely has a personality that people would love to look for, but also he failed to be truthful and even make the mentees uncomfortable and lose respect for him. Han Ji-pyeong himself also not a good mentor at first, but he truly cares about his mentees. At first, he always disagrees and says the bad things only. His mentees feel discouraged and spoke up about their uncomfortableness. After some point in the story, he changed and he truly helped his mentees to be better each day. On the other side, the most senior mentor of four is Yoon Sun-hak. She is the CEO of SH Venture Capital (where Han Ji-pyeong worked) and also the head of Sandbox. She has the experience and also trustworthy, but she also had a painful past. Well, everyone has their own past and goals. Not everyone is perfect, but to be transparent and truthful is what it takes to be a mentor. Life is not always full of rainbows and tastes sweet, but there are some rain or even storm and it can bitter. Having a mentor helps you to be prepared for those bad days and have someone that can support you since they can understand your feelings because they might have experienced the same thing as you.

As I watched the drama, I learned how wonderful it was to be a mentor. I was kind of regretted that I didn’t apply as a mentor like some of my friends back in the university. But after a second thought, actually being my lecturer’s assistant for around a year also considered being a mentor. I became the person my juniors trusted and I could share some experience with them. I feel so grateful for them as they came to congratulate me on my graduation day and I’m also proud that they have successfully graduated on time. I realized that have a mentor title is not always proof that you are a good mentor, but your action is what it takes.

Even though I didn’t closely keep in touch with them, but seeing them to doing well ensure me enough that they’ve become a decent person in this wild society. Thank God I didn’t hear any bad news from them. I never thought that being able to share what you know will be this valuable experience. Actually, I, myself haven’t keep in touch with my mentor for a long time. As I’ve said before, everyone has their own goals and to-do list, which might have them to be focused on their checklist. It’s not that mentee is not important, but in reality, we have to face our own problems too. I think becoming a long-life mentor is not for everyone. It needs dedication. As long as your mentee is doing well on their own or even they became a mentor themselves is a sign that your duty as a mentor has finished. I think it’s okay to finally let off their hands so that they can grab someone else’s hand and guide them.

Currently, I’ve got no one to look up to whenever I had a hard time at work since my current workplace doesn’t have a mentoring system. I never thought working will be this mentally exhausting, but surely having someone you can look up to at work is really important. This job is my first long-term work experience and I finally learned that fully responsible for your job only is not enough. You have to be happy and enjoy your job. No wonder many quit their 9-to-5 job even though they get paid a lot.

Relying solely on other people is not good, but having someone to rely on is pretty important, especially in this vast changing phase. Unfortunately, I had to face this harsh truth myself, but learning from a real-life experience is not so bad. I hope you have a mentor that you can always look up to whenever you face a hard time. Also, you can be the figure others look up for whenever they have a hard time.

Further Readings:

https://hbr.org/2020/08/what-efficient-mentorship-looks-like

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marvinkrislov/2020/01/09/mentorship-good-for-the-mentored-and-good-for-those-mentoring-too/?sh=491e399142b7

https://sheleadsafrica.org/power-of-mentorship/

https://dandavidamazona.medium.com/sandbox-fulfilling-your-life-purpose-start-up-k-drama-analysis-cc1b57f7ea86

JCP FEATURES: Cuckoo... Cuckoo

"Enjoying the process means you appreciate the time"

Hi, I’m back with ‘JCP Features’ for the month of October. I know it’s been way too late, but as I’ve said before, I had to finish what I’ve started no matter what. I just don’t want to give up on the projects I’ve started. It is true that I’m stuck with the topics I should post for this section and I had a ton of work, but now I have a lot to say and I can use this opportunity to reflect and wind down after work.

When I was little, I was amazed by the cuckoo clock (well, obviously not many kids these days now about this clock). I always look forward to the birds that come out when it strikes every hour. I still remember how I used to like watching a clock show at a shopping mall in Jakarta. I was such an innocent kid back then countdown the time for a short performance and now I’m facing a harsh truth about time. I realized that time can be a friend or foe, depends on how you treat it. With a trigger by a few dramas and movies, I got to reflect on my life whether I’m living it right or not and I would like to share it with you.

Like many people said, “life is short”. Sometimes this sentence is true, but sometimes it’s not. Centuries ago, people could reach the age of 700 or even older, but no more in this century. If there is someone who reached the year of 100 or above, many will celebrate but sometimes many will feel sorry about it since they are too old to walk or doing some activities. No one can predict their lifetime in this world, so with the life-is-short mindset, it is necessary to use time wisely. I believe even though we could reach until 100 years old, we probably would say life is short. Not many liked (I’m also not a fan of it) the K-drama, “About Time” (acted by Lee Sungkyung and Lee Sang Yoon), but I learned a lot from this drama despite its’ poor performance. After watching the drama, I got to ask myself, what if I can see my lifespan? Or what if I can see someone else’s one? What kind of life I will live if I have that ability? The drama teaches me that when you know how much time you have you will surely get used the most of it. You will live the life you want it. But, God knows that human is greedy, no matter how much time human have, they will ask to get more time. Think about it, I bet you’ve done it before when you are doing your exam and you need more time because you haven’t finished it yet. Same with life, we tend to need more time because we “haven’t finished” our matters in our life. The drama also taught me, no matter how much we prepared to face eternity (a.k.a death), we are never ready to be separated from the people we love. “Hi, Bye Mama” also taught a similar thing. 

Credit: TvN (sseureki via Tumblr)

We will never win against time, but time has the power to heal. Taking a lyric from a song B1A4 titled,” Like a Child”:

“But time won’t stop just because I tell it to stop 

It’s a meaningless fight”

So, why fight against it when we can befriend it?

I think the playlist in my “2019 K-pop Theme Songs” is quite relatable with this feature (read here).

In 2020, there are many new drama or movie releases that have in common. It talks about a time or the idea of time traveling (since we cannot travel in real life anw). I mentioned the best parallel world drama in 2020 in my previous post, “Jennifer’s Passion 2020 Awards”. Well, what I wanted to say is the common thing between those dramas is the wish to be able to turn back time. I believe almost everyone wants to be able to undo their wrongdoings, mistake, or wrong choices. But, yeah time is unable to move backward nor it can’t be stopped by human choice. Like every other thing, every choice comes with some consequences. One thing that I can take a lesson from watching those dramas is every time the time traveler tries to change the past, they changed the now, and obviously, the future changed too. Time teaches us that the past, now, and future will always be connected and what we did in the past is what shaped us today.

Well, the pandemic messed up our time and planning very much. But, it teaches us to maximize our time in a day, because we never know what will happen. We might have plans, but we never truly know whether we can carry out those plans or not because everyone’s timeline is uncertain. But actually, time is certain and precise because it keeps on moving forward and never moves backward. By the time it moves backward, it might be a doomsday, like what those time-traveling movies pictured.

I don’t know about you, but I feel as I grew older, I feel like time passed by so fast. At some time, I couldn't believe that I’ve graduated senior high 7 years ago already or I’ve been friends with my best friends for 13 years already! By the time I flashbacks those memories, I suddenly realize that I’ve reached the second half of my 20s. Really, I’m very astonished by how time passed by just like that. Especially with the fast changes in the world, many of us feel that 24 hours are not enough to finish the day. Sometimes I feel I was chased. Apparently, when I’m online I tend to compare my story to the others that I saw on social media. Especially with almost everyone around my age is getting married, I feel I was rushed to do the same by society unconsciously. To get rid of those bad thoughts I tend to limit my time online and I prefer watching drama or listening to music. For these past months, I realized that I suddenly forgot how to take it slow. I used to enjoy my life very well. I know how to keep my pace with time, but now I think I’m facing burnout. Well, surely time is ticking and life is short, but it is important to take a rest.

Recently, I flashed back to the day without a smartphone. It took several years before I got to upgrade my phone. But now, within a year the big smartphone companies launched their upgraded product twice, which means many “tech-savvy” people need to upgrade their gear frequently. We didn’t realize that actually we are chased by the name “technology advancement”. Many people are afraid to be left out of the current trend and not going to lie, I sometimes feel that too. Actually, it’s really hard to keep up with the trend, but it’s a life skill that everyone should have in this 21^st century. Also, since everyone has a “time is money” kind of mindset, everything instant is more preferable. But not everything can happen instantly. Even to produce instant foods took a lot of time for research until its finally ready in the market. Instead of “time is money”, I prefer “nothing comes instantly”. This mindset helps me in appreciating the process and enjoy the time until it worked out as I expected. One of my life mentors always said that “a process won’t betray the result”. Think about the chicken soup in the package and the chicken soup made by your mom. The process is different, so does the taste. Your mom probably has to boil the whole chicken to get the flavorful stock, while the packaged one was only a chicken stock kind of flavor. Enjoying the process means you appreciate the time.

I believe everyone has ever wanted to stop the time because you wanted to experience the moment longer. On the other hand, sometimes we wanted time to go faster, because we wanted to pass by that moment as soon as possible, like this pandemic time. I really wanted to move forward to pandemic-free days ahead, which is very unpredictable. But again, time cannot be arranged by human power. Well, I know not every moment is fantastic, but I believe that it will be a great lesson or a memory to remember eventually. Quoting a line from Jennifer (not me, okay?) in “Still 17”,

“it (time) passes by on its own, however, time never comes back. Anyone can be sad about time passing by. Will you leave that sadness into regret or will you leave it as a memory you want to remember?”

Credits: Ramyeoncaps via Tumblr

(Still 17, Ep.8)

A little bit off-track, but there is one memorable moment that I regretted and it taught me a very great lesson. It’s when I didn’t follow my friend’s request to watch Park Seojun fan meeting when we went to Seoul in 2016. At that time, I said to her that I don’t quite like him (since I watched him in Hwarang and it was a total turn-off. Also, I haven’t watched his previous dramas and the One Night Two Days Hwarang Special episode yet that time). I feel terribly sorry to my friend and now I was trapped in Park Seojun’s charm (in Lee Young Joon’s language it’s the spectacular curse). As you probably know, I’m a huge fan of him now. Even though, until now, my friend still mad at me for remembering that incident but, it taught me that everything has its own timing. What is not fit for you now, doesn’t mean it won’t fit you in the future. Look at Brave Girls’ song that went viral 4 years later after it was released. So, don’t get discouraged too fast, because eventually or someday it might change. Just like how seasons change when it’s time, so do our lives.

Timing is very important, but we tend to overlook it. Well, some things happened in the most unexpected way and it is beyond our control. So, “when is the right time?” might pop up next. My answer is I don’t know. I just let it flow. One thing for sure that I knew everyone has their own time and timing, which I believe arranged by God. He is never too early or too late. He planned everything out for each person. It is just humans are too late to realize or have a high expectation or they don't want to wait. As I enter the 20s, I came to realize that God’s time is too good to be true. I never expect that I’ll be able to finish my university with a double degree, joined student organization, became a winner of a guiding competition twice, and many more grateful events. I also started doing mini vlogmas on my Instagram in 2018 which I got to record what are the things I’m grateful for in the month of December. Looking back at those events of my life, I can see and feel how good God is.

Realizing how God guides me in my life, I really appreciate time more nowadays. I took every chance that I get just because I don’t want to regret it later on. One thing that I think I did a great job is when I took every chance I can to travel in 2019. Almost every month I went traveling and a year later who knows that we have to stay at home? Also, I tend not to procrastinate (but I did this a lot at work lol). I am very aware that procrastinating took a lot of energy and it makes me tired and it results in wasting my time. I know it’s hard (especially at the workplace) but I started to brush off that bad habit of mine, just because time is very important. Well, I have to admit that I’m really bad with time management also, (but it is a very crucial skill that everyone should have actually) as you know by how long it took me to upload a regular posting on the blog or my video channel. Lately, I feel so bad at it, even though I have regular scheduled activities every day. And I really hate myself for it sometimes. I read some posts on the internet on how to manage time effectively, how to be a more organized person, and much more, but as soon as I took action for it, I failed most of it. But, I didn’t want to be hard on myself since my life has been pretty hard lately. Changes take time and since I appreciate the time, I will take it easy.

Since time always moves, it makes life more dynamic. Think of a cycle or the four seasons. Sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are sad. I wanted to share a playlist of mine that reminds me that everything happened at the right time at the right moment and everything will fall beautifully in its place.

Well, there are pros and cons about time. But, remember two things. One, time heals. Just remember this whenever you are hurt, broken, or lonely because you are not in that condition forever. Everything we have in this world is temporary. Remember, time moves faster than you can imagine. Two, life is short, just fill in your days with the good thing and let it flow. It’s okay if you take it slow, but you should be happy. Use your energy to do what makes you alive and do not expect everything to be instant. Beautiful things don’t come easily.

Enjoy your time!

Xoxo,

Jennifer

Further Redadings:

https://nymag.com/arts/books/reviews/till-roenneberg-internal-time-2012-5/

https://abcnews.go.com/International/pop-group-brave-girls-forgotten-tops-music-charts/story?id=76672480

https://hbr.org/2020/01/time-management-is-about-more-than-life-hacks

https://jennicpark.blogspot.com/2016/12/life-what-ive-learned-and-thankful-for.html

 

JCP FEATURES: SWATCHES

“ The beauty of this world is placed in the vivid yet complex colors of nature ”

This September, I got the chance to learn something new. As some of you might know, I worked for a shoe company since July and it produces shoes for a certain brand, which I have to deal with the brand’s standard colors. There is a specific job description for this job and we call it FMCA (Footwear Material Color Approval). The main job is to check the material color against the standard. Sounds simple but, it wasn’t. Everyone has a different ability to see color and color can look different in different lightings.

According to Merriam-Webster, color is “a phenomenon of light (such as red, brown, pink, or gray) or visual perception that enables one to differentiate otherwise identical objects”. I recall my physics class where we are talking about how colors formed. Not a good student of physics, but this topic is the most memorable one. I remembered that I had an experiment using a flashlight and mirror, there we can see a rainbow. You know the colors in a rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet are the basic colors. From those colors, we could have a thousand possibilities of other colors, like pastel tone, earth-tone color, etc. Since I was a kid, I always like seeing Pantone swatches for wall paintings or swatches of nail polish in the salon. This time, I got to have an access to textiles swatches, we called it scotdic. Finally, I found something I like about my job (but it's also quite annoying).

Ever heard about RGB or CYMK? Primary color and secondary color? RGB is the most basic color usually used widely in the design world, which is Red, Green, and Blue (if you watched ‘Start Up’, you probably know about it since Nam Dosan is obsessed with RGB colors). CYMK is the colors you can see in your printer inks, such as Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black. Primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. The secondary color is orange, green, and purple. After the secondary color, you will have a tertiary color. All of these colors can be seen in the color wheels. I believe you have seen a color wheel before, right? Yeah, the one you can find in photo editing applications. Many are quite familiar with color wheels nowadays and it is very interesting to play with the colors.

RGB (taken from drama "Start-Up"
Credits: Google Images

Actually, color creation is a very interesting topic. Color creation means mixing the basic colors into secondary colors or other colors. For example, if you mix red, yellow, blue, and green with the correct ratio, you will get a violet color. Even to get a black color, you have to mix the right amount of color to have a pure black color. Now, if you look around your closet, you might find your black clothes might have some different hues. Some of them might be a greenish-black, or reddish black, or bluish-black. A greenish-black means the ratio of green color is more than the rest of the color. It’s hard to notice it, but it’s fun.

Speaking of colors, I’m always amazed by how people create names for every color such as the green army, cream, khaki, olive, coral, pink, etc. My favorite color is a baby pink. How about you? But lately, I started to favor dark olive, army green kind of palette. Especially for clothes, I think I have like 5 clothes in those colors in my closet. I think I look good in that tone. I think last year taking a personal color test was quite trending. Every person has a different color tone and you can find out yours by taking a test. There are some websites that provide free tests. I took one from here. I got a deep winter – autumn color palette. For more info about it, you can read it here. You can check out yours and share it with me. I really wanted to try out the test from a professional personal color advisor like Lee Hyeri (Girl’s Day member/Korean actress) ever done before. You can check out her experience here.

Me dressing in shades of dark olives.

Colors are important and beautiful. But, lately, we hear a lot about skin color discrimination. I don’t know why people make a big deal about color difference. We are special in our own way, including what skin color we have. I’m really sad about the fact that people are discriminating against others because their skin color is different from theirs. The skin color discrimination issue has raised since a century ago and it’s getting worse. I mean, come on, we are more civilized and educated. By this time, we should clearly learn and understood that everyone is the same despite their skin color, race, and gender. On my Twitter timeline, there are lots of tweets about this particle issue in the USA. Remember when the #BLACKLIVESMATTERS hashtag was trending all over the media last year? I think it's time to speak out our voices about this issue. No more tolerating discrimination, especially when it comes to taking someone's life. Varieties of skin color make the world more beautiful. Look at the Disney princesses. Disney creates princesses from all kind of culture with different skin tones. Imagine if there is no color to our skin? All of us might look terrible and scary. This kind of issue should have been resolved. I really wish everyone know that skin tone is not defining who you are, your character and attitude do.

Disney Princess from different cultures and skin color, but still beautiful.
Credit: Google Images

Talking about it, the movie ‘Pocahontas’ and its’ theme song, ‘Colors of the Wind’ came across to my mind. ‘Pocahontas’ movie was released in 1995, which is 26 years ago. Even though two decades have passed by, the old same issue is still hanging around in our lives. Despite the underlying storyline about the tribe versus the settlers, this movie delivers an important message. We tend to forget that God gave us beautiful earth so we can live comfortably. We tend to take things for granted. Burning down the forest to get more land to expand, dumping the waste not to the proper place, wasting energy and water, and many more things that resulted in destroying the beautiful mother earth. There is a reason why God provides us the place to stay first before He creates humans. But this sinful human being is not being grateful and like to exploit things. They often forget and overlook their surroundings.

Scene from 'Pocahontas', Disney (1995)
Credit: Google Images

I looked up the lyrics of ‘Colors of the Wind’ after hearing the song few days ago. While looking at the lyrics, I also searched for the messages behind the song and came across this post. As I get older, I tend to focus on the lyrics of the song I listened to.

“For whether we are white or copper skinned

We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains 

We need to paint with all the colors of the wind ”

The song clearly and brutally honest about the color differences. No matter what skin color we have, we are the same and no human power can overcome the power of mother nature. So why bother to fight it, while all you need to do is enjoy the beauty of it. The wind is invisible, but clearly, without the wind, there would be no color in our life. But no matter how smart and powerful humans can be, we surely cannot paint with the wind. It is beyond of our ability. Only God can because He is the Creator. (Well, actually I haven’t really watched ‘Pocahontas’ (poor me, I know), but I really enjoyed the soundtrack, which made me want to watch the full movie again.)

Credit: as tagged (via Google Images)

After months of playing with color, I came to think what if there are no colors in this world? I couldn’t imagine if I’m a color blind too. It’s so good and fun to play with colors and couldn’t see it or differentiate it would be terribly sad. Can you imagine, what if God didn't create color for this world? For me, the beauty of this world is placed in the vivid yet complex colors of the nature. I like the orange, yellow, and green leaves when it’s autumn. Also, how calming it is to shades of blue sea when you need to clear your mind. Imagine if those natures don’t have any colors to it. It would be a suck life, I guess.

As the pandemic got worsen every day, I became to appreciate every photo in my phone gallery for the memories captured. The time I got to see the beach, waterfalls, skyscrapers, and even I’m grateful for the blue sky or pretty cotton candy evening sky around the neighborhood. Not to forget the delicious food we eat every day is way much more delicious when it has pretty colors. Couldn’t get enough chance to travel this year and experiences to be in nature, but still appreciate every little thing in this world. Sharing some of my archives that has pretty colors #nofilterneeded

Somewhere in Bali, 2019

Colors = Baloons

Natural Shades of a Mountain
Mt. Gede, 2018

The Best Point of Seoul

Merry Go Round Lights

At the most colorful place on earth, Universal Studios Japan

Thank you, God, for creating colors and I’m grateful that my eyes are totally good for capturing the beauty of colors.

Actually, I was quite hesitant to write about this topic but turns out it was pretty okay. I got to learn much more stuff rather than the things I learn from work. I know it’s been all over the place and I missed my timeline again, but I tried my best and will keep on posting the rest of the JCP Features ASAP. Have a colorful day and stay safe everyone!

xoxo,

Jennifer

Further Readings:

https://www.popsugar.com/smart-living/biggest-color-trends-2021-48109389

JCP FEATURES: ROAD TO VICTORY

“Everything seems to be its’ place, while it isn’t”

August is the month of celebration for some countries. According to the list on Wikipedia, there are around 20 countries that celebrate Independence Day in August, such as South Korea, Singapore, India, and Indonesia. I celebrate my birthday this month and I truly agree that August is the month of celebration (P.S: I share my birthday with Singapore National Day lol).

Just like any other holidays in 2020, because of the pandemic this year Independence Day is not as vibrant, exciting as before. In Indonesia, we usually held a competition event as a celebration of Independence Day. Obviously, it did not happen. I couldn't remember what I did on that day since it wasn't significant enough. When I was in school, I really look forward to watching the competitions held. It’s because no classes that day and you can wear other clothes other than the uniform. My favorite competition is “Tug of War”. I don’t know why, but it’s just fun to have your whole classmates joining the game (see, it’s one of the good things going to offline school. Refer to my previous post to know why, here). It's been a long time since I ever participated in those kinds of competitions. Since I entered university, I didn't get any chance to join. Thinking back, it was such a good old day. 

As I grew up, I started to learn the essentials of those competitions. It was meant to picture and implement the five principles of Indonesia called, Pancasila. It consisted of: Belief in God, Humanitarianism, the Unity of Indonesia, Democracy, and Social Justice (rsis.edu.sg). I think Indonesia has a great principle but rarely implemented in our daily life. What makes it different from the other country is principle number four. The literal translation is "citizenship that is lead through wisdom in representative deliberation". This means that every decision should be discussed and approved by everyone. But, there are several reasons why it doesn't apply as we pictured such as lack of knowledge (not every citizen learns about this) or the higher-ups make it complicated when it can be simple. But, well, in reality, we couldn’t really live according to our vision or what we dream of. So, I guess the governments try to make guidelines that will be helpful to achieve the principles. But, unfortunately not every citizen understands and follows the guidelines.

Well, in this post I’m not going to discuss the principles Indonesia has. It is a quite sensitive topic and I’m not in the capacity to argue or makes critic of it. I wanted to reflect those principles in daily life among Indonesian, including me as well.

There is one quote from the first President of Indonesia, Soekarno that can be found every time around Independence Day or National Heroes Day: 

“My fight is easier because I fought to chase away colonizer. But, yours will be harder because you have to fight your own people”. 

What he said is so true because lately there are lots of debates among Indonesian. Well, actually debating is a good thing if the purpose is to empower each party. But, what is happening, in reality, was debate is to show-off. Show-off skills, information, and many more. Sometimes, I saw the debate is not even worth fighting for. I don’t know why, but as I got older, I became less care about nationalism, government, politics, whatever it is, apathetic.

During the pandemic, each country characteristic and abilities can be seen by how each country handle it. Well, there is no perfect country in this world, since there is no one is perfect. Since a country is ruled by somebody and that body is not perfect either, so there will be no perfect country. But at least, every country should strive to be better each day. What I feel right now is Indonesia’s progress seems to be stagnant. Is it because I live inside the country? You know that you know too much detail, you became too critical and hate the fact of it? Or it is true that we are going nowhere? I still couldn't find the answer yet. Maybe we have reached the comfort zone, where everything seems to be its’ place, while it isn’t. The way I see about Indonesia and you who are not living here might be different. Same as I see the other countries because I don't live there.

I look up the word “independence”, it is not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself (dictionary.com). Yes, we are not controlled by other countries or nations, but we are still influenced by others. I don’t see Indonesia as a really independent country. Well, every country in this world is connected and need support from each other. So, I don’t think the word independent suits well with the current situation, especially when the world right now faces the same problem. This is the influencing era, where most of our opinions and thoughts are influenced by others. No matter who and where you are.

As we shifting from era to era, we are actually building a relationship, connecting one to the other. Internet is the best example. Yes, every country is sovereign of its own, but also we still need each other. Being dependent is not always a bad thing, it’s just don’t make them took over you. We should be responsible for our own, but asking others to help and receive their help is not considered as being weak. It is proof that we know our capability and it makes us stronger and had a great attitude to be able to admit our weaknesses. It is the path that we should be taking to be a victorious country.

What I see and think about Indonesia is, we are not able to stand alone by ourselves but acted like we are already one. Compared to other countries, Indonesia is like a teenager going through the adolescent period. I find the number 75 as a big number, but still strong enough to try out new challenges and get better each day. So, Indonesia are you ready for new challenges to change this country to have a better quality of life for everyone? I repeat. Everyone. From the south to north, west to east, even to the one in rural areas.

Dear our (and also around the world) government parliaments, please don’t turn a blind eye to those people. They might not be able to pay the taxes (so you might not get benefits from them), but they have rights to have it. Instead of acting like you have achieved many things, please relearn our basic principles and restructure them accordingly. You won’t be able to fit everyone's cups of tea, but at least make it fair and reasonable.

The bottom line is every country has the right to stay for what they believed in, but it doesn’t mean have to shoo away other country acting as if they are the right one. Every country has its’ own pace and doesn't compare one to another. It’s okay to depend on another country, but do not let them take over the steer. As a citizen, it’s the right thing to voice your opinion, but always to think not only about yourself but also the others that are not like you. Remember all the principles by heart and implement them according to the guidelines. It’s not easy to be an obedient citizen since we already do the judging that the government going to spend our money for themselves. But have faith, since they will be responsible for their actions and God definitely has a plan for everything. Recently, I’m reading “Judges” from the Bible and it taught me that it’s not easy to lead a nation. God had provided all the 10 Commandments, but when the leader leaves them for a while, they started to do the bad things. So, what we need to do is to build trust with each other. Definitely, there will be thousands of people who opposed to your opinions or actions but let’s try to believe that everything will work out. Just be patient. Know your own capability (yes I’m talking to you Indonesia). It doesn’t mean that we are incompetent, but please know our strengths and weakness and then we can know how to act. And the most important thing is, think before act. This kind of bad habit is what makes Indonesia looks like a fool and get into trouble.

There are 4 more upcoming posts and I will see you there. Thank you for reading all the way to this part. This topic isn't my forte, but I tried my best and I would like to sharpen my critical skills that have been hibernating for a while now. Hope this post helps you to get the insights of celebrating National Days or Independence Days and be a good citizen. See ya!

Reference:

https://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/rsis/pancasila-guidance-bill-tweaking-indonesias-ideology/#.X8-IGqeB06U

JCP FEATURES: FROM HOME

“School is not only about the knowledge”

It’s weird that I didn’t get to see the “Back to School” advertising a lot this year. The pandemic has totally made the world goes crazy. Summer holidays and school days are pretty much similar these days since students still stay at home for school. The excitement of getting back to school couldn’t be seen. No new school bag or pencil case, new books that should be covered (I think this is an Indonesian thing to cover your school books), the excitement to write your name in your new book, meeting with new friends (Indonesian school shuffle the class attendance list every new school year). Ah, how I miss going to school!

Well, I’m not a student anymore, but looking at my little cousins, the school was so boring and it broke my heart that they have to do online schooling. I’m truly sorry that they can’t experience the fun of seeing friends at school and doing school projects with them, waiting for a break-time when the class was so boring, the excitement when it is PE, music, and art class that we can express our inner feeling and be creative and many more.

Once again, the pandemic made me realize that I’m so grateful for the things I had before. The opportunity to go to school and met the friends I have now, the nervousness during exam week, and to grew my social skills. As I got older, I realized that school should not be taken for granted. It was a privilege that I’m able to go to school. Well, we got to learn about it after we experienced it. (That’s why on the job training was such an important thing, guys).

Please note that what I’m discussing here is based on the situation in Indonesia. After seeing my little cousins go for online-schooling, one thing pop out of my head, “is it effective?”.

Even before the pandemic strikes, not everyone can go to school. Our education system was not fully established for everyone. And now, the pandemic makes it worse. Not everyone got access to the internet and their parents are not all are tech-savvy. I just wish the suburb residents or even villagers are free from COVID-19 so they don’t need to have these online classes.

Our Education Minister wanted to change the school work model to online-schooling. But, Sir, have you prepared the infrastructure? How are you going to evaluate the study? Kids in school sometimes lack concentration at school, and I don’t think it’s going to be better at home either. There are no restrictions and not all parents can be strict with their kids, so I don’t think they will learn how society works. It also applied to adults that go to work from home. I hear a lot of my friends that don't enjoy WFH and get lazy and fatter during the time. Well, even an adult like me, I don’t think I’m confident in doing WFH. I’m totally going to mess-up the schedules and deadlines (even at work, I still suck with this). As you might notice, I couldn’t even post my blog or video regularly even though I’m unemployed before. There are just too many distractions. And now, they want the little kids to organize their own study at home? It’s a crazy idea, actually. My boss always said,” people nowadays keep losing their focus. (pointing to the smartphone) This is what makes you out of focus. You need to more focus on work”. What he said got hit me hard. It is true that those notifications on your phone, the urge to open your social media, and many other distractions that come from that small thing. Students in most of the school in Indonesia (up until grade 10) are not allowed to bring their phone to school. That’s why they could be trained to focus at school, but at home obviously, there’s no restriction like this, unless the parents keep the school rules applied at home. But, I believe that’s not the case since every parent are also busy finding the way to survive during this pandemic.

Infrastructure is one thing; the other thing is online-schooling is so monotone. I’m terribly sorry for them seeing their friends through the screen only, maybe. And as far as I know, most of them like to turn off the camera. I don’t know how they develop relationships and bonds through this online-school thing. It’s like you had an LDR but you didn’t have a deep connection and strong trust as your base. Eventually, you’ll feel you don’t belong to each other. There is no emotional development for the new generation of kids. Thinking of it makes my heart break into pieces. Since the program is new and sudden, there is not enough preparation for both the educators and students. That’s might be the root of the boring online school program. To fully enjoy online school programs, there’s should be more thorough planning & curriculum as well as preparing the media for the students, parents, and school.

Internet infrastructure is not for everyone yet in Indonesia. The house condition (read: economic status) to execute this online-school is very important. The online-school makes the privileged-house to learn and grow, but not applied for the unfortunate. This will cause an extreme economic gap and it might result in social jealousy.

What I learned from going to school is not only about the knowledge from books, but how I adapt to different types of personality and way of thinking. I’ve forgotten how to solve physics problems or what are types of molecules out there. It is some basic knowledge for an educated person, but it’s not the most important thing. How to be a well-mannered person is. And I think school is the first place where you will learn this skill.

Online-school is not bad, but we need a more thorough plan and how we are going to spread this for everyone no matter where they are and how is their economic status. The reason I write this feature is I just want to share my thoughts for the new generation of kids about what are they are going to go through and how cool and exciting school was. I don’t want to be a “kkonde” type of person, who likes to compare my old days to today, but just to let you know that every generation has its’ own good and bad side.

I’m terribly sorry for the late post, but I think this topic is still relevant for the “new normal”. It’s true and right that we need a new standard of normal since what’s we thought it’s normal, it’s not. Once again, the pandemic taught us to not take things for granted. Things don’t last forever, so let’s make it worth it. And also, on November 25, it is Teacher’s Day in Indonesia. I wanted to use this post that teacher is an important figure. A teacher is not only what we call our teacher at school, but a mentor or a friend is also a teacher. We can learn from everyone, not only an official teacher. Happy Teacher’s Day, you are a true hero and the best supporters out there!

If any parents happened to read this post, held your head high, because you are not alone. Take this as the chance how you are going to educate your kids in the way you’ve been dreaming of when you were in school. Don’t take it too hard, because eventually your kids will grow up and they can make their own decision and principles.

Whoever you are, thank you for reading this post. I’m not sure if this post helps, but I just want to do some sharing. This is what I think about the online-school system. How about you? Are you more on the modern or traditional type of school?

I’ll see you soon on my next post very soon.

I’ll work hard to finish all the pending posts before 2020 ended.

*crossed fingers*

JCP FEATURES: 486*

“Loving yourself is not a selfish act”

I found some similarities in the dramas that I watched in July, it’s about mental health or psychological illness. I wonder why they choose this topic as their main background. I came to the conclusion that modern people (people nowadays) tend to not knowing their self-worth. They become easier to feel lonely, too much stressed, always comparing themselves to a figure they saw on social media. According to Carl Jung, “ The man whom we can with justice call ‘modern’ is solitary”. So, it's been studied before that in the future time, people will feel get easier to feel lonely since they live in solitude when human nature is social beings.

Let’s take a look at the rhinos, they live in solitude and now they become an endangered species. Sometimes being alone is important, but keeping a balance between alone and socializing is the right answer.

The pandemic taught us that we cannot live alone. Yeah, at first you feel great just staying at home, less contact with others that you are tired of. But then after a few months of doing it, you feel bored and started to feel depressed. Well, even before the pandemic the number of depressed or mentally-ill persons was high. According to Our World in Data, in 2017, more than 10% of the world’s population has a mental disorder. Stress sometimes can do good for us, it can trigger us to be out of our comfort zone and to be more creative in problem-solving. But, a long-term one is not a good one. It might lead to depression and other disorders.

I think the root of the problem is we don’t know ourselves and how to love ourselves. Loving yourself is not a selfish act, it’s a good foundation of social action. When you know yourself, you can love others. That’s when the connection between individuals developed. The Bible said, “Love the others like you love yourself”. Love might sound simple, but it is one of the most complicated emotions. God gave a perfect example, but humans always fail to do it. He gave an example of unconditional love, but this hard-hearted human is unable to do the same. Because God knows about His creation is hard-hearted, He told us to love ourselves first, in order to love others. We are a special creation that God created Himself, that’s why He wants us to love each other like He loves us.

The million-seller music group, BTS have few songs that raise this issue. Their first album title is called “Love Yourself”. They have series of it for the next albums. There are 5 series of it. Once they are called to be a guest speaker at the UN General Assembly. Their leader, RM talked about his past and how he learned how to love himself and he wanted to share it through music. More detail about the BTS album can be read here. The writer made a great explanation about it.

From the lyrics of "Epiphany" by BTS
Credits: Pinterest

I’m not a part of BTS fandom, but I really like the side tracks of their album. They have many hidden good songs with great messages behind them. I totally can get it why they are so loved by many. They worth love. Some of their songs are totally relatable, especially by youngsters. The world is changing and sometimes we might get lost and got no one to ask, but through music and watching movies, I realize that there are some people that feel the same as you. You are not alone. Please know that you are not alone.

In my last post, I mentioned the drama ‘It’s Okay to be Not Okay’. The drama is also great to be an eye-opener about mental issues.

Credits: TvN, 2020 (via Google Images)

“ If you want to make people around you happy, you have to find your own happiness first. Being selfish isn’t always a bad thing. Try to only think about your happiness when things are too stressful. It’s okay to do that.”

- from It’s Okay Not to Be Okay

The past can be hurtful and made you traumatized, but once you accept the fact that you are hurt, “that’s when the cure started.” The last sentence was a line from Shin Ha-Kyun in the drama “Soul Mechanic”. He is a psychiatrist and he himself also “sick”. He got traumatized by the death of his patient before. Then he met this similar patient as before and try to push away that patient because he doesn’t want to remember that accident anymore. But, at the same time, he realized that he has to accept that he is hurt, so the cure will take place. Once you know your diagnosis, you will get to know what to do to cure that illness, right? Same like physical illness, mental illness also the same. 

Captures of "Soul Mechanic", KBS, 2020
Source: https://dramasoverflowers.tumblr.com/post/617619071109840896/great-last-line-from-this-episode

I recommended “Soul Mechanic” if you want to get insights into human emotions. It will enlighten your heart and be grateful for what you have done this far. While watching this drama, I feel relieved that I didn’t have those kinds of hurtful past and grew up well. I came to learn to appreciate people more.

Another drama that took mental wellness is “Dinner Mate”. In this drama, they cure the illness through food. No wonder there is such a word as “comfort food”. Believe it or not, food is not just a thing that you must eat to survive physically, but also mentally. 

Captures from "Dinner Mate", MBC, 2020
Source: https://dramalifechoseme.tumblr.com/post/623695391074942976/gotta-flex-while-he-canalso-where-can-i-sign

I hope after reading this feature and watching those dramas, you know that you are wonderfully made. 

So, please love yourself. Don’t be harsh on yourself and learn to love yourself before loving others.

 If you have a hard time, share with others. Don’t keep it with yourself. Get it out. Remember, loving yourself is not selfish and you won’t be considered a narcissist. It is an appreciation of yourself.

Peace out!

If you or your family or friend that are feeling depressed and got no one to talk to, don’t be hesitant to get help. You can visit https://www.befrienders.org (WORLDWIDE) or local hotline (suicide prevention hotline).

*486 is a secret number to say "I Love You" in Korea. It was widely used during the beeper pager generation. It's a small electronic device that could only receive number only. This code is the same as 381 for the rest of the world.

Read More:

Found this good article from the BBC about managing your mental health during the pandemic. You can read it here.

20 inspirational quotes from the drama ‘It’s Okay Not to Be Okay”.

Why you should watch “Soul Mechanic”.

Resources:

https://www.elephantjournal.com/2018/03/5-qualities-of-the-truly-modern-person-via-carl-jung

https://ourworldindata.org/mental-health