"Give me a lever long enough and single-handedly I can lift the world."
Those are the words of Peter Senge, printed on the cover of his Fifth Discipline book.

Dreams
are many, but the strength is very limited, not to mention the time and
all the other resources. It’s not a matter of covering all the need you
need where it is needed at the time it seems to be needed, I suppose.
It takes something much better than that.

My dream has always
been to see the birth of a better society - an utopia, you may say -
through the betterment education: "quality education for all". Through
education, we’ll see greater chances are opened wide for many families,
chances of vertical mobility. We’ll also see that they would have
better economies, thus better health care. With better health care
we’ll also see a better quality of life. With all those in hand, we’ll
achieve a better society for all.

The dreams are for Indonesia.
The means are supposed to be Christian institutions, namely churches
and Christian schools. But there are points of disappointments - lots
of them. It seems clear to me now that to do our best for Indonesia, we
don’t have to begin in Indonesia. We don’t even have to begin with
Indonesia. More effective ways of achieving the dreams are available.
And it’s called leverage.

The same principle applies with the
choice of the vehicle. Grace is abundant. It’s not about the
institutions, it’s about the people. Labels are oftenly misleading, or
even meaningless.

My eyes are widely opened now. It’s not just a
matter of giving the best, all of me, but with the same degree of
importance, it’s also a matter of doing it from the right place at the
right time. The longer the lever, the easier it will be.

These days I’ve been experiencing one of the greatest turmoil in my
life. My world, in a sense, has been turned upside down. I kind of lost
my grip. Many options are suddenly widely opened before me. Many
important decisions have to be made as to reorient myself to this new
reality. But how can I? The turmoil was just to great.

I usually
take a stroll in the village or browse bookstores or some pedestrian to
find relief from stress. Under worse conditions, I would blog or just
write anything, though it be just a sketch. But in even worse
conditions, il faut parler. I need to talk. But to whom?

I’m so
glad to have nice friends - yes it’s true, friends are something you
don’t count by the number but by the quality of the relationship - that
would spare hours of their time, listening to my complaints and doubts,
helping me finding again my grip and regaining my step. It’s a very
nice thing to have them to chat with, to converse in a serious manner.
One of them is one fine man with an astonishing mind. He’s right in
saying that prayer is of the utmost importance, that it might be just
the time to step back and re-ponder everything altogether, and that
maybe I just have to enjoy things - my life, all I’ve achieved, all
that’s before me … in other words, to rejoice. Hmmm … those 3
things sound so simple yet so hard for me both to find and to do.

This
process is quite tedious … sometimes it’s even devastating … tiring
… it consumes my thoughts even during this long holiday … what an
unfortunate time to be bothered by such a thought!

Well, I must finally decide. And indeed decided have I.

Thanks to my friends, who have been a great channel of relief for me, I can now regain my stature.

Have rest, my soul

Pals, your prayers would be of the utmost value to me. Thanks in advance

I love gadgets. And I love fine gadgets even more. Now speaking about
gadgets I suppose one gadget we’d find most easily to compare is
celphone. I can’t stand using low-end celphones. Haha … yup, my
friends would in an instance nod their heads. I just don’t think it’s a
good thing using them. The small screens, not to mention the monochrome
ones … yuck, they’d cause my eyes to tear just staring and trying to
read from them. But on the other hand, I also don’t like ones that are
overly feature-packed. I like it just right.

So how is "just right"? For me and for now, it’s Sony Ericsson K800i. How could I come to choosing this one celphone? Here the story goes.

I
bought my previous celphone, an Alcatel OT750, in the beginning of
January 2004. I told myself, I’d use that celphone for 3 years. So by
September 2006 I started searching for the lucky celphone (hehe …) to
be my next one. After many browses (I never even for once "browse" Roxy
for celphones or Mangga Dua for electronics, I do my "browses" on the
Internet), I finally decided, yup, this one has just the right feature
for me.

So on the 7/3/7 (7 March 2007) I bought this phone. Up
to this day, after about 8 months of use, it can be said that I’m very
satisfied. Here’s my usage statistics: I use the phone (that’s for
calling) about 50 minutes a week, the messaging service about 430
messages per week, many hours of radio-listening and music- (or, in
that case, Podcast-) listening. The camera is used some 10-times a
week. I use its Java features for checking emails, the Internet
connection for downloading themes and some other offers from Sony Ericsson.
The bluetooth is awesome, I use it to synchronize the phonebook with my
computer Address Book. I install the Bible in 2 versions: Indonesian TB
and French Louis II. I even use the bluetooth for presentation and
remote control.

The not-so-often used features are: video call
(I used it once but hey, the cost’s still high), MMS (about once a
month only) and infrared (I don’t think I’ve used it even once).

So
that’s what I say "I like it just right". Sometimes of course I envy a
friend’s Nokia E61 but hey, that’s not me. That E61 might be more
convenient for typing messages but that’s all. The overall features are
not so-me (please pardon the phrase )

What’s next?

So
far, I’ve never used the same brand of celphone twice. Those I’ve
already used are: Siemens, Ericsson, Samsung, Alcatel, Nokia and now a
Sony Ericsson. And I’m planning to keep on that record to a certain
extent.

I’m planning to buy a Motorola 355 (or so, I suppose)
for my CDMA phone. Then, after finding the adorable view of iPod Touch
I’m planning to change my laptop for a Macbook, then an iPod Touch.
But, hey, do I even really need them? I don’t think so …. It’s just I
adore beautiful stuffs. And I adore them even more if they’re not just
adorable but also functionally fit my needs.

Isn’t it wonderful,
to have adorable gadgets that functionally fit your needs? You could
say, "Yes, I do want it. But I also need it." Why should we choose? Why
not have both?

For four years I lived on my own on a walking distance from the centres
of my activities: the school (that’s my office) and the church. Living
in such a city like Jakarta, I believe my life was something many
people dreamt of: home, office and church all situated within some-400
metres away! Everywhere I went, I walked. I rarely use any vehicle for
there were really no need of them! One thing I enjoyed most was the
many effective hours I could use for reading, studying, etc. for there
was no traffic jam, no time wasted on the street …. Really, save for
the bed and the food price, that life of mine was a dream.

About
half-a-year ago I returned home to Bintaro, situated about 35 km away
from the school and the church. Once again, I became a commuter. It
takes me now about 1-2 hours from home to school/church. Lots of energy
are wasted on the street. Not to mention the many hours I could no
longer use effectively. So my lifestyle’s gotta change.

My by-then-new celphone (which deserves another story), a Sony Ericsson K800i, is very helpful for it has radio and music player features. I started actively using the iTunes
again, downloading Podcasts and listening to them while I’m on my way
to and fro between home and office. I don’t really enjoy listening to
music, but sometimes it’s OK with the radio. Now I’ve started using my
ears in a more productive manner (hehe …).

Then iTunes had
this new programme called iTunes U (U stands for University) where they
broadcast lectures from famous universities. Hey, it’s a great thing, I
thought. So I started listening to MIT, Harvard, and RTS lectures on
the go - that means in Mikrolets and on the trains. Isn’t it wonderful?

I thought I had started paying back the time I lost during my commotion.

Then another trouble came: it was by then hard for me to attend late-night meetings but it was important that I attend them. XL
by then started promoting the Rp1 per second rate - which, by their
regional-exception-rates in Jakarta, means, Rp10.080 per hour. Again,
that SE K800i was a great help. I began teleconferencing. A second new
lifestyle.

Now, with my graduate study demanding more and more
discussion while at the same time all of us workers find it really
difficult to be physically get together, I’ve started using esia CDMA
service (none of my graduate class friends use XL, unfortunately). In
the past week alone I suppose I’ve used some 4 hours chatting using
that esia service. Speaking now has its own tendency, it seems

The
landscape of this world is changing so rapidly that I see myself as
having some new lifestyles changed just in a matter of weeks. And I
suppose I could expect even more changes in the days to come.