Maximal Life

The Formalistic Approach Analysis of “The Case of The Crushed Petunias”

2011-01-05T19:54:00.000+07:00

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of formalistic analysis is to make the close reader to the work and to understand what the work says about through the message which is being delivered in the work. There are many devices we can use to make an analysis of formalistic approach. "According to the Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature " when all the words, phrases, metaphors, images, and symbols are examined in terms of each other and of the whole, any literary text worth our efforts will display its own internal logic" (Guerin 75)."

When practicing the formalistic approach, the reader must scrutinize the text for tools such as form, texture, style, symbolism, point of view, theme, and so on to portray the beauty of the work. This will be very clear how to analyze a work by using a formalistic approach itself.

In literary theory, formalism refers to critical approaches that analyze, interpret, or evaluate the inherent features of a text. These features include not only grammar and syntax but also literary devices such as meter and tropes. The formalist approach reduces the importance of a text’s historical, biographical, and cultural context. (Wikipedia)

The work entitled “The Case of The Crushed Petunias” is going to be analyzed by using some devices of formalistic approach. This work is very interesting to be analyzed because there can be found some symbols which represent the real meaning of the message delivered in the work.

THE FORMALISTIC APPROACH ANALYSIS OF “THE CASE OF THE CRUSHED PETUNIAS”

The work entitled “The Case of The Crushed Petunias” written by Tennessee William seems to shows us more about life, the case of life. Using formalistic approach becomes to make the reader close to the message which is delivered in the work. I am so interesting in learning the value that I can catch from the work. The work uses many symbols which can represent us the meaning of the purpose such as petunias, eleven D and so on. Here I am going to analyze not only all the symbols in the work but I am also going to analyze from the characters that represent of the existence of a person in the work.

From the beginning of the play, the message has been delivered to the reader what the meaning is the word. The title of the work indirectly has shown the reader that the work is going to tell about. The word title like “Case” means that the work or the message in the work is going to show the reader something important happen. “The Case and The Crushed” is the phrase that represents the whole content of the work. Why I should explore the words in the work because one of the devices used to analyze a work in formalistic approach is by looking at the phrase.

It has been mentioned above that "According to the Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature " when all the words, phrases, metaphors, images, and symbols are examined in terms of each other and of the whole, any literary text worth our efforts will display its own internal logic" (Guerin 75)." The phrases in analyzing the work are also very important to know the meaning or the hidden meaning in the words.

I try to analyze first for the characters in the work. There are only four characters. They are Miss Dorothy Simple, also called as Dorothy, Officer, Young Man, Mrs. Dull. Here I am just going to analyze the main characters of the story, Miss Dorothy Simple and Young Man.

CHARACTERIZATION ANALYSIS

Miss Dorothy Simple.

The story tells that she is a New England maiden of twenty-six who is physically very attractive but has barricaded her house and heart behind a double row of petunias. The statement above seems to be wonderful for Dorothy but there is a statement which can be related to the value of our life, it is barricaded her house and heart…. This one statement will be more discussed in symbolism. The analysis from the text “Well, well, well is not going to catch the culprit!” (Page 12) shows that Dorothy is an impatient person. She has been in emotional situation and she can not control herself because she has indirectly been barricaded by petunias. She has a good name, Simple; however, it can not represent the beauty of her personality to be a good person as well as she has a good last name, Simple. All of us know that an officer is commanded to do his job as a servant of public but in this case, Dorothy also seems to be like a commandant of the officer. The word of “barricaded” shows her as a limited person for everything. She just thinks about her importance and she does not think widely how everything can happen in our life. What I mean is the petunias, the crushed petunias. She is so protective, not protective in positive ways but she as if wants to prioritize what she looks the best for herself and not for others.

Young Man

Young Man is a person who did it. What does actually this Young Man do? The Young Man crushed petunias. He crushed the petunias which make everybody’s eyes can not be opened. What is the relationship between petunias and everybody’s eyes? This statement shows us how we can be better than what we are thinking of ourselves. This Young Man is a person who knows the future. He is a person who can see the importance of others. He is an honest and helpful person. It not only he crushed petunias to break something but it is also how this Young Man understands the value of life that everyone, anyone must be helped by others to open their eyes. This is related to the message in the text “Barricaded? My house – my heart…” (Page 14). The word of “Petunias” is a symbol.

Those characters show us how they are and how they look like in the play. Below, I would like to explore or analyze the symbolism in the story that represents the meaning, hidden meaning in “The Case of The Crushed Petunias”.

SYMBOLISM IN THE CASE OF THE CRUSHED

Symbolism is going to represent what message can be got from the work and it needs a critical thought to understand the meaning in the work. I like analyzing a work when looking at the symbolism. In this case, I found some symbols to be interpreted according the content of the text itself. Here are the symbols which can be interpreted from “The Case of The Crushed Petunias”.

Petunias

What does Petunias symbolize? Petunias are a kind of flowers. Petunias have many colors like green, pink, lavender, red and so on. Petunias will beautify our house when those are put surrounding the house. However, can we say that petunias also beautify our heart? The description of petunias has been described above as a beautiful flower which can beautify our house. In this case, the symbol of petunias is not also defined as a flower but it will also give us the real meaning what petunias is really defined. According to the Online Book of Symbol, petunias are defined as an anger or resentment. We can believe that what we believe will belong to us and we will be like what we believe. The main character, Dorothy, does like petunias as a beautiful flower surrounding her house. This statement shows us the existence of Dorothy so that the Young Man told her “…because you’d barricaded your house – and also your heart” (Page 14). This statement clarifies the meaning of petunias as a barricade to Dorothy, as a barricade for our life. The action of the Young Man, I suppose, can make Dorothy aware about something in her worth life.

Eleven D

This symbol shows us the size of shoes. This also shows us who we really are. From the footprint of the Young Man who put the shoes sized Eleven D on can be known by Dorothy. From the Yahoo Answer, D is the width of the shoe. D width is average or medium width for men's shoes. So if your new shoes are size 11D, that means they are size 11, medium width in men. This statement also gives us the meaning of the symbol Eleven D which is described as men doer.

Those symbolisms have given us the meaning. In this story, I just give or analyze two symbolisms because I am a beginner in analyzing the text or the work by using formalistic approach.

CONCLUSION

The analysis of formalistic approach makes the reader very close to the work and the meaning through the message in it. The analysis of characterization and symbolism will clarify and give understanding of the message delivered in the work.

Every analysis, we can find the value of life like the analysis in “The Case of The Crushed Petunias”. The moral value in the work is how someone can be helpful for others in terms of helping and opening something to show the best for others even though it seems “not worth” but it actually gives us the important things to be better in our daily life./Wr. Immer

Drama Analysis On Perfume

2011-01-02T09:48:00.000+07:00

DRAMA ANALYSIS ON PERFUME

P E R F U M E

A Story of a Murderer

PREFACE

What can be learnt from this life? What can be got? What can be felt? Everyone who lives can see their life better or not. They can feel when making something to be felt. When we do something to make good things, we can realize that it is good or bad, but sometimes when we do not care anything or do not want to be part of other people, when we just walk alone and think that our life is better than others, we really lose something in our daily life.

This is my mind in which it is used to think that others are useful and they are becoming a part of my life. I need them who accompany me, invite me, and care about me. I can feel what they are doing to me and I can see if they are caring about me. This is life which everyone can feel.

Why do I have to say and mention above in this writing? What we see in this life can make us better if we want to get a positive side and we want to learn many things positively. We never know something if someone does not tell us what we want to know. Sometimes, we do something where we do not know and realize that it may not be done. We don’t know that what we have done has made some disadvantages with others.

These inspirations are got by watching “PERFUME”. This film will tell us so many things about life. It will tell us about love, peace, power, and so on. This time, I will give you what I have to give. I will tell you what I have to tell. I will tell you some sides of the film that has been presented. My suggestion, watch the film if you want to know more about it and get many lessons what essences have been presented.

INTRODUCTION

Every movie must have the deep meaning that is presented to the people who watch it. It may be the meaning of life, story, history, and others. Sometimes, the meaning of the inside of the film can remind us from what we have done in the past or what we are doing right now. In this case, I will tell you some amazing things about “PERFUME”. PERFUME is one of the film which was set in 18^th century Paris. The film tells about a story of a murderer who is performed by Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) who is also an orphan with an extraordinary sense of smell.

In this film, I want to write more about “imagery”. It is about imagery in every action, event, situation and character. It will be better if I give you the definition of “imagery”. I will try to mention the definition of imagery at least from two sources. According to wikipedia.org, imagery is any literary reference to the five senses (sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste). Essentially, imagery is any series of words that create a picture in your head. Such images can be created by using figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, personification, and assonance. Imagery helps the reader picture what is going on. To the Oxford Dictionary, imagery is a language that produces pictures in the minds of people reading or listening.

To me, as I listened to my lecturer’s explanation or in my own knowledge that imagery is one of the situation that is described or the definition of something that is presented by someone that can not be seen by our own two eyes but can be understood by mind. The imagery can be seen in the following explanations and examples which can be seen in PERFUME.

I. The PERFUME Imagery

The perfume film can show many things included imagery. The imagery will be explained more. It can be seen through the actions, events, situations and characters as I have mentioned above. Let’s get started from the action. What imagery is that?

1. Actions

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille has a super-human ability to detect and distinguish scents. He is a special son if he is considered with his friends when he was a child. His special can be known from his scent. The first time in his performance in killing someone is when he smelt something which passed through his nose. What he smelt is a woman who brought some fruits in her basket but this is not the main what he looked for, what he smelt but the aroma of a woman. This shows us that a woman is more fragrant in using perfume than a man. This is fact in our daily life and every woman can feel this and they must do this in their daily life. When Jean came near by Jeanne who brought fruits in her basket, he smelt and closed to her but Jeanne was afraid with Jean and the last Jean suffocated her. Actually, if we want to see what Jean-Baptiste Grenouille really did to Jeanne, he does not mean to kill her. This is an imagery in which his heart is pure and he just wants to smell the aroma from Jeanne but the situation is not good and he wants to avoid the voice by closing her mouth until she was dead. This action shows us that there is a deed of someone which is not realized and not meant to do that. When Jean was no longer a child, he was sold to an old perfumer. He does not know anything why he is sold even does not know where he will be sent. Many people do this in their own life. They use other people to result advantages in their life without caring with other people condition. They don’t care anything. This is one of the lessons that we can get from PERFUME and this is one of the imagery in our mind, the meaning of the fact which is presented in the PERFUME. Further imagery can be seen when Jean-Baptiste Grenouille wants to make a good perfume even he will make a twelve-bottle perfume. He was sent to Italy by bringing a legal letter from his country, French. A letter shows that it can bring us to the other countries. It is like a passport which allows us staying and living in other countries. This is used by Jean-Baptiste Grenouille when he was sent to Italy to create and make the best perfume and also the beginning of his story as a murderer. He will go there through the forest. This makes him free, feel peaceful and fresh in the middle of the forest which he passed. His great scent guides him wherever he stays, whatever he does, even whoever he meets. It is his great modal when he will make some perfumes in Italy and also does his experiment there. He did experiment by killing women. Women show us that they have a beauty, love, full of love, peace where everyone comes to them, love them, save them, care them and everything will be done because of them, women. His last perfume making is through the woman who one of the most beautiful girl in Grasse, she is Laura. Love, beauty, loveliness can be felt from a woman and Laura who is one of the most beautiful girl wants to be made as a part of his twelve-bottle perfume. She is the last one to fulfill his purpose in making great perfume. After getting her, this is his last life and he can intoxicate many people around him by using dribble of the perfume. A great fragrance makes people to be intoxicated. This is a love fragrance which was made of “some beautiful girls”. Wow, what a horrible thing!

2. Events

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille can not just stay in his birth town, he has to move to the other place but this is not because of his willing. He can smell everything but he can not smell his own body. His scent always guides him whatever he does. He meets a perfumer, Baldini who created many perfumes in his country, French. He tries to convince him that he can make a better perfume than before. This imagery shows that there are many ways how to make a better one than the other which has been made but many often everyone always just looks their experiences when someone finds ways to make a better one. What Baldini says is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille does not know anything in making perfume. He has not known yet the scent of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille to detect anything around him. Why doesn’t Baldini trust Jean in making a better one? Because he always depends on his experiences of making perfumes because he has made many perfumes in his country. Jean tries to convince Baldini and the last, he can make other perfume and has Baldini to try it. Baldini smelt Jean’s creation and Baldini felt as though he stays in a beautiful garden, and a girl says “I love you”. What does this mean? This is a symbol of peace, love, beauty, safety, and loveliness. When Jean-Baptiste Grenouille made a better one, this shows that there must be the best from a better one. He asked for Baldini to teach Jean-Baptiste Grenouille how to make and how the process in making perfume. Because of his scent which always guides him, he smelt nothing when he tried to make perfume through the teaching of Baldini. He was very angry with Baldini. This shows us that a wonder of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is very high in making a true perfume. Laura who is the later experiment of Jean is very loved by his father, Antoine Richis who is the richest man in his country. His love allows Laura in making everything even when her birthday, Antoine allowed her playing game with her friends around the garden near by his house. This shows us that Laura is a beloved woman and she is free to run her life, his father love always protecst her from anywhere. Love of someone makes us happy, peaceful, glad, and dispassionate.

3. Situations

From Jean’s birthday until his dead, he never knows how to love and nobody loves him. He was born in the stinking fish market. This place is so dirty. This makes him to be what he will be. Where he was born will shows that his life is not far from “the dirty place”. A dirty place is a stinking fish market where his mother worked there and sold fishes. What did his mother do when he was born? She didn’t want his son to be born and she banished him. This thing is one of the situations where our life is not allowed to live. We are rejected and wherever we live, whatever we feel, we will feel naturally that we are rejected from everything and from the beginning because when we were born, we weren’t wanted to live in this world. I try to check the Perfume’s review that he was born in 17 July 1738 and his birth was fifth birth at the same place, it is in a stinking fish market, it is a dirty place and it is said that she always bore when she was working. I can say that his mother tends to make work is more important in order that she had no place to bear his son. Indeed, work is good but our child, our son is more important than everything that we get. The first voice that was heard by Jean is his mother tried to kill him, forsake him. That voice will guide his life that everything that he will face, he tends to do rudely because his mind has been set by the voice that he ever heard even when he was a one-day age. When he was found, he was nursed by Mandame Gaillard but she sold Jean-Baptiste Grenouille when he was 13 years old. From his birth, he was not wanted to be born and even he was sold. This will influence his life when someday he becomes an adult man. His great scent guides him to detect what are really around him. He can detect by smelling anything. It is said that Mandame did not have any place to keep Jean. This shows that someone does not want to be responsible of something that she runs.

4. Characters

Imagery can also be seen from the characters of the players in a film. The characters in this film show how they really are. How they present something to people, how they attract other people to stay and pay attention with them. How they can be interesting players in the film. In this film, I just write three main kinds of player characters. They are main character, society characters and supporting characters.

a. Main character

In Perfume, the main character is played by Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He becomes a murderer when making great perfume which can intoxicate many people. He is a unique baby when he was born and he is so different with others. He always depends on his scent. Eventually, he develops the ability to speak but he is only able to associate words by his scent. His friends hated him not because they envy with him but they can see something strange with him. He does not realize that he is a murderer. He just wants to learn how to keep his scent and create something better and becomes a popular man. In his end, he can not love anybody and nobody can love him too. Why can this happen? Because of his birthday, he was not taught how to love others and feel better with other even he can not feel how the women felt when they were killed. The main point that can be got as an imagery from the character of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is about his beginning when he stepped his feet to the earth, when he was born.

b. The society

The society has a place as one of the most important place in keeping communication. In the first of his birthday place said that fish market is one of the places which are often invited by Parisians to keep communication with other people. This shows that a market is a crowded place and an effective place to speak to others and keep contacting with others and meet others. The Parisians remain keeping a good communication with other people even though that place is very dirty. It can be seen that many people are busy to run their daily business. The society in that film is the people who always work hard in their daily life. Let’s take a look in the last of the film. What imagery can be seen from the society? The society can not stand with their two feet but they can be intoxicated by the aroma of the perfume. They do not have the true meaning of their faith even they said that Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is an angel who is sent from the heaven. This shows that the people’s faith can be changed only by the aroma of the perfume, fragrance of love by saying “He is an angel, He has no fault”.

c. Supporting Characters

The imagery can be seen through the supporting characters which are presented in the film. The supporting characters can be seen through;

a. Grenouille’s Mother.

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was her fifth baby who was born in the same place, Fish Market. When he was born, his mother did not want to nurse him even she banished him in the middle of the fishes. It can be seen from his mother’s behavior that she doesn’t love life. She doesn’t care about life. She just lives for herself without caring other people even her son, she doesn’t care about him and she is an egoistic woman. This is an imagery, a sign that his mother can not grow her own son because she does not think and she can not think that life is more important than work, life is more important than whatever she can do. She got what she had done. His mother was hanged for what was perceived as the attempted murder of her baby.

b. Jeanne Bussie

She was a young girl who was bringing the basket. She was killed when Jean-Baptiste Grenouille avoided her voice by closing her mouth until she died. She is a beautiful girl who becomes the first girl that is killed by Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. She does not know anything about Jean even she tries to give Jean two fruits when Jean came to smell her. Jeanne has a pure heart. She came to Jean by giving him two fruits because she knows that everything will be running well and there is no strange after knowing who Jean-Baptiste Grenouille really is.

c. Madame Gaillard

She had no sense of smell, so she didn’t know that Jean-Baptiste Grenouille had no scent. In charge of a boarding house, her goal in life was to save enough money to have a proper death and funeral. When Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was 13 years old, he was sold by Madame and she was given some money. This shows that what Madame did, she has no enough time if she just nurses him. I know that she cares about her life and tries looking for money but she did not want to grow Jean-Baptiste Grenouille because she just wants to fulfill her life to prepare her future funeral. Not only her future funeral can be seen but also she cared about baby and she had no any heart if she just let the baby stayed without a mother. She loved him when the other children tried to kill him when he was a baby, Madame was very angry with them who tried to kill him. But ironically, when she had money by selling Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, she lost all her money in old age, died a miserable death, and was not even buried, but rather, threw onto a heap with other bodies.

d. Giuseppe Baldini

He is an old perfumer. He merely knows the art of perfumery. He owns a perfume shop filled with a strong amalgam of scents. The shop is so intoxicating that it scares away potential customers; Baldini is too dense to realize this fact. The shop is located in the middle of a bridge, the Pont-au-Change. He takes on Jean-Baptiste Grenouille as an apprentice and becomes rich from the perfumes that Jean-Baptiste Grenouille creates for him. After giving a chance to Jean-Baptiste Grenouille to create a good perfume, he knows how to make a good perfume by using his great scent. What did Baldini say? He said that Jean-Baptiste Grenouille did not know anything about perfume. This case shows that Baldini underestimates what Jean wants to do, create to make a good perfume and also Baldini does not trust Jean-Baptiste Grenouille that he can create a good perfume. Baldini is also so proud because he depends on his experience of making or creating perfume. That’s why he said that Jean-Baptiste Grenouille did not know anything about perfume. When Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was successful to create a good perfume, Baldini sent him to Italy to create the best and after that Baldini gave him a legal letter to bring Jean-Baptiste Grenouille can be accepted in Italy. Baldini trusted him that he can do his best of making the best perfume.

e. Laura Richis

She is the most beautiful girl in Grasse. She is a peaceful woman and her father loved her so much. She also does not know about Jean but Laura was the last of Jean’s experiment of making perfume that will make people intoxicated. She asked her father when she was brought to the other place to save him from the murderer that happened in Grasse. Laura asked what really happened. Why did her father bring her out of Grasse? Her wonder shows that she wants to know the truth and the realization of life. She just feels that everything is well, but at last, Grenouille’s great scent can find where Laura is and her odor is the fragrance of Grenouille’s dreams and is central to his plans of creating the last perfume.

II. Comment on the effectiveness and attractiveness of the film

1. Effectiveness

The film of Perfume; A Story of a Murderer is presented effectively. The story which is played by protagonist as a murderer can be proved and the fact can be seen. His punishment as a murderer is given and seen by all people and the opening scene sees Jean-Baptiste Grenouille sentenced to a particularly brutal form of execution as a crowd cheers. Grenouille’s mother was hanged for what was perceived as the attempted murder of her baby and the ending of the Perfume film can be understandable although the major character hook that leads to it comes completely out of left field in the narrative just before the climax leading to a simple, pat attempt to sum up the main character’s plight.

2. Attractiveness

To me, the Perfume film is very attractive because from the first of Grenouille’s performance, as though he does not show that he is a murderer. When he was born or when he was a baby, I believe that everyone has a pity to him but when the story as a murderer has appeared, everyone who watches his performance must be angry, peevish. This is very attractive where the protagonist in the film shows that his murderer begins when he begins to create perfume and because his great scent that always guides him wherever he goes. Nobody knows if he is a murderer by creating perfume from his experiment by killing beautiful girls as the sign of love, fragrance of love.

III. Kind of Obsession of the PERFUME film

What kind of obsession can be seen or got from the Perfume film? To me, the meaning of Obsession is something that obsesses our mind when we see, know, feel something or someone. Obsession in Perfume can be seen from the scent of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. How can it be? That’s so strange, but on that film, that’s fact and his scent brings him wherever he wants to go and whatever he wants to do. This sometimes obsesses my mind when I try to remember the great scent of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. It can also be seen from his crazy behavior in killing some beautiful girls. I know that his main purpose not to kill them but he just wants to create the best perfume. By killing them, if I am as one of the girl who is killed, my mind is always obsessed and I can not be dispassionate. The last one is when the society can be intoxicated by the great aroma of his perfume. This also always obsesses my mind. How can they be intoxicated? But, that’s fact because it is the sign of love fragrance which can intoxicate everybody, love and love.

IV. The Essence of the PERFUME film The essence is how someone can be a famous person. How the power of love can be felt by everyone. The fragrance of beautiful girl by creating it on perfume can be felt by everyone peacefully, full of love. The story says that the protagonist is as a murderer but he actually does not have a purpose to kill but his main purpose and his goal is how he can create the best perfume which has the power of love and also which can intoxicate everybody because it has a power of love fragrance./Analized by Immer

“Playing Chess” or “Playing Soccer”?

2008-12-29T19:59:00.000+07:00

Actually, there are many kinds of sports which can be played. I do not understand what kinds of sports that I like much. Sometimes, I play some kinds of sports such as tennis, volleyball, badminton and soccer but some of these kinds of sports are not so liked by me. Thus, I am like a person who is learning about computer but after he completely finish all his subjects about computer such as graphic design, programming and web design, no one of these subjects that he masters particularly but all is usual. I often play chess and I ever hear that playing chess is a kind of sport but that time, I am not so sure if playing chess is a kind of sport because I think that kinds of sports are only which produce sweat. I just know after Mr. Pram said that playing chess is a kind of sport. One of the kinds of sports in which I also like to play is soccer as I have mentioned above. Two kinds of sports from five kinds of sports including chess which I like to play are soccer and chess. I like playing soccer and chess. Which one do I have to choose, playing soccer or playing chess? In this case, I will choose playing chess.

Why do I choose playing chess? I have arguments about this. There are some kinds of sports which need strong body stamina such as tennis, badminton, volleyball but it is not needed for all kinds of sports like playing chess. What do I mean about body stamina here? What I mean is too simple. I do not have to need strong energies such as running but I just stay at my seat when I play chess. In this case, I do not say that it is not important but body stamina is not more important which is needed in playing chess. The main thing in playing chess is a brain and strategy.

Then, my reason why I choose in playing chess is decision making. Making decision is not an easy thing. When making decision, I have to know if I think first and then make a decision or make a decision then I think what I have done. If I make a decision without I think first carefully, it means that I have to be ready to receive the consequence when my decision is not right because everything which will happen is needed to think. It is the same in playing chess, when I move the pawn position without thinking first what will happen after that or the position of pawn that I move, it can vitiate the other position on the chess board. After I think and realize that the most effective how to learn to make decision is when I play chess. This is my reason why I choose in playing chess. I need to learn how to make a right decision because making decision is the most important in my daily life.

Playing chess can also hone and sharpen my own memory and concentration. I know that every kind of sport must need concentration but sharpening memory is not trained in all kinds of sports. If I can say, not only kinds of sports which need concentration but also all aspects in human life because without concentration will not result maximal things. When learning, making decision and listening to someone, all of these must need concentration. Choosing chess can make me to sharpen my own memory because playing chess is an activity which helps on memory improvement. A chess player always tries to remember the pattern and position of the chess when playing chess. Beside that, playing chess will help me to be more concentrated because concentration in playing chess is the way to discover something new and unusual at the chess board, the way to create surprise with fresh ideas. I try to concentrate because I think about the tactics and strategies in playing chess. Automatically, when I often play chess with a full concentrated, it can make me usual when I am doing something. This encourages me to choose in playing chess.

My last reason why I choose playing chess is about the character. What character can I learn from playing chess? Playing chess is not only the process which involves 32 chess pieces and 64 checks but it is a battle which involves emotions between two persons that is limited by a standard game because they must ever make a blunder, it may be a small blunder or big blunder in playing chess. Every chess player, beginner player or professional player will show their individualistic character when they are playing chess through their play style. Their play style is not only the assimilation of their knowledge about chess but also it is an expression of their character. If we know much about someone in our daily life, we can guess what the play style which he will choose in playing chess. Someone who is too careful and always worried in this life, it will not show a brave play style. Someone who has a character as a gambler will play his game with risk decisions that sometimes he does not think carefully the strategies of his opposite. An optimistic person tends to think smart when playing chess and believe that his chess position on chess board can win the position of his opposite but a pessimistic person will always see dangers and difficulties in every position. Chess style is really a reflection of personality and character

Now, how about playing soccer? I like playing soccer but I also have the reasons why I do not choose in playing soccer. I still remember about my condition in the past and this remains what I feel until right now. It is about 10 years ago, I still remember that my body has a little lesion in my chest. That time, I fell down from a tree and it made me could not stay long when I tried to run. Why do I talk about “run” here? I talk about it because in playing soccer has to be able to run with strong body stamina. Here, if I am as a quarterback in playing soccer, I can not stay at my place but I have to move there and here. It means that a quarterback has to have good body stamina when playing soccer. In this case, I do not have good body stamina in playing soccer.

How about of making decision in playing soccer? In playing soccer also needs how to make right decisions. I have to be good in making decision when I am bringing or passing the ball into my friend but the player in soccer is not just one player but more than one player. In playing chess, it just needs two players. For example, first player is my position and second player is my opposite position. It means, when I make wrong decisions in playing chess, I will lose my good chess position on chess board because nobody can help me. How about if I make wrong decisions in playing soccer? Sometimes, when I pass the ball into my friend, although the ball is not exactly passed, my friend who accepts my passing can pass the ball into his friend. It means that if someone makes wrong decisions in playing soccer, it can be improved by the other friends in that team. Sometimes I do not know if I have made right decision or wrong decisions because when I make wrong decision in playing soccer, I still have other friends in my team who also can pass the ball into his friend. In playing chess, I have to be careful in making decision and this encourages me to be more independent of making decision because if I make wrong decisions in playing chess, it can make me lost. It does not mean that I do not need friends to improve or help me in learning of making decision but it will be better for me to learn myself as long as I can do.

What I have mentioned in playing chess is also needed in playing soccer. It is about concentration. Concentration is needed in playing chess and also in playing soccer. So, I will try to talk about sharpening memory. In playing chess, I can learn how to sharpen my own memory. In playing soccer I can also sharpen my own memory. For example, when I am in quarterback position, I can not take a striker position but in this case, more effective to learn in sharpening memory is when I am playing chess as I have explained above. This is one of my reasons why I do not choose in playing soccer when I want to sharpen my own memory.

The last one, when I talk about character, it will be more effective for me when I learn about character in playing chess because when I keep silent at my seat, I have to control and think that I can do it. What I mean that I have to control is about my emotion. If I get emotion in playing soccer, I can cry and jump but in playing chess I can not do this. If I try to cry when I play chess because of my emotion, I will look like a crazy boy. Learning about character in playing chess is not too different from learning character in playing soccer. In playing soccer, I also have to be able to control my emotion when I am held up by my opposite in playing soccer. A soccer player also has to be patient when bringing the ball to pass into his other team mate.

Playing soccer and playing chess are kinds of sports that I like. The kind of sport which I choose from the two kinds of sports is playing chess. My arguments about my choice have been explained above and I know that both sports need the same reasons such as body stamina, decision making, memory improvement and learning about character but the functions of these reasons have not been had by the two sports. In playing chess, I can learn of making decision and also in playing soccer but making decision in playing soccer is not as big as making decision in playing chess as I have explained above. Finally, after giving many explanations, I can make sure that I choose to play chess./Wr. Immer

The Brain Food Supplies

2008-12-21T19:54:00.000+07:00

We must consume food in our daily life. If we do not eat food in a day, we will be tired to do something. Even we tend to lie in our bed room because we are not strong or do not have an energy of doing something. In the sense of our body needs to be filled by food to make it strong.

Reading book for our brain is like the case that I have written above. What is really the relation between reading book and consuming food for our body? Here, book is like food and our body is as a brain. Reading book is like giving food to our body that I have mentioned. If we do not give food for our brain, our brain will be difficult to result ideas. It means, our brain will be very weak to think. It is the same case when we do not give food for our body, our body will not be strong to do something. Our body is to do something and our brain is to think but both need food.

We will take food that we like to eat. We will not eat fried chicken if we just want to eat burnt chicken. In reading book, we will feel the same case. We will not read an economic book if we just want to read a self-development book.

What we eat will effect our health. What we read will also effect our own way to think. If we just consume a kind of food, our health does not grow well. The same thing, if we read a kind of book, for example, we just read a computer book, our brain just knows the knowledge about computer and we will be difficult to know the knowledge about social, economic, self-development, philosophy, and so forth.

When we eat more than a kind of food, our health will grow well. This is like with our brain. When our brain consumes by reading many kinds of books, such as social, economic, self-development, philosophy, etc, our brain will grow well and ideas of creating something will be easier. It means, we need to make balance of reading books.

Thus, stay our healthy by consuming food regularly. Giving food to our body will make us strong to do what we will do. Giving food to our brain by reading books will make our brain grows well. Our brain will create bright thoughts and ideas when it is kept by reading books regularly./Wr. Immer

The Symbol and Interpretation Of Colors

2008-12-17T15:59:00.000+07:00

THE SYMBOL AND INTERPRETATION OF COLORS IN SCARLET LETTER

INTRODUCTION

The Scarlet Letter is the greatest novel in American literary history written by a short story writer and also a famous novelist, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1904 – 1864), published in 1980. The Scarlet Letter is set in the seventeenth century, puritanical, New England colony of Massachusetts and the complete action is set in the town of Boston.

I found so many lessons and important things when reading and understanding some contents of The Scarlet Letter. In this paper, I would like to write and explain more about the symbols in Scarlet Letter. I will specify my topic “symbols” to be “The Symbols of Color in Scarlet Letter” and what I will actually explain more is the symbols of color red, black and white in Scarlet Letter. I am interested in analyzing and delivering the deep meaning of the color especially the deep color meaning of red, black and white in Scarlet Letter. Colors have so many deep meanings used in Scarlet Letter.

Before going far to the discussion of the topic, I would like to define the meaning of the word “symbol” itself. To the Wikipedia.org, symbols are objects, characters, or other concrete representations of ideas, concepts, or other abstractions. The symbols of color in Scarlet Letter will be related as deep meanings and other concrete representations of ideas which will give the real definitions of the symbols itself. To the library.thinkquest.org, a symbol is an object that represents something else. The same thing as defined by library.thinkquest.org will be found in the Scarlet Letter which has shown many symbols but in this paper, I will just show the symbols of color and the deep meaning of the color itself.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE SYMBOL

OF COLORS IN SCARLET LETTER

Every life has an important thing shown in many ways, ways of meaning, signs, and symbols and each of them sometimes is an analogy to represent the hidden meanings of something. Not everything can be shown as facts and the people’s ways of thinking make this to show easy things for others. Also, not everyone understands what they have read from something else, but it will be understood comprehensively by analyzing what they are reading and what they want to understand.

In The Scarlet Letter, symbols appear everywhere. Hawthorne uses several different concrete objects to represent something of deeper meaning. Among these symbols is the Scarlet Letter “A” itself. It is artistically made of red cloth and beautifully embroidered;

“On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore, and and which was of a splendour in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony” (39-40)

It is a literal symbol of the sin of adultery. The letter “A” appears in several places and several forms. It is the letter that appears on Hester’s heart that she is condemned to wear for the remainder of her life

In this paper, as it has been mentioned above, at least, three colors will be delivered after doing analysis from the Scarlet Letter novel. The colors are red, black and white. Firstly, I would like to explain and deliver more about the deep meanings of red in Scarlet Letter and what actually the meaning of red in the novel is.

The most important of Scarlet Letter is the symbol of a red “A” for it shows what Hester Prynne has done which is not suitable to the teaching of the era of Puritanism and because of what she has done, she must do her punishment by standing on the scaffold;

“…who stood on the scaffold of the pillory, an infant on her arm, and the letter A, in scarlet, fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom!” (44)

In this case, I will not explore the meaning of the symbol of letter “A” but I will further show and explain the meaning of red color in the novel of Scarlet Letter. In the Scarlet Letter, the letter of A was made with the red. There are many definitions of red but the definitions of red here will be more referred to the Scarlet Letter itself. Scarlet Letter uses the symbol of red because the red is frequently used as a symbol of guilt or sin, often as connected with blood (en.wikipedia.org). Red most noticeably represents the sin committed by Hester Prynne, as shown by the scarlet “A” she is forced to wear on her bosom. The scarlet letter, like her sin, is something that she will never be able to forget and is something she can never escape from. The symbol of red in Scarlet Letter shows a guilt or sin who was done by her. Knowing the meaning of red which is defined as a symbol of guilt or sin, the letter of a red “A” which was also embroidered upon her bosom, the writer, Hawthorne says in her novel that Hester Prynne who had an infant born as illegitimate child has a sin and guilt;

“…something which should remind him, indeed, but only by contrast, of that sacred image of sinless motherhood, whose infant was to redeem the world. Here, there was the taint of deepest sin in the most sacred quality of human life, working such effect, that the world was only the darker for this woman’s beauty, and the more lost for the infant that she had borne” (42)

This symbol of red can be found in the novel that the letter of a red “A” as a symbol of guilt, sin and infamy becomes a part of her illegitimate child mentioned as the sin-born infant;

“…with the scarlet token of infamy on her breast; with the sin-born infant in her arms” (47)

The symbol of red becomes a symbol to the cloth of Hester Prynne’s daughter when she wore the red cloth. The color red is used to represent the result of the sin, as Pearl is usually dressed in red clothing. Pearl is called a wide variety of names pertaining to the color red in the book such as “Ruby”, “Coral”, “Red Rose”, and “a little bird of scarlet plumage;

“I am mother’s child,’ answered the scarlet vision, ‘and my name is Pearl!’ ‘Pearl?—Ruby, rather—or Coral!—or Red Rose, at the very least, judging from thy hue!” (82)

Red is used to represent the sin further with the red “A” formed from meteors and the “A” appearing on Dimmesdale’s chest;

“We impute it, therefore, solely to the disease in his own eye and heart that the minister, looking upward to the zenith, beheld there the appearance of an immense letter—the letter A—marked out in lines of dull red light. Not but the meteor may have shown itself at that point, burning duskily through a veil of cloud, but with no such shape as his guilty imagination gave it, or, at least, with so little definiteness, that another’s guilt might have seen another symbol in it” (116)

Besides of the meaning of red on the letter of A itself, there are many deep meanings of red from the whole of the novel content and I would like to mention one by one by giving statements from the novel itself. The symbol of red also refers to how human has passion and anguish in this life. Hester Prynne has an anguish in her life because of the punishment shown to the all people around her and she has to face many people’s view about her, showing the Scarlet Letter flaming on her breast. As written in the novel that Hester Prynne has a sinful passion and he sinful passion to be an attention for many people and moralist;

“Throughout them all, giving up her individuality, she would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman’s frailty and sinful passion. Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast—at her, the child of honourable parents—at her, the mother of a babe that would hereafter be a woman—at her, who had once been innocent—as the figure, the body, the reality of sin. And over her grave, the infamy that she must carry thither would be her only monument” (59, 60)

This passion has been a part of Hester’s life in facing the reality of life;

“To Hester Prynne it might have been a mode of expressing, and therefore soothing, the passion of her life” (63)

And she acknowledges that there are many sins hidden in the deepest heart of people;

“She shuddered to believe, yet could not help believing, that it gave her a sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in other hearts” (65)

The symbol of red is also associated with lust, passion, love, and beauty as well. The association with love and beauty is possibly related to the use of red roses as a love symbol (eb.wikipedia.org). The symbol of red is also talking about lust. Hester Prynne’s daughter, Pearl, was born as an illegitimate child, born by the lust of this world and the father’s guilt and actually by a love of Hester Prynne with the child’s father, Arthur Dimmesdale. However, nobody is perfect and the love of God is still upon this child so that she came into this world.

“This child of its father’s guilt and its mother’s shame has come from the hand of God, to work in many ways upon her heart, who pleads so earnestly and with such bitterness of spirit the right to keep her. It was meant for a blessing—for the one blessing of her life! It was meant, doubtless, the mother herself hath told us, for a retribution, too; a torture to be felt at many an unthought-of moment; a pang, a sting, an ever-recurring agony, in the midst of a troubled joy! Hath she not expressed this thought in the garb of the poor child, so forcibly reminding us of that red symbol which sears her bosom?” (85)

Furthermore, Red is also used as a symbol of courage and sacrifice, as in blood spilt in sacrifice or courage in the face of lethal danger. The courage of Hester Prynne makes her keep staying with her own being. This shows that encourage in the novel of Scarlet Letter is one of the important thing to Hester Prynne to be stronger from the gaze of other people;

“ Hester Prynne had been standing on her pedestal, still with a fixed gaze towards the stranger—so fixed a gaze that, at moments of intense absorption, all other objects in the visible world seemed to vanish, leaving only him and her. Such an interview, perhaps, would have been more terrible than even to meet him as she now did, with the hot mid-day sun burning down upon her face, and lighting up its shame; with the scarlet token of infamy on her breast; with the sin-born infant in her arms” (47)

She is not only as a gaze of many people but she is also estranged from others. What she has in her life can not be lost and it can bring her life to live in the middle of those who always think something bad coming from her life. The courage in her life brings her to be more enthusiastic in her daily life;

“with a mind of native courage and activity, and for so long a period not merely estranged, but outlawed from society, had habituated herself to such latitude of speculation as was altogether foreign to the clergyman. She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness, as vast, as intricate, and shadowy as the untamed forest, amid the gloom of which they were now holding a colloquy that was to decide their fate.” (150)

This color of red is also defined as a symbol of sacrifice. Hester Prynne has to work hard for her life continuity, doing some rude works instead of what she has done in her life;

“Much of the time, which she might readily have applied to the better efforts of her art, she employed in making coarse garments for the poor. It is probable that there was an idea of penance in this mode of occupation, and that she offered up a real sacrifice of enjoyment in devoting so many hours to such rude handiwork” (63)

This interpretation of Hester’s sacrifice can be seen when Pearl was born. It looks like that she doesn’t remember her sinful deed when her daughter came into this world because of her sacrifice to bear her. A little Pearl has come to this real world without knowing before why she came. A lovely mother kept her dear daughter for she was born from Hester Prynne’s loved one. Everything is as if changed when Hester Prynne heard her daughter’s voice. Everyone looks at the daughter as a product of sin;

“…with what strange rapidity, indeed did Pearl arrive at an age that was capable of social intercourse beyond the mother’s ever-ready smile and nonsense words! And then what a happiness would it have been could Hester Prynne have heard her clear, bird-like voice mingling with the uproar of other childish voices, and have distinguished and unravelled her own darling’s tones, amid all the entangled outcry of a group of sportive children. But this could never be. Pearl was a born outcast of the infantile world. An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants” (70)

The symbol of color in the novel of Scarlet Letter is to be so important to show the hidden meanings. I will keep continuing to show further the meaning of red. In terms of the meanings of red, this will be related to the text and the interpretation of the text. The last one for the symbol of red is talking about spirit, the strong spirit in facing the problem of life. Fire is something red that can burn something and if the fire burns our spirit, we will be enthusiastic to do anything that brings something better in our daily life.

Another frequently used color used by Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter is black. Black is mainly used to represent the darkness and evil that is living throughout this book. In the introduction of the novel, it says that the custom house is in black paint;

“The Custom-House marker imprinted it, with a stencil and black paint, on pepper-bags, and baskets of anatto, and cigar-boxes, and bales of all kinds of dutiable merchandise, in testimony that these commodities had paid the impost, and gone regularly through the office. Borne on such queer vehicle of fame, a knowledge of my existence, so far as a name conveys it, was carried where it had never been before, and, I hope, will never go again” (21)

Very early in the book, Hawthorne refers to the prison as the “black flower of civilized society,” meaning it as a place representing evil and darkness;

“Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was a grassplot, much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, applepern, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently

found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilised society, a prison” (35)

The rose has something beautiful meaning and value in this life. Many times, the rose is defined as the symbol of love and beauty. The black rose is a rose that its color is dark and it is something unclear. In the novel, it is written that the rose has been kept because the symbol of love is also the symbol of life and beauty;

“This rose-bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness, so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and oaks that originally overshadowed it, or whether, as there is far authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson as she entered the prison-door, we shall not take upon us to determine” (36)

To the en.wikipedia.org, rose was sacred to a number of goddesses and is often used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. It is also said that the red rose has different meanings from the other color of rose. In the Scarlet Letter, most of color uses red and the red rose means “love”. This sign of black also shows that the people around Hester Prynne as if they are clear from the sin. They do not know if they actually have sin in their life. They just see the guilt of other people meanwhile they can not see their own guilt. As mentioned in the novel that something hidden in people’s heart;

“…that it gave her a sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in other hearts” (65)

In the novel, there is a black shadow emerging into sunshine. A black shadow shows that life of someone is actually not clear. A good way is put to the wrong way and it seems that it has been done well but the facts, it’s not. The black shadow also shows something dismal and it can not appear clearly;

“The door of the jail being flung open from within there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine, the grim and gristly presence of the town-beadle, with a sword by his side, and his staff of office in his hand. This personage prefigured and represented in his aspect the whole dismal severity of the Puritanic code of law, which it was his business to administer in its final and closest application to the offender. Stretching forth the official staff in his left hand, he laid his right upon the shoulder of a young woman, whom he thus drew forward, until, on the threshold of the prison-door…”(39)

In the Puritanism, the people tend to look for the purity in their daily life and they obey the rule of religion. The symbol of black is something which can not be seen well and sometimes it is hidden. The people who are sinful is also the kind of blackness that can not be known by others and who knows if we or somebody is sinful? Nobody can predict if someone is sinful. They just look from outside of someone and nobody knows someone’s heart and only God who knows that our life has a guilt. A sin also refers to the black thing;

“…and in hearing of all the people, as touching the vileness and blackness of our sin” (49)

The little Pearl, Hester Prynne’s daughter also has the kind of blackness. She was born by her mother, Hester Prynne who had sin and guilt before bearing Pearl. The symbol of black means that the black guilt and hidden guilt that Hester Prynne does, it will transfer to her daughter that also brings the same thing from her mother. In the novel says that there is another face in the small black mirror of Pearl’s eye. The black mirror shows that Pearl has something strange which is seen by others that she has a smiling malice in her own life;

“Once this freakish, elvish cast came into the child’s eyes while Hester was looking at her own image in them, as mothers are fond of doing; and suddenly for women in solitude, and with troubled hearts, are pestered with unaccountable delusions she fancied that she beheld, not her own miniature portrait, but another face in the small black mirror of Pearl’s eye. It was a face, fiend-like, full of

smiling malice, yet bearing the semblance of features that she had known full well, though seldom with a smile, and never with malice in them. It was as if an evil spirit possessed the child, and had just then peeped forth in mockery. Many a time afterwards had Hester been tortured, though less vividly, by the same illusion.” (72-73)

People who lived in puritanical era try to keep their life to be pure. The father of Pearl – before Pearl was born – had hidden the black things for others in relation with Hester Prynne. The black deed brings him to difficult situations. He was a preacher and everyone believed in him. Nobody knows if he had done something bad where everyone knew that he might not do that;

“…thus suffering under bodily disease, and gnawed and tortured by some black trouble of the soul, and given over to the machinations of his deadliest enemy, the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale had achieved a brilliant popularity in his sacred office. He won it indeed, in great part, by his sorrows. His intellectual gifts, his moral perceptions, his power of experiencing and communicating emotion, were kept in a state of preternatural activity by the prick and anguish of his daily life.” (105)

The black soul will show something worse for many people because it will tend to make others can not feel and they are always brought to the same thing having a black soul. This means how people save something secret in their life. This is not a good secret but a black secret. The black soul has also a black life. What the novel has mentioned is that Mr. Dimmesdale had a black secret in his soul;

“More than once, Mr. Dimmesdale had gone into the pulpit, with a purpose never to come down its steps until he should have spoken words like the above. More than once he had cleared his throat, and drawn in the long, deep, and tremulous breath, which, when sent forth again, would come burdened with the black secret of his soul” (107)

The lust of Hester Prynne had pleaded her to live in the mocking of others. She had to face other bad response about her life. The novel writes that she lived in the same platform or scaffold and this kind of scaffold was black. This shows how Hester Prynne is so close with the will of devil. From the beginning of her guilt, it seems that she indeed tried to be strong and she had a great passion in facing that but what she had done is actually the deed black things which refers to devil’s will;

“…Hester Prynne had lived through her first hours of public ignominy. The same platform or scaffold, black and weather-stained with the storm or sunshine of seven long years, and foot-worn, too, with the tread of many culprits who had since ascended it, remained standing beneath the balcony of the meetinghouse” (110)

Darkness is occasionally turned to light, suggesting that darkness represents a place of hiding, where true emotions are not shown and characters hide from their problems. The black things represent the darkness and the hidden things;

“…the secrets that may be buried in the human heart. The heart, making itself guilty of such secrets, must perforce hold them, until the day when all hidden things shall be revealed. Nor have I so read or interpreted Holy Writ, as to understand that the disclosure of human thoughts and deeds, then to be made, is intended as a part of the retribution” (98)

Hester Prynne is also said by her husband, Roger Chillingworth that she has hidden sinfulness;

“There goes a woman,’ resumed Roger Chillingworth, after a pause, ‘who, be her demerits what they may, hath none of that mystery of hidden sinfulness which you deem so grievous to be borne. Is Hester Prynne the less miserable, think you, for that scarlet letter on her breast?” (100)

The Puritan’s refer to Satan and evil beings as the “Black Man” in the forest, as he represents darkness and all that is evil about society. Black is used as a tool to show the most evil part of a person or object, as it can only be countered by the color of white;

“Why dost thou smile so at me?’ inquired Hester, troubled at the expression of his eyes. ‘Art thou like the Black Man that haunts the forest round about us? Hast thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul?’ ‘Not thy soul,’ he answered, with another smile. ‘No, not thine!” (58)

The last one is white which is also used by Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter to represent light and change. The light shows that someone is given a bright way to run his or her life because without the light, we sometimes do not know what to do. The novel also mentions that the light comes upon someone’s life and this is to be the lamp of life;

“If his notice was sought, an expression of courtesy and interest gleamed out upon his features, proving that there was light within him, and that it was only the outward medium of the intellectual lamp that obstructed the rays in their passage. The closer you penetrated to the substance of his mind, the sounder it appeared” (16)

The symbol of light shows us something powerful where it can bring us to a better way that guides our path to step. When doing a guilt, it always intimidate us to do more the sinful deed. When the light appears, it means that someone still has a chance to correct their deed from the bad deed that they have done;

“He kept vigils, likewise, night after night, sometimes in utter darkness, sometimes with a glimmering lamp, and sometimes, viewing his own face in a looking-glass, by the most powerful light which he could throw upon it. He thus typified the constant introspection wherewith he tortured, but could not purify himself. In these lengthened vigils, his brain often reeled, and visions seemed to flit before him; perhaps seen doubtfully, and by a faint light of their own” (108)

The novel also writes how Mr. Dimmesdale can see the wide light in the sky as the relation between earth and sky;

“But before Mr. Dimmesdale had done speaking, a light gleamed far and wide over all the muffled sky. It was doubtless caused by one of those meteors, which the night-watcher may so often observe burning out to waste, in the vacant regions of the atmosphere. So powerful was its radiance, that it thoroughly illuminated the dense medium of cloud betwixt the sky and earth. The great vault brightened, like the dome of an immense lamp. It showed the familiar scene of the street with the distinctness of mid-day, but also with the awfulness that is always imparted to familiar objects by an unaccustomed light The wooden houses…” (115)

White is also the color employed by Hawthorne to oppose black and darkness as a method of self-containment. Pearl, who has never committed a sin herself, is almost always portrayed with a light shining upon her, symbolizing the good, her existence, coming out of the bad, her conception through adultery;

“So magnificent was the small figure when thus arrayed, and such was the splendour of Pearl’s own proper beauty, shining through the gorgeous robes which might have extinguished a paler loveliness” (68)

The white also refers to changes. The changes of life will be always needed and spontaneously, it often happens into our daily life and it is actually looked for many people to make a better life. The Scarlet Letter also talks about the changes as it can be read from this quotation;

“…himself strongly to familiar faces, and with difficulty moved to change, even when change might have brought unquestionable improvement. Thus, on taking charge of my department, I found few but aged men. They were ancient sea- captains, for the most part, who, after being tossed on every sea, and standing up sturdily against life’s tempestuous blast, had finally drifted into this quiet nook, where, with little to disturb them” (10)

And this one is further found how the change of life is missed by everyone;

“…a low whisper in my ear, that within no long period, and whenever a new change of custom should be essential to my good, change would come” (20)

Hester, who is looked down upon by the entire town throughout the book, removed her letter and faced her sin and pride, causing the sunlight to shine upon her for the very first time;

“All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees. The objects that had made a shadow hitherto, embodied the brightness now. The course of the little brook might be traced by its merry gleam afar into the wood’s heart of mystery, which had become a mystery of joy” (152-153)

This shows the way that coming out of the darkness of hiding Hester Prynne’s emotions, let loose the powerful force of sunshine, as Hester was able to relieve her feelings of guilt and sorrow, which she had carried for such a long time. White was the symbol that offset all of the negative effects of the story, and showed the characters for what they truly were.

The color of white can show that everything is clear to see and there is no hidden and secret. White is also giving something visible;

“Moonlight, in a familiar room, falling so white upon the carpet, and showing all its figures so distinctly—making every object so minutely visible, yet so unlike a morning or noontide visibility—is a medium the most suitable for a romance-writer to get acquainted with his illusive guests. There is the little domestic scenery of the well-known apartment; the chairs, with each its separate individuality; the centre-table, sustaining a work-basket, a volume or two, and an extinguished lamp; the sofa; the book-case; the picture on the wall—all these details, so completely seen, are so spiritualised by the unusual light, that they seem to lose their actual substance, and become things of intellect” (26-27)

The white also shows something pure;

“…the white veil which was to cover the pure blushes of a bride” (62)

CONCLUSSION

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter uses many forms to display the emotions and feelings of the characters, especially through the colors of red, - the most colors used in Scarlet Letter - black, and white. Red was used to display the sin committed by Hester, representing the passion and sensuality of the characters, relating to the scarlet letter. The red is also used as a color to the letter of a red “A”. Black was used as a symbol of darkness and evil, as all of the negative events within the book were described using the color of black. The black is also used to show something hidden from the people’s secret.

White was used to counter the use of black, as it symbolized the opposition to darkness and the purity of many of the characters true feelings. This color of white also shows the light how the light can be shown for everything which has deep definition and also it shows that the light can lighten our path, guide us to keep staying in a right way. The white also refers the change of life and how we can have a new in this life. The change of life is leading us to the better life.

The analysis of Scarlet Letter whose topic is “The Symbol and Interpretation of Colors” has mostly shown, explained and stated the deep meaning of colors. The deep meaning of the colors sought from the definitions of the color itself that have been related to the content and statement or quotations from the novel of Scarlet Letter.

Finally, reading and understanding the content of the novel can lead and remind the reader what lessons can be got and it can teach how to see our own deed before looking for the guilt of others./Analyzed by Immer

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Mackays of Chatham plc, Great Britain 1992

Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 02 Jan. 2008. The Wikimedia, Inc. 07 January 2008

Oracle ThinkQuest. 15 Aug. 2005. Oracle ThinkQuest: Education Foundation. 07 January 2008

The Causes Of Family Internal Conflict

2008-12-13T16:01:00.000+07:00

THE CAUSES OF FAMILY INTERNAL CONFLICT

IN THE GREAT MOM SWAP

The Great Mom Swap

INTRODUCTION

The Great Mom Swap is the title of the novel written by Betsy Haynes. She, the daughter of a former newswoman, began scribbling poetry and short stories as soon as she learnt to write. The title, The Great Mom Swap, will mostly present the internal conflict and this paper will discuss more about the causes of the family internal conflict in the novel.

Something is going to happen because there is a cause why it happens. The family internal conflict in the novel of The Great Mom Swap shows the same thing in which the family internal conflict begins to appear in the family. In this case, I would like to explain the meaning of causes itself. The Online Dictionary states that cause is the producer of an effect, result and consequence.

This statement will be more explained in the content of this paper how the causes have an effect, result and consequence for the family. The other definition quoted from Online Dictionary shows that cause also means the one, such as a person, event, or condition that is responsible for an action or result. This statement will be related how the characters in the novel take part which has a relation or responsibility for the action and result shown in The Great Mom Swap.

The definition of conflict is also important in this paper because it will be related to the causes when explaining the causes happening in the novel. From Wikipedia.com, it states that conflict is a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. This statement will obviously be seen in the novel and will be explained more.

The last that I would like to define is the definition of internal conflict. Internal Conflict is the dilemma facing the character inside and its impact on that character (www.musik-therapie.at). Internal conflict adds meaning and complexity to the external conflict, but it is the external conflict that forces the character to make internal choices and changes. This statement clarifies how the internal conflict is also influenced by the external conflicts.

THE CAUSES OF FAMILY INTERNAL CONFLICT

Actually, I am interested in discussing this point, the causes of family internal conflict. However, this will give some advantages or knowledge for others especially those who want to keep a strong family.

Everyone can not help receiving conflicts because those are a part of our life. It is not only a part which makes us down but it is also values for us to be independent family. What I mean is the family which has good values to help other families to be stronger families.

The novel The Great Mom Swap shows the existence of the family that gets conflicts. The question is what causes the conflict so that it happens in the family and how the conflicts appear. In the novel, there are two daughters, Scotti and Lorna, who had kept a good friendship since they were Junior High School. Scotti is a daughter of Helene, her Mom and Craig Wheeler, her Dad. She is a smart girl but she looks so fat. Lorna is a friend of Scotti and a daughter of Ann Markham. Lorna is a tall Texan and she must be proud of that but her Mom, Ann Markham says that she wasn’t the giraffe of Colleyville Junior High.

“You’re a tall Texan. Square your shoulders and be proud of yourself. That was all right for Ann Markham to say. She wasn’t the giraffe of Colleyville Junior High” (2)

That is a little bit about the description of the two daughters, Scotti and Lorna. The two daughters have a foible and feature. This becomes one of the reasons why the conflict in the family begins to appear. Firstly, I would like to discuss the internal conflict before giving the causes of the conflict itself.

As a teenager, sometimes Scotti or Lorna does not really think the effect of what they are doing. In actuality, the first conflict appears because the two daughters have idea to do something, Mom swap.

“I have an ever better idea! And you know, Lorna, it just might work”
“What might work?”
“Swapping moms!”
“Swapping moms?” Lorna echoed.
“Sure. School will be out in a week.” (13)

However, this is the effect of the situation happening in the family. This means that before they swap their moms, something is happening in the family as a result they eventually swap their moms. The two mothers, Ann Markham and Helen want their daughter to better daughter without looking at the feature of their own daughter. The dream of the two mothers is actually good but their deed also will have an effect for their daughters so that the two daughters unable to listen to their mother’s complaint anymore. What I mean unable here is their mother always want the daughter to be like others. Scotti is a smart person but her mother can not look at her feature as a smart person even her mother tends to see the feature of others like Lorna as a healthy girl.

From the mother existence, we can interpret that she has a dream and hope for her daughter. It will be better if I also give the definition of dream itself. Dream is how someone hopes something new and different. Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. Someone who has a hope is someone who wishes for something with the expectation of the wish being fulfilled (Wikipedia). This situation has happened to the two mothers where they wish their daughters to be better without looking at their daughters’ potential.

As mentioned above that the dream of Scotti’s mother can be seen from the statement written in the novel. Having said above that Scotti is a smart person but her mother is never satisfied to see Scotti existence that so that she says that she has to be like Lorna who has a good health and Scotti has to do exercise and eat healthy food.

“Exercise and eat healthy food. ‘Fit. not fat.’ She always says, ‘Look at your best friend. Lorna’s so thin. She must have found the perfect balance between exercise and nutrition” (12)

This is what happens to Scotti where she is always compared to her friend, Lorna. The hope of Scotti’s mother is not wrong because it’s worthy for her mother to say that she has to do exercise to be healthy person because Scotti’s mother was an absolute health nut. The Scotti’s mother profession is serving the weirdest food in the world.

“Scotti’s mother was an absolutely health nut and served the weirdest food in the world, which was why Scotti kept little caches of food hidden in her closet, in her locker at school, and even in the bottom of her knapsack. She called them her survival kits” (4)

This is the reason of her mother, Helene, why she hopes her daughter has a healthy life. The same condition is also happening to Scotti’s friend, Lorna. This is a little different from Scotti existence. Scotti’s mother tends to see her daughter physically and Lorna’s mother sees from the side of intellectual. The same comparison comes to Lorna’s mother in which she also says that Lorna has to be like Scotti.

“Scotti maximizes her potential. She wants to be a writer, and she’s already had an article published.’ I must have heard about that one measly article about our neighbor Mr. Killington and the airplane…” (12)

The two mothers have the same hope in which their daughters want to be better than others. However, the two mothers do not know if their daughters who listen to what they are saying for their daughters have a great influence. That is why as written above that the idea of the daughter appears in their mind to swap their moms. It means that the two daughters might think that this idea or swapping moms will make them convenient. Everyone will feel inconvenient if they are compared to others existence.

The idea of the daughter becomes the internal conflict of the family. In this case, I want to clarify and explain the causes of the conflict in the family. The conflict is not which causes the daughter idea realized but the conflict why the two mothers try to see the foible of their daughters and the two mothers always look at the existence of others around them.

The meaning of causes has been defined above as a producer of an effect, result and consequence. There are two causes that will be explained in this paper. They are the lack of communication between parents and children and the lack of parents’ attention to the children. I think, this is a vital situation for all families in this world. Without a good communication in the family, it will decrease the values in the family itself. The clearest examples of historical change in the quality and nature of intimate relations are the norms governing the relationship between parents and children. (David and William Sociology and everyday life, 133). This is clearly stating that the communication will produce the quality and good intimacy in the family. The values and good norms in the family are also measured how far the communication increased.

Another way that must be remembered in terms of communication is the communication with teenager. Communication with teenager is extremely important, but many of the typical changes that occur during adolescence tend to interfere with the effectiveness and amount of interaction between parent and child. (familyeducation.com)

This statement becomes one of the important things in the novel why the two daughters did something to swap their mother. There must be no more enough communication between parents and child so that the big mistake appears in that family, the great mom swap.

The lack of communication in Scotti’s family can be seen from the profession of her parents. Scotti’s parents are busy all day. This condition will affect the existence of Scotti where there is no more intimacy so that she even has a great idea to swap her mom with Lorna’s mom. What I get from this statement is if Scotti or in the family of Scotti has a good intimacy, it is impossible for Scotti to swap her mom. On the other hand, if there is a good intimacy in the family of Scotti, she will think twice if she has an idea to swap her mom because she must love her mom.

The business of Scotti’s parents has been stated in the novel. Scotti’s mother was also a flight attendant and her father, Captain Craig Wheeler, was a pilot.

“Scotti’s mother, Helene, was a flight attendant and her father, Captain Craig Wheeler, was a pilot” (8)

Thus, the lack of communication in the family will possibly cause the conflict in the family itself. Because of these and other factors during adolescence, children do not confide in us as readily, and do not communicate their feelings as much as they did when they were younger (familyeducation.com). The more the family keeps communicating between parents and children, the more they will have a great intimacy and harmony so that there is no disinclination among them.

The last cause that is happening in the family is the lack of parents’ attention to the children. This looks like so simple but the values of paying attention to the children are very important even this makes the children’ growth grow better.

The lack of attention in the novel can obviously be seen from the two mothers where they always try to see the feature of others. I am not sure if they have enough attention to their daughter meanwhile they try to see the others are better than their own children. Indeed, this has been one of the characters of human being that we tend to see the other existences are more than what we have.

The Great Mom Swap novel has indirectly shown the causes in the family internal conflict. The novel states that each mother looks at the others’ feature and they want their daughter to be like them. That is all right for the two moms that they do not have appreciation for their daughters since they always try to compare their daughter to others. The two mothers no longer look at the great thing that their daughters can do.

However, this novel will give many values for the reader because it is teaching us how to be responsible for the children especially how we can increase or keep a good relation by keeping communication and attention to the children to have a good intimacy in the family.

CONLCUSION

The internal conflict in the family also gives values because it can give a growth in the middle of the family itself. The novel The Great Mom Swap also gives many examples how the conflict is proved or shown.

This paper has explained the cause of the conflict as it’s happened in the middle of the family which is sometimes happening in most family in the world. I would like to add the quotations as examples of the lack of parents’ attention and appreciation to children. Here are the quotations from life.familyeducation.com;

“My parents do not understand me. They are living in another time period”

“The only time my fathers talks to me is when I do something wrong or when he is trying to point out what I should do”

“It seems as though every time I tell my parents what my opinion is or how I feel, they tell me how wrong I am or why I should not feel that way”

All of us hope that the best situation will belong to the children. Of course, everyone tries to learn how they will give the best growth to their children. This novel is good enough for us to get the lesson to be more careful when paying attention to our children./Analyzed by Immer

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Karp, David A and Yoels, William C. Sociology and Everyday Life. F.E. Peacock, Itasca, Illinois 1986

Vander Zanden, James W. SOCIOLOGY The Core. McGraw-Hill. United States of AmericaIllinois 1986

Haynes, Betsy. The Great Mom Swap. Yearling, New York 1986

Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 04 August 2008. The Wikimedia, Inc. 05 August 2008

The Free Online Dictionary. 04 August 2008. Farlex, Inc. 05 August 2008

Back to School with Family Education. 01 August 2008. Pearson Education, Inc. 05 August 2008

The Influence between Old-Young Generation

2008-11-13T15:57:00.008+07:00

THE INFLUENCE BETWEEN OLD-YOUNG GENERATION

IN KEEPING AND BREAKING THE RULE OF LIFE

Based on E.E Cummings’s poem “Old Age Sticks”

A. Background of Choosing the Subject

In this proposal, I choose the work of E.E Cummings–his full name is Edward Estlin Cummings–entitled Old Age Sticks as my topic to be discussed. My topic is “The Influence of Old-Young Generation in Keeping and Breaking the Rule of Life”. I would like to write a little bit about the writer. There are so many works created by E.E Cummings and I am so interested in choosing this kind of poetry. This kind of information was got from Answer.com in which said that E.E Cummings is one of the best poets by whom to decide what in the world we mean when we say “That’s a poem”. The writer, E.E Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1894 to Edward and Rebecca Haswell Clarke Cummings. Cummings’ father was a professor of sociology and political science at Harvard University and later a Unitarian minister. He and his son were close, and Edward was one of his son’s most ardent supporters. Raised in a liberal family, Cummings was writing poetry as early as 1904 (age 10).

I intend to give the information about E.E Cummings for this is one of the reasons why I choose this subject as a background of choosing the subject to be discussed. E.E Cummings mostly introduces about the rule of life in which it can not exist to be obeyed by the next generation. This kind of topic is also a kind of manageable topic. That is reasonable where E.E Cummings himself had a good father who was close to him and his father was a professor of sociology. What E.E Cummings wants to deliver in his poem is about how this life and everyone’s life tends to get free in running their own daily life. Another reason of choosing this subject is how he can give the different things to show that the real life is like the words and the punctuation that is not put in the right place and the right arrangement as it can be seen through his poem entitled “Old Age Sticks”.

He tries to show the real facts that young generation tends to break the rule of life when the old generations try to give a good way to run. As he wrote in his first-line poem, he did not use the capital letter to show if the word is started from the first line and put in the beginning of the sentence. Some literary researchers still write that the name of E.E Cumming is still written with the capital letter, E.E Cummings. As reported in the preface of one book,have his name legally changed to “e. e. cummings”. This is one of the signs where the rule in this life is not so “important” to obey and sometimes for many young people tend to ignore the rule even though they have known that it can not be broken as they have got the teaching from the old people before them.

The wrong interaction and understanding in the society can affect each other in keeping a good relation. The theory which is related to the analysis of E.E Cummings’s poem is also one of my reasons in this background of choosing the subject. That is true how James W. Vander Zanden states in his first-page book that everyone should understand others to keep this life better but this kind of behavior is sometimes hardly sought by others as it is quoted below;

“…many of us are not simply interested in understanding society and human behavior” (1990: 2)

The last one as my reason and background of choosing this subject is how actually E.E Cummings always uses the letters, punctuation and spacing to create drama in a poem. Furthermore, my interest of choosing this subject is how I can analyze the content of his poem by viewing objectively and the reality what really happen between the old and young generation in terms of keeping and breaking the rule of life.

The life of E.E Cummings was raised by his lovely father who was also a professor of sociology. This becomes the reason of choosing the subject for it is sure how he learnt from his father and the major of his father will be more related to the meaning of E.E Cummings’s poem in which it is more talking about society and sociological impacts.

B. Scope of the Subject

The topic of “The Influence of Old-Young Generation in Keeping and Breaking the Rule of Life” is the topic which is got by analyzing the poem of E.E Cummings. What will be more explored is how the relation between old and young generation and by what ways the old generation advises the young men to do something good and guide their way in the right ways.

The topic has been specified from the general topic before “The Influence of People in Old Age Sticks”. In this case, it needs some questions how the topic can be easily managed by answering these questions below;

1. How can the young generations break the rule meanwhile they know that it is important to obey?

2. What rules of life should be obeyed?

3. When should the old generation order the rule to the young generation on the exact time?

C. Objectives of the Study

The old generations who tend to keep the rule of life give some advices to the young generations to make them follow what the old generations have made. What the old generations expect can not come true as they can see the reality that it is really broken by the young generations for the young generations tend to life freely and do not want to be ordered of doing something in their life.

The topic of this proposal intends to explore the influence between the old and young generations in keeping and breaking the rule of life by answering some questions as an objective of this study. The first question that will be changed to the statement is how really the young generations break the rule of life even though they have known that everyone does not live without many rules. What the old generations have done in giving advices to the young generations is a good way but it can not be accepted and done well by the young generations for they just want to enjoy their life freely. To the book of James W. Vander Zanden entitled “Sociology: The Core” says that the important thing that people should know and understand in their own daily life is their high awareness. This becomes the cause for young people in breaking the rule when receiving it from the old generations because they still have a low consciousness in their life how important the rule is.

What rules of life should be obeyed? There are so many kinds of rule and the rule of life is how the old generations try to advise them by guiding them when the young generations do something wrong. The rules that must be given are the rule how to obey parents–as the old generations–and the obedience to the rules that has been made. For instance, the rules of obeying the traffic light put in the middle of cross road and so on. The last statement of the question is when the rules are delivered to the young generations. The rules are delivered since they were a child. It is delivered when the old generations–who know more about life–think and look at the young generations breaking the rule.

D. Theoretical Approach

The approach of theory which will be used in this paper is the sociological approach. The reason of this sociological approach is that the writer, E.E Cummings was born by a father who graduated as a professor of sociology for his father was so close with him and E.E Cummings had got some impacts from his lovely father.

The theories used in this paper are mostly based on the book of David A. Karp and William C. Yoels entitled “Sociology and Everyday Life”. The topic is related to the approach of sociology and how the consciousness of people especially young generations. In the theory, it mostly writes about the culture of people in everyday life which is related between old and young generation in receiving the old generations’ advice to the young generations.

This theoretical approach is also based on the book of James W. Vander Zanden entitled “Sociology: The Core” which are mostly talking about the perspective of people and the consciousness of the people in keeping relations and understand in responding other’s behavior. The quotation below shows how important the consciousness of someone in keeping relations with others;

“Many of these understandings are beneath the usual threshold of our awareness” (James, 1990)

E. Method of the Study

This paper is a kind of literary research. It means that it mostly needs data getting from the library and the books related to the theoretical approach. The theory used in this paper has been chosen–sociological approach–which also refers to the bibliography of the writer, E.E Cummings where he was raised by a father who was a professor of sociology.

The source of data got from the book of sociology and other source got from the bibliography and the criticism about Cummings’s work sourced from the online library and website which provides the data about his work. The steps are done by understanding first the bibliography of the writer, E.E Cummings and the understandings of his poem especially the content of hidden meaning written in this poem. After understanding the meaning and the relation between first stanza, analyzing the whole poem, until the last stanza of the poem, then it will be related to the topic itself./Wr. Immer

F. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Vander. James W. 1990. Sociology: The Core, 2nd ed. United States: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Karp David A. and Yoels William C. 1986. Sociology and Everyday Life. U.S.A: F.E Peacock Publishers, Inc.

Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 02 Jan. 2008. The Wikimedia, Inc. 15 December 2007

The Influence between Old and Young Generation

2008-11-13T15:55:00.002+07:00

THE INFLUENCE BETWEEN OLD AND YOUNG GENERATION

IN KEEPING AND BREAKING THE RULE OF LIFE

(Based on the poem of E.E. Cummings, “Old Age Sticks)

DEFENISI

Before searching the definition from a writer that has a specific definition of Influence, I would like to give the definition taken from An Oxford Dictionary. On the Oxford Dictionary, “Influence” is the effect that somebody or something has on the way a person thinks or behaves or on the way that something works or develops; the power that somebody or something has to make somebody or something behave in a particular way; a person or thing that affects the way a person behaves and thinks.

Real influence over our lives is a result only of our own decisions and interaction with others. Power over my life is greatly enhanced as I embrace the fact of my responsibility for how everyone treats me and that I alone create my environment. We all see life in a unique way and this view of life is strongly influenced at an early age (about zero to seven years). In childhood we experience family, relationships and the entire world much like a sponge; we absorb, we take in and feel.

This explanation has an approach to the topic in which all influences of old and young generation can not be far away from their actions. Their actions however are powerfully influenced by their emotions, thoughts and beliefs in terms of keeping and breaking the rule of life.

BAB II

ANALISIS

Di dalam bab dua ini saya mau membahas dan menganalisa puisi yang dibuat oleh E.E Cummings yaitu “Old Age Sticks” yang terdiri dari lima bait yang masing-masing baitnya terdiri dari empat baris. Sebelum masuk kedalam detil analisis, saya mau membahas sedikit latar belakang dari sipenulis itu sendiri, E.E Cummings.

E.E Cummings merupakan salah satu novelis Amerika yang paling terkenal. Nama lengkapnya Edward Estlin Cummings lahir pada tanggal 14 Oktober 1894. Dia telah menulis puisi sejak usia 10 tahun dan berhasil menciptakan 900 puisi yang salah satu karyanya akan dibahas di dalam bab ini. Dia juga anak dari seorang profesor sosiologi, Edward and Rebecca Haswell Clarke Cummings. Dia sangat dekat dengan ayahnya sehingga pengaruh yang dia dapat menjadi salah satu alasan–pendekatan teori sosiologi–kenapa dia harus menuliskan puisi yang inti dari seluruh puisi tersebut bagaimana generasi tua selalu menasehati dan sebaliknya generasi muda cenderung untuk melawan dan memberontak serta cenderung untuk hidup bebas tanpa harus menghadapi aturan-aturan yang telah ditetapkan dalam hidup sehari-hari.

Didalam analisis ini, ada tiga hal yang akan saya sampaikan, yaitu proses kehidupan, bahasa dan arti dan gaya penulisan puisi itu sendiri. Jika dilihat bentuk puisi E.E Cummings, susunan dan penggunaan tanda baca akan sangat tidak teratur. Sebagai contoh pada baris dan bait pertama puisinya, huruf pertama diawali dengan huruf kecil “old age sticks”. Sumber dari Wikipedia.org menuliskan bahwa penggunaan huruf besar sangat bemacam-macam. Huruf besar ditulis pada huruf pertama biasanya pada nama-nama benua, orang, kota, negara dan juga pada baris petama dalam memulai kalimat. Apa yang ditulis diawal dan baris pertama puisi dari E.E Cummings tidaklah menggunakan huruf besar sekalipun dimulai pada baris dan mengawali sebuah kalimat atau frasa.

Salah satu isi dan makna dari pada puisi E.E Cummings adalah proses kehidupan yang alami. “Old Age Sticks” menjelajahi sebuah proses dalam hal usia dan juga hubungan antara generasi tua dan muda dengan menjadikan hal itu suatu perdebatan antara generasi tua dan generasi muda. Kita bisa melihat perdebatan ini dengan suatu peringatan yang keluar dari pihak generasi tua dengan cara memperingati dan menasehati generasi muda tapi generasi muda melawannya seperti pada bait pertama dan kedua, “Keep Off, youth yanks them down”.

Setiap kali generasi tua selalu tidak henti-hentinya dalam memperingati generasi muda untuk tidak melanggar peraturan tetapi malah apa yang generasi muda lakukan, mereka malah tertawa dan seringkali mengejek ketika orang tua menasehati dan mengarahkan mereka kepada hal yang lebih baik. Generasi tua bahkan meneriakkan agar generasi muda tidak melanggar, seperti ditulis dalam puisi, bait kedua dan ketiga, “old age cries, No Trespassing” tapi malah dibalas dengan suatu ejekan lewat tertawa “youth laughs”. Generasi tua terus berteriak dengan berkata “Stop” tetapi generasi muda tidak peduli dan terus berbuat apa yang mereka mau.

Dalam hal ini, para generasi tua seringkali menjadi suatu–secara tidak langsung–penindasan yang dilakukan oleh generasi muda. Di dalam puisi tersebut, mulai bait pertama sampai terakhir, generasi tua cenderung membatasi dan juga sebenarnya mengarahkan para generasi muda untuk selalu “taat” dan tidak melanggar batas-batas yang sudah ditentukan. Generasi tua muncul sebagai generasi yang selalu mengarahkan ketika melihat generasi muda sudah mulai melakukan sesuatu hal yang bertolak belakang dengan mengikuti kemauannya sendiri, seperti ditulis didalam puisi, generasi tua selalu membuat suatu batasan, “No,” “Forbid/den,” “Stop,” “Must/n’t”, “Don’t”. Sebaliknya, generasi muda cenderung untuk menyela dan membebaskan diri dari hal-hal yang membuat mereka tidak bisa merasa bebas dengan meruntuhkan tanda-tanda, menyela peraturan dan juga nasehat dari generasi tua dan tertawa, “youth yanks”, youth laughs”.

Isi puisi tersebut bukanlah sesuatu perpecahan dan pertarungan antara generasi tua dengan generasi muda dengan menggambarkan kalau generasi tua adalah jahat dan generasi muda baik. Bagaimanapun, hubungan antara kedua generasi tersebut memiliki sesuatu yang saling berkaitan dan saling ketergantungan satu dengan yang lain dimana diawal baris pertama pada puisi tersebut diawali dengan kata “old” dan pada bait dan baris akhir puisi diakhiri dengan kata “old” juga.

Pada akhir puisi, dikatakan bahwa generasi muda bagaimanapun akan menjalani suatu kehidupan yang pada akhirnya melewati masa tua, “youth goes/right on gr/owing old”. Ini berarti bahwa puisi E.E Cummings merupakan suatu proses kehidupan dimana generasi muda akan melewati masa tua dan disini terbentuk suatu lingkaran hidup yang nantinya generasi muda ketika menjadi sudah tua, mereka akan melakukan hal yang sama terhadap generasi muda berikutnya.

E.E Cummings dalam puisinya menggunakan bahasa dan aturan yang berbeda-beda. Dia menggunakan dan meletakkan tanda baca yang tidak pada tempatnya yang kalau dibaca tidak sesuai dengan aturan yang dipakai setiap orang pada umumnya. Disamping dia menggunakan tanda baca yang diletakkan tidak pada tempatnya, sesungguhnya mempunyai makna tersendiri, makna yang tersembunyi yang mengarah pada sikap dan tindakan dari pada orang yang melanggar suatu peraturan yang didalam puisinya disebut sebagai generasi muda yang sering tidak taat terhadap aturan-aturan yang sudah ditetapkan.

E.E Cummings menandai dan memakai serta meletakkan setiap huruf tidak pada standar yang sudah ditentukan. Seperti yang saya tulis diatas, bahwa dilihat dari tanda baca dan kesalahletakan tanda baca tersebut memiliki makna yang tersembunyi, seperti “youth goes/right on/gr/owing old.” Dia menulis kata dengan huruf besar berlawanan dengan aturan standar yang sudah ditetapkan, seperti pada puisinya, dimana dia menggunakan huruf besar untuk menekankan setiap kata yang mengarah pada generasi tua dengan perintah-perintah yang bersifat negative, “Keep/Off,” No/Tres pas/sing,” “Forbid/den Stop/Must/n’t Don’t.” Puisi dari bait pertama sampai terakhir, masing-masing memiliki empat baris. Setiap bait dan setiap baris memiliki suku kata yang sama dari awal sampai akhir dengan susunan 3-2-1-2. Penggunaan tanda kurung dan tanda baca menegaskan sesuatu yang bermakna sesuai dengan alur dan kesinambungan dari kata pertama sampai kata terakhir.

Pada bait pertama, E.E Cummings menggunakan tanda baca “&” dan bukan “and”. Ini menunjukkan sesuatu hal yang singkat dan “to the point”. Makna dari pada tanda “&” mengarah pada generasi muda dimana setiap generasi muda cenderung hanya ingin melewati hal yang sekejap tanpa membutuhkan waktu lama, dengan kata lain tidak suka “diproses”. Juga pada bait yang sama, E.E Cummings memakai tanda “)” tanpa memulai dengan tanda “(“ dan juga tidak diberi jarak antara tutup kurung dengan tanda “&” seperti bisa dilihat pada baris terakhir dalam bait pertama, “)&”.

Generasi tua mengatakan sesuatu hal dengan memakai kata “signs” dan berikutnya memakai tanda “)&” di akhir puisi bait pertama. Ini menunjukkan secara tidak langsung terarah pada generasi muda yang cenderung melanggar aturan yang ditetapkan dimana generasi tua memberi tanda yang harus dipatuhi “Keep/Off” tetapi sebaliknya tanda yang tidak teratur “)&” yang pada bait berikutnya, generasi muda memberontak dan tidak mau taat terhadap aturan yang dibuat, “youth yanks them/down”. Simbol dan tanda yang digunakan didalam puisi mulai bait pertama sampai bait terakhir merupakan sesuatu hal yang mengarah pada aturan itu sendiri dan ketaatan terhadap aturan. E.E Cummings menekankan penggunaan huruf besar untuk memperlihatkan bahwa aturan yang telah dibuat ditegaskan untuk ditaati, “Keep/Off,” No/Tres pas/sing,” “Forbid/den Stop/Must/n’t Don’t.”

Pada bait terakhir juga E.E Cummings meletakkan tanda yang didahului oleh tanda “&”. Dilihat pada bait pertama, dia menggunakan dan meletakkannya diakhir yang diawali dengan tanda “)”. Ketika bait pertama generasi tua yang menasehati dan sering memperingati generasi muda dalam hal mentaati aturan, sebaliknya proses dan lingkaran kehidupan akan terus berjalan sehingga generasi muda nantinya akan menggantikan generasi tua yang pada bait terakhir dibilang “youth goes/right on/gr/owing old” akan semakin bertumbuh yang nantinya melewati generasi tua.

Keseluruhan puisi ini juga memiliki gaya yang sangat khas. “Old age sticks” ditulis dalam lima sajak yang tidak mengikuti pola dan irama. Jika dibacakan sekilas, maka irama yang ada pada puisi ini tidak akan bunyi seperti pada sajak atau puisi yang lainnya. Setiap bait terdiri dari lima baris; setiap baris pertama memiliki tiga suku kata, “old age sticks/youth yanks them/Tres)&(pas)/Scolds Forbid/&)youth goes”–dalam hal ini tanda “&” dibaca “and” jadi tetap terhitung sebaga suku kata yang terdiri dari satu suku kata–baris kedua memiliki dua suku kata, “up Keep/down(old/youth laughs/den Stop/right on” baris ketiga memiliki satu suku kata “Off/age/(sing/Must/gr” dan baris terakhir memiliki dua suku kata “signs)&/cries No/old age/n’t Don’t/owing old”

Irama yang tidak bunyi merupakan makna tersendiri pada puisi ini. Diawal tulisan ini, hubungan antara generasi tua dengan generasi muda menjadi suatu perdebatan dimana generasi tua memberi peringatan tetapi generasi tua melanggarnya. Irama yang tidak bunyi juga merupakan irama dimana tidak ada keindahan yang muncul. Hal melanggar aturan dan nasehat yang tidak di “indahkan” merupakan sesuatu “irama” yang tidak berbunyi sehingga seakan-akan hal itu tidak bisa membawa kepada hal yang lebih baik./Analyzed by Immer

E.E Cummings’s Poem

Old Age Sticks

old age sticks
up Keep
Off
signs)&

youth yanks them
down(old
age
cries No

Tres)&(pas)
youth laughs
(sing
old age

scolds Forbid
den Stop
Must
n’t Don’t

&)youth goes
right on
gr
owing old

(Source from http://www.palace.net/~llama/poetry/oldage)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Karp David A. and Yoels William C. 1986. Sociology and Everyday Life. U.S.A: F.E Peacock Publishers, Inc.

Vander. James W. 1990. Sociology: The Core, 2nd ed. United States: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 02 Jan. 2008. The Wikimedia, Inc. 20 December 2007

Answers.com 11 Jan. 2008. Online Encyclopedia, Thesaurus, Dictionary definitions and more. 20 December 2007 <http://www.answers.com/>

Caregiver Resources 18 Aug. 2007. WorkingCaregiver. 20 December 2007 <http://www.workingcaregiver.com/>

Net Access Corporation 06 Sept. 2002. Net Access corp. 22 December 2007

Watch out for Cyber Bullying!

2008-11-13T15:53:00.001+07:00

Violence can happen in form of and through any mass media. Parents had better take care, don’t let what they love much is to be a victim of violence for cyber bullying.

A research which was done by a researcher from University of York, England, found 15% from 11.000 teenagers ever received a message of violence. They also admitted that they ever received a profane message through short message service and e-mail. As AFP released, they who became a victim of violence for cyber bullying were dominated by female teenagers.

Nathalie Noret, one of the researcher said that cyber bullying is an indirect violence. “this is important to be understood because this during, people just know that violence can happen physically or when they meet directly,” she said.

Further she said that teachers and parents need to realize, a handphone and computer do not only function as a communicative tool. But they are also used as mass media to do violence toward children when they are at home.

Last February, the MSN Computer Company found one of the 10 teenagers in England has been a victim for cyber bullying. A half of 500 teenagers who were researched felt that their parent did not realize that they could be a victim of violence from Internet.

John Carr, the chief of Children’s Charities’ Coalition for Internet Safety said that this violence could cause teenagers were afraid to have relation with other people and chose if they wanted to make relation with no one. Even, they could feel so traumatic that they would be reluctant to use them as a communicative tool.

This research may be able to be a warning to parents so they will ask about the content of the message and e-mail to children. Thus, parents can give advice to them phsycologically./Wr. Immer

A "Positive Thinking" Speech

2008-11-13T15:48:00.003+07:00

Honorable, Distinguished : …

INTRODUCTION :

DEFINITION :

Positive thinking is a mental attitude that admits into the mind thoughts, words and images that are conductive to growth, expansion and success. It is a mental attitude that expects good and favorable results. A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome of every situation and action. Whatever the mind expects, it finds

Norman Vincent Peale says “you can if you think you can”

………….. Many people are defeated by the every day problems of life, Indeed, nobody lives without problems. ……….. I do hope we don’t just hear but we have to practice how to “will” not to be.

BODY :

Here I am going to give you the ways what we should do to keep a Positive Thinking.

Believe in yourself and release your inner powers.

Have faith in your abilities! Without beliefe, everything is impossible and without a humble but a selfish in your own powers you can not be successful and happy. Self-confident and optimistic thought pattern can modify and overcome your daily problems of life.

Have a peaceful mind.

“an ear full of trouble” and “a mind full of peace” A primary method for gaining a mind full of peace is to practice emptying the mind. Eamptying our mind of fears, hates, regrets, incequarities and guilt feeling. Making this effort to empty our mind tends to give us reliefe.

Good things and bad things, we have to limit and not accept all that we listen to.

Expect the best and get it

When we have many problems of life, we should think first how we can solve it and the most important we have to ask ourself “what will I get if I don’t care about the problems and what will I get if I can solve and finish the problems” don’t have a narrow mind but we have to think to the future that human is possible if do not have problems in this life.

Break the worry habit in your life

You don’t need to be victim of worry. A famous psychologist asserts that “worry is analogized with fear that is the most dis-integrating enemy of human personality. Indeed, everyone has worry but can we let the worry dominate our life? Of sourse no. we have to break the worry habit from our life. So, what’s the relation between worry and Positive Thinking? I think when we are worrying about someone, we have no Positive Thinking there.

CONCLUSSION :

Alright Ladies and Gentlement, let me repeat the point of my speech today. As I said that there are four points they are …… I have no doubt at all when we are successful to practice them, our life will be full of joy and satisfaction. The last question is, have we done it? Ask yourself and I ask myself, THANK YOU/Wr. Immer

How to influence people

2008-11-13T15:48:00.002+07:00

Lay out of the Seminar (How to Influence People)

MODERATOR:
1. Introduce the speakers
  1. Immer (Name, Identity, Date of birth, Original town and Experience, etc)
  2. Risa (Name, Identity, Date of birth, Original town and Experience, etc)
2. Introduce a little bit about the topic “How to Influence People”
3. Handle the Seminar
4. Closing
1^st SPEAKER:

Delivering the main point of the seminar “How to Influence People”

1. Ways of Influencing People
  1. Tell Stories (Based on the book of Iain Carruthers, 2003)
  2. Lead by example (By Jason Osborn on Ezinearticles.com)
  3. Motivate and inspire (By Jason Osborn on Ezinearticles.com)
  4. Learn to communicate effectively (By Jason Osborn on Ezinearticles.com)
2. A good Attitude to Influence People
  1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation (Based on Carnegie’s Book, 2005)
  2. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly (By Carnegie, 2005)
  3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing others (By Carnegie, 2005)
  4. Ask question instead of giving direct orders (By Carnegie, 2005)
3. Positive Thinking to Influence People
  1. Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.” (By Carnegie, 2005)
  2. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking (By Carnegie, 2005)
  3. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers (By Carnegie, 2005)
  4. Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view
4. Have Great Principles to Influence People
  1. Become genuinely interested in people (By Carnegie, 2005)
  2. Remember peoples names (By Carnegie, 2005)
  3. Be a good listener (By Carnegie, 2005)
  4. Make other person feel important (By Carnegie, 2005)

2^ndSPEAKER:

1. Introduction (Definition of the topic itself)
2. Conclusion (Conclusion of whole explanation of the seminar)

How to Influence People

This will be delivered by 2^ndspeaker,

Before getting started of delivering our detail seminar today, I would like to define what the word “Influence” is. According to wikipedia.org, influence is a term that refers to the ability to indirectly control, shape or affect the actions, beliefs and attitudes of other people or things through your behavior, words or presence. The meaning of influence therefore depends on who or what is being affected, and to what eng. The most important of influence is how we can touch others with our ability to influence them. Let’s compare the meaning of influence which was quoted from Ezinearticles.com that was written by Jason Osborn, influence is the ability to persuade someone to act or think a certain way.

Everyone has influence for each other. This word was written by John C. Maxwell on his book entitled “Becoming A Person of Influence, 1997”, one of the most popular people in influencing people in the world. You need not have a great position in your job to influence people. Actually, when you have a relation with others, you become a person of influence. Everything that you do in your job, campus, public place and anywhere, it will impact other people. If you want to be successful, impact positive sides to the world, you need to be a person of influence.

Well, to the more explanation, it will be explained by 1^stspeaker who will give detail points of this seminar “How to Influence People” and before starting to the next point of this seminar, I would like to tell four great points of our seminar. They are;

Ways of Influencing People
A good Attitude to Influence People
Positive Thinking to Influence People
Have Great Principles to Influence People

Let’s get to the next detail explanation of this seminar that will be delivered by 1^stspeaker, Immer

This will be delivered by 1^stspeaker,

On the book of John C. Maxwell, 1997 entitled “Becoming A Person of Influence” writes that everyone has influence. From this book I would like to say that everyone of you who has come and listened to this seminar must have influence in this life because it’s possible to us to influence people if we want to pay attention for what I am going to deliver to you about my detail explanations and ways to be a person of influence.

I would like to say before giving the explanation of this seminar that Influence doesn’t come directly but it grows step by step. Let me show you the steps to be a great person of Influence.

Well, let me explain one by one.

MODEL
Everyone is influenced for what they see. For most people, when they feel that you have a good attitude, fit to be trusted, and have a good characteristic to be praised, they will try looking for you as a person of influence for their life. The more they know about you or your life, they will see your great credibility and you will be a great person in influencing them. In this case, you become a model and an example for others

MOTIVATION
You will be a giver of motivation when motivating others and keep a good relation with them. To keep motivating others, at least two things we have to do. Build a connection between you and others and build a credibility and high self esteem. When other people feel safe with you, you will have the level of great influence.

MENTOR
When reaching the level of motivation in influencing people, you will begin to see the positive impacts in their life. To keep the impacts, you have to increase your influence by mentoring them. Mentoring means how you give your life to help others to reach their potential in their life. The power of mentor is very great so you can see their life changes in your daily life.

MULTIPLICATION
The highest level of influence is multiplication. You help the others that you influence as a giver of positive impacts to the others and because of your influence, other people will be helped to create others to be a person of influence in their life.

I will directly deliver and explain the main points of this seminar. In influencing people, what we have found to be delivered to you today, at least four great things we have to learn in influencing people.

Ways of Influencing People.
I will explain and deliver the ways of influencing people. We can influence people in our daily life by

Telling stories
In the book of Iain Carruthers, 2003, one thing that is done to influence people by telling stories to others. You have to know what things that can influence your life. We can tell any stories that we know because sometimes it can influence others when listening to our stories and it will make them feel close and interested when they are entertained by what we tell to them.

Leading by example
Some of the most influential people in this world has ever seen led by their example. After all, how do you expect someone to do one thing when you are doing something completely opposite of what you are telling them? Your example can be one of your strongest influences on others.

Motivating and inspiring
Motivation and inspiration are great tools to influence people. If you are able to inspire people in a way that they feel they are benefiting themselves and others at the same time, you will see that your influence has a tremendous effect. Find ways to motivate and inspire those around you. The more you learn to do this the more you will see people being influenced by you.

Learning to communicate effectively
Effective communication is one of the strongest ways to influence people. The better you are at understanding where someone is coming from and how to communicate with them, the better you will be at knowing what will influence them. If you can’t communicate effectively you will soon become very frustrated because people won’t be influenced by you at all

A good attitude to influence people

Begin with praise and honest appreciation
Sometimes, it’s so hard to praise someone but this will be great thing when we try to praise and give appreciation for others when doing something in their daily life because they will feel that they are appreciated.

Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly
Pay attention for what we are saying. Keep in mind and understand the feeling of others. When others do something wrong, it will be better when we say his or her guilt indirectly.

Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing others
Not every time we will be right and try first to correct and see our own mistakes when criticizing others. When we can do this before blaming others even though he or she is “wrong”, indirectly they will feel that we have positive thinking about their mistakes.

Ask question instead of giving direct orders
Do not give orders for someone as if we are “boss” but ask some questions in which yours can be done and followed by others.

Positive thinking to influence people
Becoming a positive person can bring our life to a better life when practicing it in our daily life. We can keep positive thinking in influencing people and;

Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”
We have to respect for what others have talked and given. Do not try to say that his or her opinion is wrong. How can we know? Is our opinion the best?

Let the other person do a great deal of the talking
Let others talk when they still want to talk something and never say when they still keep talking.

Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers
Someone will be glad and can feel respected when we let or when we respect for his or her idea.

Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view
Many times we always see that our opinion is the best from others. We often say that it will not be so important to use or what I do is good for others and some times our eyes are closed to see the important thing from others. Try to see from their point of view.

Have Great Principles to Influence People
Besides the three points above, we should have great principles in influencing people. Everyone has principles of life and below the principles when learning to influence people.

Become genuinely interested in people
Show interest in areas of their life that are important to them. In this case, we need to keep a good relation to know what they are and what they are doing everyday in their life.

Remember peoples names
Some times this becomes a trivial thing when we meet someone. I myself am so hard to remember a name of someone. This is one point that will make a huge impression on people. Everyone loves the sound of their own name.

Be a good listener
It’s not easy to be a good listener because it needs a good “ear” to listen to someone and we have to stay focused what others say or talk.

Make other person feel important
Everything is important when you “think” it important. The same thing we have to think that everyone or someone is very important when we feel that they are important in our life. They will be really important.

We hope everyone who is listening to this seminar, will have a great influence for others, thanks in advance./Wr. Immer

A "distress" Speech

2008-11-13T15:39:00.001+07:00

In this time, I am going to deliver about distress, and my point is how to overcome distress. Let me give you the definition of distress. What is really distress defined here? Distress is defined as having great pain, anxiety, sorrow, affliction, suffering, unfulfilled desire and trouble. In medicine, distress is stress caused by adverse events. For instance, I want to celebrate my birthday party and I have invited many friends, but none of them can come, I will be stress about this. Above, I mentioned about problems as one of the part of distress. The problems also can make us distress when we can’t solve our daily problems of life and also stress can come upon us when we are broken-hearted. Basically, distress is our body’s way of responding to what it views as a tragic or upsetting event in our life.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I deliver my point on my speech today, we have to remember that distress occurs when we prolong emotional stress and don’t deal with it in a positive manner.

Now, Here are some ways how to overcome distress which is also in the sense of stress.

We must avoid unnecessary stressful situations.
We must do one thing at a time.
We must read books. Reading books can relax us and relaxation helps us to reserve our energy.
Practice smiling within, and smiling with our eyes.
Using breathing exercises to slow down increased heart rate, caused by stress.
We must avoid unnecessary conflicts, and manage inner conflict.
We must see the funny side of life, and not take petty things too seriously.
We must keep smiling and laughing. When we laugh, the brain sends happy signal to our mind.
And the last one, keep a positive thinking about problems of life

Hopefully, we can be healed from our distress by practicing those. we can’t help facing problems but do not allow problems make us distress every time and always have a positive thinking as I delivered to you about three weeks ago.

Thank you very much./Wr, Immer

A “How to avoid boredom” Speech

2008-11-13T15:37:00.001+07:00

I am very pleased because of you, because of you who are going to listen to my speech today and also because I am healthy when I am going to deliver my speech.

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, in this time, I am going to present about Boredom and my speech main point here is how to avoid it. Let me give you some definitions of boredom and how it can work in our life.

Boredom is one of the most important things in human life. It simply shows that we are becoming aware of the futility or meaninglessness of life. Boredom is also a reactive state of emotion that interprets the dull condition due to repetitive, non-existent or tedious stimulation. We will be bored when not in the mood of “doing anything”

Ladies and gentlemen, how can usually boredom work in our life?

Boredom occurs when there is little or no interest involved in the situation that is presented. We are bored because we are stuck in an instance that we don’t want to belong in, we cannot do anything about it or are not doing anything about it. Our mind is not completely focused and it is difficult to concentrate and feel interested. When one is bored, their boredom can be seen through their work. It is evident when somebody is bored through their work because they are not knowledgeable about the situation that they are in. For example, When I enjoy my work, I will do my best and it will result a good result but when I have been bored with my work, I can not be maximal in working and it won’t result good things. This is because my mind is not completely concentrated and I have a lack of interest.

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have some experiences how to avoid boredom. I believe that there are so many ways of avoiding boredom and everyone must have different ways to avoid it but here I am just going to deliver to you five ways of avoiding it.

Play a game or surf the web.
I believe, some of us must be glad in playing game or browsing something in the Internet. You can do this to avoid boredom.
Have fun with whatever you are doing. After all, trust me, you will say that time seems to go faster when you are having fun.
When being bored, ask your family or friends to do things with you.
If we just stay alone at home, sometimes, we don’t know what to do but when we ask our friend to do something with us, we can be helped and we can get inspiration of doing something in which we like doing it.
Listen to the music.
You can choose a kind of music do you like to listen. I think most people like music, right? When listening to the music, it can help us to avoid boredom even drive our boredom away.
Spend time for recreation.
Recreation can be a great way of avoiding being bored at home and it can freshen our own mind.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope we can be helped from what I have delivered to you today. Try to have positive thinking of doing or facing something. Thank you./Wr, Immer

“Death Is The Mother of Beauty”

2008-11-13T09:45:00.001+07:00

Metaphor in Stevens’ “Sunday Morning”

What can be thought about “Death”? Death is something of having an imagination, belief and awareness. After we think of those words, we begin to think that death is also the end of life, terminal of life and extraction. The atmosphere of death refers to scary, terrifying, mysterious, unknown and strange things. These make that death tends to negative things.

To get to the end of life, everyone does not only live what they want but they need a process of life how to reach or to have a good behavior where everyone wants to end their life in a good life. The title “Death is the mother of beauty” shows us how we could live and where we came from. The word “Mother” becomes the only source where we came from and we can grow because our mother’s love to us. She will be a heroine, life-giver for our life.

The title “Death is the mother of beauty” does not just mention “The mother” but “The mother of beauty”. The word of beauty is the word which exudes positive things. Everything is in positive things including actions, behaviors and so on. Everyone who lives wants to create beautiful life to prepare the next world (The end of life) because in the process of life, it looks that life is too short, some people waste their time to do good things, and also life is too short to neglect. So, the process of life will be begun from the “Zero” and everyone lives between “Zero” and “Death”. In the middle between “Zero” and “Death”, everyone will have an awareness to prepare the next world or end of life by creating a beautiful life, good conducts, good attitude for others and so many good things as long as they can do in their life./Wr, Immer

Kapan Menikah?

2008-11-10T16:19:00.000+07:00

"KAPAN NIKAH???"
"UDAH, JANGAN MILIH-MILIHLAH! !!"
"JANGAN LAMA-LAMA!!! !"
"JANGAN KEJAR KARIER TERUS DONG!!!"

Tiba-tiba kalimat-kalimat norak diatas jadi sering gue denger dari
orang-orang disekitar gue.... nyebelin banget! dan mungkin banyak
dialamin juga sama sebagian besar dari kalian semua
(sorry buat yg udah punya pasangan hehehhe...)

KAPAN NIKAH????
ya gak tau! emang kenapa sih kalo gue masih pengen sendiri?
emangnya gue bakalan membuat penipisan lapisan ozon makin cepat dengan
kesendirian gue.

UDAH JANGAN MILIH-MILIH! !!
Kok jangan milih-milih sih? MEMILIH ITU PENTING. Pada saat gue
memutuskan untuk menikah dengan lawan jenis dan bukan sesama jenis
aja. berarti gue sudah melakukan pemilihan (sadis amat sih contohnya
hehehhehe... .)

Pada saat gue memutuskan untuk menikah dengan si pria A dan bukan si
pria B, berarti gue sudah melakukan pemilihan. Pada saat gue
memutuskan untuk menikah dengan pria
yang seiman dan bukan yang beda kepercayaan, berarti gue sudah
melakukan pemilihan. SIAPA BILANG JANGAN MILIH-MILIH.

JANGAN LAMA-LAMA!!!
LHAAAA... emangnya gue si hunter (nama anjing gue) yang gak bisa
ngeliat doggy betina, langsung dikejar-kejar buat dikawinin. Dua
pribadi yang berbeda membutuhkan waktu untuk saling mengenal satu sama
lain. Lebih baik menyisihkan waktu lebih lama di waktu pendekatan atau
pacaran daripada mengambil keputusan gegabah dengan resiko menyesal
seumur hidup.

JANGAN NGEJAR KARIER TERUS!!!
Gue gak ngejar karier, gue ngejar gajinya hahahha.....
nikah itu butuh modal dan modal itu harus dikumpulin sedikit demi
sedikit bukan jatuh dari langit.
Gue justru ngeri ngeliat temen-temen gue yang berlomba-lomba nikah,
kalo gue tanya alasannya pasti karena umur,
desakan orang tua yang mulai malu karena anak gadisnya gak laku-laku,
takut dibilang perawan tua.
Ketakutan-ketakutan itulah yang membuat temen-temen gue "tutup mata"
terhadap setiap perbedaan yang justru sebetulnya sangat penting
untuk dipertimbangkan pada masa pacaran
apakah memang "gue itu tulang rusuknya dia" (buat yang cewek)
atau apakah "dia tulang rusuk gue " (buat yang cowok),
mereka punya prinsip yang penting nikah dulu.
mereka dengan gampangnya
berpikir bahwa karakter buruk yang sudah tertanam selama
berpuluh-puluh tahun didalam diri "sang kekasih" bisa hilang begitu
saja pada saat menikah.

Gue tahu mungkin banyak yang gak setuju dengan pendapat gue, tapi gue
gak mau menikah hanya karena masalah umur, siapa sih yang berhak
ngasih patokan umur seseorang untuk menikah? siapa sih yang berani
jamin bahwa nikah di umur 25 tahun akan lebih bahagia dari yang nikah
di umur 30 atau lebih?,
coba liat di catatan sipil, angka perceraian
paling tinggi terjadi pada pasangan yang menikah pada umur yang mana
(kalo udah dapet datanya, kasih tau gue ya, soalnya gue sendiri gak
pernah ngecek hahahahh.... )

Malah menurut gue menikah diusia 30 atau lebih itu banyak sisi baiknya,
karena disitu biasanya emosi seseorang sudah lebih stabil,
kedewasaan temperamen sudah mulai terbentuk, persiapan materi cukup
memadai.
(materi itu tetap harus masuk dalam pertimbangan dong, kan
gak bisa bayar listrik sama bayar telepon pake surat cinta),
Gue juga gak mau menikah karena desakan orang tua atau karena takut dibilang
perawan tua, yang ngejalanin pernikahan itu kan gue bukan mereka, yang
bakalan tanggung semua resiko kalo ada masalah kan gue bukan mereka,
perkawinan kan bukan tuk dibuat main-main apalagi trus kawin - cerai.
kebayang gak tuh kalo sampe salah milih bakalan sengsara seumur hidup.

JADI LU GAK PENGEN NIKAH?
GUBRAKKK.... !!!!
gue pasti pengen nikah tapi dengan alasan yang tepat, gue pengen nikah
karena gue menyadari bahwa hidup ini terlalu berat untuk dijalani
sendirian (ceileee...puitis amat lu),
gue pengen nikah karena gue
menyadari gue membutuhkan seseorang yang bisa saling mendukung dalam
segi spiritual dan material, gue pengen nikah karena gue butuh
menyayangi seseorang dan butuh untuk disayangi
(hihihihi... jadi malu nih), dan masih banyak lagi...
tapi yang jelas gak bisa ditentuin kapan waktunya,
bisa cepet bisa juga lama, kalo soal waktu kan terserah sama
yang DIATAS.

DON'T PUSH ME TO GET MARRY SOON, LET ME WAIT MY TIME, CAUSE MY GOD
WILL PROVIDE ME THE BEST PERSON WHEN THE TIME COMES.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kenapa perkawinan bisa bertahan ?
Jawabnya sederhana : karena KOMITMEN !!

Kita berkomitmen untuk hidup bersama dengan orang yang sangat berbeda dengan kita.
Kita berkomitmen untuk mengisi segi-segi yang kurang dari pasangan kita.
Sama seperti kita juga menerima dia untuk mengisi kekurangan kita.
Justru semakin banyak kekurangan pasangan kita,
maka semakin berguna hidup kita.
Dan semakin banyak kekurangan kita, semakin banyak kita
menerima dari pasangan kita.
Kekurangan itu tidak semakin berkurang
dengan bergulirnya waktu...tapi terus bertambah.
Dan kita pun akan semakin banyak
harus mengisi kekurangan pasangan kita,
sementara kita juga semakin banyak menerima dari pasangan kita.

Kalau kita sudah malas berkomitmen, maka perkawinan sudah diambang
pembubaran. Tidak perlu menunggu orang kedua atau ketiga.
Semua itu ada dari dalam diri kita sendiri.

Jadi begitulah...
Kalo memang belum siap berkomitmen. ...
biar pun pacaran 10 tahun...
20 tahun... seyogyanya nggak usah married.
Biar aja orang lain yang cape komentar.
Toh yang akan menjalankan hidup berkeluarga nanti adalah
kita berdua... dan kelak anak-anak kita juga.
Memang ada yang bilang, ngapain pacaran lama-lama....
kalau sudah ada yang mau ya langsung saja.
Itu juga oke... bagaimana kita mampunya aja berkomitmen.

Ada yang bilang, perkawinan itu seperti main judi.
Tapi judi kan seperti tebak-tebakan. Untung-untungan.
Padahal perkawinan bisa dipelajari.
Saya bilang, perkawinan itu seperti sekolah tanpa akhir...
tanpa ijazah...
Tiap hari kita belajar, tiap hari kita ujian...
dan uji ketahanannya harus seumur hidup.

Satu hal... tidak ada perkawinan yang ideal !
Setiap pasangan memiliki pola sendiri. Jadi kita sendirilah yang
membuat perkawinan itu mau ideal apa tidak.
Jadi jangan mencontek perkawinan orang lain...
karena kita bukan menikah dengan salah satu pasangan yang ideal itu...
dan kita pun bukan pasangan ideal dari
orang yang ideal di luar sana.
Yang cocok untuk orang lain, belum tentu ideal untuk kita.
Yang cocok untuk kita, belum tentu ideal buat orang lain.

Note : "Segala sesuatu indah pada waktunya.."
Percayalah bahwa waktu Tuhan adalah yang terbaik dan yang sempurna!

Ketika saat ini engkau masih menunggu pasangan hidupmu, persiapkanlah dirimu..
isi lah tabung single mu dengan cinta NYA..Sebelum engkau dipertemukan,
Tuhan rindu agar engkau sungguh2 menikmati masa single mu bersama Tuhan,
memiliki hati yang melekat dengan NYA..
Ketika waktu nya tiba untuk engkau dipertemukan dengan pasangan hidupmu,
maka engkau akan melihat bahwa rencana NYA indah pada waktunya
dan engkau akan begitu terkagum-kagum melihat kisah cintamu ditulis langsung oleh NYA !!
Dan saat itu engkau telah siap untuk memasuki kehidupan baru untuk
menggenapi setiap rencana Nya dalam hidupmu ! =)

God Bless....

Semangka

2008-11-06T18:48:00.001+07:00

Ada seorang pelayan yang mengabdi kepada tuannya dengan segenap hati, bekerja dengan giat dan selalu menyenangkan hati tuannya.. Tuannya sangat sayang pada sang pelayan. dia ingin menguji sekaligus memberikan hadiah kepada pelayan setia itu dengan barang-barang berharga seperti emas dan intan, tetapi dimasukkan dalam buah semangka...,

Tuannya berkata, hai pelayan yang setia karena jerih payahmu aku berikan engkau hadiah sebuah semangka.... sang pelayan yang tidak tahu bahwa didalam semangka itu terdapat emas dan intan menjadi sangat kecewa.. dia merasa diperlakukan semena-mena oleh tuannya, jerih payahnya tidak dihargai...

Dia pulang dengan wajah sedih dan bersungut-sungut dan menyesal... mengapa saya harus bekerja giat kalau hanya mendapatkan bayaran semangka... dalam kesedihan dan perjalanan pulang kerumah .. maka DIA BERFIKIR DARI PADA HANYA MEMBAWA SEBUAH SEMANGKA LEBIH BAIK KUTUKAR DENGAN NASI SATU BUNGKUS DAN TEH SATU GELAS .. ( Mungkin mau buka puasa kali..)

DAN AKHIRNYA DIA TIDAK PERNAH MENDAPATKAN APA-APA SELAIN KEKECEWAAN, BERSUNGUT-SUNGUT DAN KEMARAHAN..Justru orang yang tidak tahu ( penjual nasi) mendapatkan rejeki nomplok karena semangka tersebut berisi emas dan intan...
Sahabat,

Kadang kita merasa bahwa kita sudah memberikan yang terbaik dalam tugas dan tanggungjawab kita.. tetapi apa yang kita dapatkan sepertinya tidak sesuai dengan jerih lelah kita.. bahkan mendapat masalah.. tapi tunggu dulu !!! jangan jangan TUHAN SEDANG MEMBUNGKUS HADIAH ITU dengan kertas kado yang namanya masalah dan tekanan.....sebenarnya kita tinggal selangkah lagi mendapatkan hadiah itu.. tetapi kita keburu menyerah dan menukarnya dengan hal-hal yang tidak berarti.....( bersungut-sungut, putus asa, bila lebih parah lagi bisa menyalahkan orang disekitar kita.. bahkan TUHAN...)
Jadi kalau anda mendapatkan KADO yang tidak menyenangkan ingatlah... jangan-jangan dibalik itu ada intan dan berlian...!!! atau anda kecewa selamanya.../Mail

Selamat menikmati hari-harimu ....
Selamat Membuka Kado .....
Semoga hari ini menyenangkan...
GBU

Aku bertanya kepada Tuhan

2008-11-06T18:02:00.003+07:00

Aku bertanya kepada Tuhan,
mengapa aku tidak kaya...

Lalu Dia menunjukkan
seorang pria dengan banyak harta, tetapi hidup kesepian, dan tidak
memiliki siapapun untuk berbagi.

Aku bertanya kepada Tuhan,
mengapa aku tidak cantik...

Lalu Dia menunjukkan
seorang wanita dengan kecantikan yang melebihi lainnya, tetapi memiliki karakter
yang buruk.

Aku bertanya kepada Tuhan,
mengapa Ia membiarkan aku menjadi tua...

Lalu Dia menujukkan seorang
anak laki-laki berusia 16 tahun sedang terbujur kaku, meninggal karena
kecelakaan mobil.

Aku bertanya kepada Tuhan,
mengapa aku tidak memiliki rumah besar...

Lalu Dia menunjukkan sebuah
keluarga yang beranggotakan 6 orang, baru saja diusir dari rumah yang kecil
sesak...dan terpaksa tinggal dijalanan.

Aku bertanya kepada Tuhan,
mengapa aku harus bekerja...

Lalu Dia menunjukkan
seorang pria, yang tidak bisa menemukan satu pekerjaan pun, karena tidak
memiliki kesempatan untuk belajar membaca.

Aku bertanya kepada Tuhan,
mengapa aku tidak menjadi orang terkenal...

Lalu Dia menunjukkan
seseorang yang memiliki banyak sahabat, tetapi semuanya pergi ketika orang itu
tidak memiliki harta lagi.

Aku bertanya kepada Tuhan,
mengapa aku tidak pintar...

Lalu Dia menunjukkan
seorang yang terlahir jenius, tetapi dipenjara karena menyalahgunakan
kepintarannya untuk kejahatan.

Aku bertanya kepada Tuhan,
mengapa Ia begitu sabar dengan orang yang tidak bisa bersyukur seperti aku...

Dia lalu menunjukkan
AlkitabNya...Dia menunjukkan AnakNya, yang telah mengambil alih tempatku di
Kalvari.

Aku tahu sekarang betapa
besar Ia mengasihiku...

Dan itu cukup
bagiku

I TESALONIKA
5:18

'Mengucap syukurlah dalam
segala hal, sebab itulah yang dikehendaki Allah di dalam Kristus Yesus bagi
kamu.'/Mail

Tips Cara Mudah Mendeteksi Susu Beracun

2008-11-06T17:57:00.000+07:00

(Erabaru.or.id) - Cara dibawah ini dilakukan bertahap akan dapat mendeteksi
susu bubuk Anda apakah mengandung melamine atau tidak :

1. Tuangkan air panas kedalam susu bubuk yang lebih kental dari biasanya,
lalu diaduk hingga tidak terlihat lagi gumpalan susu bubuknya, letakan
kedalam lemari es hingga susu menjadi dingin.

2. Sepotong kain hitam diletakan diatas gelas kosong untuk menyaring.

3. Tuangkan susu yang telah dingin itu keatas kain untuk disaring.

4. Jika terlihat diatas kain ada benda beku berwarna putih, kemudian
bilaslah dengan air bersih beberapa kali untuk menghilangkan benda-benda
yang dapat larut hancur.

5. Jika ditemukan kristal putih, masukanlah kedalam air bersih, bila kristal
tersebut tenggelam dalam air, maka kemungkinan besar adalah melamine, susu
bubuk tersebut tidak layak dikonsumsi.

Catatan : kemungkinan susu bubuk yang mengandung melamine dalam jumlah
sedikit, tidak dapat terdeteksi dengan cara tersebut di atas. (The Epoch
Times/the)

Semoga bermanfaat!/Mail

Lihatlah Dia lebih besar dari apa yang kita hadapi

2008-11-06T17:31:00.001+07:00

Anak-Ku yang Tercinta,

Di manakah menurutmu Aku tinggal? Di Surga? Kamu benar, namun Aku juga tinggal di dunia melalui Roh Kudus-Ku. Aku tengah bekerja di sekitarmu, membantu & menasihati anak-anak-Ku. Namun Aku malah lebih dekat dari itu. Jika kamu adalah seorang Kristen, Aku tinggal di dalam dirimu. Aku merasakan yang kamu rasakan. Maka, ketika kamu membutuhkan-Ku, kamu tak usah melihat jauh-jauh. Pada suatu ketika di dalam sejarah, umat-Ku harus pergi ke tenda atau ke bait-Ku untuk menemui-Ku. Kini tidak lagi. Karena Yesus mati di kayu salib, kini Aku bisa hidup di dalam dirimu. Kamulah bait-Ku kini Aku mengetahui setiap pikiranmu. Kamu dapat memanggil-Ku setiap saat. Aku di sini, sedekat denyut jantungmu.

Bapa Surgawimu, Tuhan

Carilah Tuhan selama Ia berkenan ditemui; berserulah kepada-Nya selama Ia dekat (Yesaya 55:6)

RENUNGAN - Kamis, 06 November 2008

Mereka menceritakan kepadanya: "Kami sudah masuk ke negeri, ke mana kau suruh kami & memang negeri itu berlimpah-limpah susu dan madunya & inilah hasilnya. Hanya, bangsa yang diam di negeri itu kuat-kuat dan kota-kotanya berkubu dan sangat besar, … Kemudian Kaleb mencoba menenteramkan hati bangsa itu di hadapan Musa, katanya: "Tidak! Kita akan maju & menduduki negeri itu, sebab kita pasti akan mengalahkannya!" ( Bil 13:27-30 )

Apakah yang dilihat para pengintai itu salah? Tidak! Mereka menceritakan yang sebenarnya. Lalu apakah yang dikatakan oleh Kaleb itu salah? Tidak juga! Dia melihat janji Tuhan. Betul, mereka melihat hal yang sama. Ada berkat, ada masalah, mungkin sama seperti yang kita alami saat ini. Pertanyaannya adalah apa yang lebih banyak kita lihat? Apa yang mengendalikan hidup kita? Adakah kita dikuatirkan oleh masalah yang memang ada? Atau dikuatkan oleh janji Tuhan yang juga memang ada? GBU.../Mail

A Never Giving Up Hawk

2008-10-30T19:27:00.001+07:00

Like a Hawk that Never Gives Up

Although the storm comes, a hawk never gives up to face it. It will always fly high and high. This struggle makes a hawk to be strong of facing the storm. The storm is like a problem of our life. When we can face the problem and solve it well, we are not scare to face another one.

We can see the struggle of R.A Kartini when she struggled to bring women out of discrimination. The struggle of Kartini as an enthusiastic woman was just not spoken or written on her book “Door Duistermis tox Licht (Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang) ” but she had proved it by establishing the school for women education that was built in Jepara and Rembang. She had opened the gate for women to make them stand with their two feet. When the school had been established for women, the Indonesian women could feel that they could be educated like men accepted it.

She also felt that she was not free to determine her choice even she didn’t have a choice because she was born as a woman and she always felt something different what men said about her. She had many friends especially from Dutch and she desired to change her mind and attitude to make a good life for women. She thought that education was a good way for women to bring them for a better life. She gave the way how to tailor, cook, etc. she gave those for them without fee.

After she educated women how to do that, she planned to continue her study in Dutch. She knew when she learnt from Dutch, she would be a good aducator for women that was educated. She liked to make friendship and she had many friends in her country. She also had many friends who came from Europe and Dutch. She always said for her friends about her desire to make aquality between women and men.

From all of her struggle, she never gave up to do it. She knew that it was very important for women even women have felt it until now. She often faced the storm in her life when she had a desire to make women can be equal between women and men. She was like a hawk that never gives up and fly higher and higher in the sky./Wr, Immer

How I can memorize English vocabularies

2008-10-30T19:21:00.001+07:00

There are three ways how I can memorize English Vocabularies. Actually, memorizing English Vocabularies is not easy for me. I have been learning English for more seven years since I was in Junior High School. I can feel how many words of English Vocabularies that I have memorized till right now.

The first way of memorizing English Vocabularies that I often do is writing down it in a piece of paper or flashcard. It can be easy for me to remember and easy to bring everywhere. I also write down the meaning of the word at the back of the flashcard to ensure me understand what the meaning of the word is. I can also write down one or two English Vocabularies in one flashcard.

The second, I often memorize it from the dictionary directly. I memorize it by creating some sentences from the word that I have just memorized. It will be easier for me to remember the meaning of the word when I create the sentences from that word. I often do this more than writing it down on a flashcard because this is easier for me to remember.

The last way that I often do is recording and saving it on Mobile Phone. This is very simple to do and easy to remember when I almost forget the word. Listening to it is the easiest to memorize from what I have done above. Those ways help me to improve and enrich my English Vocabularies./Wr, Immer

The difficulty of making friends

2008-10-30T19:17:00.003+07:00

Many people can easily make friends in their daily life. They can influence people or they can keep a good relationship with others. It is not easy for me to make friends. Sometimes, I try to check myself why this comes into my life.

I believe that I won’t feel this if there is no something wrong in my life. When I try to check myself, I find something wrong that makes me like this. I have a brother and I still remember what he has done for me. I can not forget this event in my life.

A few years ago, when I was in elementary school, I could not go anywhere unless my brother allowed me to go. He was very rude to me. He did not want me to go with my the other friends. He just wanted me to stay home.

This makes me can not be free to speak with my other friends. This attitude comes within me and what I felt when my brother did this to me, it is also what I feel right now. I can not easily drive this away from my life. I feel that the basic of how to make friends or keep relationship has been wrong or it has lost.

What I felt about fifteen years ago effects my life and how I can make relationship with other people. I try to forget what I have felt. I also try to change this in order that I can easily make a good relation. When I do this, I often feel that I still fail.

What I do now is I read some self-development books and try to practice what I read especially a book that tells about the influence. This is not enough for me to do. I have to practice directly by meeting other people and speaking up when I meet somebody. I just hope that I can do my best to keep my relation that I have done till right now./Wr, Immer

A "How to avoid boredom" speech

2008-10-30T19:08:00.002+07:00

I am very pleased because of you, because of you who are going to listen to my speech today and also because I am healthy when I am going to deliver my speech.

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, in this time, I am going to present about Boredom and my speech main point here is how to avoid it. Let me give you some definitions of boredom and how it can work in our life.

Boredom is one of the most important things in human life. It simply shows that we are becoming aware of the futility or meaninglessness of life. Boredom is also a reactive state of emotion that interprets the dull condition due to repetitive, non-existent or tedious stimulation. We will be bored when not in the mood of “doing anything”

Ladies and gentlemen, how can usually boredom work in our life?

Boredom occurs when there is little or no interest involved in the situation that is presented. We are bored because we are stuck in an instance that we don’t want to belong in, we cannot do anything about it or are not doing anything about it. Our mind is not completely focused and it is difficult to concentrate and feel interested. When one is bored, their boredom can be seen through their work. It is evident when somebody is bored through their work because they are not knowledgeable about the situation that they are in. For example, When I enjoy my work, I will do my best and it will result a good result but when I have been bored with my work, I can not be maximal in working and it won’t result good things. This is because my mind is not completely concentrated and I have a lack of interest.

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have some experiences how to avoid boredom. I believe that there are so many ways of avoiding boredom and everyone must have different ways to avoid it but here I am just going to deliver to you five ways of avoiding it.

Play a game or surf the web.
I believe, some of us must be glad in playing game or browsing something in the Internet. You can do this to avoid boredom.
Have fun with whatever you are doing. After all, trust me, you will say that time seems to go faster when you are having fun.
When being bored, ask your family or friends to do things with you.
If we just stay alone at home, sometimes, we don’t know what to do but when we ask our friend to do something with us, we can be helped and we can get inspiration of doing something in which we like doing it.
Listen to the music.
You can choose a kind of music do you like to listen. I think most people like music, right? When listening to the music, it can help us to avoid boredom even drive our boredom away.
Spend time for recreation.
Recreation can be a great way of avoiding being bored at home and it can freshen our own mind.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope we can be helped from what I have delivered to you today. Try to have positive thinking of doing or facing something. Thank you./Wr, Immer

"Death is the mother of beauty"

2008-10-30T19:05:00.002+07:00

Metaphor in Stevens’ “Sunday Morning”

What can be thought about “Death”? Death is something of having an imagination, belief and awareness. After we think of those words, we begin to think that death is also the end of life, terminal of life and extraction. The atmosphere of death refers to scary, terrifying, mysterious, unknown and strange things. These make that death tends to negative things.

To get to the end of life, everyone does not only live what they want but they need a process of life how to reach or to have a good behavior where everyone wants to end their life in a good life. The title “Death is the mother of beauty” shows us how we could live and where we came from. The word “Mother” becomes the only source where we came from and we can grow because our mother’s love to us. She will be a heroine, life-giver for our life.

The title “Death is the mother of beauty” does not just mention “The mother” but “The mother of beauty”. The word of beauty is the word which exudes positive things. Everything is in positive things including actions, behaviors and so on. Everyone who lives wants to create beautiful life to prepare the next world (The end of life) because in the process of life, it looks that life is too short, some people waste their time to do good things, and also life is too short to neglect. So, the process of life will be begun from the “Zero” and everyone lives between “Zero” and “Death”. In the middle between “Zero” and “Death”, everyone will have an awareness to prepare the next world or end of life by creating a beautiful life, good conducts, good attitude for others and so many good things as long as they can do in their life./Wr, Immer

Singing with soul

2008-10-30T18:19:00.004+07:00

In this world, everyone must know a song even they ever sing a song, whether they sing for themselves or others. We have known a song from our ancestor’s era even we now still listen to the song around us like folk songs such as Es Lilin (West Java), Kambanglah Bungo (Sumatera), Kicir-kicir (Jakarta), Gundul-gundul Pacul (East Java) and so on. It is not only found in Indonesia but the other countries also have their anthem which proves that the activities of singing are a part of our daily life.

In general, singing can be defined with various understandings, it depends on what perspective we view and value that thing. Singing has a close relation with feeling, experience and imagination. It is the same as components in terms of singing such as rhythm and tone. The technique of singing can be easily controlled if we can perceive the atmosphere of a song. Perceiving a song will appear a character or a characteristic of sound which is desired by those whose hobby’s singing even it is nowadays needed by the entertainment. A singer is an actor who entertains his audiences with a sound and nice tone which can be able to give an attraction to them. Singing without a burden is a key to success of a performance.

1. VOCAL TRICK I (Basic)

a. Respiration

Respiration is a basic technique of a very important vocal trick. To have a long breath when singing a song, we are supposed to use an abdomen respiration because our abdomen can accommodate more air than our chest so that we can manage the rhythm when singing a song.

Abdomen respiration training: inhale the air through our nose saved in abdomen (our stomach will be puffed up when inhaling the air), exhale through our mouth (our stomach will be shrunk when exhaling the air)

b. Articulation

Articulation is also an important thing which has an influence when singing a song. This one will be very important when the audiences clearly listen to the song which is being sung.

Articulation training: the articulating of A-I-U-E-O

c. The introduction of a tone

The introduction of a tone functions to avoid false tones when singing a song and simplify a singer in following the notation.

Training: understanding the basic tones such as Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Si by singing the basic tones

d. Pitch Control

This functions as a tone controller when singing a song as well as functions to stabilize a tone when playing the rhythm of a song so that there is no false tone.

Training: singing a song by pitch control.

2. VOCAL TRICK II (Intermediate)

We can easily follow this kind one if we manage the technique of the basic vocal trick in which this vocal trick is the continuation of the basic vocal trick by adding the first technique with techniques which can strengthen our ability in singing a song.

a. Improvement

This functions to strengthen a character or characteristic when singing a song. The advantage is we can sing with our own style without imitating the style of the original singer.

Training: singing others’ song by our own style

b. Self-Confidence

Self-confidence will appear when we can strongly manage the basic technique. By managing the basic technique, we can’t be nervous when singing a song on the stage.

Training: singing a song for others

c. Combining choreographies and songs

This technique has a close relation to pitch control. This technique can simplify us when singing a song which has a fast beat.

Training: singing a song which has a good beat by combining choreographies and songs

d. Imagination

There are many well-known singers such as Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Vina Panduwinata who have a very strong imagination when singing a song and it can be seen from the way they show their expressions in experiencing their songs so that every song sung by them has a strength which can not be performed by others. The strength of imagination can make us as a magnate to the audiences.

Training: training the imagination of the atmosphere of a song.

3. VOCAL TRICK III (Advance)

This is the last vocal trick where we can show our expression up as far as we like. It means that we sincerely show our performance when singing a song in which it can bring us to sing a song without a burden. For anyone who likes singing, just sing for yourself and others. We freely determine a song that we want to sing and the kind of music which follows our song. Yet, as a professional singer, we are supposed to be able to manage the techniques of various kinds of songs.

a. Becoming a magnate for every performance

The most difficulty to be a singer is when we become a magnate to the audiences. However, this will be easy when managing a song and understanding the lyric of the song that will make us as a person described or told in the song by imagining and experiencing the atmosphere of the song. In this case, we are creating our own expression in singing the song. The expression is a symbol of the atmosphere that appears because of a cause. The expression or style becomes a high value besides our voice

Training: singing by experiencing a song.

b. Inner

Style has various meanings. For instance, physically, our style to wear or this is commonly called as a costume. The other style is the style that we have in ourselves called inner. This inner functions as the most important for everyone whether they are a singer or not. Yet, those whose profession is in entertainment, this becomes a great value because we can have a good career for long term.

B. CLOSING

Singing is an easy thing. Becoming a singer, however, we have to be courageous to sing a song from our inner conscience which can give a quality performance and become a source of inspiration for the listeners without omitting the techniques of singing where it can make us as a magnate for the listeners./Tr, Immer

I have a dream

2008-10-28T20:23:00.003+07:00

Stephen R. Covey menyebutkan salah satu kebiasaan yang efektif adalah memulai dengan akhir didalam pikiran. Artinya memulai dengan pengertian yang jelas mengenai tempat tujuan saudara. Ini berarti mengetahui kemana saudara akan pergi sehingga arah hidup saudara tidak tersesat. Dari pengertia Stephen R. Covey itulah dapat disimpulkan bahwa kehidupan diciptakan dua kali. Satu dialam pikiran atau mental dan yang kedua adalah dialam nyata. Bahkan alkitab sendiri mengatakan bahwa yang rohani selalu mendahului yang jasmani. Jadi sebenarnya segala sesuatu diciptakan dua kali. Untuk lebih jelasnya lihatlah bagaimana seorang arsitek membangun sebuah gedung yang besar. Ia selalu membuat rancangan terlebih dahulu (blueprint) setelah itu baru membuat maket dan merencanakan pembangunan sesungguhnya. Tanpa blueprint ia tidak akan pernah bisa membuat suatu bangunan.

Adalah sebuah kebodohan apabila seorang arsitek tidak memiliki blue print sebuah bangunan tetapi membeli semua bahan-bahan bangunan dan mengumpulkan tukang untuk membuat sebuah rumah. Hal yang sama dengan saudara jikalau merindukan hidupmu maksimal. Punyailah gambaran mental mau jadi apa saudara dikemudian hari (tanyalah kepada Tuhan) dan setelah itu berjuanglah untuk menggenapinya. Ingatlah selalu menuliskan dan menggali tujuan hidup adalah seperti seorang arsitek membuat blueprint bagi sebuah bangunan./Budi Abdipatra

The Power of Purpose

2008-10-28T20:16:00.003+07:00

Allah selalu punya tujuan untuk hidup kita! Kita harus menangkap isi hati dan rencanaNya. Tangkap 7 kebenaran ini; niscaya hidupmu pasti berubah.

Segala sesuatu di hidup ada tujuannya.
Tuhan selalu punya rencana! Dia tidak pernah ciptakan kita asal-asalan dan tanpa tujuan. Kalau kita ada di muka bumi; itu berarti Dia punya maksud dan tujuan menciptakan kita (Roma 8:28; Pengkotbah 3:11). Hidup adalah bicara untuk jadi impact bukan sekedar berhasil dan menjalani hidup.
Tujuanku ada di dalam pikiran Tuhan.
Di dalam hati Tuhan ada tujuan dan rencana bagi hidup kita! So, pikiranNya bagi kita begitu detil, tepat dan pasti.
Tujuanku terus menerus memanggilku.
Tak pernah setiap kita diijinkan untuk keluar dari tujuan Allah karena Dia akan mengejar diri kita sampai kita mengatakan "ya" atas rencanaNya
Sewaktu tujuan tidak diketahui maka perusakan atau penyalah gunaan akan muncul.
Sewaktu kita tidak hidup dalam tujuan Allah maka abuse akan terjadi! Bahkan kekacauan dan perusakan akan terjadi.
Kemampuan dan alamiahku akan memperkirakan tujuanku.
Tuhan telah tempatkan kemampuan alami dalam diri kita untuk mendukung setiap tujuan yang Dia taruh! Kalau kita rindu menjadi penggenap tujuan Allah; temukan semua potensi yang terpendam dalam diri kita.
Hasratku akan menunjukkan tujuanku.
Temukan apa yang kita rela untuk melakukan sesuatu habis-habisan tanpa dibayar! Disitulah biasanya panggilan Tuhan dalam hidup kita.
Tujuan urapan adalah memberikan sukses maksimum.
Urapan Tuhanlah yang jadikan kita terus menaik sampai sukses maksimal terjadi dalam hidup kita./[Warta GKKD Jogja, diadaptasi dari kotbah Bp. Joshua Dodo W, FIRE Community]

Manajemen Stress

2008-10-25T18:43:00.003+07:00

Pada saat memberikan kuliah tentang Manajemen Stress, Stephen Covey mengangkat segelas air dan bertanya kepada para siswanya :

"Seberapa berat menurut anda kira segelas air ini?"
Para siswa menjawab mulai dari 200 gr sampai 500 gr.

"Ini bukanlah masalah berat absolutnya.. .,
tapi tergantung berapa lama anda memegangnya. " kata Covey.

"Jika saya memegangnya selama 1 menit, tidak ada masalah. Jika saya memegangnya selama 1 jam, lengan kanan saya akan sakit. Dan jika saya memegangnya selama 1 hari penuh, mungkin anda harus memanggilkan ambulans untuk saya. Beratnya sebenarnya sama, tapi semakin lama saya memegangnya, maka bebannya akan semakin berat."

"Jika kita membawa beban kita terus menerus, lambat laun kita tidak akan mampu membawanya lagi. Beban itu akan meningkat beratnya." lanjut Covey.
"Apa yang harus kita lakukan adalah meletakkan gelas tersebut, istirahat sejenak sebelum mengangkatnya lagi". Kita harus meninggalkan beban kita secara periodik, agar kita dapat lebih segar & mampu membawanya lagi. Jadi sebelum pulang ke rumah dari pekerjaan sore ini, tinggalkan beban pekerjaan. Jangan bawa pulang. Beban itu dapat diambil lagi besok. Apapun beban yang ada dipundak anda hari ini, coba tinggalkan sejenak jika bisa. Setelah beristirahat nanti dapat diambil lagi.

Hidup ini singkat, jadi cobalah menikmatinya dan memanfaatkannya. ..
Hal terindah dan terbaik di dunia ini tak dapat dilihat, atau disentuh, Mantapi dapat dirasakan jauh di relung hati kita./Serbaguna.Wordpress.com

Kantung Empedu - Batu Ginjal

2008-10-25T18:23:00.004+07:00

Indikasi awal kanker & tumor biasanya diawali dengan penuhnya kantung empedu dengan batu. Semua orang cenderung empedunya berisi batu, tetapi pada kondisi tertentu akan jadi penyakit, Artikel paling bawah ini telah memberi saya jalan keluar, dimana 4 dokter memastikan saya harus dioperasi. Karena beberapa minggu lalu, saya terkena hepatitis A dan hasil USG ternyata empedu saya penuh dengan batu.

Penuhnya Empedu dengan batu tdk akan kita ketahui dlm keadaan normal, saya baru tahu setelah dokter melakukan USG Hati dan empedu.
Menurut Dokter : Operasi kantung empedu dgn mengangkat kantung empedu dengan operasi besar ataupun laparaskopi. Biaya yang akan kita keluarkan untuk operasi tsb berkisar antara 40-60 juta. (Untuk operasi saja)

Silahkan baca original artikel paling bawah dari Dr Lai Chiu-Nan, bagaimana mengeluarkan batu empedu tanpa operasi dan biaya sangat murah dan tidak merusak tubuh kita. Subhanallah saya telah mengikuti saran beliau dan alhamdulillah batu empedu ku keluar semua tanpa operasi. (Ini bukan detoxinasi, tapi seperti pembersihan perut). Hasil USG saya empedu telah penuh dengan batu, setelah melakukan treatment ini saya meminta USG kembali sebagai bukti. Ternyata benar...kantung empedu saya kosong... Entah bagaimana saya menyampaikan ucapan terimakasih ke Dr Lai Chiu-Nan, tapi saya cuma ingin sharing pengalaman sesuai niat Dr Lai Chiu-Nan membagi pengalaman kepada saudara2 kita dengan gratis.

Saran:
Bagi yang sehat...cobalah, karena saat kita sakit akut ataupun kronis gak enak rasanya. Ini adalah salah satu cara menghindari kanker dan tumor

Fungsi hati dan empedu:
Menetralisir racun di tubuh, Empedu menetralisir lemak yang kita asup ke dalam tubuh. Keduanya saling berkaitan... kalau kedua2nya bersih ...berarti kita telah menyehatkan tubuh kita agar normal fungsi keduanya. Puji Tuhan

Sehat adalah milik kita semua..
Baik sekali apabila kita sekali-kali membersihkan kandung empedu kita.

MENGHILANGKAN BATU EMPEDU SECARA ALAMIAH
oleh Dr Lai Chiu-Nan

Ini telah berhasil bagi banyak orang. Apabila kejadian anda demikian juga, ayolah beritahu pada orang lain. Dr Chiu-Nan sendiri tak memungut biaya untuk informasinya ini, karena itu sebaiknya kita buat ini gratis juga.
Ganjarannya adalah bila ada orang yang karena informasi yang anda berikan menjadi sehat.
Batu empedu tak banyak dirisaukan orang, tapi sebenarnya semua perlu tahu karena kita hampir pasti mengindapnya. Apalagi karena batu empedu bisa berakhir dengan penyakit kanker. "Kanker sendiri tidak pernah muncul sebagai penyakit pertama" kata Dr Chiu-Nan.
"Umumnya ada penyakit lain yang mendahuluinya. Dalam penelitian di Tiongkok saya menemukan bacaan bahwa orang-orang yang terkena kanker biasanya ada banyak batu dalam tubuhnya.
Dalam kantung empedu hampir semua dari kita mengandung batu empedu.
Perbedaannya hanya dalam ukuran dan jumlah saja.. Gejala adanya batu empedu biasanya adalah perasaan penuh di perut ('nek, busung) sehabis makan. Rasanya kurang tuntas mencernakan makanan. Dalam kondisi parah ada tambahan rasa nyeri pada ginjal."
Bila anda menduga ada batu pada empedu anda, cobalah cara yang dianjurkan oleh Dr Chiu Nan untuk menghilangkannya secara alamiah. Pengobatan ini juga dapat dipakai bila ada keluhan gangguan hati, karena hati dan kandung empedu saling berkaitan.
Tata-cara pengobatannya adalah sebagai berikut:

1. Selama limahari berturut-turut minumlah empat (4) gelas sari buah apel segar setiap hari, atau makanlah empat atau limabuah apel segar,
tergantung selera anda. Apel berkhasiat melembutkan batu empedu. Selama
masa ini anda boleh makan seperti biasa.
2. Pada hari ke-enam jangan makan malam. Jam 6 petang, telanlah satu sendok teh "Epsom salt" (magnesium sulfat, garam Inggris??) dengan segelas air hangat. Jam 8 malam lakukan hal yang sama. Magnesium sulfat berkhasiat membuka pembuluh-pembuluh kandung empedu. Jam 10 malam campurkan setengah cangkir minyak zaitun (atau minyak wijen) dengan setengah cangkir sari jeruk segar. Aduklah secukupnya sebelum diminum. Minyaknya melumasi batu2 untuk melancarkan keluarnyabatu empedu.
Keesokan hari Anda akan menemukan batu-batu berwarna kehijauan dalam limbah air besar anda. "Batu-batu ini biasanya mengambang," menurut Dr Chiu-Nan.
"Cobalah hitung jumlahnya. Adayang jumlahnya 40, 50 sampai 100 batu.
Banyak sekali. Tanpa gejala apapun Anda mungkin memiliki ratusan batu yang berhasil dikeluarkan melalui metoda ini, walaupun mungkin tidak semuanya keluar.
Baik sekali apabila kita sekali-kali membersihkan kandung empedu kita.

1. Jenis Apel sebenarnya sama, cuma saya seneng yang manis... Kemaren aku makan Apel RRC yang sering diskon kalau di supermarket harga diskon per 100 gram 800-1000 (biasaya 1600)
2. Minum/makan apel selama 1 hari 4 (rata2) limajuga boleh.
3. Sebelumnya aku minum Jus asli apel. Cuma butuh waktu untuk mebuatnya.
Akhirnya selama 5 hari aku makan apel seger dari kulkas, kulitnya aku buang. Karena apel sekarang banyak yang dikasih lapisan lilin dan terkontaminasi sama pestisida... jadi aku buang kulitya, lalu aku potong kecil..dan dimasukkan ke kulkas...jadi saat kita mau makan, apelnya masih seger dan dingin.
4. Garam Inggris beli di apotik harga Rp2.500 (Tempat obat)
5. Minyak Zaitun kalau kita ke Supermarket namanya Olive Oil, harga 25-30 ribu satu botol. Di Apotek juga ada, aku beli di sanakarena dekat rumah.
Guna Jeruk agar kita tidak muntah saat minum Minyak Zaitun, Jadi aduk yang rata...karena sebelumnya adukanku tidak rata...sehingga eneg, ..lalu aduk lagi biar tercampur dengan rata..karena minyak dan jeruk tidak bersatu atau Berat Jenisnya beda...

Pokoknya Puji Tuhan.. 3 Dokter suruh aku Operasi... dengan treatment ini, keluar batunya.

"Orang yang hanya memikirkan diri sendiri, akan hidup sebagai orang kerdil dan mati sebagai orang kerdil. Tetapi orang yang mau memikirkan orang lain, ia akan menjadi orang besar dan mati sebagai orang besar"/Serbaguna.wordpress.com

Kisah cinta dari cina

2008-10-25T17:36:00.007+07:00

Satu kisah cinta baru-baru ini keluar dari China dan langsung menyentuh seisi dunia. Kisah ini adalah kisah seorang laki-laki dan seorang wanita yang lebih tua, yang melarikan diri untuk hidup bersama dan saling mengasihi dalam kedamaian selama setengah abad.

Laki-laki China berusia 70 tahun yang telah memahat 6000 anak tangga dengan tangannya (hand carved) untuk isterinya yang berusia 80 tahun itu meninggal dunia di dalam goa yang selama 50 tahun terakhir menjadi tempat tinggalnya. 50 tahun yang lalu, Liu Guojiang, pemuda 19 tahun, jatuh cinta pada seorang janda 29 tahun bernama Xu Chaoqin ....

Seperti pada kisah Romeo dan Juliet karangan Shakespeare, teman-teman dan kerabat mereka mencela hubungan mereka karena perbedaan usia di antara mereka dan kenyataan bahwa Xu sudah punya beberapa anak....

Pada waktu itu tidak bisa diterima dan dianggap tidak bermoral bila seorang pemuda mencintai wanita yang lebih tua.....Untuk menghindari gossip murahaan dan celaan dari lingkungannya, pasangan ini memutuskan untuk melarikan diri dan tinggal di sebuah goa di Desa Jiangjin, di sebelah selatan Chong Qing.

Pada mulanya kehidupan mereka sangat menyedihkan karena tidak punya apa-apa, tidak ada listrik atau pun makanan. Mereka harus makan rumput-rumputan dan akar-akaran yang mereka temukan di gunung itu. Dan Liu membuat sebuah lampu minyak tanah untuk menerangi hidup mereka.

Xu selalu merasa bahwa ia telah mengikat Liu dan is berulang-kali bertanya,"Apakah kau menyesal?" Liu selalu menjawab, "Selama kita rajin, kehidupan ini akan menjadi lebih baik".

Setelah 2 tahun mereka tinggal di gunung itu, Liu mulai memahat anak-anak tangga agar isterimya dapat turun gunung dengan mudah. Dan ini berlangsung terus selama 50 tahun.

Setengah abad kemudian, di tahun 2001, sekelompok pengembara (adventurers) melakukan explorasi ke hutan itu. Mereka terheran-heran menemukan pasangan usia lanjut itu dan juga 6000 anak tangga yang telah dibuat Liu.

Liu Ming Sheng, satu dari 7 orang anak mereka mengatakan, "Orang tuaku sangat saling mengasihi, mereka hidup menyendiri selama lebih dari 50 tahun dan tak pernah berpisah sehari pun. Selama itu ayah telah memahat 6000 anak tangga itu untuk menyukakan hati ibuku, walau pun ia tidak terlalu sering turun gunung.

Pasangan ini hidup dalam damai selama lebih dari 50 tahun. Suatu hari Liu yang sudah berusia 72 tahun pingsan ketika pulang dari ladangnya. Xu duduk dan berdoa bersama suaminya sampai Liu akhirnya meninggal dalam pelukannya. Karena sangat mencintai isterinya, genggaman Liu sangat sukar dilepaskan dari tangan Xu, isterinya.

"Kau telah berjanji akan memeliharakanku dan akan terus bersamaku sampai akan meninggal, sekarang kau telah mendahuluikun, bagaimana akan dapat hidup tanpamu?"

Selama beberapa hari Xu terus-menerus mengulangi kalimat ini sambil meraba peti jenasah suaminya dan dengan air mata yang membasahi pipinya.

Pada tahun 2006 kisah ini menjadi salah satu dari 10 kisah cinta yang terkenal di China, yang dikumpulkan oleh majalah Chinese Women Weekly.

Pemerintah telah memutuskan untuk melestarikan "anak tangga cinta" itu, dan tempat kediaman mereka telah dijadikan musium agar kisah cinta ini dapat hidup terus.

./Serbaguna.wordpress.com

Dia merasakan apa yang sedang kita rasakan

2008-10-23T16:13:00.004+07:00

Anak-Ku,

Pada suatu waktu di Perancis, para buruh berunjuk rasa karena mereka tidak mempunyai roti lagi untuk dimakan. Ratu yang tidak tahu apa-apa mendengar tentang hal itu dan berkata," Ah, biarkan mereka makan kue." Ia begitu terbiasa dikelilingi oleh kekayaan dan kemewahan sehingga tidak dapat membayangkan rakyat yang tidak mempunyai makanan sama skali. Sejumlah orang berpikir bahwa Aku seperti ratu itu. "Tuhan tinggal di Surga. Bagaimana Ia bisa tahu apa yang dialami kita manusia?" Tetapi Aku tahu, karena Aku memilih untuk hidup bersamamu. Begitu mengerti, sehingga putra-Ku yang juga Tuhan, menjadi seorang laki-laki. Ia tidak hanya mengunjungi bumi. Ia menjadi manusia. Di kayu salib, Yesus merasakan semua kesakitan yang pernah dirasakan manusia lain. Maka, Aku merasakan kesakitanmu. Aku tahu seperti apa rasanya. Aku bersamamu.

Bapamu, Tuhan (Imamat 26:11-12)/Mail

Biarkan Yesus menenangkan badai hidupmu

2008-10-22T17:20:00.004+07:00

Anak-Ku yang Tercinta, Pada suatu ketika Yesus dan kawan-kawanNya pergi melaut, badai yang ganas mengamuk dan setiap orang menjadi panik, setiap orang, kecuali Yesus. Yesus berada jauh di belakang kapal untuk tidur. Hal ini tidak memberikan kesan yang baik terhadap kawan-kawanNya. kebanyakan dari mereka kesal karena Ia tidur selama mereka menghadapi kesulitan besar.

Apa yang dilakukan Yesus? Ia berdiri dan memerintahkan angin serta ombak. "Diam! Tenanglah!" Ia berkata dan badai menjadi reda. Yesus masih melakukan hal-hal dahsyat seperti itu. Tak menjadi masalah badai apa yang kamu hadapi, bicaralah kepada Yesus mengenai hal itu. Katakanlah kepada-Nya apa yang kamu butuhkan. Ia dapat berfirman terhadap keadaan sulit di dalam hidupmu dan kamu akan mengenal kedamaian-Nya. Biarlah Yesus menenangkan badai hidupmu. Milikmu Yang Penuh Kedamaian, Tuhan Markus 4:39/Mail

Carilah orang yang mau

2008-10-20T16:57:00.003+07:00

Untuk menemukan the potential leader, kita perlu mencari orang yang mau bukan sekedar mampu. Mau ikut Tuhan, mau dibentuk jadi murid, mau bayar harga, mau habis-habisan, mau sepakat denganmu, mau ada dibawah otoritas dan mau taat. Tuhan memilih orang-orang yang berespon mau, seperti Maria saat dipanggil oleh Tuhan, seperti kata Firman di dalam Lukas 1:38, bunyinya: Kata Maria: “Sesungguhnya aku ini adalah hamba Tuhan; jadilah padaku menurut perkataanmu itu.”

Tahukah bahwa Yesus memanggil Petrus bukan sebagai orang yang mampu? Petrus bukanlah orang yang hebat dan orang yang luar biasa! Tetapi dia adalah seorang nelayan yang sederhana dan mungkin tidak berpendidikan tinggi. Tetapi yang hebat adalah dia mau untuk dipakai untuk menjadi pemimpin. Bahkan dia segera dengan cepat merespon panggilan Tuhan (Matius 4:18-22). Saya yakin sikap inilah yang Tuhan suka./Budi Apdipatra [Warta Jemaat GKKD Djogja]

Punya tujuan hidup yang jelas

2008-10-20T16:54:00.003+07:00

Setiap orang harus memiliki tujuan yang jelas. Hanya orang mati yang tidak punya tujuan hidup yang jelas. Tujuan itu berbicara apa jadinya kita suatu hari nanti. Kata lain dari tujuan adalah panggilan, kerinduan hati, mimpi ataupun visi. Ini adalah wajib yang harus dimiliki oleh yang hidupnya yang mau maksimal. Penulis Amsal mengatakan bahwa “bila tidak ada wahyu(visi, tujuan), menjadi liarlah rakyat. “Jadi,… dimana tidak ada visi, disinilah awal kekacauan terjadi. Hellen Keller,seorang yang buta pernah ditanya, “Apa yang lebih buruk dari pada dilahirkan dengan kebutaan?” Dia menjawab, “punya penglihatan tetapi tidak memiliki visi. “Pepatah kepemimpinan mengatakan, “Sembilan puluh persen pencapaian sesuatu adalah karena mengetahui apa yang kita inginkan (WHYSIWYG – what you see is what you get).

Memiliki tujuan hidup adalah prasyarat awal dari kesuksesan bagi seorang pemimpin. “Rahasia dari hidup yang sukses adalah menemukan apa yang harus dilakukan dan melakukannya.” Demikianlah perkataan Henry Ford, seorang pencetus industry otomotif dan visionaries. Salah satu kutipan emas yang disusun oleh Geoffrey Moss adalah “seorang manejer dengan visi sering lebih berharga bagi suatu perusahaan daripada seorang manajer dengan berbagai keterampilan.” Anggun Cipta Sasmi dalah sebuah wawancara dengan Gatra mengatakan “Meninggalkan tanah air merupakan keputusan besar dan berat tetapi aku tidak pernah menyesalinya karena aku punya ‘mimpi’.”/Budi Apdipatra [Warta Jemaat GKKD Djogja]

Karakter Seorang Wirausaha

2008-10-20T16:47:00.004+07:00

Waktu kelas 4 SD, setiap pulang sekolah karyawan ayah saya menjemput saya dengan menggunakan DKW (Sepeda motor dibawah 50 cc). Pada suatu hari kami mampir beli es campur dekat rumah. Cuaca yang panas terik pagi itu sangat mendung untuk minum es campur dengan cepat. Meskipun saya dibayarin untuk jatah satu gelas, saya mulai berpikir bagaimana supaya dapat jatah lebih namun legal dan tidak berbohong. "Pak!" panggilan saya kepada bapak tukang es. "Es saya terlalu manis pak, boleh minta tolong diberi air dengannya (air kelapa muda) dikit lagi, "tanya saya yang sudah hampir separoh gelas saya minum.

Dan memang ditambahi air dengannya sampai gelas saya penuh lagi. "Terima kasih pak" kata saya, segera saya minum kembali. Dengan menggerutkan dahi dalam hati saya berkata "sekarang kurang manis." Trik dagang orang tua saya langsung menyodok: "wah bapak terlalu banyak memberi airnya hingga manisnya hilang." Sang bapak menambah sirup dengan senyum dan saya menerima dengan senyuman juga. Cerita diatas bukan untuk mengajari saudara-saudari "nakal", namun mengerti karakter enterpreneurship. Seperti tertulis dikejadian 25:31, tetapi kata yakub: "juallah dahulu kepadaku hak kesulunganmu." Roh yakun ngerti sekali apa yang diperlukan bagi dirinya. Lalu apa bedanya cerita diatas dengan yakub? kesamaannya sudah jelas yaitu jual menjual (Enterpreneurship). Perbedaannya yaitu roh Yakub mengerti sekali apa yang diperlukan. Roh dan cerita awal diatas hanya mengerti untuk memenuhi raga saja. Dari kedua cerita diatas yang perlu kita ambil hikmah karakternya adalah:

1. Jangan beli 'ikan'nya. Maksud 'ikan' disini adalah raih kebutuhan roh, jangan keinginan daging
2. Beli 'pancing'nya. Jangan anggap remeh 'pancing' yang diberikan pada kita dan tidak bisa memenuhi kebutuhan saat ini, namun pergunakanlah sebagai 'alat' (Soft Skills) yang bisa untuk mencari kebutuhan terus-menerus.
3. Last but not least, enterpreneurship jangan diserap dikedangkalan, tapi seraplah enterpreneurship dalam orang mencari "harta karun" didasar laut./Daud Tjondrorahardja [Warta Jemaat GKKD Djogja]

Entrepreneur in Action

2008-10-20T16:21:00.009+07:00

Berkatalah Sarai kepada Abram: “Engkau tahu, Tuhan tidak memberi aku melahirkan anak. Karena itu baiklah hampiri hambaku itu; mungkin oleh dialah aku dapat memperolah seorang anak.” Dan Abram mendengarkan perkataan Sarai. Jadi Sarai, isteri Abram itu, mengambil hagar, hambanya, orang Mesir itu,-- yakni ketika Abram telah sepuluh tahun tinggal di tanah Kanaan --, lalu memberikannya kepada Abram, suaminya, untuk menjadi isterinya. Abram menghampiri Hagar , lalu mengandunglah perempuan itu. Ketika Hagar tahu, bahwa ia mengandung, maka ia memandang rendah akan nyonyanya itu. Lalu berkatalah Sarai kepada Abram: “Penghinaan yang kuderita ini adalah tanggung jawabmu; akulah yang memberikan hambaku ke pangkuanmu, tetapi baru saja ia tahu, bahwa ia mengandung, ia memandang rendah akan aku; Tuhan kiranya yang menjadi Hakim antara aku dan engkau.” Kata Abram kepada Sarai: “Hambamu itu dibawah kekuasaanmu; perbuatlah kepadanya apa yang kau pandang baik.” Lalu Sarai menindas Hagar, sehingga ia lari meninggalkannya. Lalu Malaikat Tuhan menjumpainya dekat suatu mata air di padang gurun, yakni dekat mata air di jalan ke Syur. Katanya: Hagar, hamba Sarai, dari manakah datangmu dan kemanakah pergimu?” Jawabnya: “Aku lari meninggalkan Sarai, nyonyaku.” Lalu kata Malaikat Tuhan itu kepadanya: “Kembalilah kepada nyonyamu, biarkanlah engkau ditindas di bawah kekuasaannya.

Kejadian 16: 2-9

Baru-baru ini kami diberkati liburan ke hongkong. Perjalanan menggunakan persawat udara membutuhkan waktu kurang lebih lima jam. Bagi anak kami yang paling kecil (dua tahun) merupakan suatu siksaan karena kebebasannya merasa di batasi. Kami mengajari tata cara yang harus dijalankan di dalam pesawat meskipun anak kami tetap meronta-ronta.
Sebuah keluarga yang duduk dekat kami mempunyai anak yang usianya hampir sama dengan anak kami. Ibunya menceritakan kalau masuk kedalam pesawat, anaknya diberi “benadryl” supaya langsung tidur dan bangun sudah sampai di tujuan dengan badan yang segar. Masih sempat terheran-heran dengan pernyataan ibu yang memasukkan ‘racun’ dalam tubuh sang anak dan bisa ‘segar’, sang ibu sudah berkata lagi: “Kalau seandainya dia bangun, saya sudah siapin mini laptop khusus untuk putar film anak.” Saya Cuma tersenyum dan menjadi pendengar yang baik.

Selanjutnya dari dua kisah penanganan anak yang berbeda ini, saya mebandingkannya dengan anak yang belajar entrepreneur dari orang tuanya yang mempunyai perusahaan sendiri. Ada orang tua yang mengijinkan dan “agak” memaksa anaknya untuk mempelajari perusahaan orang tuanya dengan mulai dari nol (level paling bawah), tidak peduli banyaknya dan tingginya gelar akademik. Namun ada juga orang tua yang mengijinkan anaknya untuk langsung duduk di kursi manajer tanpa harus susah-susah melewatinya karena ini adalah putra mahkota dan gelarnya dari luar negeri.

Marilah kit abaca Kejadian 16: 2-9, disini kita bisa belajar bahwa berwirausaha itu:
1. Tidak ada yang instant. Cari janji Tuhan buat Anda, jangan buat keputusan sendiri dengan mencari jalan pintas (Kej 16: 2-3)
2. Tabut Tuai. Sepertinya suatu penghinaan apabila ditaruh di level paling bawah, namun justru di level paling bawah ini kita banyak belajar kerendahan hati dan arti hidup dari kasih karunia serta anugerah Tuhan (Kej 16:5)
3. Harus diproses. “Biarlah engkau ditindas” (Kej 16:9). Ini adalah kalimat pasif. Biarlah hidup Anda dibentuk, sakit, seolah-olah tidak punya wibawa, dan sepertinya keset. Kelihatannya Tuhan tidak mendengar, namun nantinya berkat yang Anda peroleh akan Luar Biasa.

Seandainya hagar itu menurut, putranya pasti akan berbeda dengan apa yang sudah dit
ulis di Alkitab. Maukah para entrepreneur menjalankan actionnya?/Ev. Daud Tjondrorahardja

Symbolism of the sea and the biblical influence

2008-10-20T15:57:00.000+07:00

SYMBOLISM OF THE SEA AND THE BIBLICAL INFLUENCE

IN THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA NOVELLA

INTRODUCTION

Hemingway is the author of the novella. The title is “The old man and the sea”. The novella was written in Cuba in 1952 and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. The old man and the sea is also called as Santiago where one of his most famous works centers upon Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream.

The topic discussed in this paper is “Symbolism of the sea and the biblical influence in the old man and the sea novella”. This will refer to how the symbolism of the sea used in this novella and what is the relationship between the old man, Santiago and the biblical influence stated in that novella.

It is very important to discuss the symbolism and the biblical influence of the old man shown in the story. A symbol is something that represents something else, either by association or by resemblance. It can be a material object or a written sign used to represent something invisible. In literature, symbolism is used to provide meaning to the writing beyond what is actually being described. The plot and action that take place in a story can be thought of as one level, while the symbolism of certain things in the writing act on another level to enhance the story.

The biblical influence itself is how the main character, Santiago represents himself like what Jesus Christ had done. The most biblical influence told in the story is from the New Testament of the Bible. The topic “Biblical Influence” in this paper will show how far the old man represents himself to the crusifixion of Jesus Christ in Nazareth.

ANALISIS OF SYMBOLISM OF THE SEA

AND THE BIBLICAL INFLUENCE

I. SYMBOLISM OF THE SEA

The first step that will be discussed in this paper is the symbolism itself. The symbolism has so many influences in the story of the old man and the sea. As defined above that symbolism is something that represents something else. This also means how symbolism can show us the hidden meaning although it can be described. This paper will not discuss all of the symbolism told in that story but as it has been written above that this paper will only discuss the symbolism of the sea in the novella of the old man and the sea.

Sea can be symbolized as a dream. Everyone knows what is in the sea itself. The sea has a close relation to water. Water is an extremely complex symbol. It is quite often associated with the unconscious mind and the changeable emotions and intellectual ideas that we have. What the old man hoped in his life is that his dream will come true. The old man himself had gone eighty-four days without taking a fish. In this case, the other people had told him as unlucky man.

“… he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week.” (9)

The old man is not hopeless for he has a great dream to reach his goal, to reach the treasure in his life. No matters what the other people said to him. No matters how long the old man stayed and sailed in the middle of the sea. As long as the old man still has a dream to achieve, he has a strength to reach his goal comes true.

The giant Marlin is the treasure that the old man tried to get. The giant Marlin also represents what the old man is searching for whether it may be good or bad.

“… their marlin out and carried them laid full length across two planks, with two men staggering at the end of each plank, to the fish house where they waited for the ice truck to carry them to the market in Havana.” (11)

The sea can also described or symbolized as the place for swimming. Swimming in dreams can show that we have really changed or want to change in some way in our life. We are thinking strongly about emotional matters and making real attempts to improve our emotional life. Everything that people said about the old man as unlucky man, the old man tried to believe what he is going to catch. He does not think that all day he will be an unlucky man whatever he is going to do but he is enthusiastic that someday he will have good luck for his life.

“But, he thought, I keep them with precision. Only I have no luck any more. But who knows? Maybe today. Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact.” (32)

Swimming in dreams means that how the old man changed his way of thinking for what people said. The old man changed his mind to be optimistic person in which he has a bid dream to reach, a great treasure to have in his life.

The symbolism of the sea is also described as water, clear water. Clear water is extremely good and signifies clear thinking. It shows that you are clearly resolved to follow one course. It is clear how the old man shows and has something bright in his mind when he kept trying to catch the giant Marlin as a big treasure that he was looking for. The symbolism of clear water show the work of the old man that he lived in.

“Now the man watched the dip of the three sticks over the side of the skiff and rowed gently to keep the lines straight up and down and at their proper depths. It was quite light and any moment now the sun would rise.” (32)

The nature help him bring his mind to be bright. The old man keeps trying to get the giant Marlin although he will face some problems. The shark becomes the problem to the old man when he wants to achieve his dream, giant Marlin as a big treasure for the old man’s life.

II. THE BIBLICAL INFLUENCE

This section becomes the most important thing to discuss. The story of the old man or Santiago represents Christ suffering. Actually, Hemingway, as the author of that novella, compares himself to Jesus Christ on several occasions. This statement has an influence realted to the Bible. Hemingway had initially planned to use Santiago’s story which became The Old Man and the Sea, as part of a random intimacy between mother and son and also the fact of relationship that cover most of the book relate to the Bible.

As written above that the kind of Bible content used in the story of the old man and the sea is New Testament. Many times, stories by Hemingway have much religious influence and symbolism. The old man was often suffering from what he was doing. Many challenges had been faced by the old man. The kind of his suffering represents the suffering experienced by Jesus Christ.

The old man said that he was not religious. This does not represent where the old man had typically shown himself suffering from many challenges like what Jesus did.

“He was comfortable but suffering, although he did not admit the suffering at all. “I am not religious,” he said.” (64)

The old man is not a kind of religious man but he believes in God, he believes in Jesus where the old man represents himself as Jesus suffering and the old man also prayes in the middle of his tiring day.

“He commenced to say his prayers mechanically. Sometimes he would be so tired that he could not remember the prayer and then he would say them fast so that they would come automatically.” (65)

In the life of Santiago the fisherman are similar to the incidents recorded in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. There is a name Manolin in the story. Before this name is translated into Spanish, I would like to inform that the meaning of salao is unlucky or bad luck translated from Spanish into English. The same thing as Manolin which translated into Spanish means Messiah, Jesus (Stoltzfus qtd In CLC 13:280). Santiago is the “father” who teaches his symbolic son and disciple, Manolin.

“Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the skiff was hauled up. “I could go with you again. We’ve made some money.” The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.“ (10)

The other name in the story is Pedrico who is actually Saint Peter, Jesus’closest apostle and a great fisherman (Wilson 50). After catching the largest Marlin, Manolin will leave his parents in order to follow the teachings of Santiago, his master, just as Jesus did. Pedrico also called as Saint Peter, a great fisherman in the bible. He was called a great fishmerman and also a fisher of men, “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matthew 4:19).”

In the New Testament of Bible, Peter helped Jesus fish for souls as Pedrico helped Manolin fish for food. Santiago gives Pedrico the head of the mutilated marlin which symbolizes Saint Peter as head of the Christian church and the first Pope (Stoltzfus CLC 280), “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it, ( Matthew 16:18).”

“Pedrico is looking after the skiff and the gear. What do you want done with the head?”

“Let Pedrico chop it up to use in fish traps.” (124)

In the story, we can also find the relation between Santiago and the suffering of Jesus Christ. There are many references to the crusifixion of Jesus. In the story of that novella, it shows the representation of Santiago to Jesus’s struggle. Santiago climbs the hill to his shack, with the mast on his shoulder, falling several times.

“He started to climb again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder. He tried to get up. But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and looked at the road” (121)

This is an obvious reference to Christ’s struggle to carry the cross up the hill Calvary (Crossan, The Historical Jesus 163). The same action done by the old man when he put the mast down. It is too hard to bring the mast.

“… he put the mast down and stood up. He picked the mast up and put it on his shoulder and started up the road” (121)

This statement is like what Jesus did when carrying the cross up hill the Calvary. Jesus fell down because of the cross heaviness. Jesus struggled to pick up the cross and started up the road.

The next statement of biblical influence in the story of this novella is when Santiago makes his way into his shack and collapse into his bed with

“… his arms out straight and the palms of his hands up.” (122)

This is the same way Jesus was positioned on the wooden cross when Jesus brought the cross up hill the Calvary.

The biblical influence of the story shows that the old man and Jesus suffered in many of the same ways. They were both fishermen. The old man was the fisherman of fish and Jesus was the fisherman of souls.

CONCLUSION

The story of the old man and the sea novella has the use of symbolism of the sea and biblical influence which can be found in the story. This symbolism has represented the others that also has relation to the other symbolism used in the story. In this paper, I just explain the symbolism of the sea which can be related to the old man’s life where he was a fisherman who lived and sailed in the middle of the sea itself.

Hemingway as the author of the story had compared himself to Jesus’s struggle where the main character, Santiago is the representation of the author as well. Ernest Hemingway decided to construct his story to reflect upon the life of Jesus but did not make this too obvious to the reader. This becomes obvious when making an analysis and also having understanding for the purpose of the author. The main character, Santiago who was a fisherman of fish compared him to Jesus who was fisherman of souls./Analyzed by Immer

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. Scribners, New York 1952

Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 03 June 2008. The Wikimedia, Inc. 04 June 2008

Biblical Influence and Symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea. 27 Aug. 2007. 123HelpMe.com. 04 Jun 2008

Gospel Communications. - . Gospel Communication International. 04 June 2008

Worsley School Online. - .Working Caring Succeeding. 04 June 2008

Dreams and their Meanings. - . - . 04 June 2008

Enotes. - . Enotes.com, Inc. 04 June 2008

Segarkan Pikiranmu

2008-10-18T06:55:00.004+07:00

Tanpa mempersiapkan apapun, "pikiran" tetap akan bisa berpikir tapi pikiran perlu diberi makanan sebagaimana setiap orang makan di pagi hari, juga pikiran harus perlu dikasih makan setiap pagi meskipun tadi sudah disebut bahwa tanpa diperhatikan sekalipun, pikiran tetap akan bisa berpikir. Apa sebenarnya yang harus perlu dilakukan dalam menyegarkan pikiran? Ada beberapa hal yang penting untuk dilakukan, salah satunya menyegarkan pikiran lewat membaca dipagi hari karena pagi hari adalah kondisi yang baik untuk pikiran kita untuk memulai berpikir sepanjang hari yang pasti akan dilalui.

Dengan terbiasa membaca buku dan memberi makan pikiran, hal itu akan membawa pikiran kita lebih mantap dan siap untuk mengeluarkan ide-ide yang cemerlang sesuai dengan kebutuhan. Lalu yang berikutnya berpikirlah bahwa apapun yang akan dihadapi pada hari tersebut pasti bisa diatasi. Sebab, jika di pagi hari kita sudah berpikir "susah untuk dilakukan" maka sebenarnya hari-hari yang akan dilalui tersebut benar-benar akan "susah" untuk dilalui.

Kadang sepele dan jarang dipraktekkan karena sudah kecenderungan setiap kita bangun kita hanya membiarkan pikiran kita itu berjalan begitu saja tanpa memikirkan dan bagaimana membawa pikiran itu bisa mengalami sesuatu hal yang berbeda dari sebelumnya.

Hal ini tidak susah bagi kita untuk melakukannya karena saya rasa ini hal yang sangat sederhana tapi membuahkan hasil yang luar biasa jika hal itu dilakukan secara rutin. Ingatlah selalu apa yang dikatakan oleh Norman Vincent Peale yaitu "You can if you think you can!!"

Jadi didalam segala perkara dan masalah yang akan dihadapi, tidak lepas dari yang namanya "berpikir". Hal "berpikir" disini bagaimana menyelesaikan masalah tersebut dengan berpikir positif bahwa masalah itu bisa diselesaikan.

Self-Inspiration » www.dynasis-network.co.cc

The Power of Purpose

2008-10-18T06:43:00.006+07:00

Allah selalu punya tujuan untuk hidup kita! Kita harus menangkap isi hati dan rencanaNya. Tangkap 7 kebenaran ini; niscaya hidupmu pasti berubah.

Segala sesuatu di hidup ada tujuannya.
Tuhan selalu punya rencana! Dia tidak pernah ciptakan kita asal-asalan dan tanpa tujuan. Kalau kita ada di muka bumi; itu berarti Dia punya maksud dan tujuan menciptakan kita (Roma 8:28; Pengkotbah 3:11). Hidup adalah bicara untuk jadi impact bukan sekedar berhasil dan menjalani hidup.
Tujuanku ada di dalam pikiran Tuhan.
Di dalam hati Tuhan ada tujuan dan rencana bagi hidup kita! So, pikiranNya bagi kita begitu detil, tepat dan pasti.
Tujuanku terus menerus memanggilku.
Tak pernah setiap kita diijinkan untuk keluar dari tujuan Allah karena Dia akan mengejar diri kita sampai kita mengatakan "ya" atas rencanaNya
Sewaktu tujuan tidak diketahui maka perusakan atau penyalah gunaan akan muncul.
Sewaktu kita tidak hidup dalam tujuan Allah maka abuse akan terjadi! Bahkan kekacauan dan perusakan akan terjadi.
Kemampuan dan alamiahku akan memperkirakan tujuanku.
Tuhan telah tempatkan kemampuan alami dalam diri kita untuk mendukung setiap tujuan yang Dia taruh! Kalau kita rindu menjadi penggenap tujuan Allah; temukan semua potensi yang terpendam dalam diri kita.
Hasratku akan menunjukkan tujuanku.
Temukan apa yang kita rela untuk melakukan sesuatu habis-habisan tanpa dibayar! Disitulah biasanya panggilan Tuhan dalam hidup kita.
Tujuan urapan adalah memberikan sukses maksimum.
Urapan Tuhanlah yang jadikan kita terus menaik sampai sukses maksimal terjadi dalam hidup kita./Warta GKKD Jogja, diadaptasi dari kotbah Bp. Joshua Dodo W, FIRE Community

Setiap langkah adalah Anugerah

2007-11-05T17:03:00.000+07:00

* Seorang professor diundang untuk berbicara di sebuah basis militer. Di sana, ia berjumpa dengan seorang prajurit yang tak mungkin dilupakannya, Ralph, penjemputnya di bandara.
Setelah saling memperkenalkan diri, mereka menuju tempat pengambilan bagasi.
Ketika berjalan keluar, Ralph sering menghilang. Banyak hal dilakukannya.

Ia membantu seorang wanita tua yang kopornya jatuh dan terbuka, kemudian mengangkat dua anak kecil agar mereka dapat melihat sinterklas. Ia juga menolong orang yang tersesat dengan menunjukkan arah yang benar. Setiap kali, ia kembali ke sisi sang professor dengan senyum lebar menghiasi wajahnya.

Dari mana Anda belajar melakukan semua hal itu ? tanya sang professor. Melakukan apa ? tanya Ralph. Dari mana Anda belajar untuk hidup seperti itu ? desak sang professor.
Oh, kata Ralph, selama perang ..... Saya kira, perang telah mengajari saya banyak hal.
Lalu ia menuturkan kisah perjalanan tugasnya di Vietnam. Juga tentang tugasnya saat membersihkan ladang ranjau, dan bagaimana ia harus menyaksikan satu per satu temannya tewas terkena ledakan ranjau di depan matanya. Saya belajar untuk hidup di antara pijakan setiap langkah. katanya .......Saya tidak pernah tahu, apakah langkah berikutnya adalah pijakan
terakhir, sehingga saya belajar untuk melakukan segala sesuatu yang sanggup saya
lakukan tatkala mengangkat dan memijakkan kaki serta mensyukuri langkah sebelumnya.

Setiap langkah yang saya ayunkan merupakan sebuah dunia baru, dan saya kira sejak saat itulah saya menjalani kehidupan seperti ini. Kelimpahan hidup tidak ditentukan oleh berapa lama kita hidup, tetapi sejauh mana kita menjalani kehidupan yang bermakna bagi orang lain.
Nilai manusia .......tidak ditentukan dengan bagaimana ia mati, melainkan bagaimana ia hidup.
Kekayaan manusia bukan apa yang ia peroleh, melainkan apa yang telah ia berikan.

Selamat menikmati setiap langkah hidup Anda dan BERSYUKURLAH SETIAP SAAT
....... *Banyak orang berpikir bagaimana mengubah dunia ini. Hanya sedikit yang memikirkan bagaimana mengubah dirinya sendiri.. */Mail

Persuasion in writing

2007-10-30T19:24:00.000+07:00

I. DEFENISI

Persuasif adalah suatu ajakan atau bujukan untuk mendapatkan perhatian seseorang dengan hati yang tersentuh dalam melakukan atau mendapatkan sesuatu hal terhadap objek tertentu. Adapun yang dimaksud dengan ‘mendapatkan perhatian’ disini adalah seseorang yang dipengaruhi (influenced) dengan sesuatu makna dari sebuah ajakan yang dituangkan kedalam bahasa pilihan tertentu. Menyusun kata-kata atau bahasa tertentu tidak hanya sekedar tulisan yang tertuang didalam sebuah kertas tetapi hal yang paling penting adalah bagaimana seseorang harus mengenal siapa sebenarnya yang akan membaca tulisan tersebut.

Tulisan persuasif adalah tulisan yang sangat unik dengan tulisan yang lain seperti tulisan ilmiah, berita, makalah, dll. Dengan keunikan tulisan inilah yang membuat para pembaca (reader) terpengaruh dengan apa sebenarnya yang diinginkan oleh sipengajak terhadap sesuatu yang dituangkan kedalam bahasa yang sifatnya persuasif.

Bahasa persuasif sering ditemukan didalam iklan karena bahasa iklan yang paling cocok memang bahasa persuasif. Bahasa persuasif sanggup mempengaruhi dan membuat hati para pembacanya terkesan terhadap ajakan yang dituangkan didalam bahasa persuasif. Inilah kelebihan dari bahasa persuasif yaitu mempengaruhi, mengajak, membujuk dan menarik untuk akhirnya bias setuju terhadap suatu hal dan berpartisipasi serta membeli, menggunakan sesuatu yang dimana semuanya itu didapatkan dari bahasa persuasif.

II. CIRI-CIRI PERSUASIF

Adapun ciri-ciri persuasif adalah sebagai berikut:

1. Menggunakan Bahasa Emotif

Bahasa emotif disini bukanlah suatu bahasa yang membuat orang emosi karena marah tetapi bagaimana seseorang merasakan sesuatu perasaan yang datang dari hati untuk melakukan sesuatu. Bahasa emotif juga membuat seseorang penasaran terhadap sesuatu untuk bisa mengalami dan terlibat didalamnya.

2. Menggunakan Struktur Kalimat yang unik

Bisa dipahami bahwa struktur kalimat yang terdapat dalam bahasa persuasif bukanlah struktur seperti yang terdapat didalam tata bahasa inggris yang formal. Struktur kalimat dalam bahasa persuasif adalah struktur kalimat yang cenderung membuat para pembaca menikmati dan mudah mengerti serta terkesan ketika para pembaca membaca sebuah iklan yang menggunakan bahasa persuasif dan struktur kalimat yang sangat mudah dimengerti.

3. Pilihan Kata yang Khusus

Kata-kata yang digunakan didalam bahasa persuasif adalah kata-kata yang umum dan mudah dipahami oleh pembacanya.

4. Ajakan yang efektif

Ajakan yang efektif adalah suatu ajakan yang tidak bertele-tele dan tersembunyi secara makna tetapi ajakan yang bisa membuat hati seseorang tersentuh dan bergerak serta ada dorongan untuk melakukan sesuatu./Wr, Immer

Jalan dengan keong

2007-10-21T15:32:00.000+07:00

Tuhan memberiku sebuah tugas, yaitu membawa keong jalan-jalan.Aku tak dapat jalan terlalu cepat, keong sudah berusaha keras merangkak,Setiap kali hanya beralih sedemikian sedikit
Aku mendesak, menghardik, memarahinya, Keong memandangku dengan pandanganmeminta-maaf,Serasa berkata : "aku sudah berusaha dengan segenap tenaga !"Aku menariknya, menyeret, bahkan menendangnya, keong terluka.Ia mengucurkan keringat, nafas tersengal-sengal, merangkak ke depan Sungguhaneh, mengapa Tuhan memintaku mengajak seekor keong berjalan-jalan.

Ya Tuhan! Mengapa ? Langit sunyi-senyap
Biarkan saja keong merangkak didepan, aku kesal dibelakang. *
Pelankan langkah, tenangkan hati.... *
Oh? Tiba-tiba tercium aroma bunga, ternyata ini adalah sebuah taman bunga.Aku rasakan hembusan sepoi angin, ternyata angin malam demikian lembut.Ada lagi! Aku dengar suara kicau burung, suara dengung cacing.Aku lihat langit penuh bintang cemerlang. Oh?Mengapa dulu tidak rasakan semua ini ?Barulah aku teringat, Mungkin aku telah salah menduga!
Ternyata Tuhan meminta keong menuntunku jalan-jalan sehingga aku dapatmamahami dan merasakan keindahan taman ini yang tak pernah kualami kalo akuberjalan sendiri dengan cepatnya.

"He's here and with me for a reason"
Saat bertemu dengan orang yang benar-benar engkau kasihi, Haruslah berusahamemperoleh kesempatan untuk bersamanya seumur hidupmu.Karena ketika dia telah pergi, segalanya telah terlambat.
Saat bertemu teman yang dapat dipercaya, rukunlah bersamanya.Karena seumur hidup manusia, teman sejati tak mudah ditemukan.
Saat bertemu penolongmu, Ingat untuk bersyukur padanya.Karena ialah yang mengubah hidupmu
Saat bertemu orang yang pernah kau cintai, Ingatlah dengan tersenyum untukberterima-kasih .Karena ia lah orang yang membuatmu lebih mengerti tentang kasih.
Saat bertemu orang yang pernah kau benci, Sapalah dengan tersenyum.Karena ia membuatmu semakin teguh / kuat.

Saat bertemu orang yang pernah mengkhianatimu, Baik-baiklah berbincanglahdengannya.Karena jika bukan karena dia, hari ini engkau tak memahami dunia ini.
Saat bertemu orang yang pernah diam-diam kau cintai, Berkatilah dia.Karena saat kau mencintainya, bukankah berharap ia bahagia ?
Saat bertemu orang yang tergesa-gesa meninggalkanmu, Berterima-kasihlahbahwa ia pernah ada dalam hidupmu.Karena ia adalah bagian dari nostalgiamu
Saat bertemu orang yang pernah salah-paham padamu, Gunakan saat tersebutuntuk menjelaskannya.Karena engkau mungkin hanya punya satu kesempatan itu saja untukmenjelaskan.
Saat bertemu orang yang saat ini menemanimu seumur hidup, Berterima-kasihlahsepenuhnya bahwa ia mencintaimu.Karena saat ini kalian mendapatkan kebahagiaan dan cinta sejati./Mail

Tuhanlah benteng perlindungan

2007-10-21T15:17:00.000+07:00

Anak-Ku, Tahukah kamu akan cerita tentang 3 Ekor Babi Kecil. 2 ekor babi yang bodoh membangun rumah mereka dari rumput kering dan kayu. Rumah-rumah itu TIDAK aman terhadap serigala buas yang besar. Tetapi babi yang bijaksana membangun rumahnya dari batu bata dan serigala tidak dapat merobohkannya. Babi yang bijaksana itu tidak mempercayai keahlian tukang batunya, ia tidak mempercayai kekuatannya. Ia menaruh kepercayaan pada satu hal - kekokohan diri batu bata itu.

Jika kamu menganggap bahwa kamu cukup cerdik untuk mengalahkan iblis dengan kekuatanmu sendiri, ia akan memakanmu habis. Hanya ada 1 hal yang dapat mencegah iblis untuk mengalahkanmu … taruhlah Aku pertama-tama di dalam hidupmu. Maka, bagaikan babi yang bijak, kamu dapat menertawakan serigala buas yang besar itu. Bentengmu, Tuhan Aku senantiasa memandang kepada TUHAN; karena Ia berdiri di sebelah kananku, aku tidak goyah (Maz16:8)/Mail

Pengaruh dalam berpikir positif

2007-10-20T17:08:00.000+07:00

Pemikiran positif dengan pasti punya pengaruh terhadap hidup anda apakah anda memilih untuk percaya atau tidak. kenyataan, cara bagaimana anda berpikir memiiki suatu pengaruh yang sangat berarti terhadap hidup anda. Bila anda hanya mengambil waktu untuk berpikir tentang bagaimana anda merasakan ketika anda member reaksi secara positif atau negatif terhadap situasi, anda akan mengerti dengan tepat apa yang menjadi maksud saya.

Sebagai contoh, jika seseorang berhenti ditengah-tengah lalu lintas, anda bisa saja berpikir dan bereaksi negatif atau positif. Jika anda memilih untuk berpikir negatif dan reaksi anda menunjukkan sesuatu yang negatif, setelah itu anda akan hanya merasa terganggu, jengkel dan kecewa. Tapi bila anda memilih untuk berpikir positif dan memutuskan bahwa anda tidak akan membiarkan sesuatu hal sepele menjatuhkan dari anda, perhatikanlah seberapa banyak anda merasakan yang lebih baik.

Pemikiran positif dapat diartikan sebagai suatu sikap mental yang mengembangkan pertumbuhan, pengembangan dan keberhasilan. Ketika anda dengan sadar memilih dalam mengaplikasikan itu dalam hidup anda, memperhatikan bagaimana anda mendapat hasil dan keuntungan dari berpikir positif–bukan hanya sekedar anda merasa lebih baik dan punya pandangan yang positif dalam hidup anda, tetapi anda mendapat ganjaran yang sehat.

Disaat anda memiliki mindset yang positif, anda mengharapkan yang terbaik dalam hidup ini dan kedewasaan dalam mengatur waktu, ini yang akan anda terima. Bahkan ketika sesuatu hal tidak terpikirkan, anda bisa belajar dalam mengetahui serta setuju dengan situasi dan mencari pengalaman untuk belajar.

Apakah anda memilih untuk percaya atau tidak, pola berpikir anda memiliki pengaruh terhadap kehidupan anda. Sekali lagi, anda harus mengakui hal ini, anda bisa bekerja menjadi pribadi yang lebih bahagia dan sehat yang memilih hasil yang banyak. Terapkan pemikiran positif dalam hidup anda hari ini./Tr, Immer

I have a dream

2007-10-18T06:07:00.000+07:00

Stephen R. Covey menyebutkan salah satu kebiasaan yang efektif adalah memulai dengan akhir didalam pikiran. Artinya memulai dengan pengertian yang jelas mengenai tempat tujuan saudara. Ini berarti mengetahui kemana saudara akan pergi sehingga arah hidup saudara tidak tersesat. Dari pengertia Stephen R. Covey itulah dapat disimpulkan bahwa kehidupan diciptakan dua kali. Satu dialam pikiran atau mental dan yang kedua adalah dialam nyata. Bahkan alkitab sendiri mengatakan bahwa yang rohani selalu mendahului yang jasmani.

Jadi sebenarnya segala sesuatu diciptakan dua kali. Untuk lebih jelasnya lihatlah bagaimana seorang arsitek membangun sebuah gedung yang besar. Ia selalu membuat rancangan terlebih dahulu (blueprint) setelah itu baru membuat maket dan merencanakan pembangunan sesungguhnya. Tanpa blueprint ia tidak akan pernah bisa membuat suatu bangunan.

Adalah sebuah kebodohan apabila seorang arsitek tidak memiliki blue print sebuah bangunan tetapi membeli semua bahan-bahan bangunan dan mengumpulkan tukang untuk membuat sebuah rumah. Hal yang sama dengan saudara jikalau merindukan hidupmu maksimal. Punyailah gambaran mental mau jadi apa saudara dikemudian hari (tanyalah kepada Tuhan) dan setelah itu berjuanglah untuk menggenapinya. Ingatlah selalu menuliskan dan menggali tujuan hidup adalah seperti seorang arsitek membuat blueprint bagi sebuah bangunan./Budi Abdipatra.

Berpikir Positif

2006-10-20T17:01:00.000+07:00

Berpikir positif artinya suatu cara dalam melihat suatu keadaan apapun dan menemukan hal yang baik didalamnya.

Disaat Anda melihat dunia sekitar Anda,

Apakah Anda melihat setengah gelas penuh atau setengah kosong?
Apakah Anda punya malasah atau apakah mereka menantang?
Apakah Anda selalu melihat hal yang paling buruk terhadap keadaan atau dapatkah Anda melihat hal yang baik muncul dari situ?

Ini sedikit tantangan buat Anda
Perhatikan jumlah angka berikut dan bisakah Anda menyoroti apapun dalam urutannya?

1+1=2
2+2=4
3+3=6
4+4=7
5+5=10

Apakah Anda melihat 1 jawaban yang salah atau 4 jawaban yang benar? Bila ini ujian matematika, Anda sungguh-sungguh akan mendapatkan A dengan skor 80%. Tetapi, banyak orang hanya melihat jawaban yang salah dan ketika kita memAndang orang lain, kadangkala kita hanya melihat hal yang jelek pada mereka.

Pikiran yang positif melihat 4 jawaban yang benar dan hal yang baik pada diri mereka. Pemikiran kira bekerja dalam sebuah putaran, semua tindakan mulai dengan sebuah pemikiran dan jika kita menambahkan emosi didalamnya, Anda akan mulai bertindak terhadapnya, bila kita cukup sering mengulangi tindakan ini, itu akan menjadi suatu kebiasaan dan jika Anda tetap melakukan kebiasaan ini, itu akan menjadi bagian dari karakter Anda. Sebai manusia, kita hanya berkas kebiasaan.
Pengaruh pemikiran terhadap karakter

Anda hanya seorang yang bisa mengendalikan cara Anda berpikir. Pastikan Anda memliharan pemikiran yang positif dan membuang pemikiran yang negatif!” Catherine Pulsifer.

Berpikir secara positif tentang suatu keadaan hanya sebuah kebiasaan. Hal itu merupakan sesuatu yang bisa kita bangun dan sesuatu hal yang bisa kita kendalikan. Keadaan apapun yang datang dan kita hadapi, kita selalu bisa memilih bagaimana kita berpikir tentang keadaan tersebut. Kita dapat memilih dalam mengasihani diri sendiri atau menemukan kebaikan apa yang ada disana.

Bila Anda seorang remaja hamil, ibu atau bapa yang masih muda, kebaikan apa yang bisa Anda lihat dalam keadaan ini?

* Ya, sukar untuk menjadi orang tua yang terlalu muda
* Ya, Anda harus bertumbuh lebih cepat
* Ya, Anda telah kehilangan masa muda Anda
* Ya, Anda lelah
* Ya, Anda tidak punya uang

Tapi coba lihat dengan cara yang lain, pikirkan tentang

* Anak yang tidak bersalah yang Anda akan bawa kedunia ini
* Pikirkan tentang cinta yang tak bersyarat
* Pikirkan tentang siapa yang menjadi pengaruh terbesar dalam hidup mereka
* Pikirkan tentang potensi yang mereka miliki, kesempatan yang bisa mereka miliki
* Pikirkan tentang hal-hal yang Anda dapat lakukan terhadap mereka, yang tidak dapat dilakukan untuk Anda

Apa yang beda Anda lakukan untuk membuat hidup mereka lebih baik? Anda akan membangkitkan generasi berikutnya, anak-anak. Kesempatan fantastik apa yang harus Anda buat dunia ini menjadi suatu tempat yang lebih

Anda mungkin berpikir semua adalah baik tapi bagaimana dengan saya? Bagamana keadaan saya terlihat dengan cahaya yang baik? Lihatlah cahaya yang lain, pikirkan pengalaman yang Anda telah lalui, apa yang akan Anda lakukan jika Anda harus melakukannya lagi? Barangkali Anda tidak sanggup mengubah pilihan Anda tapi apakah Anda kira mereka mungkin orang lain seperti Anda sendiri, mengalami situasi yang sama? Mungkin Anda bisa berbagi pengalaman dengan mereka dan bantu mereka dalam menentukan pilihan

“Bekerja dengan rasa damai dan suka cita tahu bahwa pemikiran dan usaha yang benar tidak terelakkan akan membawa hasil yang benar” James Allen

Bagaimana melatih diri kita dalam praktek berpikir POSITIF

· Bayangkan kesuksesan Anda

· Setiap kali berpikir negatif, gantikan segera degan yang positif

· Jangan memperbesar rintangan, lihat mereka apa adanya mereka

· Jangan bandingkan diri Anda dengan orang lain, Anda sedang melakukan yang terbaik yang Anda bisa dibawah situasi yang Anda punya

· Miliki dialog yang benar dengan diri Anda sendiri

· Minta bantuan seseorang yang bisa menolong Anda untuk mengerti diri Anda sendiri

Pikiran Positif akan membiarkan Anda melakukan segala sesuatu lebih baik dari pada yang dilakukan pikiran negatif./Tr, Immer

Set your mind into "Positive Thinking"

2005-10-18T07:07:00.000+07:00

Wow... !!! Everyone can make a success on their life. Setiap orang punya potensi di dalam dirinya. Kita diciptakan bukan menjadi orang yang gagal. Berpikir positif terhadap segala sesuatu adalah awal keberhasilan di masa yang akan datang, karena apa yang kita pikirkan hari ini, itulah yang terjadi di hari esok. So, Keep on positive thinking, "You're able to do it"

Dalam sehari kita bisa menghasilkan 5000 pikiran dan 95% adalah cenderung ke pikiran Negatif dan hanya 5%-nya pikiran Positif. Jadi, kita butuh 10x masukan setiap hari terhadap pikiran positif sebab setiap saat kita berpikir, kita cenderung memikirkan hal-hal yang negatif.

Tinggalkan kegagalan kita yang terjadi di masa lalu. Karena, bukankah potensi yang ada di dalam diri kita, lebih besar dari kegagalan yang sudah kita lalui?

Oliver Wendell Holmes berakata "Apa yang ada dibelakang kita dan apa yang ada di hadapan kita bukanlah apa-apa dibandingkan dengan apa yang ada didalam diri kita" Maksudnya, Potensi yang ada didalam diri kita sejak kita lahir lebih besar bahkan mampu mengalahkan kegagalan yang sudah kita perbuat di masa lalu.

Now, tergantung pada diri seseorang apakah ia mau melihat potensi itu? Berpikirlah positif terhadap diri anda sendiri. Pribadi anda sangat berharga karena disaat anda melatih pikiran anda kepada hal yang positif, sesungguhnya anda adalah orang yang BERHASIL. Get the best and be a Successful man..!! " IT'S ALL ABOUT THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING "

Active On Online Dynasis Network at http://www.dynasis-network.co.cc

Bersahabat itu pemberian

2005-10-18T04:36:00.000+07:00

Jangan menunggu sampai kita punya apa-apa baru kita sesuatu dan menjadi sahabat bagi orang lain. Jangan menanti sampai kita jadi apa-apa baru kita berusaha menarik perhatian orang lain. Sebab orang lebih menyukai pemberian yang minim dengan cinta kasih yang besar, daripada pemberian besar yang diberikan tanpa kasih. Lebih baik kita memberi kesukaan bagi orang lain karena kita menyadari bahwa kita mengalami kesukaan dalam diri kita karena pengorbanan kita buat orang. Jangan sekali-kali memberi kalau tidak kita merasa punya cukup kasih yang menyertai pemberian kita, karena percayalah bahwa hal itu membuat kita makin merasa miskin dan menyesal. Jadilah pemberi yang merasakan kenikmatan dan kesukaan dalam memberi.

Seorang pemberi yang tulus biasanya juga punya cukup kasih yang besar untuk menolong orang lain dengan pemberian… Seorang pemberi tidak harus punya harta, tapi punya cukup hati. seorang pemberi tidak mesti punya waktu yang baik, tapi mesti punya watak yang baik. Seorang yang selalu mencari kesempatan untuk memberi, selalu mendapat kesempatan menerima, karena dalam memberi kita pasti menerima. Seseorang yang selalu sedia membuka pintu hati bagi sesamanya, pasti akan selalu mendapatkan pintu hati sesamanya yang terbuka dimanapun dimana ia berada. Berilah pemberian kepada sesama kita dengan kesadaran bahwa sesuatu pemberian kepada sesama kita sesungguhnya akan menjadi suatu pemberian bagi diri kita.

Jadilah diri kita sendiri dengan menjadi pribadi yang bersahabat. Orang yang dapat menjadi sahabat bagi orang lain, pasti juga bisa menjadikan sahabat bagi dirinya sendiri. Atau seseorang yang bisa menjadi sahabat terbaik bagi dirinya adalah pasti juga seorang yang menjadi sahabat terbaik bagi sesamanya. Dalam diri seorang sahabat sejati selalu kerinduan untuk berkorban, sebaliknya kita tak mungkin jadi sahabat sejati bila hati tak rela untuk berkorban. karena antara bersahabat dan berkorban ibarat dua sisi mata uang. dimana kita tak bisa bersahabat tanpa berkorban./Sahabat.wordpress.com

Perjalanan langkah dan inspirasi

2004-11-03T07:30:00.001+07:00

Alkisah, tersebutlah seorang pria yang putus asa dan ingin meninggalkan segalanya. Meninggalkan pekerjaan, hubungan, dan berhenti hidup. Ia lalu pergi ke hutan untuk bicara yang terakhir kalinya dengan Tuhan Sang Maha Pencipta.

“Tuhan,” katanya. “Apakah Tuhan bisa memberi saya satu alasan yang baik untuk jangan berhenti hidup dan menyerah ?”

Jawaban Tuhan sangat mengejutkan.

“Coba lihat ke sekitarmu. Apakah kamu melihat pakis dan bambu ?”.

“Ya,” jawab pria itu.

“Ketika menanam benih pakis dan benih bambu, Aku merawat keduanya secara sangat baik. Aku memberi keduanya cahaya. Memberikan air. Pakis tumbuh cepat di bumi. Daunnya yang hijau segar menutupi permukaan tanah hutan. Sementara itu, benih bambu tidak menghasilkan apapun. Tapi Aku tidak menyerah.

“Pada tahun kedua, pakis tumbuh makin subur dan banyak, tapi belum ada juga yang muncul dari benih bambu. Tapi Aku tidak menyerah.

“Di tahun ketiga, benih bambu belum juga memunculkan sesuatu. Tapi Aku tidak menyerah. Di tahun ke-4, masih juga belum ada apapun dari benih bambu. Aku tidak menyerah,” kataNya.

“Di tahun kelima, muncul sebuah tunas kecil. Dibanding dengan pohon pakis, tunas itu tampak kecil dan tidak bermakna. Tapi 6 bulan kemudian, bambu itu menjulang sampai 100 kaki. Untuk menumbuhkan akar itu perlu waktu 5 tahun. Akar ini membuat bambu kuat dan memberi apa yang diperlukan bambu untuk bertahan hidup. Aku tak akan memberi cobaan yang tak sangup diatasi ciptaan-Ku, “kata Tuhan kepada pria itu.

“Tahukah kamu, anakku, di saat menghadapi semua kesulitan dan perjuangan berat ini, kamu sebenarnya menumbuhkan akar-akar?”

“Aku tidak meninggalkan bambu itu. Aku juga tak akan meninggalkanmu.”

“Jangan membandingkan diri sendiri dengan orang lain,” kata Tuhan.”Bambu mempunyai tujuan yang beda dengan pakis. Tapi keduanya membuat hutan menjadi indah.”

“Waktumu akan datang. Kamu akan menanjak dan menjulang tinggi.”

“Saya akan menjulang setinggi apa ?” tanya pria itu.

“Setinggi apa pohon bambu bisa menjulang?” tanya Tuhan

“Setinggi yang bisa dicapainya,” jawab pria itu.

“Ya, benar! Agungkan dan muliakan nama-Ku dengan menjadi yang terbaik, meraih yang tertinggi sesuai kemampuanmu,” kata Tuhan.

Pria itu lalu meninggalkan hutan dan mengisahkan pengalaman hidup yang berharga ini./Mail

If GOD Always Forgives you, Will you forgive the others?

2004-09-02T08:10:00.000+07:00

If GOD Always Forgives you,

Will you forgive the others.?

Ikatkan Sehelai Pita Kuning Bagiku......

Pada tahun 1971 surat kabar New York Post menulis kisah nyata tentang seorang pria yang hidup di sebuah kota kecil di White Oak,,Georgia, Amerika. Pria ini menikahi seorang wanita yang cantik dan baik, sayangnya dia tidak pernah menghargai istrinya. Dia tidak menjadi
seorang suami dan ayah yang baik. Dia sering pulang malam-malam dalam keadaan mabuk, lalu memukuli anak dan isterinya.

Satu malam dia memutuskan untuk mengadu nasib ke kota besar, New York. Dia mencuri uang tabungan isterinya, lalu dia naik bis menuju ke utara, ke kota besar, ke kehidupan yang baru. Bersama-sama beberapa temannya dia memulai bisnis baru. Untuk beberapa saat dia menikmati hidupnya. Sex, gambling, drug. Dia menikmati semuanya. Bulan berlalu. Tahun
berlalu. Bisnisnya gagal, dan ia mulai kekurangan uang. Lalu dia mulai terlibat dalam perbuatan kriminal. Ia menulis cek palsu dan menggunakannya untuk menipu uang orang. Akhirnya pada suatu saat naas, dia tertangkap. Polisi menjebloskannya ke dalam penjara, dan pengadilan
menghukum dia tiga tahun penjara. Menjelang akhir masa penjaranya, dia mulai merindukan rumahnya. Dia merindukan istrinya. Dia rindu keluarganya. Akhirnya dia memutuskan untuk menulis surat kepada istrinya, untuk menceritakan betapa menyesalnya dia. Bahwa dia masih
mencintai isteri dan anak-anaknya. Dia berharap dia masih boleh kembali. Namun dia juga mengerti bahwa mungkin sekarang sudah terlambat, oleh karena itu ia mengakhiri suratnya dengan menulis, "Sayang, engkau tidak perlu menunggu aku. Namun jika engkau masih ada perasaan padaku, maukah kau nyatakan? Jika kau masih mau aku kembali padamu, ikatkanlah sehelai pita kuning bagiku, pada satu-satunya pohon beringin yang berada di pusat kota. Apabila aku lewat dan tidak menemukan sehelai pita kuning, tidak apa-apa. Aku akan tahu dan mengerti. Aku tidak akan turun dari bis, dan akan terus menuju Miami. Dan aku berjanji aku tidak akan pernah lagi menganggu engkau dan anak-anak seumur hidupku." Akhirnya hari
pelepasannya tiba. Dia sangat gelisah. Dia tidak menerima surat balasan dari isterinya. Dia tidak tahu apakah isterinya menerima suratnya atau sekalipun dia membaca suratnya, apakah dia mau mengampuninya? Dia naik bis menuju Miami, Florida, yang melewati kampung halamannya, White Oak. Dia sangat sangat gugup. Seisi bis mendengar ceritanya, dan mereka
meminta kepada sopir bus itu, "Tolong, pas lewat White Oak, jalan pelan-pelan. ..kita mesti lihat apa yang akan terjadi..." Hatinya berdebar-debar saat bis mendekati pusat kota White Oak. Dia tidak berani mengangkat kepalanya.

Keringat dingin mengucur deras. Akhirnya dia melihat pohon itu. Air mata menetes di matanya... Dia tidak melihat sehelai pita kuning... Tidak ada sehelai pita kuning.... Tidak ada sehelai..... . Melainkan ada seratus helai pita-pita kuning....bergantun gan di pohon beringin
itu...Ooh... seluruh pohon itu dipenuhi pita kuning...!!! !!!!!!!!! Kisah nyata ini menjadi lagu hits nomor satu pada tahun 1973 di Amerika. Sang sopir langsung menelpon surat kabar dan menceritakan kisah ini. Seorang penulis lagu menuliskan kisah ini menjadi lagu, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Old Oak Tree", dan ketika album ini di-rilis pada bulan Februari 1973, langsung menjadi hits pada bulan April 1973. Sebuah lagu yang manis, namun mungkin masih jauh lebih manis jika kita bisa melakukan apa yang ditorehkan lagu tersebut,...

Isteri, Pacar dan Sobat yang baik....

Apakah anda juga bisa memaafkan bagi orang2 yang telah berbuat salah
kepada anda?.... isteri si pemabuk itu telah memberikan begitu besar
kesetiaannya dan mau memaafkan suaminya.

If GOD Always Forgives you,

Will you forgive the others ?.... think wisely../Mail