What you never knew, won’t hurt you
I don’t agree with that.
Sometimes we must realize of who
we really are.
And… it took other people,
or your friend, to slam you from
the highest heaven where you’ve
been dreaming so far, back to the
solid ground where you will be landed.
Feets on earth.
A case from Greek mythology,
once there was a young man who
admired himself. He sat by the river
drinking his reflection on the
water surface, "How handsome…"
He fell in love for himself,
Narcissus, his name, ignored girls
who want to be a Narcisussaire
(Not Millionaire, maksa deh…)
Alas! He jumped into the water
chasing his own shadow, which kills
him. Pity, if only he knew that
it’s not real, he shouldn’t die.
Besides, why would you love yourself
that much and makes you unable to
find and give it to other?
From there we heard narsisisme
bangga pada dirinya sendiri,
merasa paling unik, hebat dan
seluruh dunia mengagumi.
In a perfect world, yeah his or
her own imagination. Where no mistakes
can be done and all seems going on
so impeccable. You’re the numero uno!
Let’s see in reality. You’ll find
that though you’re good, you’re not
really as awesome as you might think
or imagine.
Mari kita nonton American Idol, atau
Indonesian Idol. Lihat proses audisinya!
Di tahap awal, terlihat jelas mana
kandidat yang punya potensi, standar,
dan… yang ancur dan sebaiknya nggak
usah nekad daftar.
Ada kesamaan di antara tiga kelompok,
The talented: have humble heart,
dandanan biasa aja, punya riwayat
atau pengalaman pernah jadi vokalis
di band amatir, anggota paduan suara,
penyanyi di gereja atau untuk
acara resepsi pernikahan. Atau penyanyi
di kafe, pernah jadi backing vocal, dll.
Yang standar: perpaduan antara yang
pertama dengan yang kelompok ancur.
Sedang belajar menuju ‘lebih baik’
Modal nekad: Hanya semangat, percaya diri
dan yakin bahwa "Suara saya bagus…"
tapi secara skill payah banget!
Mereka datang dengan kostum heboh,
gaya dandanan aneh, mirip orang gelo,
nyanyi sambil nari2 menirukan penyanyi
terkenal, atau secara keseluruhan
gaya busananya, tapi bukan kemampuan
vokalnya.
Mereka inilah yang biasanya ngotot
berdebat dengan juri, yang kita semua tau
adalah orang yang jauh lebih ahli,
berbakat, punya pengalaman dan prestasi
di bidang menyanyi. Mereka berani
nantang salah satu juri untuk coba
tunjukin nyanyi yang bagus gimana.
Ada yang coba menggeser tema
‘menjadi idola tidak harus jago nyanyi’
bisa saja dengan punya prestasi di
bidang lain (Ya! Setuju… jadi cobalah
di bidang lain itu, jika sudah sadar
suara Anda …)
Ada yang memohon meski sudah ditolak,
"Kalo boleh, satu lagu lagi."
Atau mencoba meyakinkan,
"Jika diberi kesempatan belajar nyanyi,
saya pasti bisa. Tolong terima saya.."
Sayang… segalanya tak terjadi
seperti dalam imajinasi mereka.
So that’s the way it goes,
mereka dipermalukan, dijadikan
segmen bahan lawakan untuk pemirsa
di rumah dan … masih nggak sadar
mengapa mereka ditolak, malah ada
yang menyumpahi dan memaki juri
sesudah keluar dari ruang audisi.
Kadang pengalaman nggak cukup
untuk membuat orang sadar,
membuka mata dan menyadari bahwa
masih jauhlah mereka dari kondisi ideal.
These kind of people, biasanya yakin,
pede banget bahwa they’re the best,
sudah ahli dan nggak respek dengan
mereka yang beneran ngerti.
I remember a discussion with my boss.
I see banyak surat lamaran, she asked
untuk memisahkan mana yang ‘kambing’
dan mana yang ‘domba’.
NO!
hehe… the truth is:
Pisahkan mana yang bagus atau
lumayan dan yang harus disisihkan.
I said "But maybe we can give all
the same chance."
YES, but we don’t have a lot of time.
Then I gave comment "Sayang dan kesian
juga ya… if we could let them work
and I can give basic lesson, I’ll train
them to understand how the business
run and how to work as editor…"
YES, I trust that you can do it,
we could… let them learn,
but we don’t have time,
business must run. They should learn
while in campus, or schools. Not now,
we’re not a university. We’ll pay
to see their work result, not
to teach those who are inexperienced
or don’t know anything.
I remember her answer, and it makes
me realized…
Then beberapa kandidat terpilih,
I phoned and scheduled them to be
interviewed. Help the work test
process and must make a vote,
only one out of those candidates who
will be sitting next to me daily
and to be taught.
It’s done…
=
If only we knew, we can measure
our own strength and ability.
Or ask our trusted friends to tell us.
Then we don’t have to accept humiliation,
dipermalukan di acara TV, diketawain
seluruh pemirsa karena suara yang
‘nggak banget’
Selama masih ada waktu dan kesempatan
untuk belajar, pergunakan itu untuk
menambah skill dan pengalaman.
Karena pada saat peluang (untuk dinilai
dan menjadi yang terpilih) itu datang,
you’re ready, bukan hanya modal semangat
dan PD, tapi juga kemampuan yang sesuai
dan dibutuhkan untuk bidang itu.
Don’t blame condition, or worse…
the jurors dan anggep mereka nggak
becus menilai. They’re the experts
and you’re not yet someone in their
field.
It’s a very basic thing that
we must know about our own self. Then
we can understand others.
Sadly, some are just ‘too cool’
for that. But if you want to
change now, please read further…
1. Expand your horizon
Learn a lot! Don’t waste your life
only filling bulletin board or
checking ‘who viewed me’ and begging
your friends ‘please send me testimonial’
2. Avoid ‘I already knew it’ attitude
Before you make an opinion or show
what you’ve been practicing, let’s
apply the basic method of teaching:
Just shut-up, listen, and learn!
3. Be selective to criticism
If senior editors, or a best-seller
authors gives me advice and knock
my head with their pen; I would gladly
listen. Also if it comes from my
readers and friends, who have been
following what I wrote. Others? Let me
know you first, and are you an expert?
4. Learn something new and combine it
with what you’ve learned
These days I’ve learned about adding
humor in writing, making it more
friendly and communicative to segmented
readers. Also learned basic concept
of each field of science, so I can speak
to people from various professions.
5. Have a purpose and target
It’s clear enough, I have to finish at
least one book in each year.
(Phew… berani juga, I wrote this
dengan pergumulan. Kalau target nggak
tercapai kan jadi ada rasa malu…)
6. Learn from the master
DR.Les Parrot, C.S.Lewis, Seth Godin,
Leil Lowndes, Scott Friedman, Rick Warren,
John Maxwell, Kahlil Gibran,
Dante Alighieri, Marius Panzarella,
John Gray, etc.
Those are the ‘ideal-self’
the higher level to where I am running.
I’ll be like them, with my own uniqueness,
because I am special (be careful, jangan
jadi narsis di ending!)
And…
I’m just trying! I’ll keep on
doing it, you too… don’t be complacent
only with simple lessons.
It took others, to help me to be
someone I am today. And you… are the
one who put me the most part of puzzle
in my progress of becoming a writer.
Merci, Je suis joyeux pour notre amitié
Gracias, yo siento alegre para nostra amistad
Thanks, I feel glad for our friendship
Grazie, io sento lieto per nostra amicizia
+ yoDi +
