Thursday Quote

Last March I designed a little work of photos with quotations as a gift to my friends in the Focolare for celebrating the Life of Chiara Lubich the Foundress of the Focolare Movement.

I share some works here so that the beautiful messages from Chiara would reach many more people. Feel free to download them for your personal inspiration. Enjoy!

DREAM HOUSE

"There's no place like Home"

Yesterday, my best friend Isnani showed me her dream house. She said, "ellie, I want to show you my dream house". So there we were, riding a motorcycle (with her two little children!), we scrolled through a neighborhood in sub-urban Samarinda my home city.

Having found the house, I felt like having found a treasure that long time had been forgotten and now was the time to be discovered.

Suddenly, I was brought back to my root; my culture and my natural land, a home sweet home ala traditional people of Borneo.

The house is truly special. It stands with its identity of environmentally friendly, culturally so Borneo, and its humbleness. The house is made with love for family, and especially carefully thought and planned with architectural touch and consideration.

It just stands there irresistibly confident among the modern but boring houses in its surrounding.

I must say that nowadays many houses are built with modern touch (read: adapting western houses) but loosing the ability to be friendly with the actual natural environment and culture.

Look at the three boys playing under the coconut and banana trees....

Anyway, sorry that the photos are not so good here. I did a hurry snapshots as I actually stole the pictures of this house.

But Isna and I have promised to ourselves that soon we will knock the door to meet the owner of the house and get their permission to take more photos of the house and perhaps make a feature of the house as well.

After all, we were so happy to see the house. And having the dream house in our hearts and minds, we felt so light for the future to come. It is a big motivation!

TRANSFORMATION & NEW YEAR'S WISHES

"Transforming Lead into Gold"
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

Since I 'brought the world into my home' last month, my mind has been so busy with a lot of creative ideas. I have gone crazy with myself for re-discovering my passions.

Oh, you may be wonder why I say that I brought the world into my home. I installed the internet connection at home!

The special thing about this is that: first, it is a long time dream came true. If you read my post on IT and Me, A Decade, you'll understand how hard it was to get internet access in my city. But it is not simply about this. I have always believed that my 'home' is not going to be in my parents' house in Borneo. I see beyond my future that one day I live with the One I have been in love for all these 10 years on another part of the earth. Internet, and all its online communication via VOIP (these Yahoo Messenger or Skype) is the most effective tool to stay connect face to face with mama and my father.

Secondly, it is because I did it only by half of my first (after 3.5 years) very small salary. You know, in 2004 I gave up my job to purely studying. So during those years, I did not have 'my own' money. For a girl who has a job with good money, it was hard. This year is the first time again I got a job and received my first salary. Not much, I can say it is very small, only IDR 300,000.- (less than $30.-) but it surely felt like a gift from heaven for me. And only by half of it, I could bring the world into my home. I am so happy!

You see how special it is? Believe me, you really can "transform lead into gold" my friends.

So, last December I went into cyber world right from my room, discovering new knowledge and new stories. It is so satisfying my brain since it has been half a year leaving the university. It feels like I still have my class where I can keep on learning and learning and surely stay young. And the most important of all is to re-discover my passions.

And all of a sudden I feel like my brain is like a little girl dancing and running barefoot on the field full of flowers...and there are a lot of things popping up.

One idea that popped up yesterday was: 'destroying' my skirt. I have this white long skirt made of a very soft fabric that I rarely wore it. And I have no idea how this idea came to turn this skirt into ...... a curtain!

And so there I was, sitting in my room meditatively cutting the string slowly. It was a painful job I had to do it very carefully so that I would not destroy the fabric.



Finally, I transformed it into a beautiful white curtain for my bedroom window. To make it more fairly, I stole my father's silver praying beads (which have long been abandoned) and put them on next to the curtain. They were sparkling and saying 'thank you' to me because now they were in use again. To give the last touch, I put a white crochet (which was meant to be a tablecloth but I never really finished it).


Now my window was ready to welcome the New Year's Eve of 2009. I felt as light as this white flying curtain blown by the wind of 2008's very last day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last night, the New Year's Eve, was a beautiful night for me. I started the night with a little gloomy feeling though. I remembered that last year new year's eve, I was with Gabriel. I was thinking of those sweet moments a lot and how I miss to be with Gabriel again.

Suddenly I got a sms; it was from Eddy: "ellie, flash back what you were doing last year"... Oh dear, I was the happiest girl on earth because I was with my love.

And Eddy said: "You should be happy, because not everybody can enjoy tonight's new year eve".


I felt down crying and finally asleep with both the image of being with Gabriel and my flying and shinning white curtain in my mind.


I woke up just before 12 because of the sounds of the endless fireworks. At first, I was so hesitate to get up, but my curiosity forced me (thank you dear curiosity). I went out to the terrace, and got so amazed. The sky was full of fireworks, so magical! My city had never been like this before. There were fireworks from almost all corners of the city. I was stunned!

After few minutes standing not knowing what to do but looking up the sky, suddenly I remembered Mama and my father. I went inside and asked them to hurry to see the fireworks. And there we were, sitting in our terrace enjoying the fireworks. The sky was so bright in red, green, yellow and the mixed colors of the fireworks.

It was so amazing, never felt like this before, really. I had seen the fireworks in Disneyland, in Italy when I went on vacation with Gabriel's family, in Singapore last new year's eve watching the fireworks from the most exclusive spot, and nothing can compare the beauty of the fireworks in my city last night. The ambiance and the cheerfulness of the people of my city celebrating the 2009 new year were felt in the air, strongly.

I didn't take the photo, but I captured it well in my mind and I believe it is unforgettable.

Back to my bedroom with its shinning flying white curtain and sparkling beads, it was around 1 a.m, and there were still some fireworks. I sent sms to Gabriel and wished him a shinning year ahead. Oh, my dear Gabriel has been missing in action escaping to his cave for 4 months now.


There have been a lot of sms and emails, and song, and story, and call that have not been replied. And my heart is no longer sad and confused but just accepting serenely. Maybe this sms would also not be replied and be alone blown by the wind...

It is ok, love is love.

And I wish myself:

more flowers in Love and Life...

more cheerfulness and creativity...

more strength and I keep holding on to my drop of Hope.....

more knowledge and wisdom

more prosperous

And I wish more light to 'Dunia' (the world) and warmness to the people of the world....

ohhhh... I can't wait to fly again very soon to be with Gabriel and together see the world more...

SHINING SPOONS

I don't know how come I got so in love with spoons and started to collect them. I just loved to get them one by one as I traveled in New England during my one year stay in Boston. I was still 19, it was 10 years ago.

I think it was because I am both a traveler and a homey person. Spoon represent the icon of home sweet home, and these souvenirs are also the icon of my traveling.

I also think, perhaps, I am just so overwhelmed with the shines reflects from the spoon.




Here are some of the states I visited in New England.

From Boston, my unforgettable city, one of my beautiful homes on earth.....




the Liberty..


from Maine, oh how much I miss the New England Lobster....


from beautiful Martha's Vineyard...


surely did not want to miss the Disneyland...


from visiting Washington D.C



Though I did not make it to Canada, a friend brought it for me.


don't you think they shine beautifully??

CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT

Shinning and colorful things do make me happy and shinning. Here are some of my favorite collections of shinning and colorful accessories, one of the secret of my happy shinning days.

Blue Art Deco

It is my 2001 Christmas Gift. I thought it is just so simple yet charming.

Perla

My boyfriend Gabriel loves to make me pretty. On one Saturday afternoon, just 2 hours before our best friend’s wedding party, we were still in one of a famous shopping mall in Jakarta. He left me at the hair salon to do my make-up and hair while he strolled along the shops to get me a necklace for the dress he bought in Munich. He found Perla – this pearls necklace and was so satisfied with his choice.

Love

These lovely pink earrings seem to me so exotic. I bought it to match the pink ‘Kebaya’-- the Indonesian traditional woman dress -- that I wore for our best friend’s wedding. But I anyhow love to match it with the pink Kebaya of my mother. The Kebaya was worn by Mama on the day of my ‘giving name’ traditional Indonesian ceremony, and it has already been 30 years old.

Gems Butterflies

I’m just so in love with these two butterflies. I feel pretty and shinning to wear it on my brown shinny hair.

Gabs

Don’t you think it is such a lovely pair of bright red earrings? It is a gift from Gabriel. He gave it to me on the way to a café in Jogjakarta Indonesia for listening to jazzy music. It was one of our special dates.

Golden Butterfly

On one Sunday morning, I went out to the flea market in Gadjah Mada University of Jogjakarta with my three girlfriends. Though we were still kinda sleepy after a wedding party the night before, but we were still enthusiastic. Our plan that morning was to search for brooch. I found this and so in love ever since.