This past month, I’ve been thinking a lot about this what Pope Leo XIV said in his speech about cinema:
The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what “works,” but art opens up what is possible. Not everything has to be immediate or predictable. Defend slowness when it serves a purpose, silence when it speaks and difference when evocative. Beauty is not just a means of escape; it is above all an invocation. When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console, but challenges. It articulates the questions that dwell within us, and sometimes, even provokes tears that we did not know we needed to express.
Usually, we associate being slow, not creating anything, or making things happen as a deficiency, something we should avoid. But especially after the rise in popularity of generative AI (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc. you name it), content creation becomes cheap. It doesn’t require a lot of effort to produce, say, a 500-word essay or an illustration or a piece of music. Just say what you want to your nearest AI chatbot, and your wish is granted. In fact, precisely because of this, we are now expected to do more… with less. We are demanded to do more things faster than ever before. And for me, at some point, this becomes unbearable.
I now think that truly privileged people have the option to free themselves from constantly create or produce stuff (physical or digital). If they want to, they can just not do anything, not even exposing themselves on social media. They can leave the business of creating stuff to people really have something to say instead of those who have to say something. Being constantly wired is not always cool; being chronically offline might be the new cool.
This year for me has been marked with slowness. I don’t set big targets, just an yearly theme (forget resolutions, set yearly themes for yourself; see my blogpost on yearly planning). And externally, economic slowdowns combined with my new job conditions forced me to change my plans. Everything becomes delayed. But precisely because of the delay I can free myself from worrying about the destination and start enjoying the road I’m taking.
I’ve also tried to practice slowness physically. Instead of taking out my phone whenever I’m waiting for something or standing in line, I try to observe my surroundings at any opportunity. More often than not, I’ve been able to find things that tickle my mind. Yes, it’s boring. But you know what? We actually need to be bored.
Speaking of cinema, Chainsaw Man Reze Arc is pretty damn cool. You should watch it. And read Tatsuki Fujimoto’s works as well. He composes art in a way that feels… cinematic.
That’s all I want to put in on my blog this year. See you in 2026! 🙋♂️
So, in keeping with what I posted this time last year, my 2024 theme has been activities. Oh boy, what a year this has been. I did so many things this year, I don’t even know how to unpack all these new experiences. For one, I traveled much more than I used to. I visited about 8 new states in the US, in addition to making the first visit to South America in Bogota, Colombia.
Because there are just too much to share and not enough time to explain everything, I’ll just focus on one type of activity that I specifically pay attention to: visiting libraries. I think I visited about 20 new different libraries this year (not counting some smaller ones), and I’ll be sharing some photos from those visits!
What was your 2024 theme? What will be your theme for 2025?
Stephen A. Schwarzmann Library, New York Public LIbraryStavros Niarchos Foundation Library, New York Public LibraryHyattsville Branch Library, Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, MarylandParkway Central Library, Free Library of Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaBrigadier General Charles E. McGee Library, Montgomery County Public Libraries, Silver Spring, MarylandMain Library, Miami-Dade Public Library System, FloridaMain Library, Salt Lake City Public Library System, UtahTaking a photo with Sneaks the Cat, Baltimore County Library’s mascot, at Maryland Day 2024Miami Beach Public Library, FloridaMichelle Smith Performing Arts Library, University of Maryland, College ParkBiblioteca Publica Virgillo Barco, Bogota, ColombiaBiblioteca Luis Ángel Arango, Bogota, ColombiaGeisel Library, University of California San DiegoSan Diego Central Library, CaliforniaMartin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C.United States Senate Library, Washington D.C.Reading Room, George Peaboy Library, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MarylandOne of the storage rooms at the George Peabody Library, Johns Hopkins University, MarylandCentral Library, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MarylandCentral Library, Denver Public Library, ColoradoMultnomah County Central Library, Portland, OregonThe Dalles Library, Wasco County Library District, OregonLeave a Comment
For the last three years, I have stopped writing new year’s resolutions. Instead, I’ve set “yearly themes.” In short, 2020 happened, and people are reminded that even the best laid plans can and will go wrong through no fault of their own. It’s better to keep a goal that we can follow along as we cruise through life, but one that still allow flexibility on how it is done. More on this on CGP Grey’s video Your Theme.
Now, my theme for 2023 was journey. And what a journey this year has been. I don’t have a lot to show, but here are some pictures of my journeys this year.
View of the Jakarta MRT railway and Indonesia Attorney General Office.The front appearance of the National Library of Indonesia’s library services building in Jakarta.Small figure of Lisa from Genshin Impact on top of my stacks of books in my office desk. Grafitti depicting the Luwuk Banggai area at the Luwuk Banggai Airport.An assortment of seafood menus served in a restaurant in Luwuk, Banggai Regency, Indonesia.An after-dusk view of the Luwuk City in Banggai Regency, IndonesiaEntrance hallway at Shinagawa Station, TokyoAn entrance of the Shibuya Train Station, Tokyo.Shibuya Crossing, TokyoA view of Tokyo’s suburb area.A view of Tokyo’s skyline from the window of United Airlines’ lounge at the Narita Airport.Bird’s eye view of Tokyo’s suburbsIn-flight passenger screen on United Airlines plane showing a world map denoting the distance from Tokyo to Washington, DC.Concourse at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport.A Chick-Fil-A meal containing sandwich, fries, soda, and sauces.Outside of IKEA store in College Park, Maryland, United States. In front of the building are flags of the United States, Sweden (where IKEA comes from), and Maryland.Large-sized flags of Texas and the United States displayed in front of a factory (?).A platform in a DC Metro Station.The Male/Female Statue in front of Penn Station, Baltimore.View from the inside of The Book Thing of BaltimorePedestal of the former statue of General Robert E. Lee in Baltimore. It has been sprayed with grafitti saying FREE PALESTINE. The site is now known as the Harriett Tubman Grove.An afternoon view of the main road and strip malll in Adelphi, Maryland, United States.Seneca Lake Park, Maryland, United StatesUniversity of Maryland’s Marching band performing at an American football matchInner yard of Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Washington DC. The flag of the United States is displayed prominently in vertical orientation.Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo giving a speech at Georgetown University accompanied by the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim.The National Mall area in Washington DC with the National Monument in the background.Front view of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC.Entrance gate of the Chinatown in Washington DCCeilings of the Library of Congress Jefferson BuildingInner courtyard of the Hirshhorn Museum of ArtSarasvati Statue in front of Indonesian Embassy Washington DCFront view of the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, DCA street in Washington DCView of Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, United States
I have never been to any country outside of Indonesia before, and in 2023 I have traveled almost literally to the other side of the world, with 12-hour time difference and all that. I’ve always dreamed of visiting places I’ve never been to. I’ve done that in 2023. This was truly the year of my journey.
What was your journey like in 2023? What is your theme for 2024?
Dari kecil, aku sering dan suka datang ke perpustakaan. Saking sukanya, sampai-sampai aku membuat keputusan buat bekerja di tempat ini. Tapi, sejujurnya, tidak pernah sekalipun terpikir soal orang-orang yang selama ini menyambung hidup di perpustakaan sebelum aku sendiri mengambil bagian di dalamnya. Banyak hal yang baru aku temukan setelah aku mencoba jadi pustakawan.
Mumpung sedang momen Hari Pustakawan (7 Juli), aku akan mencoba melihat mitos-mitos yang selama ini dipercaya orang soal profesi pustakawan dan memberi penjelasan mengapa anggapan-anggapan tersebut kurang tepat.
Karena aku sendiri pemula di bidang ini, mohon saran dan koreksi dari sejawat pustakawan dan siapapun yang lebih kompeten.
#1 Pustakawan adalah tukang jaga buku
Ketika orang bicara soal perpustakaan, pasti yang terpikir adalah sebuah meja dengan rak berisi buku-buku di belakangnya serta seseorang yang duduk di antara meja dan buku tersebut. Orang inilah yang biasa dipanggil “penjaga perpustakaan.” Waktu dulu kuliah, aku hampir tiap hari datang ke perpustakaan dan bertemu orang-orang ini. Akupun menyebut mereka sebagai “penjaga perpustakaan.” Persepsi penjaga perpustakaan ini berarti orang memandang mereka layaknya orang-orang yang jaga toko (dan bukan yang punya toko): kalau ada pelanggan syukur, kalau tidak ada pelanggan ya nganggur.
Setelah terjun langsung ke dunia isekai perpustakaan, persepsiku berubah total. Banyak sekali pekerjaan yang harus dilakukan para “penjaga” ini, yang sering kali tidak kelihatan dari sudut pandang pembaca atau pengunjung biasa. Misalnya, buku-buku di perpustakaan tentu tidak serta-merta ada di rak. Untuk pasal beli buku saja banyak yang harus diurus, seperti buku apa yang harus dibeli? Mengapa perlu membelinya buat perpustakaan tersebut? Bagaimana cara untuk meyakinkan penyandang dana bahwa buku-buku tersebut pantas dibeli? Kalaupun sudah dibeli, bagaimana cara memastikan agar buku-buku ini bisa dimanfaatkan seluruhnya oleh para pembaca dan tidak ada yang sia-sia dibeli? Bagaimana cara agar seorang pembaca bisa menemukan buku yang dia inginkan, bahkan kalaupun orang tersebut tidak tahu judul buku yang dia cari? Buat yang mencarikan pun, bagaimana petugas memberi rekomendasi atau menemukan buku yang diinginkan pembaca padahal koleksi di perpustakaan sangat banyak (bisa ribuan, ratusan ribu, hingga jutaan) dan petugas sendiri tidak mungkin tahu semua judul buku tersebut? Bagaimana kalau bukunya tidak ada? Apakah cukup kalau petugas bilang “tidak ada”? Bagaimana kalau buku-bukunya sudah diganti buku digital dan sumber-sumber dari internet? Apakah sumber yang valid cuma buku? Kalau nggak hanya buku, apalagi sumber informasi yang bisa kita percaya? Bagaimana cara membuktikan kalau informasi tersebut bisa dipercaya? Bagaimana cara menarik orang untuk datang ke perpustakaan? Lagipula, buat apa ada perpustakaan? Apakah kita masih butuh perpustakaan? Kalaupun iya, bagaimana kita meyakinkan orang lain, terutama masyarakat dan para pemangku kepentingan yang punya sumber daya, bahwa kita masih butuh perpustakaan?
Semua pertanyaan ini terkesan sederhana. Namun, ketika menjawab satu pertanyaan, banyak lagi pertanyaan yang muncul. Pada akhirnya, pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut pun memerlukan disiplin ilmu tersendiri untuk menjawabnya. Orang-orang yang bisa menjawab keraguan-keraguan di atas inilah yang disebut pustakawan.
Dari pertanyaan-pertanyaan di atas juga terlihat bahwa pustakawan pun sebenarnya tidak hanya duduk diam menunggu pembaca. Mereka harus juga menulis laporan-laporan, salah satunya untuk mempertanggungjawabkan anggaran untuk pembelian buku dan koleksi lainnya. Ada pula laporan lain dalam bentuk pantauan sehari-hari, misalnya untuk mencatat kendala yang terjadi selama pelaksanaan layanan perpustakaan. Pustakawan juga ikut menjaga keamanan perpustakaan untuk mencegah hal-hal yang tidak diinginkan atau orang-orang yang membuat keributan. Selain itu, banyak pula pustakawan yang harus mempersiapkan kegiatan di perpustakaan supaya lebih banyak orang tertarik untuk berkegiatan di sana. Salah satunya adalah dengan pertunjukan dan storytelling buat anak-anak. Bisa juga pustakawan mengadakan kegiatan book club atau kelas komputer atau seminar-seminar terkait cara menggunakan sumber ilmiah dengan narasumber dirinya sendiri. Belum lagi harus terus-menerus memastikan bahwa katalog buku dalam bentuk database harus selalu terbarui dan isinya akurat. Siapapun yang pernah ngurus database pasti akan paham bahwa hal ini nggak semudah yang dibayangkan. Intinya, banyak sekali hal yang dilakukan oleh pustakawan selain duduk di meja pelayanannya. 🙂
Pustakawan tidak hanya sekadar “penjaga perpustakaan” atau “tukang jaga buku.” Sama halnya dengan apoteker yang tidak bisa hanya dianggap sebagai “penjaga apotek” atau “tukang obat.” Bahkan, mereka perlu sekolah profesi tersendiri setelah kuliah 4 tahun lamanya sebelum pantas disebut sebagai farmasis alias apoteker.
Ilustrasi di pos ini berasal dari serial novel, manga, dan anime Honzuki no Gekokujou atau Ascendance of a Bookworm. Karakter utamanya adalah seorang calon pustakawan yang mati tertimpa robohan rak buku dan bereinkarnasi jadi anak kecil bernamaMain. Walaupun sangat suka buku, Main kesulitan mencarinya karena ia sekarang hidup di dunia abad pertengahan di mana buku sangat langka. Ia juga terlahir kembali warga kelas rendahan, yang dianggap tidak pantas buat membaca buku. Oleh karena itu, Main bertekad memanfaatkan yang sudah dia dapat dari bacaan-bacaannya untuk bisa membuat dan menerbitkan buku dengan caranya sendiri.
Menurutku baik novel dan anime ini cukup bikin nagih. Ceritanya ternyata jauh lebih seru kalau mengingat sinopsisnya yang nggak membuat orang semangat nonton kayak di atas. 😅 Walaupun judulnya berbau-bau perbukuan, tapi isi ceritanya banyak sekali yang nggak menyangkut buku, kok. Pokoknya seru buat diikuti.
Ascendance of a Bookworm bisa ditonton gratis di Muse Indonesia (Takarir Bahasa Indonesia) dan dibaca versi novelnya di aplikasi Storytel (dengan sistem langganan aplikasi per bulan seperti Spotify).
We cannot escape love. Every language has a word that can be translated as “love.” Every person of every race, religion, and nation, has probably experienced it or at least know about it. It has been the subject of many songs, books, movies, and other works of art. Love is so commonly seen and heard, and yet, when you really think about it, it’s not easy to answer the question, “what is love?”
A lot of people probably would find it difficult to communicate their understanding of love, even though they have certainly experienced it. I have been in love before. And yet, it’s hard for me to explain what it is without using a dictionary. In fact, I tried to look up the definition of “love” on a dictionary, and I don’t quite agree with it.
An easier way to understand love, I believe, is through metaphors. In the book Metaphors We Live By (1980) linguists George Lakoff and Mark Johnson argued that we make sense of the world around us by using metaphors, that is, using one thing to explain another thing even when they have entirely different characteristics. We usually talk and write in metaphors to communicate abstract things like concepts, ideas, or feelings through other things that we can sense with our eyes, ears, hands, or other physical means.
Kaguya-Sama: Love is War might be inspired by a certain cognitive linguistics book. Taken from Wikipedia.
For example, the book mentioned the following metaphor:
TIME IS MONEY
You’re wasting my time. This gadget will save you hours. I don’t have the time to give you. How do you spend your time these days? That flat tire cost me an hour. I’ve invested a lot of time in her. I don’t have enough time to spare for that. You’re running out of time. You need to budget your time. Put aside some time for ping pong. Is that worth your while? Do you have much time left? He’s living on borrowed time. You don’t use your time profitably. I lost a lot of time when I got sick. Thank you for your time.
George Lakoff & Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors We Live By.
We use similar words to describe time and money. If someone said, “I’ve invested a lot of time in her,” we can instantly understand that the person is not trying to make a profit just like when we put money into stocks and mutual funds. However, we can see the relation between time and money here. Time is treated as a resource which can we have a lot of or not have at all. This is even though we couldn’t see and store time the way we can put money in our hands, count them, and put them in our wallets or piggy banks. If we try to describe time just as it is, we run into trouble pretty quickly since it is so abstract. And yet, when we use metaphors such as time is moneymentioned above, we can instantly understand it through comparing two very different things.
In the same way, we might be unable to explain love through a series of definitions. Just like time, love is an abstract concept, so abstract that even similar kinds of people can have disagreements about what it is. This is where the beauty of metaphor kicks in: you don’t need to point it out explicitly, but you can get a solid grasp by comparing the thing you want to understand to a more concrete object. Lakoff and Johnson wrote several common and easily relatable metaphors about love:
LOVE IS A JOURNEY
Look how far we’ve come. We’re at a crossroads. We’ll just have to go our separate ways. We can’t turn hack now. I don’t think this relationship is going anywhere. Where are we? We’re stuck. It’s been a long, bumpy road. This relationship is a dead-end street. We’re just spinning our wheels. Our marriage is on the rocks. We’ve gotten off the track. This relationship is foundering.
LOVE IS A PHYSICAL FORCE (ELECTROMAGNETIC, GRAVITATIONAL, etc.)
I could feel the electricity between us. There were sparks. I was magnetically drawn to her. They are uncontrollably attracted to each other. They gravitated to each other immediately. His whole life revolves around her. The atmosphere around them is always charged. There is incredible energy in their relationship. They lost their momentum.
LOVE IS A PATIENT
This is a sick relationship. They have a strong, healthy marriage. The marriage is dead—it can’t be revived. Their marriage is on the mend. We’re getting hack on our feet. Their relationship is in really good shape. They’ve got a listless marriage. Their marriage is on its last legs. It’s a tired affair.
LOVE IS MADNESS
I’m crazy about her. She drives me out of my mind. He constantly raves about her. He’s gone mad over her. I’m just wild about Harry. I’m insane about her.
LOVE IS MAGIC
She cast her spell over me. The magic is gone. I was spellbound. She had me hypnotized. He has me in a trance. I was entranced by him. I’m charmed by her. She is bewitching.
LOVE IS WAR
He is known for his many rapid conquests. She fought for him, but his mistress won out. He fled from her advances. She pursued him relentlessly. He is slowly gaining ground with her. He won her hand in marriage. He overpowered her. She is besieged by suitors. He has to fend them off. He enlisted the aid of her friends. He made an ally of her mother. Theirs is a misalliance if I’ve ever seen one.
George Lakoff & Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors We Live By.
As I said earlier, I don’t really relate to dictionary definitions about love since they are so abstract, and there are parts of those definition that I don’t agree. Metaphors such as these, though, are instantly understandable. I can relate these metaphors to my past love experiences, specifically my bad experiences with it.
When I first fell in love, I thought that I wasn’t behaving normally. Usually a rational kind of person, I suddenly became erratic. I couldn’t speak well, eat well, sleep well. Certainly, something was wrong with me. I have gone mad over that person. For me at that time, love is madness.
There were moments when I couldn’t point out why I was into that person. It felt as if it came out of nowhere. I did not become in love out of my own free will. In fact, I believed that I was bewitched. This was me thinking that love is magic.
At another moment in life, I was in love with a person that was loved by another person. I was constantly thinking about how to make the person I love to choose me over that another person, who I sorta kinda treated as an enemy. I came up with actions and clever words to impress that person (side note: I am a cis-het and was referring to girls all along; I just like to keep my references gender-neutral 😉). I had to defeat my enemy to win my love. When I didn’t get into relationship with the person that I loved, I thought of myself as a loser, while that other person became a winner. This was when I believed that love is war.
I could even come up with other metaphors. When I was a teenager, one of my favorite TV series is Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996). It had tons of references and dialogues about how human beings try to connect to and also are hurt by each other. Episode 4 of the anime was titled Hedgehog’s Dilemma, which is I think another metaphor for love. Hedgehog’s dilemma basically states that two lonely people trying to connect with one another are like two hedgehogs in the winter that are trying to get some warmth in the winter by getting close to one another. Unfortunately, since the hedgehogs have quills, the closer they get together, the more they hurt each other with their quills. Arthur Schopenhauer, a philosopher who first came up with this metaphor, thinks that humans are like that, too. According to his Hedgehog’s Dilemma, humans cannot love each other without also hurting the ones that they love.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-1996) ep. 4 “Hedgehog’s Dilemma.” Taken from The Verge,
That’s not all! In early 2020, I happened to read a manuscript titled Djalan Sampoerna (or Jalan Sempurna Hidupku as it was titled in the National Library of Indonesia, where it was stored). I wrote a blogpost about the manuscript here. I haven’t finished reading it, but in earlier part of the manuscript, the author talked about his first love and how he lost him. Then, I came across this stirring passage:
So it became clear to me that love was of no use (tijada bergoena). Many are the Dutch sayings that show this plainly:
Liefde is vondervol (love is wonderful)! Liefde is verschrikkelijk (love is terrifying)! Liefde is zacht (love is soft)! Liefde is brutal (love is brutal)! Liefde is wreed (love is cruel)! Liefde is heeld (love is happiness)! Liefde is vuur (love is fire)! Liefde is ijs (love is ice)!
And there are many other sayings that show how love can strangle those who fall into its toils. For love, many lose all their possessions. In some cases, even their innards leave their bodies. To say nothing of those who spend years and years in prison. And missing all of this because of the treachery of love. There are so many who spend their lives in misery, confusion, and suffering because their path is that of love. So it was clear to me that love was no use. For myself, there was now no room for love, for I had my own medicine (obat) for satisfying my desire. Even if I didn’t get married, it wouldn’t matter … I’d be like my friend, or the doctor in Kediri.
Is it true? Is love just a feeling that is involuntary, is driving us mad, and has brought us into conflict? For the better part of my life, I sincerely believed in all of this. My past experiences, my failures, and my traumas has led me to think that there is nothing to be gained from love. However, I later found out that this doesn’t need to be the case.
Metaphors We Live By has a chapter that discusses how we can construct new meanings to the things that we have previously known by creating new metaphors. It does not matter what metaphors other people use. As long as our metaphor enables us to understand reality and helps us live through it, that’s completely valid. To demonstrate this point, Lakoff and Johnson came up with an unusual but intriguing depiction of love:
LOVE IS A COLLABORATIVE WORK OF ART
Love is work. Love is active. Love requires cooperation. Love requires dedication. Love requires compromise. Love requires a discipline. Love involves shared responsibility. Love requires patience. Love requires shared values and goals. Love demands sacrifice. Love regularly brings frustration. Love requires instinctive communication. Love is an aesthetic experience. Love is primarily valued for its own sake. Love involves creativity. Love requires a shared aesthetic. Love cannot be achieved by formula. Love is unique in each instance. Love is an expression of who you are. Love creates a reality. Love reflects how you see the world. Love requires the greatest honesty. Love may be transient or permanent. Love needs funding. Love yields a shared aesthetic satisfaction from your joint efforts.
George Lakoff & Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors We Live By.
Understanding love as a collaborative work of art is certainly not something that we often see in popular culture, such as movies, songs, TV series, even commercials. We are used to the idea that love comes out of a sudden like magic instead of requiring a lot of work like creating a painting. We often act as thought love will come and grow naturally instead of having to be gained through dedication, compromise, and discipline.
This doesn’t mean that the previous, darker metaphors are not valid. After all, these depictions of love wouldn’t become so popular if people don’t relate to them. We don’t need to entirely discard our catalog of gloomy and destructive ideas about love. But we need to create new meanings.
Our prior impressions, woes, and traumas don’t need to mean that we are destined to fail and be miserable in love. Instead, by re-framing our love stories through brighter lenses, we could focus on the encouraging and more beneficial sides of love.
