Why My Instagram is For Public

I’ve been thinking these days if should keep my Instagram private or if I should unveil it for public.


I have a few considerations:

First, I want to indulge my private moments with my loved ones, my friends and my family. As I do not enjoy getting distracted by people who get attached by their smart phone so much, I do not want to be one of those people. I am afraid I will be more aware on things I publish online instead of the quality time that I share with people around me.


Second, I am a bit anxious of people judgment. I want to be myself. I love myself the way I am. I don’t want to change a bit to fit the society's expectations. I want to publish things around me to my inner circle without hiding my real self and only showing people want they want to see.


Third, I am trying to keep my mental wellbeing. After a few soul crushing and heartache moments the past few years, I realize how important it is to be mindful. I have been practicing mindfulness meditation since early 2015. I am afraid that if I keep my Instagram public, I would focus more on posting the things online instead of being in present moment (related to point 1). And as you might knew already social media is full of things unpredicted. You never know what people could do with your picture postings in the future.


Nonetheless, after talking to my good friend, Zeva, while I was on duty in Jakarta last time, I realize I could utilize social media for a positive purpose that inline with my life goal. Zeva herself for instance is a devoted Muslim and she aims to utilize her Instagram to inspire other young women that those who wear hijab could accomplish things beyond make up tutorials. She is a brilliant and career driven person who happens to be good at cooking and make up as well. She is definitely such an inspiration.


For my side, I want to inspire other ordinary young Indonesian women that you could achieve more than you can imagine! Many times in my life people ask me If I come from a rich family or If I am after a rich husband? The truth is that I have traveled to more than 35 countries, obtained my double master degrees from the best university in Australia and have a few investment properties of my own at my late 20ish is because of I have brain and I work hard to get what I want! I know what I am after and I follow my dreams (with the support of my family and close friends).


There is nothing special about my upbringing and my background of family. I was born in a middle class family, raised in a small yet beautiful town in a highland of Sumatra with only 4000 residents. My parents never push me to be anything, they just want me to be happy and to be a useful person in the society (which hopefully what I am going through now). Although my parents are education oriented, no one in my immediate family has a master degree, not to mention double.


I might be far from perfect. I achieve less than so many people out there. However, I just want to inspire young women out there that they could achieve what they want if they work hard for it. I am not saying that women should not rely on men but I just want to emphasize that women could achieve things and it would be great if their partner support that too. In the world of gender equality, mutual support from each other is something essential.

I am not even sure if I am good at posting pictures on Instagram. I will just give it a try. Instagram is a happening social media medium (at least in Indonesia now) that we all could use for a positive change. I will post more about being a female globetrotter and environmental stuff contents out there. So hereby I declare that I am officially open my Instagram account for public. Lets see how it goes...




Love,



Olivia

Leaving Australia for Good after 3 Years

I am back to Sumatra now, leaving Australia for good after a solid 3 years experience and with my double masters in hand. It’s been a roller coaster living in Australia and I am glad I made my way out alive. There is a lot of mixed feeling on getting back to live in Indonesia.

First, happy

I am home early for my sister’s wedding with the love of her life after just dating for less than a year. At the age of 23 she is still considered young to get married (even for an Indonesian).

I am excited for her new chapter in life and I am sure she will have an amazing life journey with her partner.

Another reason why I am happy is because I can eat delicious Indonesian food with cheap price anytime I want and that I could meet my parents and my family often.

Second, sorrow

While my sister is getting married, I am still repenting my failed relationship with my ex bf.

After being a good friend for more than year, we decided to be together almost at the same timing when my sister met her future husband.

A relationship that I though could lead into something more meaningful just vanishes in vain. My ex was supposed to come to Sumatra with me for my sister’s wedding, but instead he dropped me to Sydney airport and waving goodbye just before I entered the immigration control.

I can’t believe I am listening to this Tove Lo’s song again (last time was when I broke up with my previous bf before this)

Third, excited

I am excited for a new role that I am taking in an NGO based in Bali.

I will move to Bali by the end of July after doing a 3 weeks of Europe trip.

I am excited on my new chapter of life, people I will encounter and what the Universe has designed for my future.

Fourth, relieve

I have this love and hate relationship with Canberra (in fact more the hate side than love). I am sorry Canberra’s residence but really that just doesn't fit me right.  Although I was born and grew up in a small town myself (with only 40.000 population) but I am a big city person in heart. I love people, I love trying new food and new restaurants/bars/cafes, I love exploring the sneaky small alleys just to find a new hidden bar exists there, I just love cites! The only reason that keeps me going in Canberra was my university, The Australian National University, which is the best for studying policy as well as my good friends (who almost all have already moved to other cities or other countries). I guess Melbourne or Sydney would have fit me better.

Its not the end. I am pretty sure I will be back to Australia. I have that feeling.

Thank you so much for every party who invested in me for my skills and knowledge enhancement and for believing in me, my dreams and my capacity.

But for now on, let me focus my time and energy to contribute to my people and my beloved country.

Love, 

Olivia

Taking Care of My Mental Wellbeing

I was wondering about life lately.
There is no particular reasons I have to be upset about.
28: Healthy life, lovely family, loyal friends, 3 properties of my own, double master degrees.
But everything could just vanish in a second.
Because life is full of unpredictable factors.
It could be flipped upside down anytime.
That is why I think it is important to focus on the present moment
To live your life for the moment, being mindful.
Instead of doing a never ending planning about future.

That is also the reason why these days I am trying to train myself to be emotionally strong.
I have been focusing on mental well being for the past weeks.
I exercise, practise yoga, meditate, pray, listen to good vibrant sounds (chanting and mantras).
Instead of searching for achievements and gratitude from other people, I am trying to find inner happiness.
To be loving myself and to spread the joy of happiness to other people.
It is important to have a meaningful life.
To make your life useful of others.
At the same time, I think it is also important to build a positive character and to be emotionally mature
So when life hits you, you could rebound quickly and learn from it.


Canberra, 10 April 2017

Christmas 2016 at Home in Sumatra

Christmas, home, family, classy. I have been home for almost three weeks now. By home I mean Sumatra, the place where I was born and where my family lives. Its been great here. I have been spending a lot of my time eating delicious Indonesian foods (the best part of it), reunion with old friends, playing around with my dogs, doing spa, saloon and skin care (because its so expensive in Australia to pamper myself) and working from distance. I decided to be home for my sista’s engagement and spend xmas with family as for the past two years I spent it somewhere in a far away land (Nepal and Colombia)

2016 has been good! I did not achieve much this year but I would say I am happier this year. One definitions of happiness is the ability to overcome storms in life. I managed to put together pieces of me from last year despairs. I also feel more content this year. A great part of it is my relationship with my good friend. I have been dating my good friend since May this year. I am a person who is driven by achievement. I always crave for the feeling of satisfaction every time I reach my goals. However, being with someone who is simple like him has transformed me into a better person. I become a more grateful person and less ambitious person. I also focus more on for what is in front of me instead of chasing the never-ending dreams. Although I still think a good balance of it is important: be ambitious and contentment. I am still working on it.

I also grew up as a person this year. I realise what matters for me more and what are not. I tried different things. It helps me to reshape my goals in life and understand myself better.  As a travel addict, I move to different places every time I could.  People said I am trying to avoid something. But it is not true. I just like to discover. However, after I returned from my globe-trotting trip early this year (where I traveled to five continents), I decided to slow down my path. And I did. It was a good decision as I could focus more on my long-term career goal and spending time with my love ones.

Coming up in the next post, more details on 2016 reflection.

Daniel and I in Hyams Beach, NSW, Australia November 2016

Lots of love,

Olivia

How to Keep Mood Stable and Stay Happy

My routine to maintain my mood stable and stay happy!

1. Yoga

I go to class or I practise by myself in my room for at least 10 minutes. Yoga is of could make you feel energized for the rest of the day when you do it in the morning and makes you feel relax and sleep well when you do it at night. Either way, just find the type of yoga exercise that suits you the most.

2. Meditation

I use breathing method of meditation that I learn when I lived for a short time in Nepal.  Brain is like a plastic, the more you train it the more likely it is to view things positively. I also practise mindfulness and find it easier to do with the mobile application headspace. It is not free after you do the trial, but its worth it.

3. Exercise

I go to gym regularly, because I need endorphins to keep my happy. Your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. If at the end I get an abs, that’s just a bonus!

4. Fish oil

I consume one or two fish oil capsules every single day. There are plenty of research shows how regular consumption of fish oil could actually helps depression and maintain good moods.

5. Hiking

Go to nature and feel the fresh breeze. It really helps me connect with mother earth and for the moment I feel like I have no burden.

Me after gym (outside of ANU gym studio)

Ps. I am so conscious about things I publish on the internet for the past few years. The reason is because there are so many things in the world that I can enjoy better without busy sharing the moment to the world. Also, I somehow want to keep some private things, private. But I decided to be looser now as I am trying to document my traveling journey around the world to inspire people.

Love,

Olivia

My 2015 Reflection

Just like previous year, I like to write reflection of my 365 days journey in one writing prior to embracing another year with full joy, expectation, worry and hope at the same time. I have to admit 2015 was not the best year of my life but I learn a lot from it. Here are some highlights:

1. Travel

If you know me (even not so) long enough, you will know that my biggest passion is traveling. I travelled a lot in 2015. I lived in 3 different countries, visited my home country Indonesia few times and mostly spend my time in Australia.

January
I started the year of 2015 in Kathmandu, Nepal doing my summer internship there, went back to Sumatra, Indonesia my home town for few days before heading back to Canberra, Australia by 29 January.

March
I travelled to Shanghai, China for a week to lead ANU delegation for HULT Prize Challenge 2015. We did not win but had a great experience and learnt a lot from other participants and the competition.

April
Summer break I travelled to Sydney and Wollongong with some of university peeps.

June
I went back to Indonesia for a week to visit my family.

June-July
I travelled with my then boyfriend across Queensland, Australia for 13 days by bus. Cairns-Townsville- Airlie Beach- Rainbow Beach-Brisbane-Gold Coast-Byron Bay. Finally visited Great Barrier Reef although I had a sea sick the whole trip.

July
I travelled to South Korea for a week for a MIKTA conference as I was nominated by my university to represent Australia. I went there directly from Byron Bay right after my winter trip finished so it was pretty odd that I brought my bikinis and all the beach clothes to the conference.

November
I started my globetrotter journey one day after my birthday (16 Nov). So I started from Sydney to pick my Schengen visa for Europe, went to Brisbane the same day and stayed there for 4 days, travelled to Fiji for a week (flight was from Gold Coast airport), back to Sydney for a day and went to Bali for 3 days.

December
I flu from Bali to Paris where I had a presentation in Sorbonne university in conjunction with COP21. It was a great highlight; I reunited with some lovely old folks there. After a week in Paris I went to Ghent, Belgium, to visit a friend and stayed there for four days. I went to Medellin, Colombia directly from Europe. The most direct and cheapest way was from Madrid, Spain. So I booked my ticket from Brussels to Madrid. And here I am now in Medellin and has been here for 3 weeks. So far so good. I met a bunch of cool people, visited many interesting places, eat a lot, socialize a lot and learn a lot from Colombian culture.

 

It feels weird to see my face in the university page.

2. To Let Go

I broke up with my boyfriend by middle of the year and will never turn my head back to see the past relationship. Forgiving him and me is the best deed of all. A quotation that I put as my phone wallpaper for long is strongly applied here “No matter what it is job, friendship, relationship, if it does not make you happy, just let it go.” I also learn from the relationship that there are people that you want to keep in touch forever and there are people who you just need to cut off from your life.

3. Achieve

I like to keep my self-busy. I involved in many organization this year including 180 degree consulting, Indonesia Student Association ACT and Australian wide, PARSA, and CSSA. The book that I co-write was published. I went to China, South Korea and France to represent my university for different conferences and all paid by the university or the organizer. I worked as a bartender and also did some volunteer works including for Canberra Multicultural festival and SEAT4ANU program, not to forget being an MC for environmental seminars and welcoming party. As I am blessed with many opportunities to go abroad, I had a seminar in my university where I spoke on my experience on how to seize the opportunity. 

Me giving presentation in Crawford School of Public Policy.

4.  Health

Most of all, I deal with my general anxiety problem and it seems that the external stressors compounded it. I used to think that my constant feeling of worry was not a big deal but I was not feeling so happy that year. So I started visiting counseling centre, practise meditation and yoga and also tried to regularly go to gym. By the end of the year, I feel way better. I am happy now and although sometimes I feel blue but it was not the same like when I was in Canberra. I learn that there are many people who deal the same thing with me and it is never too late to seek help because no matter what type of mental issues you are dealing with, it could happen to anyone, anywhere regardless of social status.

This helps me a lot through my hard time, really.

5. Friendship

I met some people that became good friends of mine. Some cool people who are not only there when I am happy but most importantly when I am sad. Help me dealing with self during my tough time. Those are people who I randomly met through random events, a new friend I met in my hostel during my trip in Fiji, old friends that I reunited in Paris and Belgium and also new friends in Colombia. So here you go, friendship is not about how long you know the person but how connected you are to each other. Thanks for being with me when I was dealing with my personal problems. You know who you are. ;)

Friends on my Birthday!

I hope the best for 2016 ahead. Happy New Year from Colombia everyone!

Lots of love,

Olivia