TINY SPARKLING GREEN TREE

“Do you know what is the best thing about this Christmas tree?” I asked my butterfly while standing near a small fan. “It wiggles when hit by the wind.”

The sparkling green and golden colored leaves are so “compatible”… a perfect match. She laughed while watching the tiny tree wiggled on my hand.

“But something is missing about this tree.” She said. “We should find a beautiful star to be put on top of it.”

“Right, that would be perfect.” I replied.

Mal to mal, places by places, we traveled. Through many trees we looked.

But pity… Up until New Year we still have not found the right star for our Christmas tree.

But one day…

I just realized that a star may appeared on a place we had never expected. There is our shining star, between our new-green-Polo-couple-shirt.

Anyway, we may not always find or get what we are looking for. But if you try hard enough with faith and good intention, God will always give you something in return – and a lot better too.

Ivan the Freelancer

A CHAT WITH SANTA

Last Christmas, it was snowing in Taman Anggrek. There were bears dancing with Merry Christmas music on a small cottage surrounded by ponds, lakes and fountains. There was a big poster saying “Please adopt us. We need new home. You can adopt us in Santa’s house.” So those cute dancing bears were looking for someone to adopt them.

“It would be nice if we can adopt one or two bears and bring them home, wouldn’t it? I said to my butterfly.

“It must be very expensive.” She smiled. A few snowflakes dropped on our head.











“You maybe right. But let’s look for Santa’s house anyway.” I held her hand and walked passing crowds of people.

Walking around, we stumbled on Santa’s house. Santa’s house was in a form of a big dark brown boots. I looked around for its doors and finally found it. There was a note attached to the door, “Adopt the bears for only 275.000 rupiahs each.”

“You are right. It’s too expensive.” I said with a sad look.

“Let’s take a picture near the Christmas trees instead.” She pulled my hand towards the trees.


A few days later…


I was about to wash my hands in my butterfly’s place, when I spotted a short red robed figure leaning on the stairway.

“Santa, is that you?” I asked.

“Well hello, yes, I am Santa.” He answered with a very tired voice.

“What in the world are you doing here?” I asked again.

“Oh, I’m very tired after delivering those heavy Christmas presents for kids all over the world. You don’t mind if I take a rest here for a while do you?” Santa replied while showing his eyes and big round nose.

“Oh, not at all. Take your time Santa. Would you like something to drink?” I offered him a glass of hot tea that my butterfly had made for me. “My girlfriend made this. Very warm and sweet. Here, drink some.”

“Thanks a lot.” Santa took a few sip of my butterfly’s warm tea.

Suddenly, I remembered Santa’s house and those dancing bears that we wanted to adopt at Taman Anggrek. So, I told Santa everything about how expensive it was to adopt them.

“Oh no, that was not my house. You must’ve had the wrong address.” Santa replied.

“So, that was not your house, and those were not your bears?” I asked.

“No, it was not my house, but those bears are my true friends.” Santa looked deeply into my eyes. “My friend, you will never have to pay in order to receive a gift from Santa. A gift from Santa is always FREE.”

“I see… But those poor bears had danced all day and they had no home.” I said.

“Don’t worry, they were there, because they were meant to be there. They are waiting for you and your butterfly so the two of you can have a great and Merry Christmas.” Santa explained. “I thank you for taking your butterfly to see my bear friends dancing. They really appreciate it.”

“Well, thank you Santa. I really enjoy being with my butterfly accompanied by your bear friends.” I shook Santa’s hand. “Please send them my regards.”

“No problem.” Santa walked out of the house with a wide smile.

It’s funny… I was wondering how did Santa get in to the house? We had no chimneys… Hahahaaa… Merry Christmas everyone… Ho Ho Ho…!!!

Ivan the Freelancer

VOICE OF NATURE

It is said that God created the world before He created the humans. Humans were created from this world itself. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. So we live and die along with this world. It is also said the energy that we absorb from nature are borrowed and never given. Unfortunately, we always have to return all the things we borrow.

Can you imagine the air that we breathe is actually borrowed? The air is free of charge, but the trees that release it are not. We are borrowing the energy of air from those trees. Not to mention all the “natural” food from the nature. We owe so much to the nature, yet we are destroying it slowly.

This is our land… But it is not given… It is only borrowed. Don’t just take whatever you want, because you will have to return it later on.

Nature does not take sides, but it can “hear” our deeds. Nature nurtures us but can also punish – Nature can give and take lives as well.

Ivan the Freelancer

NOT-SO-NEW CLASS OF CRIMINALS - Ivan’s Journal

There are people, who believe that one cannot be a good cop, if he does not know how it feels to be a criminal. It is obvious that in order to understand how other people think, we have to put ourselves in their shoes.

I used to think that criminals are simple. We just have to figure out what they are after. If they are too hungry, they will kill for foods. If they are obsessed about something, they will kill for money. Unfortunately, Batman had the same opinion. But Alfred the butler had different things in mind, “Perhaps he is a man you don’t fully understand either”. Alfred’s wise words make me realize that I do not understand what’s dwelling inside other people’s heads.

What I mean by “Criminals” includes also people who do bad things to others and also their surroundings (not just people in prisons that do serious crimes). Believe it or not, some people are proud to be criminals. Some people even try to set new records in committing crimes. They did things not based on any judgment. Like a dog chasing cars, they do not know what to do with it if they caught one. They just “do” things.

So you don’t need to be a Batman just to understand, that some people are just proud to be criminals – They cannot be bullied… They cannot be reasoned with… Some people just love to watch the world burned.

It is a pity. The fact is – it is not only “the Joker”. But we have LOTS of Jokers running around in this world.

Usually, it does not matter how people think. The real matter is, “What are the impacts caused by their thoughts ?”

Ivan the Freelancer

HE IS HERE... I SMELL HIM - Ivan’s Journal

Many women said that they can tolerate men who are broke, short, fat and even ugly. But there is one thing that women cannot stand about their men – which is, if they smell like dead fishes in the market. Believe it or not, women value aroma higher than they value money. But if you say that “materialistic” women do not care about “the smell” of their lovers, than you probably right. That’s simply because materialistic women never kiss their men – but only their money.

Recently I found an interesting fact about perfumes in a marketing seminar held in Ritz Carlton Hotel. The fact said that women like to try different perfumes far more often than men. Women like to try or experiment different perfume’s brand or aroma, while men usually stick and loyal to one perfume brand they like. The fact also said that men do not need to change their perfume (or their body aroma), as long as their women love it.

I’m not saying that every man should groom themselves to become like women. But one conclusion about this fact is that you should be happy if a woman compliments or even complains about how you smell. It means she has an interest on you – or at least, pays attention to you. If she never compliments or complains about how you look and smell, than maybe she only concerns about your money.

Ivan the Freelancer

BEING DIFFERENT

If only we can choose our own identity, or where and when we are born, than maybe we can be whoever we want to be. People cannot choose their skin and blood color. Whether you are born in the west or the east does not make you any more superior than others.

Is being different really necessary? Why people tend to consider anything different as a threat? The reason we are constantly at war, is maybe because we cannot accept the fact that we are all different.

Like John Lennon said in his “Imagine” song, “You may say I’m a dreamer… But I’m not the only one…”

Ivan the Freelancer

YOU AND YOURSELF

What is real and what is not? It is hard to tell, especially in this cyber era. Life is dangerous… That is true and that is why surrogates are invented. We can be anyone we want to be – men/women, tall/short, long/short hairs, white/black skin – anything you can think of… We can run our daily life “risk-free”, physically and virtually… Perfect… Human perfection – What could go wrong?

The problem occurs when it becomes a lifestyle… and lifestyle causes addiction – anything that you cannot live without. You cannot resist yourself from hiding behind your so-called-perfect surrogates. It is the “you” that is not actually you. So the people will wonder, is that really you? The most important thing in this life is getting trust from other people – which is not gonna happen if you are covering yourself with surrogates.

Lying to other people is one thing, but lying to yourself is another. By hiding your true self, you are denying yourself and living in a lie. Nevertheless, people will find out about your true identity and who you really are anyway. A happy man is the one who truly satisfied with himself or herself.

Come to think of it, we are already living our life as “half-surrogates” by now – by hiding behind our BlackBerry, the Internet, chat rooms and other cyber stuffs. But who gives a shit? It is fun… isn’t it?

As long as we are still remain as humans who depend only on ourselves.

Ivan the Freelancer