Why Do Poets Love Silence?

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Writing is an activity that needs good concentration. That’s why writing often can’t be done when the surrounding is too noisy. Noises can disturb their focus. Usually, midnight or early morning are their productive and maybe favorite times because at that times, the atmosphere is still not too noisy and crowded. The surrounding hasn’t fully awaken yet.

I have my favorite times for writing. I usually do it in the early morning (around 04.00 a.m.-07.00 a.m.) before I go to work or in the evening (around 08.00 p.m.-midnight) before I sleep. I often find some writing ideas or isnpirations at that times, so I called it as “time for ideas explosion”.

I think silence is like a “bestfriend” for writers in general, and poets in particular. For me, I love silence because I can be more “powerful”, productive and creative, so I can do contemplation and catch some inspirations before I write it down. I also can catch the feels and vibes from silence, so it gives me “power” to write a poem.

Silence seems gives birth to many poems through the poets’ hands. If you realized, actually a lot of my poetry tells about silence, whether the poetry I’ve writte on WordPress or the other site. The same thing I found not only in my poetry but also in others’ poetry. For poets, silence is often treated like “human” who can do human’s activities and has feeling. Silence is often treated like a “bestfriend” who always accompany you in every happiness and sadness. Silence is often treated like a “lover” who you can cuddle with.

Silence is love. Silence is power. Silence is inspirations. Silence is bestfriend. Silence is lover. So, what do you think? Do you need silence to create your amazing artwork (especially writing)? Or you’re the typical person who can work well on every condition and atmosphere?

Have a great day, everyone! Don’t forget to be happy.

Me, Music and Poem

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Music can make our life more colorful. Music has become a part of my life since I was child. I love listening to music while humming or singing along to my favorite song or maybe just moving my upper body-following the beat and rhythm while sitting on a chair. I love listening nature sounds too, such as water splash, drizzle, waves, bird chirping (Imagine, walking alone in nature and surrounded by beautiful scenery, sunrise, fresh air, bird chirping without noisy sounds. I’d really love it to the death.). Natures sounds are as beautiful as the sound of music that I usually hear from music player.

Everyone has their own music tastes and preferences. There’re people who love pop music, jazz, rock, R&B, hip-hop/rap, EDM, etc. Personally, I’m not a person who’s fanatic and very strict to certain music genre, so I’m more open to any kind of genres as long as I love to hear it.

Music can be someone’s life anthem too. Everyone must have some songs that are related to their own life experiences. For me, music can be one of my inspiration when it comes to a poem, especially those are related to my life or feelings. So,this is how I write a poem which is inspired by music (songs).

1. Listen to the music Of course, it’s the first step I have to do. How can I get an inspiration if I never hear it?
2. If the songs by foreign artists, I have to read the lyrics (or translation) too, then write down some of favorite lines of the lyrics If the songs by Indonesian artists, it’s easier for me to understand the feels,vibes and meaning just by hearing it (without read the lyrics) because it’s sung in my language. But, since I hear many songs by foreign artists too, sometimes I missed some words or phrases when I heard it, so I didn’t catch the meaning fully even though I could get the feels and vibes. Maybe I can understand if the song has fun and energetic vibes or calm and relaxing etc, but since it’s not in my own language, I might didn’t catch some words or phrases well. That’s why I need to read the lyrics (or English translation if it’s Korean or Japanese song) to understand it better. (I don’t know how to explain it to you. But, I hope you understand what I mean ^-^). If I find some favorite lines of the lyrics, I write it on my notes so I won’t forget it. I can open it later when I need it.
3. Interpret the meaning of the song from my own perspective then write it in the form of a poem I usually interpret the meaning of the song by looking for its relevance to my personal experience or some social issues around us. That’s why I prefer the singer who also writes her/his own songs because I can figure out what’s on her/his mind and heart. I love the songs that are universal and can be related to many people’s life. I love the songs that are not only ear blessing but also heart touching. I love the songs that are not only entertaining but also inspiring. For this last step, I need to take some times to think it from different perspective so I can write it in ‘my own words’.

Are there any certain songs that become your life anthem? Are there any certain songs that become your inspiration in writing (maybe not only poem but also another type of writing) ?

Have a great day everyone! Don’t forget to be happy

Your Writing Shows Who You Are

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Writing, like our speech, is a reflection of our thoughts and feelings. People can find out what we are thinking or feeling through our writing. Through our writing, people can understand what kind of topic we are interested or concerned in. Through our writing, people can get informations, inspirations or motivations. Through our writing, people can also judge what kind of person we are. That’s why we shouldn’t write something carelessly.

There’re two main things that must be obeyed by every writers : honesty and efforts. Many good writers really poured their heart into their writing. Their writing can be inspired by their own experiences or their circumstances. I know that there’s no 100% or absolute originality in writing because the idea of writing is actually a combination of various ideas that we rewrite again in our own writing style. Same ideas, same topics but different perspectives, different writing styles can make a distinction between one writing to another. You are allowed to be inspired or cite from other’s writing, but, plagiarism is not permitted. You are also not allowed to write a lie (e.g. fake news). Once you write a lie, people will see you as a liar. So, honesty is a must.

Although you’re still an amateur, although you still learn how to be a good writer, although you only write something based on what lies in your heart, you still need efforts to make it done. Do not ever make a writing carelessly even though you just post it on your social media (including your private blog). Do not ever make a writing carelessly just because there’re not many people read or click ‘like’ on your post. If you want to write an analysis about some of serious topics, you should read some references and even look for valid data to support your argumentations. Even you just write a fiction, you still need to read some references from other writers. Reading and writing are complemented toward each other. You can’t get rid of one of them.

If you want to post your writing or submit it to mass media, you have to do editing first. You can check if there’re typos and grammatical errors or not. Make sure there’s no contradiction between the title and content, each paragraphs and even each lines of the paragraph. Don’t underestimate the efforts even if it’s the smallest thing, because we’ll never know what will happen next to our life.

Writing requires persistence, patience and caution because your writing can show who you are. Whether people’s judgement of you are right or not, you still have to be careful of what you write. When you write a poem about heartbreak, people can assume you are broken hearted person. When you often write about culinary and travelling , people can assume you love to travel a lot and food lovers. When you write in a formal style, people can assume you as a serious person. So, how’s your writing says about you? Can you guess what kind of person I am or what I’m interested in based on my writings?

Have a great day everyone! Don’t forget to be happy

Don’t Stop Writing Just Because No One Reads Or Likes Your Post!

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Are you an amateur writter like me? Are you a new blogger? I know that making an interesting post is not easy (If you’re pro, I think it’s not a big deal, right?). I feel it myself. There’re many ideas, experiences, memories, informations fill in my head. When I want to write something, I’d like to think first, what should I write today?

I want to execute at least one of the best idea among them all then start to write it down. I put my efforts as best as I can to make it interesting or beneficial to the others (or at least for myself). I always check my work before posting to make sure that my writing is understandable for readers and no contradiction between the title and content or between each paragraph. I also check if there’re any typos and grammatical errors or not (tbh, I often feel insecure if I use proper grammar or not, because English is not my first language and I’m not an English speaker). If I feel like everything’s okay, then I’ll post it while expecting that my writing will get a good response or likes from readers. But, sometimes, it doesn’t happen. I didn’t get what I expect. Is the story related to you? How do you feel?

If you don’t get the amount of readers or likes as many as you expected, please, don’t stop writing! Don’t let it down your writing spirit! Don’t make the amount of readers and likes your main and only goal in writing! Writing is about sharing. If you stop writing, then you have nothing to share to the world. No one will never know your thought.

I remembered my music teacher on high school ever said to us, “there’s nothing bad in art, there’re only beautiful and very beautiful.” For some people, they might thought that what she said was just “a typical encouraging words” because she didn’t want to hurt her students’ feeling. In other words, she did it just for formality to hide her real thought of her students’ artwork. (Okay, let’s be honest, are you the one who think so?)

But, I think her words are not that wrong. I don’t care if you agree or not with me, but I think every art (music, painting, literature, drama etc) is beautiful as long as you create it with your heart. And if there’s someone who doesn’t like your artwork, whatever it is, it doesn’t mean that your artwork is suck. I think it’s just about their tastes or preferences. The taste or preference can be subjective, depends on the person. For example, I like K-Pop music, but my younger brother doesn’t. Does it mean K-Pop music is bad? I don’t think so. It’s just me and him have a different taste or preference in music. And of course, I can’t blame on him. I can’t even force him to like something that I like and vice versa. So, if there’s someone who doesn’t like your writing, maybe your writing doesn’t suit her/his taste or preference. Not because your writing is bad. Not because you have no talent in it. If you give up on writing just because of that, I can say that you’ve made an unwise decision ever.

Then, how if someone criticizes your writing? Actually, critics is not a big deal. I don’t think if someone criticizes your writing, means your writing is bad at all. Critics is so beneficial for our development. Critics can make your writing skills improve. So, if you receive criticism from others, it means your writing could be better than what you made before. You can be better than that. Don’t be too overthink. Start to evaluate your work, evaluate yourself and revise it.

How I Turn The Words Into A Poem

Do you know why I like cloudy and windy weather? Yeah, cause I won’t feel my body sunburn or my head is boiling and will explode soon. I also don’t need to worry about getting wet or catch a cold cause of raining. It’s perfect for me. Not too hot, not too cold. Just like this morning.

***

I don’t know if this city is still asleep or half-awake cause the streets are quite deserted. Ah, maybe because today is Saturday? Weekend? I don’t even know why. Who do you think I am? Should know everything? The thing I know now is I sit here at the veranda, drinking a cup of coffee while seeking an inspiration. Voices in my head asked, “what should I write today?”

***

Finding a good and right word to be arranged into whole sentences has never been easy for me. I often had a fight with my inner self, argue a lot with the voices in my head just to find a good and right word. I said “A”, they said “B”. I wanted “this”, they wanted “that”. How could I deal with these fight?

***

I always act like a chef when it comes to write, especially poem. My poem doesn’t only consist of words, but also : the unspeakable love, the eternal dreams, a passionate longing, non-bleeding wounds, a half of joy that flew away and the other half that left in my memory. Concocting all of them in my head, pour into a piece of paper, let the pen executes every words even comas and dots. The time will be the furnace that cook all of them till done. Then I’ll serve it with a cup of morning warmth and a plate of friendliness of sunlight. And I’ll give them all to a wanderer who’s thirsty for love and hungry for affection.

Yogyakarta, June 15th, 2019-04.15 p.m.