Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Piece of Mind: A Delayed Return to Indonesia

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Monday, December 13, 2010

Piece of Mind: A Delayed Return to Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Tita Alissa Listyowardojo | December 13, 2010

There is a dilemma almost every Indonesian living overseas faces at one point or another: fight to stay abroad or fly back to their beloved country?

As a young Indonesian, I believe that being abroad offers me more freedom and opportunity, especially in my career as a researcher. It also makes me feel like I’m constantly on an “adventure.”

As a Chinese-Indonesian woman abroad, I do not see the difference between living abroad or in Indonesia because I feel that I belong nowhere.

This feeling of disconnection from my home country is related to my painful memories of the May 1998 riots in my hometown of Jakarta, which targeted Chinese-Indonesian people and property.

Philosophically speaking, I feel like I can “belong” anywhere.

I have been questioned a lot by my Indonesian friends and extended family about why I choose to live abroad.

Have I forgotten about my widowed mother in Jakarta?

Have I become unpatriotic?

Have I forgotten where I come from?

No, I have not.

I think about those things every day.

But living is about choosing what is best for yourself.

If I had returned home years ago, after throwing away what was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and had become unhappy with my life, who would I have to blame?

Those who matter to me support my decision. Period.

In addition, I still need to answer the question, “How far can I go?”

I can always go home, but the opportunity to do research abroad may not come again.

But now, my research contract with a University in the Netherlands is almost finished.

Once more, I am faced with the possibility of having to go home if I do not find another job in the near future.

Trying to stay abroad could be a bumpy road.

For example, I’d have to find an institution willing to obtain a working permit for me.

Or I have to compete with other scholars from developed countries who speak perfect English and are used to being charming and selling themselves.

Although the expense of issuing a working permit may not be a problem for most institutions that employ highly educated expatriates, the problem is that most institutions do not want to go through the hassle of immigration paperwork.

In Europe, most countries have employment procedures that favor local hires over candidates from other European countries, not to mention developed countries such as the United States, Australia or England.

Obviously, candidates from developing countries have an even more difficult time.

On the one hand, going home means being able to embrace my friends and family.

But I have to ask myself, is this option right for me now, having left home for so many years?

How will I adapt back into the culture?

What kind of work can I get in research?

Will this work be properly funded?

Will having a high-level degree help my career in Indonesia, or will it just make me overqualified?

What about all the friendships I’ve made, the networks I’ve established and the efforts I’ve put into building my career in Europe?

Should I return to Indonesia, I think I’ll be able to face all these daunting questions.

My survival skills will kick in and help me to acclimatize.

But they are bugging me now.

There was a time when I thought I’d go back to my home country eventually.

It was when I was in a relationship with another Indonesian.

The idea of getting back together with him provided a strong incentive to return home.

However, when our decision to get married did not get “family approval” due to ethnic and religious differences, we decided to respect our families by separating.

After that, I immediately fell back into my old pattern of thinking.

Those questions nagged me, confirming that I should stay abroad as long as possible.

Daniel Kahneman, a psychologist and Noble Prize winner in Economics, suggests that negative memories have a disproportionate effect on our decision-making processes.

For example, if you go on an enjoyable trip but have one bad experience, that one bad memory might be enough to make you not want to visit that place again.

As everybody knows, human memory is flawed and bad memories tend to have a longer shelf life than good.

I might have more bad memories about Indonesia than good ones, but I might have also overlooked bad experiences that happened to me outside Indonesia.

At any rate, I intend to fight for my place abroad.

If I can’t hold out, at least I know I still have a home waiting, well ... at home.

Despite everything, that’s still a comfort.

Tita Alissa Listyowardojo is a researcher based in the Netherlands.

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