BLP PAPER 2020 SPECIAL | IN HER OWN WORDS

This year we have been having fruitful conversations with BLP Girls of different backgrounds. Here are some lessons worth keeping as we are moving forward!

This year, in the middle of the pandemic, we are grateful to still be able to have some thought-provoking conversations with BLP Girls. They come from different backgrounds with their own stories to tell, but there is one thing in common that is worthy to reiterate and to compile: on how to overcome challenges, particularly that happened during this year. Read on to find out their takeaways for us to remember and hopefully, to also carry it forward with us. 

 

As the culture of working from office has morphed into working from home, we all have had our fair share of hiccups in adjusting. A communication practitioner, Dea Rizkita, feels just the same way as any of us when it comes to the offline-to-online adjustment process.

 

A suggestion coming from Dea, is to make ourselves motivated from the inside. "Go working with full-on work attire and makeup for a day and go bare-faced for another day. Compare how you feel throughout those two days. More likely than not, you will feel a boost of good mood on the days when you dress up and put on makeup. Try it yourself!"

Working remotely comes with its own set of challenges, but there are definitely some ways to help us be as productive as we used to be in the office setting. As Dea puts it, "When you feel beautiful, you feel confident. And when you feel confident, you feel motivated."

Read more about Dea and her calling, here.

 

 

At times, life can be hard. But don't let this discourage you from reaching out, BLP Girls! If you're feeling hesitant to open up and ask for help, you could try to read, watch or listen to experiences of other people. Knowing that there are other human beings that are going through the same struggles as you could make you feel less alone.

 

Co-founder of Menjadi Manusia, Levina Purnamadewi has the same opinion to the previous understanding. "The best way to speak to our peers is through the stories of others that people can relate to. These stories act as a reminder to push through because we are never alone in riding this roller coaster of life," said Levina.

 

Menjadi Manusia, a community-based platform that talks about mental wellbeing itself was also established to shed the light on eye-opening stories of real people. As Levina added, "Some people out there are living through some hardships, sometimes a whole lot worse than what we are facing. We hope that it gives our audience the energy to push through."

Read more about Levina and the power of storytelling, here.

 

Just like the acnes that could be caused by stress, how you feel could be manifested and felt physically, BLP Girls. Your body is always telling you something, if you choose to listen. A yoga instructor and meditation guru Aprishi Allita or known as Pishi Yoga mentioned, "Please listen to yourself and your body. Our body is actually very high tech, it can give signs of which areas to heal."

 

 

She added, "Don't panic when your body is trying to tell you something. Take care of your body and love yourself," said Pishi. By listening to what we are feeling through our body, we could identify how we're really feeling deep inside. Having awareness is always a great start to decide what to do next.

 

Read more about Pishi and her journey in self-healing, here.

 

Some things are beyond our control like our circumstances but how we see things will always be up to us to decide. We learned this from Shena, an exciting emerging singer about shifting perspectives to overcome challenges.

In her case, she has been dealing with her physical appearance but she chose to switch her glasses and see things differently. She explained, "I overcome the challenges by realizing that I can turn my weakness into my strength. For instance, there aren't a lot of plus-sized singers in Indonesia, so I can stand out. I believe that it is one of the keys to self acceptance, which inspired me to write my song, Nelangsa."

Read more about Shena and her confidence journey, here.