Category: The Change I Want to See

What if the future is not only contributed by the tech-bros and the policy makers. What if they are designed by the artists, the designers, the runners, the cyclist and many other creative communities that might have exciting ideas to shaped the world. That’s the change I want to see—a realistic utopia powered by creative communities and creative practitioners to push creative ideas as a new form of renewable energy.

What Is Happening

On my previous writing, I talked about how Indonesians are facing mixed challenges that stirring the movement of #KaburAjaDulu or “Let’s Runaway First” from people in the country. The complex problem from economic challenges, air pollution, excessive extractivism, and social dynamic added up frustration among people, thus, they are powerful evidences of how the system has failed to offer them a promising future. While the idea of leaving Indonesia first and returning only after achieving success may sound appealing, the reality of migrating abroad is far more complex and have various barriers to make people unable to fleet, according to Chatib Basri, Indonesian Economist.

The paradox is, how can people be able to move abroad if the resources and energy are not easy to obtain. Energy, as explained by US Energy Information Administration, means the ability to do work. And by means of ‘do’ in this writing context, is related to willingness and capabilities from the human themselves. Inaccessible opportunities and financial constraints are factors that makes people’s energy non-transferrable, thus, if the fundamentals cannot be obtain, the potentials are not incapable to be properly invested.

An American ecology professor, Charles Hall, explained the central principle of Energy Returned on Energy Invested (EROEI), it takes energy to obtain energy and the energy needed to run the system won’t be available – if it is lacking or no equilateral with the required investment. He also added, ‘You can’t have an economy without energy. Energy does the work!’ The context is similar on reaching your own dreams in particular, it is easier for people who are equipped with sourceful energy – money and opportunities, rather than people who might have so many dreams but lack of source and opportunities.

If dreaming is taking so much energy and privilege for some people, the bigger the dream is, it might be harder for people to reach it. But what if the energy itself is coming from within, people’s motivation and creativity. This idea validated after my interview with Guri, a musician and creator of In.Inertia. She said while acknowledging the common perception that privilege can provide advantages for creative workers in the creative industries, Guri disagrees that it is the sole determinant of success. She emphasizes the importance of good quality work, effective marketing (especially in the digital age), and perseverance, taking on examples of artists who rose to prominence from less privileged backgrounds.

Why creativity as energy?

Creativity, according to Stanford, can refer to a person, a process or activity, or a product—which may include an idea in someone’s mind, an observable performance, or a tangible artifact. Moreover, creativity is a disposition: a combination of ability and motivation to produce something new and valuable. It involves the exercise of choice, evaluation, understanding, and judgment—an expression of agency (Gaut, 2014a: 273).

“The creative industry is the most flexible and resilient industry when it comes to generating innovation,” said Viandira Athia, Co-Founder of the ASEAN Creative Economy Youth Summit (ACE-YS), during our previous interview. Moreover, even during the pandemic, the creative economy managed not just to survive, but to thrive. An Indonesian government‘s report attributes this resilience to three main factors. First, the creative sector’s natural integration with technological advances and the information-rich nature of the digital era. Second, its ecosystem of stakeholders—ready to collaborate, pool resources, and spark new ideas. And third, the ability to adapt and evolve rapidly in response to external challenges.

In 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals charter are made, but apparently many people have doubted the goals are fully achieved on its due in 2030, because the progress has not yet giving so many progress. We must collectively increase our abilities to face and work effectively with complex challenges, and it can be achieved by individual agency and creativity.

And maybe—it’s time to see creativity as the 18th Sustainable Development Goal. When the current SDGs are struggling to solve complex issues, we need to expand the list—because creativity brings in new approaches, community-led innovation, and regenerative potential that traditional frameworks often miss. I wholeheartedly believe that ideas can become a form of energy, perhaps even the cleanest energy known to humanity.

Inspired by progressive framework to strengthen the SDGs goal; Individual Development Goals, I adapt the framework to my idea of creative as energy framework:

The cycle can happen once it is ignited from the inside as creative fuel, building compassion that made people connects with likeminded people. And as they ripple outward, it created collaboration with community or society and eventually will enabling action for the outside world. This regeneration can help building fundamentals that strengthen ourselves. That’s how creativity can become a regenerative energy, through compassion and connectedness.

Proven by the existence of interest-based community like community running in Jakarta. According Rania, Co-Founder of Heirun Running Club, their collective passion in running has elevate into a well-known community that got a lot of endorsed and helped its member financially. The shared energy future, has already arriving!

If the idea is massive, why is the realization can be so low?

In my personal experience, working as a creative is often being overlooked and not being seen as an actual jobs. Therefore, we were not very much being supported enough in the family and we were hardly capable to realized our ideas and dreams in this field. In a national scale, compensation for creativity is a big problem that both the government and the stakeholders are contributing to.

On my discussion with Eris, Founder of Bogor Illustrator Hub (BIH) a local creative community from Bogor in West Java, he validated that the local government bureaucracy is still the biggest elephant in the room that makes creative funding is so hard to obtain. BIH needed to go to the central, which also took ages to claim and might not be directly to be approved in a short time. The government plan in the creative economy is huge and ambitious, yet not a lot of creatives have benefitted it equally.

The rigid low pricing standards that government projects used, not to mention most of it are time-based prices, can be seen almost as creatives are being punished for being efficient and wanting to contribute to the creative economy. Also by not intervening in the industry practice for pricing and pitching, Indonesian creatives are competing to win as the most suffocating people in the room.

This situation contradicts the concept of Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi—where creativity thrives when skills meet opportunity, supported by focus, clear goals, and immediate feedback. Unfortunately, scattered attention and delayed support break this flow, making it difficult for creative energy to reach its full potential.

To fix this, three key players must step in: the government, businesses, and researchers. As a researcher, I aim to propose initiatives and platforms that give creative communities the space or outlet to channel their creative energy. When creativity is supported properly, it becomes a powerful energy to unlock ideas, drive personal growth, and contribute to wider societal growth.

Maybe People Might Just Need A Little Bit of Push

As Jonathan Haidt stated in The Anxious Generation, spending too much time critically online—disconnected from real-world, physical experiences—can heighten anxiety and emotional distress. So, why not get up, get out, and seize the opportunity? As Taylor Swift wrote on her lyrics:

Believe me, staying indoor, doom scrolling and spending entire day for screen will not only can cause you anxiety, they might harm your brain and body, and apparently to the environment. According to IEA, the emissions generated by watching 30 minutes of Netflix [1.6 kg of CO2] is the same as driving almost 4 miles. So, why do not we just go out and breathe the fresh air.

During the presentation on developing ideas with Joel Gethin Lewis, course leader on the now Vision Pro only Diploma in Apple Development, there is one slide that triggers my ideas: “Demons hates fresh air.” I can second that, because I have been so frustrated to go round and round in my four walled room to think about my project. And to prove that, I casually invited my classmate to get out to a park and get some coffee with me to help me synthesize my ideas and thought.

After going out and disconnect with the virtual reality, I recognized four things:
1. I have more clarity of my work (internal benefit)

2. I feel freshened up after a walking in nature and grabbed a coffee from the local cafe(community benefit)

3. I helped to contribute my idea towards my friend’s work (external benefit)

4. I do not have to charge my phone over and over after I disconnected (environment benefit)

To optimize the experience of combining skills and opportunities, it requires control over what happens in the mind, one can draw upon an almost infinite range of opportunities for enjoyment—for instance, through the use of physical and sensory skills. And as I mentioned in my previous post, coffee is also an energy fuel for creative people to run an idea, to develop the idea, or maybe to contribute to the government. Which somehow related to this Instagram content.

When I did a primary research using Typeform questionnaire, on how might people wanted to do if they have a café, many people said they wanted the get engaged in creative event in their cafe and somewhat interested in cultural exchange.

Consequently, why not making a place or platform to make people willing to establish their flow and creative energy to cultivate more ideas?

So, How Might We…

Well here we are to finally landed on this question, “How might we established creative ideas as renewable energy, and use coffee-talks as catalysts for community-driven innovation, co-creation and regenerative future?”

In regards to this, I plan to create an intervention by inviting people to talk about their ideas over a coffee. Based on my experience on my previous trip on Istanbul, people generate more meaningful conversations, ideas, and maybe actionable ones when they are discussing over the food or over the coffee, and supported by great ambiance or environment. This coffee-talk intervention will make invite people for a coffee, and make them pour up their ideas, and store their ideas into ‘idea bank’ that might be actionable in the future.

The future is actually already arrived. Initiatives like Mother Bank and Neneng Rosdiyana’s community projects in rural areas show how creativity can address complex ecological and economic issues—starting with just one conversation and group support.

If we can cultivate more creative potentials, the dream of making creativity as the new renewable energy might drive us to an actual realistic utopia, where people driving towards a brighter future. So, let’s have a coffee-talk about your idea in Regent’s park soon?

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Bibliography

Seven Pillars Institute. (2017). Realistic Utopia. [online] Seven Pillars Institute. Available at: https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/glossary/realistic-utopia/ [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

Inner Development Goals. (n.d.). Inner Development Goals – Inner Growth for Outer Change. Retrieved April 20, 2025, from https://innerdevelopmentgoals.org/

U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2024). What is energy? [online] Available at: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/what-is-energy/#:~:text=Energy%20is%20the%20ability%20to,use%20it%20to%20do%20work [Accessed 18 Apr. 2025].

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2023). Creativity. [online] Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/creativity/ [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

Shape of Thoughts. (2021). Problems of the creative industry in Indonesia and how to fix it. [online] Available at: https://www.shapeofthoughts.com/thoughts/problems-of-the-creative-industry-in-indonesia-and-how-to-fix-it [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

Indonesia2045.go.id. (n.d.). Indonesia Vision 2045. [online] Available at: https://indonesia2045.go.id/ [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

International Energy Agency. (2020). The carbon footprint of streaming video: Fact-checking the headlines. [online] Available at: https://www.iea.org/commentaries/the-carbon-footprint-of-streaming-video-fact-checking-the-headlines [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

National Geographic. (2022). Istanbul’s ancient coffee culture is holding its own in the modern world. [online] Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/istanbuls-ancient-coffee-culture-holding-own-modern-world [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

George and Clark. (n.d.). Mother Bank. [online] Available at: https://www.georgeandclark.com/mother-bank/ [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

Kompasiana. (2024). Neneng-isme: Gambaran Kedaulatan Bangsa Rakyat di Tengah Krisis. [online] Available at: https://www.kompasiana.com/restukandela/67ab842eed64155b6502b222/neneng-isme-gambaran-kedaulatan-bangsa-rakyat-di-tengah-krisis [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

Medium. (2022). Building a Regenerative Future. [online] Design for Sustainability. Available at: https://designforsustainability.medium.com/building-a-regenerative-future-4b6bf40842b6 [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

Instagram. (2025). [Instagram post]. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGgmXQLp8Sr/?hl=en [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

Wirjawan, G. (2023). Realistic Utopia: A Conversation with Gita Wirjawan [YouTube video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi6USMoORB0 [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

Thackara, J. (2016). How to thrive in the next economy: Designing tomorrow’s world today. London: Thames & Hudson.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2008). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper Perennial.

Bregman, R. (2020). Humankind: A Hopeful History. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Landry, C. (2008). The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators. London: Earthscan.

Austin, T. (2016). Narrative Environments and Experience Design: Space as a Medium of Communication. London: Routledge

Demeiati, NK. Dion, MP. Novin, W (2024). Unveiling Creative Economy Resilience in Indonesia amidst the Global Pandemic. [online] Available at: https://doi.org/10.1163/27730611-bja10022 [Accessed 19 Apr. 2025].

My Previous Blog & Miro for My Chain of Thoughts

• https://sashasafarina.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2025/03/21/what-is-the-change-i-want-to-see-a-discovery-part-1/
• https://sashasafarina.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2025/04/06/what-is-the-change-i-want-to-see-a-discovery-part-2/
• https://sashasafarina.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2025/04/09/a-story-from-turk-kahvesi/
• https://sashasafarina.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2025/04/11/i-asked-chatpt-about-brighton-alternatives/
• https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVIPS9rGA=/?share_link_id=790426926739

And it answered me with this;

“If you love Brighton and you’re looking for other cities with a similar vibe, here are a few cities—both in the UK and internationally—that share elements like creativity, beachside culture, inclusive communities, indie spirit, and a strong arts or subculture scene:

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In the UK

1. Bristol
   • Creative, indie music and art scene, progressive values, and youthful energy.
   • Feels like Brighton without the beach, but with even more street art (hello, Banksy).
2. Margate
   • A seaside town turned hip artsy haven, with galleries (like Turner Contemporary), retro charm, and growing creative communities.
3. Hastings
   • A mix of vintage, grunge, and sea breeze. Similar to Brighton but a bit quieter and grittier.
4. Lewes (very close to Brighton)
   • Quaint, historic, very artsy, with a strong local identity and political activism vibe.
5. St Ives (Cornwall)
   • Coastal, arty, and beautiful. More laid-back and small-town, but shares the artsy-meets-nature mood.

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International Cities

1. Portland, Oregon (USA)
   • Progressive, weird, creative, full of independent cafes and shops. Like Brighton, but inland and woodsy.
2. Melbourne (Australia)
   • Art, coffee, culture, LGBTQ+ inclusive, and by the ocean (in some suburbs). A Brighton of the Southern Hemisphere.
3. Barcelona (Spain)
   • Beach meets culture meets nightlife. Big city version of Brighton with a Mediterranean twist.
4. Copenhagen (Denmark)
   • Clean, design-focused, liberal, bike-friendly. Feels like if Brighton grew up and got really into Scandinavian minimalism.
5. Amsterdam (Netherlands)
   • Canal-side instead of seaside, but super free-spirited, diverse, and youthful with strong subcultural vibes.

Why It Matters?

I went to Brighton with my friends, longing for a beautiful natural vitamin D after long season of winter. That was my first time actually, and I was so excited with all of the blue and the blasting array of colors that stimulated my happiness during my visit.

My friends and I went to visit Lucy and Yak on our way back from the beach. The boutique was impeccable with a lot of beautiful prints, colorful dungarees and summer outfits that will shines bright on the beach. But what caught me in the eye was, they also accept their own second hand products from their customer to be sold again. Because apparently they adopted circular economy or regenerative approach to their concept.

Source: Lucy and Yak Website

After a long beach walk, strolling around the captivating Brighton Pier, hopping to one and another colorful gift shops and spending pennies for trinkets what-nots later, I went home to arrange my gifts from Brighton into my gift box. While searching through my postcards from my previous trip, popped up a ‘postcard’ from my previous Arup visit with MA Innovation Management students two weeks before;

Such a coincidence (or maybe not) that it unfolds my deepest thought in my subconscious. The generation of tomorrow has moved from sustainability to more radical concept of regenerative, which today people are honing the knowledge on creating more sustainable materials. But however, we also need the rotors, the machines, the enabler, the people to promote this narrative. And I believe the creative community, especially those rooted in subcultures, hobbies, music, and the arts, can play a transformative role in promoting a regenerative future within urban development.

Source: https://www.thersa.org/regenerative-futures/

Imagine how a creative city and vibrant city like Brighton can works because many creative store concepts, creative community and youth are running the city, and it makes you want to go back more or find any similar cities like Brighton.

As stated by smartcitiesdive.com:

“At first, it might be odd to imagine that a city may be dependant on something so intangible as creativity. In fact, it is not so much the creativity itself, but the reputation of creativity which it invokes. The entire character and physique of the city is hinged and perpetuated by this reputation. Without it, Brighton would find itself having to refocus and reorganise. A pier and pavillion are not, and haven’t been for some time, enough. Margate showed tourism is not an infinite resource, but luckily Brighton has already built its defences.”

And going back to the ChatGPT prompt above, I realized none of the cities above are mentioning any cities in Indonesia, not even Jakarta, not even Bali.

Regardless that Indonesia has (according to Chat*PT again):

• Thousands of unique cultural expressions across 17,000+ islands

• 700+ languages

• 3,000+ dances

• Hundreds of songs and music styles

None of these would contribute to the country’s growth or to the narrative.

Therefore, it unlocked my question “Can a creative community contributes to build regenerative future of urban cities like Jakarta? If it does, can the progressive movement starts from the creative community?”

Because, given that the creative community involved in the participative action to develop their cities, the narrative of the city can be altered and the future of the cities can be more progressive. This idea celebrates how everyday people shape urban futures through creative action, echoing the populist spirit of reclaiming power for the people.

Struggles has been an universal language for most of the people around the world, not to mention for the people who living the title of a middle class. The discovery of this realization emerged when I watched a video of two Indonesian academicians and economists; Chatib Basri and Gita Wirjawan, talking about the middle class struggle among the uncertainties.

In their conversation, Basri and Wirjawan discuss the struggles faced by the middle class in the context of global economic and political challenges. Basri highlights that governments in many countries tend to focus policies on the poor, while the wealthy benefit from development, often neglecting the specific needs of the middle class. He uses the concept of the “elephant curve” to illustrate the income growth patterns in Indonesia between 2019 and 2023, where the poorest and the richest experienced positive income growth, but the middle-income deciles (5th to 8th) experienced negative growth, indicating a decline in their economic well-being.

Drawing a parallel with the “Chilean Paradox,” Basri explains how a country with strong economic growth, high income per capita, and a good Human Development Index still faced significant social unrest because the middle class felt left behind and without specific policy attention. This underscores the importance of addressing the needs of the middle class, not just the poor and the rich.

Among the rising topic of #KaburAjaDulu as I mentioned on the previous post, many young Indonesian seems wanted to have a better option to getting away from the struggles immediately to seek for an ‘asylum’, including the middle class themselves.

Paradox of #KaburAjaDulu for Middle Class in Indonesia

Having grown up in an upper-middle-class family in Jakarta, I find myself fitting squarely into the category described by Basri, making this sentiment feel all the more personal and relatable. The systematic inequality making middle class far away from the privilege of having security, education and mental stability. This peaked when I got a message from my niece from home, as she is currently anxious about her future in the country:

Translation:

“Lately I’ve been looking for student exchange scholarships (high school) because I really want to go abroad.”
“The more I see the news about this country, the more scared I get—I just want to leave.”
“I don’t even know anymore what I’ll become if I stay here too long.”

The fact that many young Indonesians—our future human capital—are now seeking to escape and live abroad out of fear and frustration is a powerful reflection of how the system has failed to offer them a promising future.

While the idea of leaving Indonesia first and returning only after achieving success may sound appealing, the reality of migrating abroad is far more complex. Various barriers—such as legal regulations, limited opportunities, educational requirements, and financial constraints—make it a difficult path to pursue. Financial constraints is the biggest challenge for most of middle class to pursue their dream, education or work abroad because most of the language tests, preparation tests or transportation to reach most of big cities are particularly very costly.

As the result, based on the video above, Indonesia still lacks a strong presence in the global diaspora. Gita Wirjawan pointed out that while countries like India and China each have nearly 400,000 students studying in the US, Indonesia has only around 8,500. The gap is also evident in the UK, where China is represented by 200,000 students, compared to just 4,000 Indonesians across all campuses.

Culture as A Bridge of Nations

When we move abroad, we may become distanced from our geographical roots, but our values and cultural identity often remain with us. According to the Citywide Culture Strategy 2023–30, culture is the way we express who we are, our values, ideas, aspirations, and thoughts, through creativity and the arts. It shapes our way of life and reflects the attitudes, beliefs, and ambitions we hold in common. And culture is the wealth that we can carry everywhere we go.

I have a habit of introducing my cultures to my peers in the university through various range of Indonesian dishes in London, because I know it is much easier to do as foods connect most of the people. I loved how they were reacted when they experienced it on the first time.

To my surprise, I received a DM from my friend a couple days ago, they told me that they saw this video of a koplo singer popped out on their social media and they said that were very much liked it.

I was astounded that this song went through their algorithm, in fact that they are Scottish and lived in London, I never expected they would hear this kind of subgenre, and they liked it. Moreover, this type of song is niche and mostly being listened— as far as I experienced— by older generation in Indonesia. I myself, may barely listen to this kind of songs.

Koplo or dangdut, according to Wikipedia, is a subgenre of dangdut, Indonesian popular dance & folk music, that originated in East Java and popularized in the early 2000s. The genre gets its name from the slang term “koplo” which refers to a hallucinogenic drug that is sold cheaply in Indonesia. In addition, In 1995, Secretary of State, Moerdiono declared that dangdut is ‘The Music of the People’ making it is seen to be more populist music.

Thanks to social media, more people have become exposed to intercultural exchange, allowing various cultures and traditions to gain greater visibility on a global scale. Platforms like TikTok, in particular, have played a major role in introducing new trends to wider audiences through viral sounds. A recent example is the global popularity of the ‘Velocity‘ dance trend, which features koplo music as its backing track—bringing this uniquely Indonesian sound to the attention of international viewers.

Therefore, enhancing global cultural awareness can be done easily through social media which also unlocked the barrier of becoming more exposed to the global world.

Synthensizing The Middle Class Constraints with Creative Culture

I might be one of the lucky few who has the opportunity to pursue academic goals in London, at one of the world’s most respected art schools. Yet, I’m fully aware that many others are still struggling just to make ends meet, let alone dare to place their dreams on a higher pedestal. Still, that doesn’t mean middle-class individuals—especially Indonesians—are unable to experience joy and fulfillment in life. This sense of enjoyment can be nurtured through culture and creative resilience.

In fact, Indonesia’s culture, creativity is deeply rooted in its rich multicultural traditions and arts. Making creative industry a significant contributor to the creative economy, because it is able to employ around 19.39 million people and contribute about USD 82 billion to the Indonesian GDP. Boosting the creative economy with an integrated plan can drive Indonesia’s economy for the better.

From this exploration, discussion and analysis of my question, it sparks an idea about the change I want to see, which is “How can creative industry and culture can generate economic resilience, sustainability and global connection among Indonesian middle class.” This question doesn’t just highlight a desire for economic growth, but also emphasizes the role of creativity and culture as drivers of empowerment, identity, and long-term progress.

In a rapidly globalizing and technological advanced world, I believe that nurturing creative ecosystems and cultural capital can equip the Indonesian middle class with the means not just to survive, but to thrive—economically, socially, and creatively. This question will based from Indonesia as the example, and hopefully can also be implemented to many other countries.

Welcome (back) to Unit 1, after a month of diving into our collaborative project in Unit 2.

In this phase of Unit 1, our cohort begin paving the way toward our future independent research project through Project 3: “The Change I Want to See.” At this point, we’ve started to narrow down our uncertainties and have identified a specific area of interest, something closely tied to our personal agency, stakeholders and our drive to make a change in the world.

The word “change” itself feels frightening, well at least for me, not just because this is a summative project that will be graded (albeit that’s certainly part of it), but more so because of the weight of responsibility it carries. As someone who’s received government funding, that sense of duty feels even more amplified. However, Cecilla, my tutor, told me to weigh it down and not seeing this as a responsibility but instead see this as a “calling”. Hence, I began to unpack my box of uncertainties to find my calling again.

The Backpack

Looking back at what I wrote during “What’s Inside My Backpack” workshop honestly made me laugh. I might’ve taken the prompt a bit too literally—thinking about my actual backpack, that’s why I actually drawing my own backpacks. However, a few months before coming to London, I swapped out my trusty, 8-year-old Kånken for a minimalist Timbuk2. At first glance, not much seemed different: both are attached with colorful bag charms and packed with everything I need. But the change actually reflects something deeper—a quiet transformation in myself. Letting go of my old backpack, a symbol of comfort and familiarity, was my way of stepping out of my comfort zone and embracing something new.

Nonetheless, my backpacks have always carried more than just belongings—they carry stories, like a perfume to receipts that filled with memories, silently witnessing every step of my journey. They’ve seen how far I’ve come in facing my fears and how much I’ve grown into a different version of myself. So while they may hold my fears, hopes, and dreams, they also hold the quiet proof of my courage—the kind that keeps showing up, no matter how heavy the load.

My First Inquiry

Going back, I realize that my real “Box of Uncertainties” has always been my scholarship essay, the heaviest load I’ve been carrying in my backpack. In that essay, I wrote about how creativity and design can bridge the gap between various sectors; from art to economy. But beyond that, I questioned how creative thinking could contribute to something bigger: to sustainability, to making people feel safer and more comfortable, or simply put, to creating a better world.

On the other hand, in my “Box of Uncertainties” project, everything I placed inside was tied to a common thread: the anxious generation. We live under immense pressure, facing external forces, uncertainty about the future, and unresolved anxieties from the past. In Indonesia, for example, the hashtag #KaburAjaDulu (“Just run away first”) has become popular among young people, especially after the government’s inability to lead effectively following the recent presidential election, which leads to failing in many aspects in the country. Moreover, only 15% of Indonesian youth feel optimistic about the country’s political direction. This reflects a growing sense of a loss of hope in seeing their home as a place of belonging.

In the slice between anxiety and power, there is something called counterfactual thinking—the psychological process of imagining alternative outcomes to events that have already happened. This could also be a reason of why the Indonesia youth are possibly wanting to fleet away, at least temporarily, from the country. Instead of being in the frightening circumstances, they’d rather leave home in search of better possibilities, distancing themselves from what they fear might happen.

The Mapping of Change

Connecting my role as a creative practitioner, the struggles of this anxious generation and the vision of a better future, a hypothesis began to form: what if we could make cities or a place feel like home again? What if creative thinking could help transform fear into familiarity, and uncertainty into a sense of belonging?

I began exploring ways to bridge these gaps by delving into urbanism, aiming to better understand how people interact with their environments or envision alternative lives through a different city, career, or identity. My focus on urban areas stems from having spent all 27 years of my life in city neighborhoods—from Jakarta to London, urban living has always been my reality.

Then I develop the idea further using the mind map from “Mapping The Change” layout to map out keywords, key texts and key thinkers that surrounds this topic idea. However, I feel like these words are to shallow and very broad to be narrowed down into a single topic. Thus, I keep on changing the key words back and forth to actually dissect what a better home we could imagine, and what problems should we be prioritised first. I realized that there are so many complex problems that happening in the city, especially in Jakarta, whereas it can’t all be fixed with just a simple hope.

But hope can be a spark to show a courage, a leap to somewhere than where we are now. Eventhough, the connotation of courage, according to Hannah Arendt, now feel to be an indispensable quality of the hero, is in fact already present in a willingness to act and speak at all, to insert one’s self into the world and begin a story of one’s own. And courage can be simply risking yourself to get off of your comfort zone.

During the alumni session, I was inspired and empowered by the alumni who were encouraging me to directly take an action research to justify the topic I would like to emphasize. Because of them, I tried make a courageous move to made an intervention on my TikTok to target the people who move away from home using one day paid targeting, by asking them on what they miss the most about home.

The result was not really satisfying, in two days only 3 people comments out of 890 viewers to date.

On a surface level, the two audiences answered that what they miss the most are the sentimental elements in their home; the area and the loved ones. Which almost similar to what I have encountered. However, this might not giving the best justification about the problems, thus, the questions and the intervention may need to be adjusted into more narrowed topic afterwards.

Evaluation

In this part of discovery, I might already have the direction to where I’m heading to but still stuck in the intersection between reality and things I wanted to see. I know that I want to use my expertise and concern in the creative economy as a tool to see changes in improving people’s live. But how will I achieve it in the middle of the uncertainty of my country is the challenge. Therefore, I will say that this will be a long discovery to address my calling and this is going to have a part 2 in it.