Language.. has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone.. (Paul Tillich)

Thanks to Paul Tillich, a German born American Theologian and Philosopher, who came with this beautiful quotation that really makes me think a lot…

Hhmmm.. I think the feeling of loneliness can be experienced by anybody; No matter how old you are, no matter how wise you are, no matter what experiences you have in life, no matter what profession you are in, no matter what country of origin you are from, etc. It can be felt by people who experienced bullying in their childhood, or probably childhood abuse, a broken heart, a loveless marriage, being gay, life after divorce, the desire to love and to be loved, coping with social anxiety, etc.

Well, it’s true that some people are more socially accepted, and there are people who always try to fit in but remains rejected, and there are some others who are even too scared to try.

So what can be done to escape the grips of loneliness??

Here are some tips for all of you.. I also got this while doing online reading and I thought to share it with you..

1. Realize that we all get lonely
2. Call or get together with people you know (even if they are not who you want to be with right now)
3. Get involved in anything where you will meet people
4. Challenge yourself to take the initiative in social relationships whenever you can
5. Take risks about revealing yourself
6. Remember that we are all alone inside our heads; we are born and die alone; it’s nothing special
7. Join an online community
8. When feeling lonely, don’t let yourself wallow in your loneliness. Do something, anything!
9. Do everything you would normally do with partner or friends; there’s nothing strange to be by yourself and out doing things!
10. Spend time with your family

And also there’s one more important thing.. You have to find the difference between LONELINESS and SOLITUDE.

So what is solitude?

Solitude is a state of being alone without feeling lonely, in fact it can lead us to self-awareness.

From the outside, loneliness and solitude look a lot alike because both are characterized by solitariness. But all resemblance ends at the surface.

So, solitude is a really positive state of engagement with yourself. You may want to rest or think without being disturbed.. and sometimes you want to do it for the sake of privacy. So that means it’s desirable by yourself. And actually lots of activities need solitude moments. For example, if you want to have a deep reading, or if you want to make inner searching within yourself, or if you’re engage with highly creative works, or if you just want to experience the beauty of nature.. All of them need the solitariness.

We all need our periods of solitude.. And sometimes it give us chance to regain perspective about our lives and our way of living the world. And the important thing is there’s nothing wrong with it.. 🙂

So why don’t we all try to be intimate with ourselves in time of solitariness without being lonely, but happy?? Happy that we have life to live, happy that we have friends to keep, happy that we have days we will cherish, and happy that we have our moment for solitude..

Here’s a song to accompany your solitude moment…

Between INTEREST and COMMITMENT

Today I feel like writing about this topic. Specially because it’s related to something that I am dealing with at this moment..

The highlight would be the COMMITMENT.

So, a quote said this:

“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

And I think this is so true.. Sadly, I think we all have this issue in our life.

Sometimes we think, we have commitment in doing things.. But looking at that quote up there, we now realize that what we have done is not showing commitment, but only interest.

Related to this “commitment issue”, I cannot blame some people that are really disappointing me at this moment (because sometimes I am also dealing with this) but I really want us to learn together and start to think about our readiness when we eventually say our commitment to something.

In my work, I have to say that I really rely on this matter.. Well, especially because I have to work with lots of people who (I understand) have (well, probably) lots of other commitments in their lives.

But sometimes I can be so frustrated in scheduling this and that.. Adjusting to others interests and commitments. And of course also adjusting to mine. Hey, I also have my own interests… (which sadly I often leave for the sake of others). But now I am trying my best also to keep myself (somehow) “alive” by doing what I like to do, and also keeping the work go together side by side.

So friends, let’s work on this issue together !!

R.E.S.U.M.E

Angela Astri Soemantri was born in Bandung in 1982. She began her music activity by learning piano at the age of 5, and since 1998 she has actively involved in choir activities and seriously studied in vocal as well as choral and orchestral conducting. She attended training for music conducting in Cathedral-Jakarta in 2002 under the supervision of Ms. Hanna P., Mr. Ernest Mariyanto, and Mr. Dirjoseputro. She attended the 2nd and 3rd Symposium on Church Choral Music workshop and masterclass under the guidance of Jonathan Velasco (The Philippines), Jennifer Tham (Singapore), Grace Oey (Singapore), and Stella Zhou (Singapore). In September 2009 she attended the 8th Rimini International Choral Workshop in Rimini, Italy, under direct supervision of Peter Philips (England), Ghislaine Morgan (England), Andrea Angelini (Italy), and Vytautas Miskinis (Lithuania) on Renaissance composition as well as music conducting. In 2010 she attended Workshop on Venetian Renaissance Choral Music under supervision of Prof. Andrea Angelini (Italy) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She also learned vocal lessons from Avip Priatna and also vocal and music conducting from Tommy Prabowo.

Since January 2009 she became the music director of Orcaellae Vox Sacra (now became Monarch Orcaellanum Luminare). She was also the founder of Tarumanagara Angels Orchestra (TAO). She has B.A. in Psychology and currently is candidate for the Master of Educational Psychology Degree in the Department of Psychology Tarumanagara University.

Work Experiences

 

1997 – present        Private piano teacher

2001 – 2004            Vocal Training Division at Paduan Suara Universitas Tarumanagara, Jakarta

2003 – 2008            Choir Director of Paduan Suara Cindera Kasih Sekolah High/Scope TB Simatupang, Jakarta

2005 – 2010            Choir Director and Conductor of Paduan Suara Sanmare, Santa Maria Regina Church Choir, Bintaro

2005 – 2010            Choir Director and Conductor of Paduan Suara Universitas Tarumanagara, Jakarta

2006 – 2008            Choir Director and Conductor of Paduan Suara Canzone SMPK Ricci II, Tangerang

2006 – 2008            Choir Director of Paduan Suara TK dan SD Santa Ursula BSD, Serpong

2007 – present        Choir Director and Conductor of BCA Choir Menara BCA Grand Indonesia, Jakarta

2009 – present        Music Director and Conductor of Orcaellae Vox Sacra (now became Monarch Orcaellanum Luminare)

Present                        Student assistant of Prof. Aurelio Porfiri (Italy)

 

Performances

 

2001 – 2010              Conducting Paduan Suara Universitas Tarumanagara (PSUT) at National Ceremonies and Graduation Ceremonies

May, 2004                 Conducting PSUT at “Senyum dalam Nada” Concert Festival  (Gedung BPPT, Jakarta)

June, 2004                Conducting PSUT at “Festival 2004” Concert (Gedung BPPT, Jakarta)

May, 2005                 Conducting PSUT at “For The Beauty of The Earth” Charity Concert (Erasmus Huis, Jakarta)

May, 2007                 Conducting PSUT at “When The Children Smile-Sing Music With Love” Charity Concert (Yamaha Music Hall, Jakarta)

May, 2008                  Conducting PSUT at “Look at The World” PSUT’s Internal Concert (Tarumanagara University Auditorium, Jakarta)

December, 2008       Conducting PSUT, PS Canzone, and  PS Sanmare at “A Little Jazz Mass” Christmas Concert (Tarumanagara University Auditorium, Jakarta)

May, 2009                    Conducting Orcaellae Vox Sacra (OVS) at a concert in San Moise Church (Venezia, Italy)

July, 2009                    Conducting OVS, PS Sanmare, and Tarumanagara Angels Orchestra (TAO) at “A Thousand Flowers of Love” Concert (Graha Swara Tarumanagara University, Jakarta)

September, 2009         Conducting the Rimini International Choir Workshop participants “Tota Pulchra Es” by Vytautas Miskinis at Tesori della Polifonia Spagnola Concert (Chiesa San Giovanni Battista, Rimini, Italy)

October, 2009              Conducting PSUT, OVS, and TAO at “The Golden Chamber” Concert

March, 2010                  Conducting OVS at “The Spanish Treasure” Concert (Graha Swara Tarumanagara University, Jakarta)

June, 2010                     Conducting TAO at “A Musical Inspiration” Collaboration Concert with Sekolah Tunas Muda Orchestra

June, 2010                    Conducting PSUT at “Rhythm of The Earth” Charity Concert (Graha Swara Tarumanagara University, Jakarta)

January, 2011              Conducting Monarch Orcaellanum Luminare (MOL) at Jakarta New Year Concert 2011 (National Museum Auditorium, Jakarta)

June, 2011                     Conducting MOL and BCA Choir at “Love Whispers” Concert (Teater Kecil, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta)

Achievements

 

August, 2005                   Champion at “JacFest Choir Festival” Mangga Dua Square, Jakarta.

April, 2006                       Runner-up at “The Magnificant of Handel” Mall Bee, Cengkareng.

August, 2008                   Silver Diploma for Mixed Chamber Choir Category at Festival Paduan Suara Institut Teknologi Bandung XXI.

May, 2009                          Gold Diploma for Folklore and Mixed Chamber Choir Category at The 7th Venezia in Musica, Lido di Jesolo, Venezia, Italy.

November, 2009              Champion at Festival Paduan Suara 2009 se Jawa-Bali, held by SMAK 1 Penabur, Cirebon, West Java.

November, 2009              Best Conductor at Festival Paduan Suara 2009 se Jawa-Bali, held by SMAK 1 Penabur, Cirebon, West Java.

August, 2010                      Gold Diploma for Folklore Category and Silver Diploma for Mixed Choir Free Program Category at The 1st ITB International Choir Competition 2010, Bandung, West Java.

Affiliations

 

2010 – present                    Member of World Federation of Music Therapy (WFMT)

Present                                 Member of Association of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPAH)

Present                                 Member of The Society for Music Perception and Cognition (SMPC)

Publications

 

“Indonesian Folk Choral Music” and “Choral Education in Indonesia” articles at the International Choral Bulletin (ICB) Volume XXX, Number 2 – 2nd Quarter, 2011, p. 9-13.

 

For further information, please check on my website  http://angela-astri-soemantri.weebly.com/index.html