Redefining Contentment in Jakarta

Irma Garnesia
Sep 8, 2018 · 4 min read

Eric Weiner had to travel tens of thousands of miles to define happiness in each place. Naming happiness is a number in Netherland, boredom in Switzerland, failure in Iceland, and a ‘work in progress’ in Great Britain. After reading it for a while, I feel the necessity to write about what happiness really means in a city like Jakarta.

For me, who long lived in Padang and have stayed for six years in Bandung, happiness or satisfaction is not easy to define in a city like Jakarta. Nevertheless, again from my Victorian peasant’s perspective, settle down in Jakarta is actually a shining achievement. One that my parents would call back home, “Hey, my daughter is living a good life and having a benefit job in Jakarta.” Am I actually living a great life? Not necessarily, but I would assure you that defining contentment in Jakarta is actually a conundrum. Happiness is there for the taking. All we need is enough faith and some time to adjust, in case you ask!

For more than seven months I have been living here, a problematic big city. Naming that I work for a news organization even makes me aware not only of the countless issues this city are facing, but also extends to the country as well. I know, I understand that depicting a city’s contentment from mere my point of view could be biased. I mean, the concept of happiness itself is fluid. As Weiner coined, money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important, so are friends. Envy is toxic, so is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude.

So, how dare you Irma to define happiness in such a complex city like Jakarta?

I am no philosopher, solely settle here for seven months. But I can tell you, I am a great observer.

I could not find one definitive answer as such what happiness Jakarta could afford you. To name a few, we still have those crazy traffic, high price living cost, (un)affordable food, unbearably hot days, long time-commuting, work that takes us to our mental limit, and don’t forget the minimum-wage that keeps us thinking the better ways to survive. Apparently, happiness seems frustratingly inconclusive, it is?

I have a robust belief that it is not whether to set perfection in places, but rather in your mind. “Places are the same. It’s not the elements that matter so much as how they’re arranged and in which proportions,” Weiner favored in wise. Jakarta teached me to set my mindset of happiness, to define mine. Again, to name a few, I can only afford a cheap room without a room cooler. I have lived for six years in a cold temperature in Bandung, and living without a sufficient cooler in Jakarta is just worst. On a hot day, which almost every day, the heat would permeate throughout the room and sometimes I can’t take it. But hey, at least it’s cheap!

I can’t always afford fancy food or hanging out every weekend. Even when I have extra saving, I don’t want to allocate all the money to a sheer fancy food or to just fool around. Then, where it takes me? I used to spend the money to fool around, have the takeaway, buying things I don’t need, now I just, I don’t feel the urge to do it anymore. And hey, what about coffee? I still drink coffee, mostly a good cheap one. You must have thought that my life has shrunk, degraded, and at some point, I have reduced my quality of life.

No, I just set the contentment barometer to a new level. I don’t drink a premium Starbucks, I drink whatever ice coffee with brown sugar that tasted good in a cheap coffee house. Mostly, when the payday is approaching, I prepare my meal to the office to prevent buying takeaway. I do not go out as often as I used to, I chill at home on the weekend with books, Netflix, or even YouTube subscription. I do not opt to have my laundry done by others, rather I do it alone. Then, when I am sick or just lazy to iron all those clothes, my room turns into a messy loft.

Yes, Jakarta allows me to suffer in many ways, or… to appreciate and eventually find contentment from the very basic. That great coffee after working longer hours, supporting system to nag and bemoan after an insane deadline, friends to meet on the weekend after some times, that landlord who allows me to use the washing machine and gives food at the end of the month, that super warm-hearted Bapak Gojek every time you misread the map's direction, that Adithya Sofyan’s song about Jakarta to warm your heart, and countless to name.

So, why do I have to be here? Clearly, I can be more settle in Padang, the place I was born. I have my home, unutilized car, free breakfast, free lunch, free dinner, and also free snacks, and probably the dynamic at work is not as insane as it is in Jakarta. The thing is, I don’t want to be an adult who lives in their parents’ attic. That’s a brief explanation that I can provide for now. I will for sure dedicate a writing in the near future about why do I have to be here, in Jakarta.

And now, after everything, I know this: There is a reason I am here, and that reason is bigger than me. So, I will carry on with great faith beyond what I can see, in pursuit of bold courage on the adventure of the journey — Morgan Harper Nichols.

Thanks, Jakarta. I am fulfilled!

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade