On Saturday, 19 March 2022, Thomas Aquino Library at St. Louis 1 Catholic High School held their yearly meet-and-greet. Students from all grades participated in the meet-and-greet, as well as some teachers and the general public. This year, the event had the theme, “Making Peace with Ourselves: the Art of Accepting Ourselves” and invited Devi Nirmala Muthia Sayekti, a well-known author. The meet-and-greet happened through Zoom, from 08.30 AM – 11.00 AM.
In this event, Kak Muthia explained the journey of getting to know yourself. In this pandemic, she said, the number of people experiencing insecurity, depression, and anxiety had significantly risen in comparison to the pre-pandemic era. She proceeded to tell the audience about how to cope with depression. According to her, social media has three main patterns: falsification, gimmicks, and false personalities. Knowing this, she urged us to be mindful and aware of the cause and effect concept. She explained, “Faith and belief in ourselves will help us get past our sadness. If everything is going to plan, we mustn’t forget about past sadnesses. We must not become arrogant, and must instead become more empathic.” Kak Muthia closed the event with a question and answer session and one final quote, “We don’t need to prove ourselves to anyone. All we need to do is keep moving forward, as it is our job as human beings to move forward. If we are exhausted, rest! But don’t ever stop.”
