On weekends, I usually go to some public spaces. My motives are simple; let's say I only have two. First, to get some fresh air since the city has one of the worst air pollution levels. Second, to do nothing, a.k.a. sit on a bench and people-watch.
This people-watch habit is just part of my personality; maybe it's rooted deep down, I don't know. What I do know is that I love seeing other people doing things and interacting with each other.
On one particular weekend, I went to Monas. It's one of the largest public spaces in Jakarta. This spot is a favorite for locals to spend their weekends, especially families with little kids.
There wasn't much to look at, really. It was just the iconic Monas tower being projected on by some digital video artists. People could write down a message and their name on a piece of paper and give it to the organizers. If they were lucky, their message and name would be displayed in the video projections.
I loved seeing how people laughed in joy when they saw their names and messages displayed on the iconic Monas tower. It was a simple gesture, but the joy was pure. A man looked very proud when his name appeared on the tower, while his daughters looked on in awe. I love that kind of atmosphere. Genuine emotion.
Apart from that, even without special occasions like digital art video projections, I always love spending my weekends in the Monas area. Jakarta is a melting pot for Indonesia, and Monas is the most popular spot. So, expect to see a lot of diversity here.
One time in the Monas area, I met a group of old cyclists. Judging from their appearance, they all might be above their 60s. They were all using classic Holland bikes, some of which were rusty. They brought a stereo and played traditional Javanese songs—the kind of music that easily puts them to sleep, even if it's not a lullaby. And they did just that. They parked their bikes by the fence, brought the stereo to the center of the park, and lay down, taking a nap there. Again, genuine interaction. I love to see that.
I think that's why I like people-watching. I love seeing genuine interaction. I love seeing genuine emotion. Not pretentious, just being who you are, and enjoying the moment to the fullest.
Even on Hive, I do the same. Most of the time I spend on Hive, I spend it for curating. I happen to be one of the curators for one of the oldest curation guilds on this Blockchain. My main motivation? To see undiscovered authors become discovered and their awesome content sparks some conversations. I hope that the interactions are genuine, not fake. I believe that every curation guild would have similar goals.
So, that's it for me. I made this post as an attempt for the weekend experience engagement contest by @galenkp. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Peace! ✌️