101 Creative Notes – Yoris Sebastian

Sebastian, Yoris. 2013. 101 Creative Notes. Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

Rating 2,5 stars
(review in Indonesian, click here)

Why I read it in the first place?

Well, it is a self-help book, so I did buy and read it in hoping to enrich myself with inspirational material. Once in a while, I like to urge myself to read non-fiction books. Actually, there was this time in my life when I kind of avoided reading fiction (what??? It’s true though). At that time, I was in a campus press in my uni, where I was demanded to know lots of facts and variety of information. And I obtained some of them in my objects of reading which were mostly non-fiction. Anyway, I was interested enough to buy 101 Creative Notes because of its simple and light writing style. I am not into a slow-pace and very-detailed self-help books. Before I read this book, I have no idea who Yoris Sebastian is. Clearly, I didn’t buy this book because of his popularity (which I was not aware of, but I guess he’s pretty popular, maybe?), I was purely interested with its theme about creativity.

My Review.

What caught my attention first in this book, weirdly (and I do feel really weird because of this), was the name of its illustrator. It’s Calvin... Klein. No kidding, but surely not THAT Calvin Klein. And because I’m not a fashion junkie, I am not super sure what Calvin Klein products are. I know one though, one of their products is men underwear that I saw many times sold in the mall. Hence, when I was reading this book, I got this disturbing thought saying, “It's an underwear who made this cool illustration... Okay....” Not funny, I KNOW, but I do joke terribly, remember? LOL.

Serious mode: On. 101 Creative Notes contains literally 101 points of tips for reader to be or stay creative a la Yoris Sebastian. From this book, I assume this guy is an icon in Indonesian creative industry. His achievements at young age seemed to be his strong point in his popularity, besides his creative skill. Flash of Yoris’ bright career can be seen as reader keep turning the pages of this book. Yoris did make this book based on his working experiences and his own daily habits.

Although 101 Creative Notes seems like full of its writer’s love and such personal information, I somehow didn’t really get the supposedly-there inspirations. Almost all the points by Yoris are already familiar to me, many are my habits too. So, I honestly didn’t get many new information after reading this book. It didn’t enlighten me or make me excited. Maybe I also felt kind of turn-off because I found too many brand’s names that makes this book more ‘advertising’ than ‘inspiring’. Okay, I got it that your Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 is so awesome and sophisticated. But, is it really necessary to thoroughly mention it over and over in this book? Like draw it on the cover and mention it specifically on the back cover are just not enough.

But frankly, I did find some fresh and interesting points. For example, I really like point #37 Eavesdropping and point #42 Dress Well. Some days ago, I was in the line for ordering food at KFC. I struggled to keep my laughter in check because I heard man behind me talked to his friend, “What’s your drink? I guess I want that. That... Pespi.” It a bit made my day. And by the way, his friend didn’t correct him whatsoever. What I’m trying to say is, by putting more attention on our surrounding, we’ll surprise ourselves for things we’d hear and see. So, Yoris’ idea to eavesdrop is really cool according to me (without becoming too stalkerish! LOL). This book is perfect to be carried when you’re traveling or something, in case you need a relaxing book and want to boost your creativity side (err, what am I blabbering about?)

I really didn’t think too much when I bought this book. I didn’t even know the author. That’s the moment of me losing self-control in the bookstore, again. That must be it. Sigh. Anywaaay, I don’t think this book is a second book from Oh My Goodness: Buku Pintar Seorang Creative Junkies. It’s a complete stand-alone. But however, there are a couple or so points that I think need more explanation in this book. But what Yoris does is just referencing it to his other book, Oh My Goodness: Buku Pintar Seorang Creative Junkies. GenFlux, for example. Oh, and not all people know what ATM stands for actually in point #40.
 

In 101 Creative Notes, Yoris frequently asks his reader to share their stories or simply respond via his twitter account, @yoris. I want to share something but I don’t fancy twitter, so I’ll just put it here. On point #31 Watch TED.com (another thing that I already do), I love how Yoris induces his reader to watch TED videos. I personally think TED videos are downright super awesome. And to decide which are my favorites, is just hard. Really. So, randomly I pick this video in my TED folder (of course I have one special folder in my computer just for TED, it’s only normal) from Eve Ensler. This video shows you how vagina is the most important thing in woman’s body but also a topic that people talk the least about, just saying the word ‘vagina’ itself is still awkward for some. You, women and men, should watch this.

More Rambling:

Poin #48 Believe in Process is a message I’m trying to deliver in page by page tagline, this blog tagline. Has anyone ever notice or even try to consider this blog tagline? Well, whatever your answer, I’m telling you anyway. Hahah. Yes, it’s all about enjoying and enduring the process.
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When I heard that dude said 'Pespi' instead of 'Pepsi'...