Jennie S. Bev

Peacebuilding and peace journalism

by Jennie S. Bev

Covering conflicts, wars, and attacks must be handled carefully. The press is expected to be objective and impartial in covering such sensitive issues. However, oftentimes, the result is the opposite.

We have seen so many TV interviews in which two polarized interviewees are expected to debate fairly and squarely, yet the more aggressive and opinionated one is likely to steer the direction. In written reports, it’s not uncommon to encounter explicit and implicit biases that would jeopardize peace structure in a society.

Therapeutic writings

by Jennie S. Bev

In an interview with a tabloid, I once answered, “I write for the love of it. I do business for a living. I volunteer for love of humanity.” I find writing valuable for my own mental health and increasing public awareness on certain issues. In short, writing is therapeutic and provides an avenue to advocate causes I dearly believe in.

The good thing is, writing is a learned skill. The rule of thumb is: the higher one’s education is, the better they write. Is it a fact or merely a misconception? Also, how can one use writing effectively for therapeutic and advocacy purposes?

Loneliness and introverted writer

 by Jennie S. Bev 

Reality is the one word that Vladimir Nabokov said shouldn’t go without quotation marks, despite the fact it is something that most artists and writers have been pursuing and imitating as closely as possible.

This explains why every artist’s movement has been sprinkled with dashes of credo to return to reality. Reality, after all, is the canvas –no matter how full it has been filled– and the raw material.

An interesting noteworthy version of “reality” is aphorism, which is one of the oldest forms of literature. Aphorism is basically a collection of sayings and criticisms, just like Heraclitus’ fragments, Confucius’ musings, Aurelius’ snippets of wisdom, and Franz Kafka’s notebooks. These fragments and musings were results of observation and reflexive activities to encapsulate “reality” and “realities.”

Writing for an imaginary homeland

by Jennie S. Bev

Everything starts with words. Throughout history, every individual of any degree of importance in society has had at least one book and multiple short pieces written by, inspired by, or dedicated to him or her. Every major event and phenomenon is likely to have had some sort of written record.

After all, written words are a repository of histories, thoughts, feelings and efforts. They are testimonies to humans’ ever-changing nature and search for ultimate understanding.

Words are both edifices and crystal balls. According to Mary Pipher, in Writing to Change the World, good writing facilitates the making of connections in a way that inspires open-heartedness, thinking, talking and action. It widens readers’ understanding of the world, and empowers and inspires them. And writers who write away from their homelands might be those who are guilty of the crime of being distant and receiving accolades for seeing things in a magnified manner, as if looking through a powerful telescope.