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Lilimunir Croft-Cusworth: Setting the record straight, spiritually, literally
As I arrive at Lilimunir Croft-Cusworth's newly renovated "castle" in Central Jakarta, the unmistakable smell of linseed oil is in the air, in a colorful room full of paintings and books
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As I arrive at Lilimunir Croft-Cusworth's newly renovated "castle" in Central Jakarta, the unmistakable smell of linseed oil is in the air, in a colorful room full of paintings and books. Ibu Lily has been painting. She has also been writing.
Ibu Lily hands me a copy of her latest book, just finished, and proudly shows me a handwritten inscription she has written to herself inside the front cover, To Rosleily, Happy B'day, Mar. 2009. A long journey .. Traveled well. No regrets! Lily.
"My real name is Rosleily," she says. "When I was a kid my grandma gave me that name, and I will never change it ."
Turning 70 last month, Ibu Lily celebrated by releasing this book, Jalan Berlobang-Lobang, the journey of a male reporter trying to find his true self.
"In this book," she explains, "I go into spiritualism - but by spiritualism I mean spiritualism that could come from any religion . It doesn't matter what religion you have. There is one more vital thing, more important than religion, and that is the relationship between one's self and the Almighty, the Creator..."
Lily says her own spiritual learning began around 30 years ago when she was in England.
"I learned from many gurus, and then I found it myself. I am still a Muslim but with a plus. Muslim, plus spiritual experiences."
Through Jalan Berlobang Lobang, Lily hopes to shed light on some of her spiritual experience. In Indonesia, she says, the idea of spiritualism is often misinterpreted. "For some people, Dukunism (Javanese traditional witch doctors) is spiritualism, or Pelet is spiritualism. To some people, spiritualism has negative connotations . Through this book I want to show people the real spiritualism that I have learned through my own experience."
Ibu Lily was born in 1939 in the same house where she now lives, in Jakarta. She went to elementary school in Aceh, secondary school in Medan and then high school in Yogyakarta where she went on to study international relations at the prestigious Gadjah Mada University (UGM).
After graduating from UGM in 1962, Lily was sent by the Indonesian government to Russia, to study cooperative management. Then, after gaining a position through a friend from an influential and "anti-communist" student organization (KASI), Lily worked in Afghanistan as the secretary to the Indonesian ambassador in Kabul from 1968 -1970.
Following this, Lily traveled to London, first working for the BBC and then the IPC (the International Publishing Corporation), where she met and fell in love with a scientist named Michael. Before long, Lily and Michael got married, and during their honeymoon traveled together around Europe in a caravan.
Lily was later employed as the European correspondent and then as a columnist for the Indonesian women's magazine Kartini (1970 to 1990). Lily and Michael's son Cipta was born in 1980, and they lived together in Buckinghamshire on the northern outskirts of London. During this time, Lily was writing continually.
Following Michael's death in 1997, Lily felt very alone in their family house in London, and decided to move back to her father's house in Jakarta. During this period of depression, Lily gained inspiration from Michael's mother, who after retiring as a nurse continued to volunteer at a hospital, offering advice to young people.
"And I learned from her that I had to make myself useful for myself, if not for others, so I can be happy. And that's when I started to write novels . "
The table before us is crowded with tea cups. Among other things, Ibu Lily has a great appreciation for tea - served hot for all of her visitors. Over the years, in this room, Lily has told her stories to many different people, in many cases offering advice and help when needed.
"I would love to encourage my colleagues ... There are many who are down with diseases and depression . I belong to this Women Writers' Association and I know many of them, and some are much younger than me, but they say they cannot find the inspiration. They cannot find the time. They cannot find the energy. And I think that is very funny because I find this all in abundance in me!"
Western women, Lily says, were distinctly different to her Indonesian women friends in that they were better at making themselves useful once their children had grown up.
"One time, I think two years ago there were lots of people talking about loneliness . They would say that loneliness is an enemy of old age. I don't agree with that. You can call it a powerful enemy, if you think it. For me it is a friend."
In many respects, this sets her apart from the average 70-year-old Indonesian woman. Like many writers, Lily has bravely pioneered into inner space, and time alone is sacred to her.
"I thank god that I can have a room upstairs, so I can be all alone, because when I am alone I can just daydream . and something tells me *why don't you go to the computer and write about this?'. So I write it . And the time just goes by. Or I can daydream. I love daydreaming. Doing nothing. Ha ha ha."
To anyone planning to embark on such a voyage, Lily warns of its less-than-glamorous reality.
"Writing is a hard, hard profession. It takes time, it takes effort, it takes sacrifice. There were times when I was in front of my computer. I didn't want to speak to anybody. I didn't want to pick up the phone. I didn't eat. I didn't take a bath."
Instead, what is most important, Lily says, is that we make use of our talents, "not just sit down and wait until death takes us. Because death will come wherever, whenever. So, when it comes, it comes. Welcome! What can we do about it? We are all going to see God anyway, and He is no stranger to us. I am very happy to see God any time."
". the older I am, the more I feel I have to give. They don't understand it. I feel I have a lot to give. I don't get money through it, but I get a lot from it."
Jalan Berlobang Lobang is Ibu Lily's eighth book. Her other books include the Rumah Besar trilogy (1992- 1995), Anak Rantau (1996), Mr Vital (2005) and Halo Moskow (2007). She hopes to release her next title, Berdansa dengan Laba Laba (Dancing with a Spider), in 2010.
