You're Right, Mom

Dulu ibuku sering bilang, 'Jadi anak perempuan gaboleh jorok. Taro barang ditempatnya. Kalo ada yang berantakan cepet diberesin'.

Waktu itu aku kesel dan ngedumel sendiri disuruh beresin ini-itu. Bersihin ini-itu. Pokonya ini-itu yang berantakan deh. Semuanya.
***

Dulu ibuku sering bilang, 'Jadi orang harus ada inisiatifnya kalo mau maju. Jangan apa-apa nunggu disuruh'.

Waktu itu aku bete. Udah capek pulang sekolah, gara-gara piring kotor ga langsung kucuci aku dimarahin. 

*** 

Dulu ibuku sering bilang, 'Jadi orang harus mandiri. Harus bisa apa-apa sendiri. Jangan ngarepin orang lain terus'.

Waktu itu aku kesal. Masa aku harus ngurus KTP sendiri, ngurus paspor sendiri, harus daftar sekolah sendiri, mau kemana-mana jarang banget dianter. Cuma dikasih tau alamatnya dimana dan naik kendaraan umum apa. 
***

Dulu ibuku sering bilang, 'Jadi yang paling tua harus bisa jadi contoh yang baik. Biar adek-adeknya ikut jadi baik juga'.

Waktu itu aku ngerasa ga adil. Kok aku doang yang disuruh baik dan jadi contoh sementara adek-adek yang lain ga disuruh seperti itu.  
***

Dulu ibuku sering bilang, 'Jadi orang harus banyak bersyukur. Masih banyak yang hidupnya ga seberuntung kamu. Kamu masih bisa sekolah, gaperlu mikirin cari makan'.

Waktu itu aku mikir, ya masih banyak juga yang hidupnya lebih beruntung dari aku, yang mau apa tinggal minta. Tinggal bilang.
***

Dulu ibuku sering bilang, 'Harus bisa ngatur waktu dong. Biar semuanya itu serba teratur'.

Waktu itu aku cuma melengos dan nganggep omongan itu angin lalu aja.

***

Pokonya dulu dan sampe sekarang ibuku masih suka ngulang ucapannya diatas. Bahkan lebih banyak dari itu. Dulu sering banget ngerasa semua omongan ibuku itu, gapenting. Gajelas. Baru sekarang setelah hidup sendiri semuanya jadi bener-bener penting. 

Noted that. Semuanya. 

Sekarang kalo liat kamar kost berantakan rasanya gabetah, pengen langsung diberesin. Liat kamar mandi mulai kotor, langsung dibersihin. Mau kemana-mana ga takut sendiri, mau urus ini-itu bisa sendiri. Sekarang ngerasa banget gimana lika-liku hidup sendiri, kadang suka sedih kalo lagi sakit atau lagi ngerasa sepi. Tapi masih tetep bisa bersyukur masih bisa sekolah disini, bisa hidup serba cukup. Kalo dipikir-pikir selama ini banyak banget dapet momen dimana tiba-tiba nyeletuk sendiri dalam hati "Untung dulu digituin" atau "Untung udah biasa begitu". 

Kalo kata ibuku dulu, "Nanti juga kamu ngerasain apa yang Mami omongin ini bener".  

***

You're right, Mom. 

You're right from the very first time and place.



Long Distance Relationships Mean Always Getting to Say Hello


We’ve said goodbye in driveways, bus stations, and airports, in parking lots and on street corners. 

Long distance relationships mean always having to say goodbye.

I remember the end of the first visit: I watched her walk down the sidewalk as the bus pulled out of the station, yanking me from her receding figure. As the countdown to our next reunion was reset to a dauntingly high number, the emotion was so raw, so overwhelming, that it seems impossible to describe without clichés or platitudes. Suddenly every mawkish pop song made sense – it makes you want to write bad poetry.

It’s not as devastating after almost three years, which I attribute to comfort rather than any abatement of emotion. 

At the beginning, I was like a baby who mistook someone leaving my field of vision for ceasing to exist.  *Sampe sekarang pun masih kayak gini .-. *

I had suffered a few bad experiences in the past and could only hope this would be different. It certainly felt different, but I still worried.

“How can I be apart from her?” I’d wonder. 

“What if something changes? What if it’s never this good again?”

Now, I have faith. I know she’ll be back and the feeling will be back with her.

I just have to wait. We’ll be saying hello again soon.

Long distance relationships make you treasure the time you have together.

***

I take things for granted all the time: my health, job, good fortune, other people, Thanksgiving. But it’s easier to appreciate something when it’s in limited supply (one take away from a C- in Intro to Econ.). It’s like fondue. Have you ever had a fondue dinner? You cook each individual piece of your chicken or steak or whatever in a little pot of oil. It takes forever. When I did it, the entire meal was like a three-hour event and inordinately more satisfying. Whereas I usually remember to taste my food right around the time I’m frantically shoveling the final bite into my mouth, fondue forced me to savor each piece.

So long distance relationships are like fondue.

When we have an entire weekend together, I try to really relish it – to pause and think, 

“Enjoy this. Enjoy this time right now, without worrying about the future or thinking about anything else.” 

This is a new mindset for me and a definite improvement over the usual combination of future-dread/distraction that casts a pall over my free time and which involves a mental dialogue that goes, “Hmm this is pretty nice, I guess, but I can’t stop thinking about the fact that I have work tomorrow, and I have those freaking reports due, and isn’t there something better or more productive I could be doing right now? An – HEY WHAT’S THAT SHINY THING OVER THERE!?!”

The new mindset works.  Our weekends feel like portals into an alternate world where we are together all the time, an endless cycle free from stress or fear. Where nothing can interrupt us or separate us or distract us. 

Where we are the only two people that matter.

***

There are a lot of stigmas and fears around long distance relationships and I suppose it’s not for everyone.

But it has its perks, too. Every time I see her again after we’ve been apart, it’s like that first time I went back to visit her: all of the old emotions come rushing back. It’s like waking up to the first spring day after a long, cold winter. 

We’ve said hello in driveways, bus stations, and airports, in parking lots and on street corners. Long distance relationships mean always getting to say hello. 


***

Berasa baca diary sendiri. ~

Repost from

February. Again.

It's February again. Huah. Udah 2013 and it's my first post this year. Malas sekali kamu nulis ya, Sil. Ckck. Iya nih. I'm running out of words. Yang di kepala sih banyak. Curhatan udah segudang. Numpuk-numpuk. Geez. Tapi gatau kenapa lagi ga ada hasrat aja gitu buat numpahin disini. :/ Kayak sekarang, gatau mau nulis apa lagi. Huks. Makin dewasa kok rasanya makin ga imajinatif yah. Well, sudah makin gajelas gerutuan saya ini. Disudahi saja ya. Selamat bulan February. Selamat hari kasih sayang. Spread all of the chocolates&roses (terutama buat saya)! Btw, saya sendiri juga lagi counting down somethin' special here. *Ga ada yg nanya* Ehe >< 

Intermezzo

Huf huuuuffff...... *tiup-tiup blog* *ceritanya berdebu*


Lama tak bersua ya >< Mau cerita-cerita aja deh sedikit di tengah libur berkepanjangan ini~


Jadi, sekitar dua minggu yang lalu, gue kedatangan teman dari Jogja, yaitu Rara. Selama di Jakarta Rara nginep di rumah Niken dan kita berdua (gue&niken) bertugas nemenin sang tamu jauh muter-muter ibukota. Yaaa, as u know, namanya Ja-kar-ta tujuan jalan-jalannya ya kalo ga ke mall ya ke mall lagi wkwkwk. Dan kalo ke mall, ngapain lagi kalo ga belanja. Sumpah ya itu tiga hari berturut-turut cuma muter-muter di mangga dua, ambas, gading, sampe ke distro segala...Kasian banget atm kena siksa huhuhu x_x Kita juga sempet mampir ke Bogor buat wisata kuliner Macaroni Panggang! (macaroni panggangnya enyak :''3) Pas ke Bogor barengan Pipit juga, doi sibuk banget jadinya baru muncul deh~ Abis dari Bogor, Rara pulang kerumah Bude-nya di Cileduk trus ga lama balik Jogja deh! Jangan kapok-kapok ke Jakarta ya, Sist! :D

Rara, Sisil, Niken, Pipit (@Kebun Raya Bogor~)
Ini yang namanya Rara :3
Ini sok-sok tumblr gitudeh, tapi gagal, akakak ><




Mami yang super duper cerewet (dan menurun ke anak-anaknya._.) tapi penuh perhatian, papi yang selalu manjain kami, thank you for everything...
Love you both :'*

Your lovely children,
Kakak, Dedek, Ucok