Jumat, 18 September 2020

Terlalu sulitkah untuk menunggu!? (Repost from my FB Account)

Terlalu sulitkah untuk menunggu!?

Waktu sekarang berjalan terlalu pelan… setiap mata terpejam, kadang sering berharap, agar malam jadi lebih lama… Saat pagi-pagi yang menyesakkan itu datang, kadang hati bingung dan bertanya “mau dikemanakan langkahku hari ini!?”, “kenapa slalu berkutat pada hal yang sama setiap harinya..!?”
Tak boleh bosan terhadap hidup sendiri… siapapun tahu itu, tapi semudah itukah!?

Banyak pelajaran yang mampu dipetik setiap detiknya, siapapun tahu itu, tapi sempatkah tersadar, sempatkah pelajaran-pelajaran berharga itu hinggap di hati…

Pelajaran kali ini, benar-benar tertinggal di hatiku...Bahwa kadang, ada orang-orang tak akan sanggup menunggu terlalu lama….Sesulit apapun menerima, orang-orang seperti ini ada di sekeliling kita. Mereka, dengan sejuta alasan merasa bahwa hanya merekalah yang diburu waktu, sedang kita… kita tak punya apapun yang bisa dilakukan dengan waktu.

Sesulit itukah menunggu….

Aku tak tahu apa itu cinta… yang aku tahu, ada harapan disana… Salahkah kalau berharap mereka mau menunggu sedikit lebih lama, salahkah kalau mereka meluangkan sedikit lagi waktunya untuk kita!? Semudah itukah mereka pergi, lupa….

Sekecil itukah harapan mereka!? Teman, aku tak tahu apa itu menunggu terlalu lama, tapi aku tahu apa itu berharap… dan sampai saat ini pun aku terus berharap, dan tak pernah aku berhenti tuk berharap... harapan yang senantiasa membuatku mampu bertahan pada satu saja, tak perduli walau itu tak mungkin, karena aku percaya masa depan adalah kejutan..

Tak bisakah sedikit bersabar!? Menunggu sedikit lebih lama…. Bukankah mereka saling mencinta!? Kenapa cinta mereka pupus oleh waktu!? Aku tak terlibat teman, tapi aku benci mendengarnya, aku sakit mendengarnya… begitu gampangkah seseorang pergi… meninggalkan luka yang dalam bagi mereka yang ditinggalkan, kenapa waktu selalu mengalahkan cinta mereka…

Waktu,

Seorang teman pernah bertanya padaku jika aku diberi kesempatan untuk memasuki lorong waktu, kemanakah aku akan pergi… aku tidak bisa menjawab, karena setiap kejadian yang pernah kusesali, toh sekarang benar-benar jadi pelajaran untukku..

Tapi sekarang kalau aku boleh kembali, kumohon, sekali saja, …. Biarkan aku mendorong motornya lebih jauh lagi, kumohon jalan itu lebih panjang dari yang pernah ada, karena itu akan jadi kenangan terindah bagiku. Karena peluhpun tak kupedulikan lagi saat itu, karena senyumnya selalu menghangatkan hatiku yang terus berharap. Karena hanya ia yang tahu harapanku akan cinta itu. Jika aku boleh kembali ke waktu itu, biar kan kami berjalan disana lebih lama lagi, berbagi cerita sekali lagi… karena sekarang aku sangat merindukan senyumnya, merindukan pelukannya, merindukan setiap petanyaannya? Merindukan tatapannya…

Teman tahukah kamu, tak pernah kusesali setiap kejadian yang terjadi denganmu. Saat diary itu kubuka, namamu ada di hampir tiap lembarnya. Bukan aku tak menghargai permata yang kumiliki sekarang. Permata-permata itu indah. Aku punya banyak sekarang, walaupun ada beberapa yang kini tlah pergi, namun teman, permata-permata itu pergi dengan cara yang aku tak pernah pikirkan. Teman, tahukah kau, saat langit malam kupandangi, dan disana aku melihatmu, tapi tak pernah kusanggup tersenyum lagi. Bintangku, teman terindah dalam hidupku. Kau ajarkan aku tuk menunggu, selama apapun itu. Dan aku akan selalu tahu itu. Tapi tak pernah aku sanggup melihat mereka pergi dengan begitu mudahnya.

Teman, waktukah yang memisahkan kita? Sakitkah yang menyatukan kita. Saat aku menangis sesegukan seorang diri selalu kuingat saat kita harus membolos dari kelas untuk menangis berjam-jam di mushala itu. Teman,… andai malam itu aku tidak pulang, aku mungkin bisa memelukmu lagi. Permata paling indah dalam hatiku. Bahkan di mimpikupun kau hanya datang sekali….
Teman… maaf karena ternyata sampai sekarang pun, waktu tak menyembuhkanku….. teman, apakah kau nyaman disana!? Bisakah kuwujudkan mimpi-mimpi itu… akankah alfa-alfa itu hadir dalam hidupku wahai bintang…

February 14, 2010… (For the brightest star… I hope you read this )

Kecil itu indah (Repost from Facebook)

Seorang ibu mengatakan bahwa masa kecilnya tak seindah anaknya yg bisa belajar segalanya dengan mudah. Ada banyak buku untuk anak-anak yang bagus. Ada tempat-tempat bimbingan belajar mulai dari yang paling murah sampai yang paling mahal dengan berbagai fasilitas yang memadai. Ada pilihan untuk datang atau didatangi untuk “belajar”… dengan senyum aku membenarkan. Namun hatiku tidak membenarkan semua yang beliau katakan….


Bagiku menjadi anak kecil haruslah benar-benar menjadi anak kecil. Bukannya buru-buru menjadi dewasa, karena percaya atau tidak, menjadi dewasa lebih banyak tidak enaknya. Menjadi anak kecil kau tidak perlu khawatir untuk bermain dengan debu dan becek. Tidak perlu enggan tuk lari dalam guyuran hujan, walaupun ibu berteriak padamu dari kejauhan agar kau berhenti dan segera pulang. Anak kecil haruslah dan memang semestinya mendengar omelan ibunya sebagai pelengkap suara hujan, yang selanjutnya anak kecil menanggapinya dengan tawa dan terus berlari, bermain dengan titik air yang jatuh dari langit. Anak kecil berarti, tak perlu begitu banyak tuntutan, belajar dengan cara sendiri tanpa harus dipaksa. Anak kecil bagiku adalah manusia paling bebas dan bahagia. Karena menjadi anak kecil, bahagia tak membutuhkan banyak hal. Kau hanya membutuhkan sebutir permen atau sepotong kue atau sebuah hadiah sederhana yang kau berikan dengan senyuman. Dan mereka hanya perlu yakin bahwa ibu dan ayahnya baik-baik saja dan akan selalu di dekatnya.

Anak kecil adalah manusia yang seharusnya tidak hidup dengan begitu banyak tuntutan, anak kecil adalah manusia yang belajar cukup dengan melihat dan mendengar. Sekali kau mengucapkan kata, maka kata itu akan ada bersamanya sepanjang hidupnya. Sekali ia melihat apa yang kau perbuat, ia akan melakukan hal yang sama sampai ia mengerti bahkan setelah ia melakukannya.

Tak butuh waktu lama jika kau ingin membuat mereka menangis. Walau terkadang kau harus berpikir keras jika ingin mendiamkannya. Tapi tahukah kita, bahwa anak kecil jauh lebih peka dari manusia paling hebat sekalipun. Anak kecil bisa melihat caramu melihatnya, mengartikannya sebagai pertanda kau suka atau tidak. Anak kecil bisa membaca matamu, ketulusanmu akan kasih sayang yang kau berikan pada mereka. Anak kecil mampu melihat jauh kedalam hatimu, bahkan saat kau tak sadari sekalipun. Mereka membaca tanda dimatamu walau mereka tak sanggup menjelaskannya.

Orang Aceh mengistilahkan anak kecil sebagai “malaikat”. Aku percaya itu. Jelas mereka malaikat, karena dengan melihat tawanyapun luruhlah beban pikiranmu. Mereka malaikat karena dengan memeluknya, maka segala lelah pun menguap. Malaikat yang mampu membuatmu tertawa dalam tangis. Usapan tangan mungilnya membuatmu tegar menghadapi semua. Anak kecil itu adalah penghilang duka, jika kau mau percaya.

February 8, 2010 (11.40 pm)
(Dedicated for all “anak alot”…esp, the tenth)


Selasa, 25 Agustus 2020

Orchard House (1)

Do you remember that calm morning you woke up of the birds chirping just from out your back yard. You heard that clanks and almost-like-whisper talks from the kitchen just down the hall. You heard the sweet laughs. You got up, and followed the sounds. You smelled it, the special smell of coffee that you didn't love that time, but somehow you knew, one day you fall hard for. You're there, with the most unexpected group of people you never thought you'd be with before. 

And that's my friend, how your story of Orchard House starts...


Kunanti

Hembus angin di musim berbeda telah kurasai di kulitku. Waktu yang terus berputar, kadang pelan kadang terasa begitu cepat, buatku berharap lebih, dulunya..

Kini.. kutelah lelah berharap. Ku kan tetap menunggu namun harapanku sirna sudah. Dunia ini indah, sangat indah, namun kadang satu sisi dalam diri mengeluh panjang merasa ada yang tak sempurna. Ku telah lama diperdaya mimpi, kutelah lama percaya bahwa sepi ini tak mengapa. Kuterperdaya kemampuanku menghadapi dunia seorang diri. Kutertipu diriku yang terus menerus berkata, tak mengapa begini.. Toh dunia ini begitu indah dan terus berputar..

Namun kini, musim berganti, daun bertukar.. Teman datang dan pergi.. Namun aku merasa masih disini. Sendiri


20/ 05/ 2018

Rabu, 05 Agustus 2020

Fireworks through the windows

I walked down the street once I got out of the bus. A little smile and wave goodbye to the bus driver.. "Byee...", she replied me with "Have a good day". "You too..", I said with the widest smile I can give. Life is smooth and slow pacing these days. There are two ways to get to the house; the stairs and the path that is supposed for car. I chosed the second one to check the mail box. Nothing I expected, but there's a short paper saying there would be firework this Saturday night. All residents who have pets nearby was warned to be prepared. That just puts another smile to my face. Fireworks.

I am just chilling at home this Saturday. I wake up in the morning, quite early, but I stayed there on my bed till 11. Eleven!? But who cares? I just want a nice day for myself today.

I just stayed at home. Eating.. chilling.. Owh.. like I have no assignment at all (er) 


(and it never finished)

12/09/2015

Senin, 20 Juli 2020

One fine afternoon on the Boundary Street

It was just my new casual Saturday. I had lived in this city of Brisbane for two months at that time. I just felt settled with the life there, the academic, social,  work life, and everything in between.
The third week I was there, I was recruited to teach Indonesian children to read Quran in a community mosque in West End. After the class, it was around 13.00, my friend and I decided to have a visit to weekly farmer's market. Then, we took a walk to reach the site. It was just another busy Saturday noon in West End when suddenly a door of a hotel opened just right before us. A middle-age guy went out of the building, lighted his lighter on, and put it right in front of me. I could feel the fire at that time. As the shock was not enough, he slurred while smiling "I feel like burning your f***ing scarf!". I was stunned, frozen on the place where I stood. I looked around for help forgetting that I had my friend by my side. There was another guy leaning on the wall near by. I looked into his eyes, not saying anything. I was about to say something when he said, "Oh yeah.. terrorist!". I felt weak right at the moment, but my instinct said "Go.. run! you should save yourself!". Still I forgot I had my friend by my side. I remember I tried to smile when that first man threatened me. But I could not help it when the second guy added the offensive words.  Right on the traffic light, I stood there and went numb. There was a young teenager who was there right after me, looking at me. I didn't know if he saw it or not, but he smiled at me, and he pushed the crossing button for me. My friend was there now, I ca't clearly remember. She was there with me and asked whether I was okay. I wasn't. We crossed the road and kept walking, pretending that nothing happened.

We stopped by the Coles, had some shopping, hoping that I would forget what just happened. I kept silence. We finished the shopping and when back home, and that silence broke. I started crying now in the bus. I couldn't stop. I cried so hard, I believed some old ladies offered to help, but my friend handled it gracefully, she is indeed a graceful lady, my precious friend. We took ferry to cross the river, and the walk home that day felt so much longer than usual. Just when I arrived home, I cried on and off. There were times when I screamed my heart out on to the pillow. The only think I thought was, no way, I would run home to Indonesia. I would never stay any longer here. I was not accepted here.

That night, the news spread among the Indonesian community, and somehow reached one of the police officers who suggested me and my friend to file a report about this incident the next day. I was so terrified. What? Police? No way. But everyone somehow convinced us to report. Then the next morning, we did it.

Days passed, and I still felt traumatized. One day, two police officers arrived in our unit. One of them was a woman with hijab too. It gave me a lot of comfort, to be honest. I still remember, I kept the music on a bit loud, not too loud thou, just to distract myself from all the terrifying feeling of being rejected. But I must admit, the police department worked really well that they kept checking on me.

Four weeks after that incident, I got a call from the police department. A woman on the other side of the line sound so in rage but relieved at the same time. She said that they finally succeed in tracing the CCTV footage and they were trying hard to seize the guy. Three days after that, the guy was captured, and I got another call. That was the last call, and I refused to attend the trial. I don't know what it's called, but I told them they could handle the case now. I was a coward for being scared to attend the court and I was afraid to see him again. I was thinking, "I will stay here for 20 more months. No way I had that courage to show my face to him!". I thought the police was not happy about it, but that was my decision.

I remember that I kept the story for myself and not telling anyone home but my cousin. She couldn't keep the secret herself. My mother called me after the incident. We cried. I remember feeling so bad and disrespected. It's not new feeling, but in Australia, I had no family. I mean I had a lot of supporting friends, but that's different. The trial done and the news was spread among Indonesian community in Brisbane. Here are some of them.

Man who threatened to burn hijab
https://au.news.yahoo.com/man-fined-for-muslim-headscarf-fire-threat-25357900.html

A couple months after it, I checked my spam inbox on Facebook, and saw that someone from local TV tried to reach me. Hehehe.. Sorry mam, I just didn't know you texted.

This incident has clearly taught me a lot. It seems like I was trained on how to treat minority in your community, how to really carefully watch your words and actions. To this day, I am still learning it. Tolerance is not the word I want to use really. Compassion seems too much. Respect is what I think appropriate. I should learn how to respect others for whoever and whatever they are. And more importantly I should learn how to forgive. I was damaged because of that, but I should forgive to let go and feel peace.

And a couple of months ago before deactivating my Facebook account, I found his account. I finally learned that he was an artist too. He paints. Isn't weird how the world works? And I couldn't stop thinking about what happened to Voldemort and Harry Potter. Voldermort didn't realize it when he attacked Harry, some of his power was transferred due to the attack. I was somehow, starting painting in 2017. Hey Mr. Dominic! I paint too now!! Hahahahah

Selasa, 25 Juni 2019

2017 is one hell of a year

I am not gonna complain or ignore that is so much more to life in this 2017 than grief, loss, and death. But let's face it. It's been too much this year.

Now that I'm sitting here all by myself full of questions, scared minds, uncertain thoughts, and sadness.. Real hurt sadness. My father is laying on the sick bed inside. Being unconcious for more than 3 days now. Regret.. That's the first thing comes in my mind if something worse happens to him. I question my existance and promises I made in the past. Why am I here on the first place? Why am I not there..
_________________________________________________________________________________

Written 6 days before he left forever...

And that I check this draft again, I feel grateful while another part of me still can't let go that feeling of grief, that feeling lost. I have faced a lot last year, learned a lot, made big decisions that now have taken me places (not literally).

I have revealed great things,
_________________________________________________________________________________

I check those two writings again. Now is October 24, 2018, and next month on the eleventh, he will be gone for a year.

They say that there are five stages of lost; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I've been at stage 4 and I think I am finally in peace now, but I do remember how scattered my feelings and life were.
I wasn't on his side when he breathed out his last. I was home and was about to visit him again. My world was turning upside down. Everything seemed to go wrong. Everything seemed to go against me. I didn't like the idea of people gathering around just to remind me more and more that "Yes, he's gone now! Accept it and live your life"

I was in a fight, cold war with some members of my family in the first two weeks after he's gone. It's like I didn't have anyone to hold on to. I lost the trust of myself. I lost trust in everyone. My anger was so massive that it hurts everyone around me and me even more.

Then comes a big decision I had to make to stay alive. I had to keep moving on. The end of 2017 is turning over for me. I decided to quit working from a place that pretty much makes me who I am today. I moved to a new place to work in my undergrad University.

Thus, the upside downs of the life of 2017 have changed and taught me a lot.

1. Don't put your expectation high on people. People are nice, but most of the time, people are disappointing.

Don't get me wrong. I love people and I am the kind of person who believes that everyone was born an angel. Circumstances and the way we react are what change and transform us. But people have their own interest and goals too in life, and when it's conflicting with your needs, of course, people will put theirs first. It's called common sense. So, repeat after me.
"I will not rely on people when it comes to my own happiness"

2. Nothing stays forever...
People you love will die
Money is gone wasted
Trust will be betrayed
People will forget you
Your time will be limited
You will be sick
The crowd will be changed with the painful silence
There will be time when music will no longer relaxing
Your degrees will be useless
The things you've learned and you've known will be outdated

Then what?
Stand your ground! Chin up and face this life with confidence. Nobody says that everything will be smooth. It is not! You will face regrets. You will feel hurt and disappointment. At your worst time, you will want to die or run, to say the least. Nobody can guarantee that you will be forever and ever, happy. No! It's a cotton candy fact. No one lives like that. Everyone has problems, and you are not special, nor with your privileges or your drawbacks. So, move on!

3. Don't hold on your grudge
Forgive but never forget. there is a famous say "The stupid neither forgive nor forget. The naive forgive and forget. The wise forgive but not forget". Living among people will allow you to have different circumstances. You can't control them, but you can always control how you react towards them. People will always and always have reasons for whatever they do and say. Don't argue with it. If it hurts you, then forgive it, but never forget it. Let it go. Not for them, but for the sake of your own mental health. You don't wanna be self-absorbed and self-centered. When people being grumpy, it's not always about you. Maybe they have bad days and it has nothing to do with you. The world doesn't revolve around you. LIVE ON! LET GO!
You can always learn from them. Remember the pain, embrace the feelings, so that you don't repeat their mistakes on others.

Those are three big lessons I learn in that year. I wrote it not because I did it. It's because I fail in it. I expect too much from people. Once I get something,m I will think that it's forever for me. I don't like unnecessary change in everything. I don't like sudden changes. I hold on grudge and it was hard for me to forgive anything and anyone. I was shattered. I was torn in pieces. I turn bitter toward things and people.

This piece of writing is finally finished today (June 26, 2019). It's fascinating how  I still can remember what I faced in 2017. Bye 2017, it's 2019 and now I am stronger.