Tuesday, September 10, 2013

A Thought List

1. Strangers are weird. Most of the time they teach you without talking, that the society is shit and no one seems to be up to fix it. Sometimes they make the best conversations I could ever remember, even without knowing their names. And sometimes they could do the simple things they thought mean nothing, when in fact it touches the very soul of someone who's never seen it done with such voluntary notions. Some of them have the power to make you think, and the power to remind you that no matter how ugly the real world is, there is still some kindness and some faith worth investing in people. Well, some people, maybe. I'm not saying we're allowed to be naive, no. I'm saying that it's okay to let our guards down sometimes. It's okay to let people talk to you and trust them a little bit; a trust that they won't rob you and left you somewhere in the highway. Because life without trust is so uncomfortable, you know? Life without trust keeps you in constant worry, never-ending restlessness and a mind filled with so many "what if?" "why?" "how?" and other questions you shouldn't punish yourself with. After all, there wouldn't be a Before Sunrise trilogy if Richard Linklater hadn't talked to a mesmerizing stranger on his way to Philadelphia some decades ago. 

2. We need to stop playing God. Seriously. I mean, the only way it's okay for us to play God is by writing fiction; that way we can do whatever we want with it. Literally whatever. Seriously, stop playing God. God doesn't play mortals either. He could if He wanted to, but can you imagine what would happen if He does?

3. I can never be with someone who doesn't like The Beatles. There, I've even settled for like. I refuse to admit that I know someone who doesn't even know who John Lennon is, or what he looked like. 

4. Jodoh has an expiration date. I'm not talking in the context of soul mate, because who even has the right to talk about it, really? Do we have the right to talk about what we will never know until we take our last breath in this world? But I'm talking about the jodoh terminology Indonesian people use to say to people or thing that are "meant to be". I don't know if you'd understand, but they do. You know, how you get to know people, become friends or lovers with them, and so on? It's because you're meant to be. And when things end, it's not because you weren't meant to be; it's merely because you've come to the expiration date that's always there. I don't know if it's because your star crossed with them but then they keep revolving in a different harmony with you, because for me, the simplest explanation would be an expiration date. Heck, even the old couples who've been together for 70 years have it too. It's just different for everybody. When things fail, instead of saying how you're not meant to be, our definition of it should be rendered into, "Ya memang cuma segini aja jodohnya." 

5. Why point #4? Because God never made a mistake. When He sent someone to come into our lives, He'd know what they'd become to us. A blessing, or a lesson. Sometimes a blessing, then a lesson. But thankfully, it's usually the other way around.

6. I've been mentioning God in this post is not because I just recently found God and become religious etc. I don't really have an answer to this, because I was never necessarily religious in any context. I usually claim myself as being spiritual, while at the same time always coming back to the same religion. One thing I know for sure is that it's always nice to have God. Just like trust and faith aforementioned in point #1, knowing that there is God would make life seems to be more comfortable. And easier.

7. Don't wear your heart on your sleeves. I used to encourage some people to do it, and now they do it in the most annoying way possible. What's too much is never good. Even too much love is gonna kill you. Alright, do it. Wear your heart on your sleeves. But always remember to leave something for you. Don't let people know everything. Only very few people really care. Others are just curious. True story.

8. Feminism is an -ism that even most women don't want to believe in. It used to be a heroic movement for women because it's a man's man's world after all. But feminism is now more like a doctrine men made to make fun of the women and make women hate themselves. I'm not a feminist. I believe in a lot of women's rights and women emancipation and blah blah, but women have to admit that they don't always demand gender equality. Because it's always nice to, once in a while, be treated the way women should be treated. Dare any lady say no about this?

9. Not knowing is always a gift. And bravery is always a rewarding act. 

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