About Love

In July, I heard that B broke up with his girlfriend, whom he was supposed to marry next year. Their relationship had been suspicious in the final years but the fact that they hung on to the last minute diminished all doubts, until the bomb dropped.

In August, a girl friend that hardly calls rang out of the blue.
A: Hey, did you hear about K?
C: What about her?
A: She’s getting divorced
C: Oh, really? No, I didn’t know. Where did you hear this?
A: She told me.
C: Oh, then it must be true.

Last Saturday, a guy friend rang. We were meeting up later that evening because there was a friend in need. The whole crew was going to be there and I had to be there, too. D had a fall out with her boy friend. They were together for 11 years. “Huh? But we just hang out with them a few weeks ago??”

It seems like it’s a season to fall out of love. Like there is a season to get married, a rainy season, a mango season, a pencil skirt season?? Jakarta is slowly resembling other big cities all over the world, where keeping a relationship is apparently harder than finding the person to have it with. Why is it so hard?

Things like infidelity, principal differences, family complications came into mind. But surely you would know about these things before one decides on moving towards tying the knot?

K: Yeah, but I was blinded by love.

Actually, the signs are always there. Often we choose to ignore them because we want to believe in it so much; because we don’t want to be the ones who end up alone; because we don’t have the heart to be honest to ourselves. When it comes to love and relationship, nothing is ever easy and nothing is ever what they seem. At the end of the day, everything is about choice. To choose means taking a risk, committing to it, working on it, and not easily giving up.

Love IS blind…

But it is also patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres… And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV I Cor 13:4-7;13)

On Loving Someone Part.2

Initially it was loneliness, and then it was confirmation, and after that things just spiraled out of control. Consciously. Firmly. A virtual reality that is too good to be true, too beautiful to let go and yet, too magical to be believed.

How do you make sense of a feeling that fills every stream of your blood, rushing past the bones, creating shivers and irregular heartbeats?

What do you say to the people who watched the smile on your face whenever you think of love? Every time you speak in the name of love? When words on the screen suddenly have sounds? And typed in laughter becomes music to your ears?

RAINY DAYS

Jakarta was blessed with heavy rain on the last two days. It was fat droplets of water that fell over your head and drenched you within seconds. I love it when it rains. As long as I'm indoors and I can just watch them fall behind the glass, all warm and comfy.

Most of the times we had to battle the pouring rain in the horrible traffic. It's just the way it is, no matter which part of the world you live in. People drive slowly, carelessly, impatiently, which in turn creates a longer, more unpleasant journey. Lucky for me, the rain on the last two days did not last very long. My drive home was not easy but it was painless enough.

What more can I ask?

MAYBE

The head speaks of forgetting
Don’t make me wait for Godot
Years go by with nothing

Live it before it passes you by

The heart lingers
On the thoughts of maybe
Of what ifs and what could be

Clutching to the slightest of hope
Tomorrow
Someday
…

Cheap Culture

A photography exhibition attracted my interest a few days ago, and last Sunday I visited the National Museum to catch a glimpse of MASA DEPAN SEBUAH MASA LALU. I was walking to the wrong entrance when the parking guy called me to point me to the right direction. As I walked to the entrance I passed another guy selling Woody ice cream on the side. I made a point of getting some later..

I nearly got a shock when I got to the entrance. The entry fee is Rp 750. At the moment, 1 USD = Rp 10200. Yeah, go figure. This entry fee actually allows me to go through everything in the museum, and not just the exhibition. Isn't that crazy? It is sad to know that a Museum that holds important historical and cultural artefacts can charge so low. It is as if the fact that they keep remains of the past makes it stuck in the past, too. On the one hand, a museum entrance fee should not be steep so that everyone can spend some time in the museum and learn about the days of the previous generation but it should at least charge enough to ensure maintenance of the place itself!!

The exhibition was quite interesting. Nancy Lee is worth checking out for. Within an hour, I walked out and bought myself a Woody ice cream lolly that costs Rp 1500, went to my car and drove off. Parking costs me Rp 2000. The total cost of this Sunday cultural experience Rp 4250 -- about 50 US cents. How hard is it to believe?