Between the Best and the Things We Want

Sally wanted a new pair of gladiator sandals, which was the hottest fashion item all over the world. All of her best friends own at least one pair of it, so she felt obligated to purchase one. She came home from buying it at the mall this evening, put it together with her mini skirt, only to find out then that the sandals and her legs were not meant for each other. It was the most awful view she had ever captured in the mirror.

We might all have been in Sally’s situation for several times. We might have fancied hundreds of cute items and ended up buying it because it felt right at that time. And those things ended up being the most expensive useless things in our closets.

It was a tough call, though–realizing that the things that have been in our minds and dreams day-and-night turned out to be a huge clash being put together with ourselves. Demands often blind us for seeing the truth that bright-colored clothes were made to add volume, the guy we flirted with at the hallway was a pot-smoker, the gentleman we broke up with last week was a one-in-a-million, our decision to stay as best friends for our exes leaded them to the wrong way, et cetera.

We all search for something best for each of us in everything. We are all perfectionists in our own personal definitions. And it is not wrong at all, but sometimes it does tire us out.

The search for ‘the best’ seems like a long endless road. Everybody owns these ways and it is totally customizable. It’s up to us whether to fill up the ways by trying as much alternatives as we want and end up being distracted and unfocused as well; or to just let the ways clear so we can see the end of the road–the view of perfection itself–and just wait until life finally took us there. The definition of best itself is actually individual, for sure.

For me, demand is emotional and absolutely relative, while need is adamant. People around me might think that I demanded the wrong thing, but they have no idea of what my needs are. And sometimes needs are so personal that there are no words in any dictionaries can show us the right word to put it in a way. Needs are not customizable. Needs are unshakeable. My needs will not change just because it’s now ‘not’ while it was then ‘hot’, or vice versa. My needs are what best for me, and if other people don’t seem like they understand, then I don’t give a damn.

God answers prayers in 3 ways:
He says “Yes,” and give you what you want.
He says “No,” and gives you something better.
He says “Wait,” and gives u the best.

Karma

Being frequently Plurk-ing as a result of being too jobless on holiday turns out to be inspiring. :-)

Karma often put people in paranoia, reminding of payback for something we had done in the past–mostly, something bad. To not name one religion particularly, I personally think the value of karma is one of the important things that keep the world sane. At least, it puts people to think more deeply before taking actions. It facilitates people to become wiser.

Aside from being one of people’s most important consideration before taking actions, in some cases, karma also turns out to be a popular reason for justification nowadays. More people translate ‘Everything happens for a reason’ as ‘This happened because I had done something as bad/good as this before.’

I, myself, am currently in a phase where I am trying to evaluate things to get a clearer vision of my own reflection. Some of the things I should be dare to see–this time, more rationally–are the pages of my past. That includes the things I had done and vice versa–things that people had done to me, too.

Without revealing the details of how hard this thing to overcome, I came with a conclusion that karma is not something I should be afraid to face, at all.

It took a lot of courage and strength to be faced, but it does not take ‘No’ for an answer. Whether you like the visualization of it or not, karma is something you should accept most brave-heartedly.

It goes as simple as this: karma is something you get for doing what you’ve done in the past. Anything you have done in the past–whether you like it or not–helped you to become the person you are. So, in instance, karma helps you to learn more about the answer of 5W+1H of your-present-self.

So, I have found what I was looking for. I have found my clearer reflection by accepting myself as a person who is capable of doing many awful and lovely things at the same time. Karma is good, but something as good as it sometimes come in horrible packaging. But should horrible packagings keep you away from being a better person?

Pagelaran Musik Bernama ITB

Inilah hasil scan dari artikel ini pada Bulletin Seni & Budaya edisi #1 :-)

Berjalan mengitari kampus ITB seharusnya akan memakan waktu tidak sampai setengah jam. Kampus ini tidak terlalu luas, dan lagi keteduhan dan keteraturan jalannya sangat memudahkan pejalan kaki di dalam kampus. Kalau hari sedang hujan, atap gedung-gedung yang berbaris rapi di dalam kampus juga siap melindungi mereka yang sedang dalam perjalanan.

Tapi ketika kita salah memilih waktu untuk memulai perjalanan itu, bersiap-siaplah untuk menunda janji yang mendesak atau malah mengosongkan jadwal saja sekalian. Kenapa? Karena yang akan kita alami berikutnya sungguh menyita waktu.

Memulai perjalanan dari gerbang ITB di Jalan Ganesha maupun gerbang belakang akan sama saja. Bukan cuaca atau udara yang akan menghambat perjalanan, tapi telingamu. Ya, dua daun yang ada di sebelah kiri dan kanan kepalamulah yang akan membuat perjalanan ini menjadi panjang.

Akan sulit memaksa telinga kita untuk tidak terpanggil oleh alunan nada. Alunan gamelan Sunda dan Jawa, talempong, atau pukulan gong akan menyapa di selatan. Sementara di belahan utara kampus, telinga kita akan berinisiatif menikmati gamelan Bali atau hentakan bass drum diiringi distorsi gitar. Tunggu dulu! Jangan langsung mengambil langkah seribu jika nada-nada itu tidak cocok dengan seleramu. Susuri dulu Sunken Court sampai ke ujung selatannya, musik Jepang, musik dinamis dari Sumatra Utara, bahkan lagu rohani, akan semakin memaksa telingamu mengambil alih komando tubuhmu.

Jika sudah dapat menguasai diri kembali untuk melanjutkan perjalanan, lanjutkanlah perjalananmu. Tapi siapkan telingamu, karena sebentar lagi mereka akan kembali mendapat sapaan manis.

Ya, suara yel-yel dan nyanyian mereka yang berjalan berbaris di sekitar kampus itu memang juga menarik untuk didengarkan dan membakar semangat. Berhenti sebentar untuk kemudian turut merasa gagah bersama mereka tidak salah samasekali. Tapi jangan pernah berpikir untuk ikut masuk ke dalam barisan mereka kecuali kamu siap menyudahi perjalanan menjadi turis ini.

Ketika suara mereka sudah mengecil di kejauhan, coba dengarkan suara lain yang tak jauh di sana. Ada tiupan terompet dan teman-temannya, pukulan bersemangat cymbal dan aneka musik pukul yang terkomposisi rapi. Mustahil jika kamu melewatkan musik menarik ini. Irama yang ditawarkannya akan mengingatkanmu pada semangat patriotisme upacara bendera di Istana Negara.

Sadar atau tidak, kampus ITB secara alami adalah mega panggung yang sulit ditandingi kemegahannya oleh konser musik apapun. Tanpa pencahayaan dahsyat, tanpa harus disutradarai, musik-musik itu tertata rapi dengan sendirinya.

CD kompilasi mana yang bisa menandingi keragamannya? Bukan hanya sekedar genre, bukan lagi membicarakan aliran musik yang semakin lama semakin sulit untuk dihapal namanya satu per satu. Keanekaragaman musik yang terangkum di sini, jika diberi label harga, tentu angka yang tercetak akan jauh melebihi empat puluh lima ribu rupiah.

Pada akhirnya, menyaksikan hal yang luar biasa seperti ini tentu akan membuat kita mengesampingkan selera. Dengarkan semuanya sebagai satu kesatuan. Bayangkan dirimu menjadi August Rush yang menurut orang-orang terlalu dibesarkan. Itu bukan suara satu jenis musik yang sedang berusaha mendominasi musik lain, tapi suara berbagai jenis musik berkolaborasi. Jika kita bisa mendengar mereka berbicara, yang akan kita dengar adalah satu bahasa, bahasa keindahan.

Nah, sekarang coba cek jam tanganmu, sudah berapa lama waktu yang kamu habiskan?

On A Second Thought : Consistency

There are numerous love story, fairy tales, and even movies that tell us to believe and to hold on to our belief even stronger. Believe you’ll finally end up with the one you love, the credit title will then scroll up across you, happily pictured with the one you’ve always dreamed about, kissing. It has often been the predictable pattern and the key is quite simple–despite the whole ‘protagonist’ thing–it is how you maintain to keep loving the one you’ve loved. Anything goes out of that simple pattern leads to nowhere and nothing but tears. And although, of course, we have all been into dull condition that make us think that story will always just be story and nothing more, the storytellers must be trying to tell something through their patterned writes.

For me, the most remarkable thing that they were trying to tell us was about the thing we do after we decided to start–follow-up. That when it all has begun, the next thing you have to do is to keep doing and–more importantly–keep being on track, your track. One word: consistency.

It is the word that we all have to bear in mind while surviving our late work that keep us stay awake when the rest of the house were already resting their sore tired bodies and minds. Once we stop to take ‘a quick rest,’ God knows whether we will get back on our feet to continue working or not. And that small thing might affect a much more huge aspect in our life–or simply our next day.

A mother giving birth to her child is legendary, either for her newborn or for their late-born, either for herself or for her spouse, either for her family or for the doctor and nurses. It is a moment, they say, where ones’ lives could turn upside down–or downside up. It was an exhausting experience between life and death, and the word that is constantly repeated on such battlefield was: “Keep”. “Keep breathing,” “Keep pushing,” or “Keep it up.” Keep. An order to do something repeatedly, constantly–consistently.

Consistency often brings out something good. Even things that is only good for us, and not even okay for others. What do they call the right trick to cover up things we have lied about? Keep the lies. Keep lying. Be consistent.

And of course we have seen many movies met the ‘The End’ more likely not because he heroes were so heroic either that skillful in using guns or swords. The good won because the villain was being inconsistent of doing bad things. Because they just, somehow, suddenly fell into the good side. Was Luke Skywalker a better jedi than Darth Vader? No, he probably is not. The mighty Force ruled back because Darth Vader got touched by his son to leave the Dark Side, therefore he betrayed The Emperor, and there you have the big fall of The Empire.

Beginning is–undoubtedly–hard. But consistency needs more focus and it takes more long-lasting effort. One little crack inside is the only thing we need to destroy the whole hard work. Once it is completed, the next thing we’ll notice is that we have all turned into a much stronger person. The one with undeniably upgraded level of endurance to keep doing the right thing on the right track.

For A Start: Beginning

Beginning, as commonly described, is a phase anyone should accomplish in order to experience something new. It is the first part, a starting point, a thing that should be done to purchase any qualification. For life, which is of course every one of us is doing right now, it should not be unfamiliar. But yet hundreds of dictionaries that are sold out there still state that word in the B section. Does it mean there are people who still can’t describe that word? Are those people even have a life?

 

As for me, I personally think that my life is a long complex chain of various beginning. I’ve tried some different things, which might not be that interesting for you to know any further of the details, but all those things required me to undergo a beginning phase. Take, for instance, when I began doing school. Before I even finished that term, much other beginning came along. Beginning of feeling the nerve of facing exams, beginning of competing against people I know and like in order to be the best at every possible subjects, beginning of cheating, and so on. Isn’t it a great example of the word complex that I put on the first line? It doesn’t take an end to enter a new beginning. And yet, they still think it is necessary to put that word in dictionaries.

 

When I began typing this note, I did muse for a while. I have decided to have an online journal of short essays and write about this subject to begin with for a few days. Last night I even tried to jot some words on my notes just to make this first post a little bit easier. And as weird as it may seem, I couldn’t think of anything when I was facing the blank white screen of TextEdit until I opened the Dictionary application and searched for the word. I couldn’t, even if I was–in fact–on a beginning phase. Could it be the most logical reason why they put the definition of that word in mass-produced dictionaries? Yet, exactly how many people have been writing about ‘beginning’?

 

Well, it is an undeniable fact that it does take a lot of effort to start something. It does. Because in many times, it is not just a beginning, it could also mean that we’ve got to get out of our comfort zone of not doing; and for sure, it wasn’t called comfort for nothing. Yes, we do enjoy the feeling of indulgence. Some of us may even feel it is one of their best talent–being indulged. I once even said that I was best at doing nothing, and at the same time, I began reaching for the power switch of my PC to start surfing the net.

 

It is our most endless homework in life. It is unavoidable. And after all, we did choose to begin living this life and one of many ways to enjoy it is to make the most of it. ‘Enjoy your life to the fullest,’ they say. And yes, making as much beginning as possible to fill our own bucket named life is just one of so much option to do so.