We Are Who We Are

It's always past midnight when I begin to re-arrange my thoughts. This time, it's about Indonesia. My country.

I was browsing instsgram account for several home & living ideas. Some account showing Jepara furniture, where one of the best wood carving can be found. Of course I am curious, so I looked it up. I am very much surprised seeing none of the traditional wood carved furniture exist! Instead, some rustic victorian & scandinavian designs are everywhere! Where did it all came from?

That's where I could say, reality bites. I adore the traditional wood carving patterns, knowing its complexity and precission. And I also understand in order to grow the business, they need to be adaptive with consumer demands. However, I didn't realize it took this much of space, leaving the tradition with only a little.

I hope those carpenter knew how prescious their skills are. How it will be a billion dollar business in this pretty much mass production, machine manufactured world. But most of all, I really hope they could nurture it because it is who we are, where we came from. Our heritage. Legacy. It is far from easy, but I am sure we'd regret it if the next generation would knew nothing about Jepara's wood carving arts and or furniture.

To whom it may concern, let's do something. It could be by purchasing, using, or even writing. They are losing their popularity..

twenty.twelve.

I used to have nothing to say about New Year other than big hopes. Last year, I put on a big hope, big dreams, made a rough timeline. I pin point love, life, and career. See what happens afterwards..

Love – After a steady start in 2011, it turns upside down in 2012. And it ended. I could have a drilled down list of my disappointment, but I do realized that I’m far from perfect. Ditching the list, all I can say is that I’m not sure where we’re going from this point. Was he going to be the best partner? Or –as Vanya once said- ‘the least tolerable’ weaknesses? After a year relationship, I still can’t answer those questions. I learn a lot, and quite surprise that I’m doing very fine. I thought I’d be healing up slowly but the fact is, days passed and all is well. We still have a good relationship for I don’t know how long. Since it ended, love no longer in my priority. 

Career – With promising career at the beginning, in Q2 all the hopes are gone. The plan that was earlier made to join the international work force was failed to come true, as the government’s legal don’t grant me a working permit. Then I spent the rest of the year worrying about my career. Where would I go? What other options I that have? Up until October, where the big choice has to be made. Stay in the company and take their offer – which is a new thing, meaning that I will have to learn about it again from the very beginning, at this age. Or, to leave the company with only God knows what will happen next. Which one did I choose? The risky one, of course. A very bold move, or an irrelevant decision? You tell me. I know I should be thankful to God when a month later, I got the job that I always dreamed of. This analyst league, I’m on it now. I could say I got few hands from good friends, which are extended hands of God. I’m reaching the light at the end of the tunnel. A new start, a new beginning, an open wide opportunity to improve myself. Crossing fingers wishing everything turn out to great next year.

Life – Above and beyond, life has always been fantastic. In my troubled times regarding my career, I was forced to face it on my own (and God of course) without any support from my special one (at that time). As for him, his mother passed away. I admit that things are quite messy on both sides. One thing I learned –through the hard way-: being insecure about career -this is very true and you really got to trust me-, it feels worse than being insecure about your relationship. On the other hand, I met new friends. These girls brighten up my life. We’re just a bunch of professionals from different industries who are not into office politics, and tired of dramas. So when you said ‘Sex and the City’ is just a fiction, we resemble the mediocre reality of the series with Coffeewar (a local coffee shop) instead of fancy restaurants, cigs instead of gyms. My neighborhood friends find their own problems in their neck, so we didn’t see each other as much but still manage to communicate. So although most aren’t as planned in 2012, I could say it’s all within tolerance level. Oh! I did skipped Sting’s concert this year, which adds up to my ‘lifetime regret for not going to these concerts’ list. Ugh.    

concrete . jungle

Concrete and jungle do not mix.

Me: concrete.

You: jungle

This is our reconciliation.

Concrete. Typical big city kind of person, ‘plays around’ in buildings - malls. Care nothing about the nature. Let alone hiking or camping, tracking was never been in mind. Living a life as it is, rigid. Adventure?  Hahaha well.. let’s just say the word is widely defined.

Supermarkets instead of traditional markets. Mini markets instead of ‘warung’. Restaurants instead of sideways food stalls. Coke instead of lemonade. Brands instead of function. Clubs instead of coffee shops.  Cinemas instead of local plays. Cars instead of public transportations.

Jungle.  Free, no strings. The sky is the limit. Loving the nature, and most of activities related to it. Hiking, tracking, mountain climbing, swimming in the pond, it’s the air that you breathe. Life is an adventure.  

The sun, the moon, and the stars instead of light bulbs. Ponds instead of swimming pool. The nature is your gym.

Concrete and jungle do not mix. And you have no idea about me.

Hendy.

Besar. Tinggi. Ga banyak omong. Gahar. Ga banyak lah yang mau macem-macem sama dia. bekingan-nya juga nggak maen-maen. Bisa bikin anak orang babak belur tanpa bekas dengan bersih. Seneng nongkrong, walau yaa gitulah..ga jauh2 dari si al dan si jey. Shadesh ya? He's not the kinda guy you wanna mess with. Trust me.
 
Tapi... on the other side, dia sama aja seperti anak-anak kebanyakan. Kerja keras buat menghidupi keluarganya. Tanggung jawab banget sama kerjaan. As in, dia ga pernah ninggalin anak buahnya tanpa bimbingan, sendirian. Walaupun dia ga bareng anak buahnya, semuanya bisa menghubungi dia kapan aja urusan kerjaan. Ngurus ijin ina ini anu ke instansi pemerintah pun dia jabanin sendiri. Kadang ngedumel juga, tapi ga banyak.

Kalo buat urusan keluarga, well...laki-laki. Punya isu juga lah ya, punya masalah rumah tangga. Yang ini setelah nikah dia ga banyak share, dan memang bukan kapasitas gue juga sih ya buat tau banyak. Despite apapun masalah yang dia hadapin, dia bertanggung jawab penuh sama keluarganya. Dia penuhi kebutuhan keluarganya. Dia selalu ada buat anaknya. Tegas sebagai kepala keluarga. Dia.. laki-laki. Pengalaman pait tentang ayahnya ngebuat dia 100% ga mau keluarganya ngerasain apa yang dulu dia rasain. Hidup emang harus bekerja, harus berjuang.

Gue belajar banyak dari dia. Life's not a fairytale. Harus kerja, harus berjuang. Kenikmatan-kenikmatan itu hanya 'bonus'. Do the best you can, totalitas dalam segala hal. Bekerja, berusaha, ..dalam.. hidup. Masalah akan selalu ada, dimanapun, kapanpun. Acapkali not in the right moment. But see, that's life. It ain't perfect, but that's the beauty of it. Do the best you can, remember God, treat women well.

Yes ndut, you taught me more that you realized... thanks buds... :)

friends.

I haven't had a lot to say about my friends. Few are mentioned, but there's actually more. So for some reasons, I decided that I will share some of my friends. Letting you guys to get to know them better. Up close and personal. I am grateful to have them around, because no matter how tough life have become, they're just rather. In and out, above and beyond. At that time, you could say..

"well, it's bearable..breaking down once in a while is fine..but it's bearable.." 

so, enjoy getting to know these wonderful people. I know you will, coz I do.. I always do.. :)

so this is it..

it's not easy, but if it's meant to be, we'll find our way back. In the mean time, let's just leave it as good as it is.

As much as we could blame each other, I prefer to keep it as 'lessons learned'

hey you..

i miss our long convo..hey you..