Birthday

What could possibly be the most precious thing that God offers to human? Watching and hearing some news about the births and the deaths lately have brought me to a conclusion: that it is a life. And revised, it is not an offer, but a gift. God doesn’t negotiate, He decides whether a soul lives or dies. He gives a life and at once, He also takes a life. Yin and Yang. A balance that only by Him can be done.
Once in a year, we commemorate the day when God brought us to this world, we celebrate our birthdays. Cultures have created all those symbols and rituals linked to a celebration of everyone’s birthday through greetings, parties, wishes, presents, etc. I humbly believe that it is all to express how blissful we are to be allowed to have and given a life—manifested through the ages—until the present. But, is this what we really feel about those festivities? Do we really think about the greater gift above the party, the sincere and lovely greetings, the presents, the gifts, the surprise from loved ones, that is a life? Do we? Do I?
I have never had a day on my birthday when no one sent me not even one birthday greeting along with the wishes, and I couldn’t imagine having a day like this. Would I still feel blessed? Could I thoroughly live that day without misery? I suppose everybody wants other people to remember about him or her in life, which is simply shown by greeting them on this special day. But then again, what is the main purpose of the entire rejoicing moment?
It happens that I answer this primary question by myself. Well, the idea that occurs in my mind is to cherish the fact that I am still alive and people remember that I am. It triggers another thinking to pop up: why am I still alive? Necessarily, there is a reason for it. And that is the puzzle I have to work on; that everybody has to work on. Behind the ordinaries and common lives people are living in, I am so sure that every living soul in this universe has a mission to accomplish. And bringing it into life might be a way to celebrate our existence and our presence among others. Even so, it is the soul itself who chooses whether to go search for it, or bury it within for comfort’s sake.
So, this is birthday. The older I get, the wider I see, the more I ask, the lower I fall, the higher I jump, and the deeper I ponder, the universe leads me further to decode and making me to be more precise about the purpose of being alive as a person. Birthday is a monument of our aging-self wandering for signs and quests every year, without we even knowing it. And turns out, the generous people around me—who kindly care to spare their minute just to greet me—give their own contributions in an unintentional way, in terms of figuring myself. Through the greetings and wishes, they help to define me as somebody, which then helps me to reflect on my existence. Hence, I thank you all. Because there is no greater gift than to know that you are somebody's child, sibling, lover, partner, best friend; that you are someone to somebody. 


***


Makassar, 131213

These are some bday greetings from my husband, sister, and friends on Path, yet are just a few from many other lovely greetings sent through other social medias and (the most meaningful) personal messages & calls...



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tentang Sebuah Hubungan

Image
Kata orang, cerita cinta yang pernah dilalui seseorang turut menempa kepribadian orang tersebut dalam rangka menjalani hidup. Kata pengalaman, cerita cinta yang pernah dilalui seseorang membentuk satu persatu watak dan pembelajaran dalam mengambil keputusan atau menetapkan langkah. Ada pula yang bilang bahwa kita sebagai manusia tidak akan pernah belajar tentang bagaimana rasa sakit sesungguhnya dan sulitnya bangkit dari keputusasaan jika belum pernah mengalami patah hati atau sakit hati. Terdengarnya berlebihan, tapi opini macam itu memang pernah saya dengar. Benar atau tidak, sedikit banyak saya pernah mengalami hal serupa dan pengalaman nyatanya memberikan pengetahuan tentang bagaimana menjadi lebih kuat untuk diri sendiri melalui kisah asmara pahit yang menorehkan luka busuk di hati. Tampaknya besar sekali peran kisah asmara yang dialami seseorang terhadap bagaimana ia akan menjalani hidup. Saya pernah berpikir, secara tidak sengaja, lebih tepatnya terinspirasi dari lirik lagu
Read more

[Ulasan Buku] Manuscript Found in Accra

Image
Ia adalah seorang penulis yang mampu menyentuh sisi terdalam manusia, sanubarinya. Bahkan tak sebatas menyentuh, tapi Paulo Coelho juga selalu berhasil membangkitkan kesadaran batin pembaca melalui caranya berkisah soal kehidupan. Setidaknya, seperti itu bagi saya sebagai pembaca karya-karya penulis asal Brazil ini. Manuscript Found in Accra , novel terbarunya di 2013 lalu bagaikan rangkuman sebuah kitab yang berisi filosofi kehidupan manusia; dan memang begitulah nyatanya. Novel ini mengambil sudut pandang seorang narator tanpa nama yang bertemu anak dari seorang arkeolog Inggris, Sir Walter Wilkinson. Pada 1974, Sir Walter menemukan manuskrip yang ditulis dalam Bahasa Arab, Ibrani, dan Latin. Manuskrip ini diketahui berasal dari Accra, sebuah kota di luar teritori resmi Mesir, dan ditulis pada 1307 AD. Anak Sir Walter mengirimkan salinannya kepada sang narator yang kemudian menulis ulang manuskrip tadi ke dalam versi Bahasa Inggris. Cerita berjalan ke masa lalu, menuju
Read more

Ulasan Musik: London Grammar

Image
Awal mula pertemuan saya dengan grup musik asal Inggris ini memang agak abstrak. Rasanya saya sudah pernah melihat nama band London Grammar di salah satu situs berita musik indie luar. Sepertinya itu beberapa bulan lalu. Sore ini, ketika saya baru duduk manis di depan laptop  dan memasuki laman jejaring sosial musik ternama berlogo warna jeruk itu, single baru trio ini muncul di halaman utama. Baru mendengarkan bagian intro-nya saja, saya sudah yakin akan menyukainya. Benar saja, lagu Strong milik London Grammar pun tidak henti saya putar. Ki-Ka: Dot Major, Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman Grup musik beranggotakan Hannah Reid (vokalis), Dan Rothman (gitaris), dan Dot Major (instrumentalis) mencuri perhatian para  blogger musik   saat single "Hey Now" dirilis pada laman SoundCloud band tersebut, akhir 2012 lalu. Media musik indie berbasis di Chicago, Pitchfork  mengatakan single tersebut indah ( exquisite ) dan disusul juga dengan ulasan yang tetap menimbulkan kesan baik untu
Read more