"Selama kamu di sini, carilah kebahagiaanmu melalui hal-hal kecil. Really, it helps you survive."
demikian kira-kira kata Ka Gabriel Charlotte. I know we're both thinking about how cool her name is. Waktu itu aku ada tugas wawancara, dan what a great fortunate to meet Ka Gaby in the Psiko's library. Sitting on the corner, not knowing why she chose such a rural place a pretty girl should not belong in. Headsets were put on her ears. To me, both the corner she chose, her decision to put on headsets, and a book on her palms showed much how introverted she was. But seconds we started talking, selengean was my first impression about her. Like, really, she was a senior three years above me which means this is her last year, or we both hoped so, and she sat in front of me in jigang position (can't find proper English for that) the whole conversation. You wouldn't possibly expect that gesture from an apparently graceful beautiful woman, wouldn't you? But, yeah, don't judge a book by its cover, right? Because in the end of the day, another fortunate sadness came to me as I knew she is currently the president of EDS in this university and at that time I was an upcoming member of that institution and she said "Lucky you to meet me first, kalau gitu nanti lo interviewnya sama gue aja.". Guys.....I know I was wrong with that what-you've-been-up-to question. Again, don't judge a book by its cover, my son.
So, back on the big quote I put on top. Those words had successfully got me captivated in some mysterious ways. Like, really, I contemplated on my way home about what things can actually make me happy...here. I could utter from one to one thousand things that make me happy there, but not here. Just not yet. Then, I thought that I started to rethink replay and recall everything since the day I got here. Things that tickled me, things that saddened me, things I sunk into, things I would love to spend time all day. And after a long time of thinking, here are those little things..
F I F T E E N RU L E S O F H A P P I N E S S
- A 10 minute morning walk to a bus stop in Fakultas Teknik (and yeah, I live near FT instead of FPsi).
- Spending time reading on a shady bench while waiting for the bus.
- Enjoying the landscape view from my bus' window.
- Listening to John Mayer or Imagine Dragons along the road, be it walking or when riding a bus.
- Having sholat in Masjid Ukuwah Islamiyah (often misspelled by Masjid UI) at peace. It has to be so literally lonely that it feels like I'm just a speck of dust between the galaxy so please see meeee...
- Buying tempe mendoan in Masjid UI's cafetaria.
- Another time spent reading in Taman Melingkar at the Central Library. The place will mostly look like this.
- Getting lost at Books and Beyond (found an exact pict. yayness!)
- Sunset at the edge of the lake.
- A night walk to Margonda Raya.
- Taking a night train. (photo taken couple days ago after I was about to get struck by one of 'em haha. That 'so close' moment....phew)
- Pondok Cina's parking lot. Somehow the scene fascinates me (the picture really represents my point of view). Some of you may ask why would I go to a parking lot of a train station. Well, to get to Detos (search it urself) you have to walk through the parking lot first. Yesh, walk. All hail pedestrians. Go green. Hidup mahasiswa.
- Indomie rebus. I know I shouldn't.
- The place I live in, my lovely kosan.
- And finally, them.
Well, I think that's all for now. I know that this post should be kept updated because thingssss ahead are waiting for me. I'm yet to explore all of them and will likely love some of them. I would love to abruptly put them on 16th to countless. I haven't even tried sepeda kuning yet, and somehow I believe I'll love it the first time I try haha.
You know that when you move into somewhere new, moreover somewhere you've never been in before, you'll get some kind of awkwardness. Whether it's dealing with the environment or merely with yourself. You'll get bored, you'll miss home, you'll be blue, but that's just the perks of being a wanderer. Those fears are just fogs blocking your sight of breaking the future's secrecy. Because when it comes to the reason why are you here in the first place, it gathers back all the guts and joys inside of you. It renounces again that you matter, your wars of life--they were all worth it.
So I suggest you to also find your little happiness wherever you belong right now. Whenever you feel like there's nothing to be happy about, go get yourself a little walk and see things from a differently brand new perspective. You will find that there's abundance of things to be grateful of; be it a person, a place, a thing, or just simply a thought. I believe that even in our daily routine, we find blessings, we earn something we enjoy doing everyday and not even complaining for it. Hey, I used to give up sports--physical workout thing, and for God's sake I ride motorcycles even just to buy eggs to a neighbor. Now that I walk everywhere, I'm very used to it and I've found blessing of getting healthier than I've ever been before. See? Happiness is everywhere, even on things you don't expect. So if you're not happy....you're just not yet. You will.
