Pemulung ceria

Guru memang bisa datang dari segala penjuru dalam berbagai bentuk. Salah satu guru saya hari ini hadir di pagi hari ketika saya sedang berjalan keliling sekitar rumah.

Hampir setiap hari, saya menyempatkan diri untuk berjalan di sekitar rumah. Hampir setiap kali saya menjalani rute saya, saya berpapasan dengan ibu setengah baya pemulung yang sedang menarik gerobak sampahnya.

Hampir setiap kali kami bertemu, beliau selalu mendahului saya: Mengucapkan selamat pagi dengan suara mantap, senyum terkembang, wajah ceria, langkah tegap, dan mata ramah. Saya, tak bisa tidak, secara spontan membalas salamnya dengan senyum sama terkembangnya.

Plenty of time, but not more

Time. What an odd thing, if we can call it a thing at all. It gives us a convenient frame of thought. A familiar boundary within which we move with what is acceptable to our mind. We often believe we don’t have enough of it.

That’s true. And at the same time, not really.

How are you?

I don’t ask this to many people
Or any other for that matter
Just so you know
But I do to you

Generosity of my father

Do you sometimes have this uneasy feeling when pondering whether to extend your hand to someone who is in need and come to you for help?

All the what-ifs: What if they are just using us? What if they can’t fulfill their promise to return to whatever they are borrowing? What if they just want to have it easy, and that they can actually do better without having to come to us? What if this become a habit? What if I give too much that I am not saving enough for myself or my own family? The what-ifs that stop us from lending a hand.

Not my father.

What makes you angry?

In our quest to find our calling in life, we are often invited to look at what moves us. What makes us happy? What do we enjoy most doing? What do we love most being? What do we feel at home with? To pay attention to what ticks us – the intense ‘positive’ feelings that may indicate where our passion lies.

As with any other things in life, there is the flip side of such intense feelings. Feelings such as anger, frustration and sadness, are in truth just as intense and can be just as indicative of our passion.

Take anger for instance.

Senja menunggu

Semua rencana hari telah tertata rapi di benakku. Hingga ke menit dan jamnya. Namun, mereka bilang, tak ada rencana sempurna. Demikian dengan hari ini. Kereta kita menuju ke Barat tak kunjung tiba. Resahku tampak, tentunya.

“Tenang saja,” celetukmu santai. “Kita dalam rengkuhan Dewata. Senja akan menunggu kita.”

Kajian: Haji dan Ajaran dalam Kawih Sunda

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A yes would suffice

You have no idea how far I have gone
to prepare this time to be with you
The planner in me went into overdrive

All those things I have prepared for you
turn out to be unused

Pilihan

[Gambar diambil dari sini.]

Saat-saat memilih, membuat keputusan, kiri atau kanan; maju, mundur, ke samping atau di tempat; ya atau tidak; A, B atau C; makan gado-gado atau sop kaki kambing; berjalan pagi atau leyeh-leyeh di tempat tidur; menyapa atau mendiamkan; adalah saat-saat menarik. Karena saat itu memberikan potret bagaimana kita pada detik itu.