This life, Beloved, Needs greenery and friendship To stay beautiful.
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Someone can’t truly live without dreams. Dreams make days clear with focus and full of energy, nights calm with focus and full of serenity.
Simple dreams will do; as simple as doing daily gardening on a small courtyard garden and veggies garden around a house that is hosting simple rendezvous of family and good friends, cooking, teaching free language classes and life skill or tips of management or leadership to those who need, traveling light to places friendly to weaker body, sharing how life is so broad and deep with those who care.
Come true. Come true. Come true. 🐣
Wake up! All is still on paper. Go back to work! 😃
They gild the lily, Making them salt to the sea. Ocean in a drop—
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When I was very young, I could desperately envy those who were physically beautiful, intelligently wise and, spiritually mature at the same time. How could people be blessed with such full readiness to face the complex life and completeness to address its various issues? I’m sure I wasn’t alone; many human beings were on the same boat with me.
Yet getting older has helped me not want anything but more consistently feeling comfortable to be my own self and realising that those perfect people only looked perfect because they were perceived through imperfect eyes (my young ones 😉).
Proofs and revelation then taught me acceptance to live with limitation, imperfection and physical flaws. In many ways I’ve seen blessings in me more than the perfect.
Being ordinary has saved me from getting high demands to be a gorgeous woman who should move gracefully in front of the crowd, a pious person who should perform religion disciplinedly or a wise friend who should give good advices when needed anytime. I’m blessed!
Being ordinary has driven me to live with only two goals: to enjoy being my own self and to do what’s best in life to be as much beneficial in my short life. With not much to choose, life is forced to be the integration between persistence and dedication, a commitment of body, mind and soul.
Fortunately being flawed is like an ocean. Ocean is full of beauty especially the deeper the diver is willing to explore; like Captain Nemo who found beauty in the depth of the sea that wasn’t witnessed by those who never traveled in Nautilus. However, thousands of cubics of any possible wastes are also dumped to the vast water: plastics, oil, waste water, many kinds of garbage and probably millions of memories drawn by broken hearts. A perfect beauty full with paradox!
Rumi reminds through one of his verses “You are not a drop in the ocean; you are the entire ocean in a drop”. A perfection in imperfection—
Truly an existence is perfect when with natural flaws and complete acceptance.
Nothing is more blessed than accepting one’s own self and taking care of one along the journey.
Summary of today’s conversation with my best friend 🐣
May all beings be happy 💝
be perfume, even best eyes can’t see but good nose can smell
Plants greet gardeners, Life shows generosity. Optimism springs.
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Sometimes what she needs is optimising the sight in enjoying spectrums of light reflected through colours around her and rests. Then only a meadow of no feeling…. All can be called whatever it is, she prefers calling it beauty.
She realises rain has brought a lot of happiness to the orchids. It probably contains fertiliser triggering blooms and blossoms. Strong roots, healthy leaves, appearing flower stems, keiki. Thank you.
Nature greets those who’d like to take care of others who also want to survive, even the least of care is repaid.
Salaam….
these what make an amateur gardener stay longer in the shower room – enjoying the beauty of colours and looking down a crowded crossroadpretty!pretty!pretty!pretty!pretty!
Fire melts metal, Taming its hard side of life. A shout to soft heart—
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Hardship in life train two muscles: physical body and mental body.
The harder the exercises, the harder and tougher the physical body is. Punches will only hit hard strong muscle and a hit back can even beat the attacker.
In fact the harder life tests a human being with challenges, the softer one’s heart could be. Soft heart isn’t a sign of weakness, it is kindness or even wisdom. And wisdom is the purest strength.
A Javanese wisdom reflects how a soft heart can build someone’s attitude and behaviour: sugih tanpa bandha, digdaya tanpa aji, ngluruk tanpa bala, menang tanpa ngasorake.
Sugih tanpa bandha: Someone can feel rich without money or property. She can own treasure, wealth, fortune more precious than what money can buy. The true richness is a soft heart that can contain a lot of opportunity to learn lessons and preserve the heritage of life wisdom of being a human. Only soft heart can do that.
Digdaya tanpa aji: Someone can be powerful without physical strength. Only clear mind and soft heart can shape her to a powerful individual through whom solutions and ways out are channeled. Don’t ever worry, Beloved that having a good heart is in vain. At the end it is soft heart who drives good mind and it is also soft heart who invites true appreciation and respect.
Ngluruk tanpa bala: fighting without ally sometimes happens in life. Or always? Yes, when she fights against her own imbalanced judgement or inharmonious thinking, that’s when she doesn’t have ally. She is alone. No one can help her. She needs her own self and her alone. It is soft heart her sole ally to win every battle inside.
Menang tanpa ngasorake: winning without defeating or humiliating others. What do we need but victory? Yet victory isn’t always about winning against others in arguments or race. Victory is at the end about learning what weakness lies beneath a failure to appreciate and respect a relationship of any form: blood ties, friendship, romance, etc. And only soft heart can calm her down from intensity of defeating or humiliating others. The softer her heart, the better others feel about themselves. As a result those who are not feeling belittled will make space; and only soft heart will be given space without second thought.
Unfortunately it is applicable only in relationships without money as the basis. Sad? No. I can apply it happily outside business arena, a space which is broader and deeper than it looks. Step by step…. 💝
Numbers, Beloved, Tell you what life has brought in. Blissful happiness—
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7 or pitu in Javanese is an abbreviation of pitulungan that means help, aid, assistance, support in any form in a situation when a Javanese feels helpless and hopeless.
In life I believe whatever enjoyed whether it’s a tiny achievement or accessibility have always been in 3 forms of pitulungan: from my ally, my enemy or from the invisible.
It’s my ally for sure. They will never let me down because when I lose, they will lose as much as or even worse than I do. We’ll work together to achieve our common goals. My family, my friends, my colleagues.
The enemy? Believe it or not, I’ve won a lot of battles with the help from enemy. Unfortunately they never realise that the harm they caused have been the best fuel for me to boost myself to achieve what they’ve never thought would happen with their bad influence and/or actions. My enemy think their strikes against me will ruin me. Oh never, my dear. You throw me bricks, I build a castle!
And the invisible is a never-ending support I’ve received since I was a baby. I was born difficult my mother said. I got sick when I was a girl. I grew in an environment where popularity was the most appreciated; if you were ordinary (although with high quality of quotients), you would not be appreciated. I grew up humble and naive and knew nothing about (dirty) competition. If I’m not protected by the invisible, I would have lost every battle against opportunists and deceivers.
I’m so lucky to be surrounded by 7, pitu-pitulungan, a number the Javanese sacredly celebrate. And the three layers of 7? Definitely mine!
Thanks, 7. You’re not the 7 sins or evil other people consider. You’re not the 7 of bad luck on crap tables.
You’re a 3-layer 7 sent by the Life to protect me forever.
Ant nest hills up high A place for a colony To devote in life
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Ants are amazing creature. All about them are just amazing! The way they distribute the work. The way they do their jobs. The way they live in a community. The way they treat fellow and leaders (obviously the queens). The way they collect their food. The way they kill their preys, etc, etc just the way ants are.
To survive ants must live in a colony that can be inside trees or underground. In the colony that they respect and protect they devote their life with extraordinary loyalty. Loyal to their queens. Loyal to their fellow ants. Loyal to their responsibility—
Ants might be small but they amazingly are able to carry something of 10 to 50 times their own body weight!
Ants can swim! I can’t understand why my mom would put a bowl of sweet in a plate filled with water; she said ants wouldn’t reach the sweet because they couldn’t cross the water. Ibuuuuu! Ants swim. Maybe better than us 😂
This may sound strange but hear us out. Some species of ant, such as the Polyergus lucidus are known as slave-making ants. They invade neighboring ant colonies, capturing its inhabitants and forcing them to work for them. This process is known as ‘slave raiding’.
Slave-making ants are specialized to parasite a single species or a group of related species which are often close relatives to them. The captured ants will work as if they were in their own colony, while the slave-making workers will only concentrate on replenishing their labor force.
Slave-making ants come in two formats: permanent social parasites and facultative slave-makers. Permanent social parasites rely on the enslaved ants throughout their lives whilst facultative slave-makers do not.
Which ants are you? Regardless, I built an ant nest for all of you 😁
the “ant nest cake” aka “bolu sarang semut” in Bahasa Indonesia is named after its texture that looks like ant nest structure. It tastes heaven! 🥰look at the tunnels and chambers in the ant nest! not bad for a beginner 😁hot brown ring of first “sarang semut” of mineput the wok lid when the bubbles intensifyI found that we can replace oven with a wok! Magic? No! Just a technicality 😁caramelizing the sugar, hot as hell!!!🐣
Moment, Beloved The breeze before falling rain Greets the earth. A joy—
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Moment is when an experience gets clicked with all senses, falls on to the right-chosen meanings, stays for a longer time.
Yet each moment should vanish, fade away, blend into pixels of maturity in someone’s life. It will be forgiven, might be forgotten, must be learnt as life lessons. How delicious this life is for those who are willing to appreciate both shade and light. How beautiful life is as it is composed by millions of pixels of different experiences whose essence is memorable.
The more experience, the better? Yes, only when its essence is memorable. Its essence is memorable only when all senses are capturing the experience and reflecting it through lesson learnt. Or else, it is just motion gone with the tick-tock of a clock— not forgiven, not forgotten, no learnt-lesson.
Walking through the lanes around Masjid Sultan, sitting at the verandah of an old shop lot, reading new old-book from Wardah Books, drinking Turkish coffee, sucking the sweetness of kunefe, breathing the air right before the rain, hearing the warm chats from other tables are all motions which are waiting for the moment to disclose beauty before things end. The taste of life!
Weekend is always much appreciated through slow pace, to balance the fast-paced demanding targets that are relevant for a preparation before the next beneficial life journey.
May all beings be happy.
books before coffee, coffee before sugar, sugar before smilestaken it many many times, still favourite Turkish food of minedear Lamp, is anyone living inside of you?
Alaturka Mediterranean and Turkish Restaurant, gonna be back again (and again) 🥇
a pretty cornereyes everywhere, omnipresent omniscient
Life pace, Beloved Chosen wisdom, loved glory Of everyday life—
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I wish to retire at 52 and will be a person with not too many layers of identity, being a human being living a slower-paced life, contributing to smaller society and community with my own hands with all my heart and soul, respected as I am I am not as I am who is associated to prominent organizations.
One of good friends reminded me to get prepared for that will definitely be a much different life. There won’t be luxurious facilities enjoyed, privilege given, smiles and hand shake or bow. She says it’s gonna be a true life though loved and respected by those with genuine love and respect. No transactional courtesy, all is about friendship and humanity.
When? Still long time to go but short enough because now I live in a fast-paced life.
Time to prepare.
Once retired, I won’t want to be in contact with those who have respected me because of business or money. They should be eliminated from friendship. They will deserve others who have the capacity.
May all beings be happy. 💝
next one week flower arrangementenjoy the momentextended appreciation to those in my heartsomeday flowers will be daily life for me, not weekly anymore
Birthday, Beloved, One step closer to the gate To a rendezvous
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It’s my mother’s 77th birthday and she looked so happy when I called through my little brother’s phone. A happy day for all of us finding that she’s still happy and healthy in this age.
She’s a lady of the house. She’s respected by family and neighbours because of her kindness. She’s cheated though by the greed. She’s loved by her children at the same time official enemy of all of them at certain time. I personally have a shade of rivalry against her, she did envy me how I would be closed with and always got constant support from my father. 😂
My friends want to be like her but I don’t. I don’t want to be like her because her life was too tough. She was born in a period of war, raised mostly without a father and be given a lot of ups and downs in her personal journey. Lucky that she was married to a humble, kind, hard working man and they became one of the best couples in our humble world.
Happy birthday, Ibu. I wish you happiness. 💝 Long happy life! See you at our dining table on your 78th birthday. 😘😘😘😘😘😘
This heart is a pot With seed buried in its dark, Growing to the light.
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Always believe in the beauty of human’s heart. The darkest of it there is still a dot of light that will brighten one’s life! There must be at least one tiny dot of light.
Believe it. Run free like Bambi playing in peaceful woods.
Enjoy this blessed weekend! Take all light, as light as feather
Curtain of water Falls down from the sky. Earth says Thanks for the blessings.
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Rain has come almost everyday making the heart comfy and calm. Rain has always strengthened any kinds of dreams about this life. Rain is always the trigger of productivity.
So, never go away, Rain.
Oops! My laundry, my laundry….!
🤪
these boys’ uniform reminds me of my childhood; in rainy days I would ignore umbrella and just ran home pushing the curtain of water 💝 hey, the boys were on the way to school not home that’s why they needed the “umbrella” 🥰
Green hedge keeps growing. It’s beauty and protection, Keeping bugs away.
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Some boundary should be set. Yes, it should. In certain situation it becomes a must.
When I was young, I used to think friendship ought to be taken for granted. This person’s young eyes were not sharp enough to recognise which was pure gold and which was gold-plated. Manipulation was never known by this mental dictionary. All smiles and good words were the same to me, they meant kindness.
After knowing what gold is, now it is clearer who should play in my garden of life a little bit deeper as real friends, those who can safe-keep more information about this precious journey. My smiles and good heart are free of charge for everyone, but beautiful green hedge with a humble strong gate will select who can enter the gate then the front door then living room then library then dining room then kitchen or finally to my bedroom. Not all are allowed to stay in for too long with privileges. Some couriers of messages or packages can only stay for one minute or two for the delivery then off they should go!
Boundary is not necessarily a fort. Beautiful plants around this home should be clearly understood that permission is required for guests to enter the premises.
I know when people don’t want me in their circle and that’s fine. So, I hope people know that my green hedge is the limit. Stepping on the line means violation and security alarm will go off.
Stop there, dear friends. Fix yourself before fixing others. Your experiences are not needed here. 😸
Dream is more than true. It’s alive in different world. Sail, Dream. Sail to me.
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If you’ve got dreams, never kill them no matter how impossible they look, with one condition: they should be good dreams that don’t harm other creatures. Live with the dreams. Ship them to reality with all whispers and prays.
Dreams are standing in queue, waiting for the door to open up to them.
Just like my biryani!
I don’t mind throwing up biryani today. 😁
Salaam….
ya Allah, enak banget! 😂💝💝pressure cooker is needed for next cooking 😁regret of not including the bone! next time betterI love this one! So fragrant and glazed 🥰boiled basmati rice with some cinnamon bark and Indian bay leaves – I shouldn’t have put the saffron at this stage 🥰a bit too much yoghurt in, next time better 🥰herbs and spices, one was left not taken picture the garan masalabasmati rice
There’s a renewal; Flowery, fruitage, once more. Enlightened each day—
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Life is like farming. A farmer only sows good seeds, waters the plant, weeds the grass in the field or garden, prunes the leaves or does other things simply to farm.
Whether or not flowers and fruit will appear, it is not in the farmer’s hand.
Remember, dear farmer. Do your best. Not because you want flowers and fruits but because that’s what you can and should do as a farmer.
Hey, maybe learning a little more about seasons and seasoning. The first is for you to manage the farm, the other is for you to make your life tastier.
Salaam…. 💝
I’ll take care of you, no matter what. I’m your farmer.
Hello, cool water! Long time no see. Time to play I’ll plunge, you’ll catch me.
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Vast water is my phobia. When “too many mind”, I would imagine big snake or big shark swimming in the pool and cause me stop swimming. People might think I swim for 1.5 to 2 hours but actually only 20 to 30 minutes; the rest would be walking hopping dancing in the water and sitting near the pool. Stupid things are medicine. 😁
Water heals: giving freshness to the body, washing away stiffness and tense, training the mind to be realistic 💝
“Maybe swimming in the morning so that you won’t imagine shark and snake?” said my friends. “No, water doesn’t go well with sun ray; they would burn the skin darker and darker,” said I. 😜
Life is often misunderstood by those with phobia. The only thing is to see things as they are. Some dangers won’t be actually present; they are only an exaggeration by the mind. Shark and snake exist out there where divers are risking their life for fun. Amateur swimmer will only meet dry leaves and sudden heavy rain. Live simply and sweetly like swimming calmly and gracefully….
Hey, hey! Sometimes I think how many people have peed in this pool. 🤮
May all beings be happy.
kick the bad thought and go back to water, lady! 👎🏼🏊🏼♀️
Green is forever On the belt of this round earth. How would I leave it?
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It is green that makes things fresh and refreshing. When I was young, I thought being young was too long a time and I wanted to grow older soon so that I could wear my eldest sister’s beautiful skirts and dresses. Now I’m old, I feel that there was so much I should have done that I’ve missed. If given the chance to get back to that period, I would be this me but with a little more shade of patience and enjoyed everything with no fear. Alas! I thank God though that I don’t have to get back to that period as there were incidents I never want to re-experience at any cost.
Being green being young, I’ll keep it in heart and soul. Let my body weaken, but my inner stays fresh without boredom to spread the vibes like the khatulistiwa which stays green as long as human beings want to breathe fresh air.
May all beings be happy. 💝
corn soup – green lunch, dinner, between lunch and dinner on it one whole day 😜“bubur sumsum pandan ijo” – green brunch, lunch, dinner, snack on it one whole day 🙃
Empty jar with air, Looks empty? I breathe the air, Beloved. Empty?
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Empty isn’t always as it is, depending on which eyes one is using to scrutinise the reality. Reality? Debatable indeed. What is seen isn’t fact yet; it is still a perspective.
So, don’t worry too much about how they perceive others. It’s not a fact, it’s a bunch of perspectives that can change based on where they stand.
Being empty is often needed. Imagine getting constipated for one week. The only thing to dream of will be emptying stomach.
Only, Beloved, Unnecessary limit. Roam. Do celebrate.
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Weekend always opens my eyes to see that life isn’t only about balancing or fulfilling. Life is sometimes about emptying what’s full and making regular things odd, because celebrating is about putting one more milestone where a journey restarts.
September, thank you for giving me many signs which I can and cannot read. The unread is queueing to be deciphered. Wish you give me the answers so I can have more celebrations in life.
May all beings be happy…. 💝
my dream is to cook my own biryani soon, now eating it from the store is a dream-come-true – I didn’t see the need of unpacking it. Hajaaaar! 😄🥰
Beauty, Beloved Hidden, might never be found— Still it is beauty.
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This prince is one of my favourite wayang (literally means shadow, leather puppet show that are watched from behind the geber/screen as shadow). He is one of the bravest, most studious, dignified character in pewayangan (Javanese puppet stories that are mostly centralised on Mahabharata, Ramayana and their modifications). He is unpopular (in wayang stories, Pandhawa and Kurawa are those who are popular), humble and empanpapan (knowing one’s proper position in some given situation— Javanese wisdom)
Ekalaya or Bambang Ekalaya or Palgunadi was a prince (king later) in a small kingdom called Paranggelung (Nishada) under Hastinapura commonwealth. He ruled his kingdom wisely. His life was contented and happy, yet there was one ambition he hadn’t fulfilled yet. He wanted to be one of the best archer in his era.
Ekalaya or Bambang Ekalaya or Palgunadi
While he had the talent and ambition, his status as unpopular prince of a small kingdom hampered him from getting the opportunity to enrol in the most prestigious archery school under management of Pandhita Durna. Pandhita Durna was the highest professor educating Pandhawa and Kurawa children who were the heirs of the most prominent kingdom of the era. He was the patent holder of Danudewa, the highest archery skill in the era.
Bambang Ekalaya who was naturally talented himself had achieved high level of skill, that allegedly could beat the skill of the most skilful and most favourite student of Pandhita Durna, Arjuna or also called Palguna.
Bambang Ekalaya was also known as one human being who wore a divine ring called Mustika Ampal that could amplify his power. This ring was a gift given to Ekalaya’s father who prayed to the Highest Divine wishing that his child could be blessed as a wise king. Pandhita Durna didn’t know that this unpopular prince had this rare powerful gift and thought that only Arjuna was the most talented knight.
Although he was rejected, Bambang Ekalaya didn’t stop training himself for the perfection of archery skill. He made a statue of Pandhita Durna and everyday he religiously gave respect to “him” and rigorously exercised in front of the statue as if Pandhita Durna really had been witnessing his activities.
Bambang Ekalaya was married to a princess who loved him devotedly. Her name was Anggraeni or Dewi Anggraeni.
Anggraeni or Dewi Anggraeni
Anggraeni loved Bambang Ekalaya devotedly. The princess was a humble, courageous woman who would not easily give up to challenge of integrity.
If you love yourself, Fry some eggs, sit on the porch, Think of fried chicken.
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When eating egg, why thinking about chicken? This mind is a monkey— nimble and energetic when awake. It only sleeps, when the holder is dead. I’m still alive so let the mind move freely, with a fence right on an edge of a cliff.
Happy weekend!
🐥🐣
yum yum!beautiful tamagoyaki my version 🙊🙉🙈isn’t it too big?3 to 4
Hunger, Beloved, A good friend. Not starving though— The latter’s killing.
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Hungry is needing and nurturing; starving is craving and suffering. Knowing what is needed becomes significant; be just hungry, not extremely hungry that causes craving for more than the capacity.
…. In another case, love. Don’t demand. Universe know what you deserve. 💝
I’m a happy birthday-clown; ready to kiss the world and kick the other side of it. 👻
Welcome one new cycle. Give me good surprises, the bad are all expired!
Salam….
today’s early dinner, also this year’s celebration – many happy return! was it hunger or starvation? 😛
Beauty, Beloved, Prescribed by culture; differed Through one’s perspective—
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When I was young, I faced difficulty in describing beauty. It was always society’s perspective taken. A question of “why beauty is so rigid” remained preserved.
Getting more mature, I got more freedom to describe what beauty was and found there was wider spectrum of what beauty was.
Now beauty is in everything everywhere as the eyes are not only seeing things through what’s culturally ascribed or prescribed. They have achieved a point that what are unlimitedly created can be freely appreciated. And, so is beauty—
We are created by The Beautiful who loves beauty. Why would not see all through the eyes of the creator?
May all beings be happy.
not perfectly beautiful coz it would dig my wallet too deeply if I wanted more; this is perfectly matched my beautiful day though and that’s perfect! 💝
Glory, Beloved, Living doubts by loving hopes. Time is my beacon.
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Reading the holy book, I found time is used to testify for many different things in different verses. Night, morning, dawn, dusk, time, moments, etc are used repeatedly in a lot of diction. It shows how important and powerful time is.
By the ˹passage of˺ time! Surely humanity is in ˹grave˺ loss, except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience. (Al-‘Ashr/The Declining Time)
Time is that precious that it is scripted as proverb in some culture. Time is money in a culture that indicates people will lose money if they don’t manage the time well. Time is sword in another one that indicates only when sharpened, it will effectively work in a battle. In other cultures time is integrated in the life schedule related to seasons and celebrations.
What is time to this person? Not money, not sword. Time is a sign telling to start, to stop, to pause, to continue, to turn, to go straight or to take U-turn. Time is a when falling on to a nice where to create a moment of truth.
As long as the beacon beams its light, I’ll continue the journey.
Even if forever? Yes, even if forever as I know forever is a count down.
Good heart, Beloved, What blossoms her life. Always. Bright light in the dark—
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Human being with good heart looks weak. Yes. Not always though
Human being with good heart looks stupid. Yes. Not always though
Human being with good heart looks naive. Yes. Not always though
Human being with good heart looks vulnerable. Yes. Not always though
With all those, she’s still seeking all ways to shape a good heart. Failure. Pain. Sadness. Vulnerability. Anger. Disappointment. All those are nothing but chisels sculpting the best figure in the right place at the right time.
Thanks for sending me all those human beings with good heart along this journey.
May all beings be happy.
Salaam….
where I am now after my Japanese class – this heart is filled with joy! 💝
Life is eternal. Strand of dimensions through time Bargained with good deeds Also sins. How long? You guess. Till creation’s obsolete?
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September is the month when age becomes major contemplation.
How can I get older yet be more stupid?
There is a consistent concern: that the older I am, the more things I don’t know. This impression grows stronger every year. There is only one getting better: forgetting people’s names. 😎
Will there be a world where I’m not getting older, not getting younger but growing better and brighter? I don’t know….
The convo with this good friend has always left me in deep thoughts about my own self especially in September. Thanks for the chat and good contemplation, Mbak Nungki.
rike jokanan 
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