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The Perks of Being a Member of Working Class

One day I had a chance to spend the night in a decent hospital located in Jalan Jenderal Gatot Subroto. Salah satu jalan protokol Jakarta dimana puluhan gedung pencakar langit berdiri di kanan kirinya dan ratusan kendaraan melintas tanpa henti dari malam sampai pagi. Saya terbangun pukul empat pagi dan menemukan banyak kendaraan bermotor yang sudah wara wiri Gatsu meski mentari belum muncul. Kebanyakan truk, mungkin bagian dari rantai distribusi yang mengantar bermacam barang kebutuhan sehari-hari. Banyak pula pengendara motor atau mobil pribadi, entah mereka yang baru menyelesaikan shift malam dan menuju peraduan, atau mereka yang sudah bangun sejak dini hari dan bersiap memulai pekerjaan. I thought to myself, wow, Jakarta. Kamu dan segala kompleksitasmu. You and all of your magic . Kamu yang dipenuhi jutaan orang yang terus mengeluh soal beratnya hidup. Kamu yang jadi saksi bahwa para pengeluh itu lalu bangun tiap hari dan mencoba bertahan sehari lagi. Sudah hampir lima tahun saya m

Beli Barang Branded : Keinginan atau Kebutuhan?

Kalau ada satu hal baik yang bisa dinikmati selama masa w ork from home ini, buat saya tentu saja betapa leluasanya saya dapat berseluncur di website e-commerce . Kalau kerja di kantor dan tiba-tiba merasa perlu beli sesuatu secara online , saya akan diam-diam buka aplikasi di handphone sambil memastikan tidak ada pegawai lain yang memperhatikan gerak-gerik belanja saya. Tapi di masa w ork from home , dengan begitu percaya diri saya bisa buka website Tokopedia di layar laptop dan scrolling through the pages sambil menunggu balasan email hehe Racun memang, aplikasi-aplikasi belanja online itu. Cukup lihat-lihat beberapa menit, kadang baca ulasan dari pembeli lain, lalu bisa langsung yakin untuk check out barang dimaksud.  Alhamdulillahnya (kalau itu memang bisa dibilang berkah), saya merasa kalau selera belanja saya relatif tahu diri. Saya merasa lebih bahagia kalau bisa beli dua potong baju gemes produksi brand lokal UMKM dengan menghabiskan Rp 150.000 per potong baju, daripada be

On Making Money Instead of Chasing Career

My first official job was the one I am still at today. It has almost been five years since I signed my contract, which actually ended last year. My first days at the office, when I was young and hungry for exposures, I was dying inside that I had this three-year contract that did not allow me to resign unless I was okay with paying fine. I guess the young me felt somewhat trapped with that kind of commitment. I kept asking, what if I woke up one day and I wanted to do something else?   Waktu pertama kenalan dengan orang-orang di kantor dan sadar bahwa lumayan banyak dari mereka yang bekerja untuk perusahaan sejak masih gadis dan kini hampir pensiun, I had a hard time understanding that. Kok betah banget sih? Yes, you can get promoted to higher position or moved to different departments. But spending your whole adult life for a single company, how? Halfway through my contract I was diagnosed with cancer. A living nightmare, physically, and even more financially, if you are not privilege

Refleksi Diri dari Pertanyaan "Sudah Hamil Belum?" yang Muncul Saat Lebaran

Momen Lebaran lekat dengan kesempatan untuk kembali terkoneksi dengan mereka yang tersayang. Bagi anak muda Indonesia -garis bawah perspektif anak muda, karena saya belum punya pengalaman menjadi orang tua- , momen Lebaran bisa jadi ajang silaturahmi yang ngeri-ngeri sedap. Sebagian besar dari kita pasti pernah merasa kaget, sebal, bahkan jengah dengan rentetan pertanyaan klasik yang sering dilontarkan sanak saudara yang biasanya memang hanya bertemu setahun sekali semacam : "Wah tahun depan lulus SMA ya, mau lanjut kuliah dimana?" "Sudah mau lulus kuliah aja nih bentar lagi, rencananya mau ngelamar kerja kemana?" "Kamu udah sekian tahun kerja, kapan mau ketemu jodohnya kalau sibuk cari uang terus..." "Eh ini ada pengantin baru, kapan mau kasih cucu buat mama papa?" Seolah semua lulusan SMA harus pasrah dan jadi anak kuliah, padahal siapa tahu mereka mau langsung cari duit sebagai influencer . Seakan semua lulusan universitas harus k

On Perfect Marriage

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On January 16th 2020 Masyan and I celebrate the fourth anniversary of our partnership. Yes, I just used the term partnership to try to sound more professional, instead of frankly and hopelessly said "the fourth anniversary of being boyfriend and girlfriend" . As a matter of fact, this is our first January 16th where we have been officially married. So yeah, we both come to the point of asking each other, do we celebrate our partnership on November 10th now ? Which was our wedding date and not make a big deal about January 16th anymore. Or do we celebrate both ? Which gives us one more excuse to go on a fancy date and eat somewhere nice :p On a more critical note, I would like to take this time to just sit down and write wonderful thing about being married. Due to work related reason, we are still living in two different cities for the time being. So whenever he comes home for the weekend and we get to spend time together, it somehow still feels like a honeymoon. Yes, I d

On Growing Apart and Finding Closure

As we grow up, we have come to understand that people grow apart sometimes. As we near the adulthood, we no longer have enough time and energy to keep everyone close to us anymore. Those who used to sit next to us during high school days, lovers we used to see everyday during college, or co-workers who started together but have now moved to different workplaces. These people who used to be part of our routine, are now nothing but happy memories (or painful) and occasional chats of "Let's hang out sometime soon" that never really happens. I, for one, is a true believer of that. There will come days when out of the blue you think of those people, nights when they randomly show up in your dream. And you can't help but feeling a little miserable for missing them and the good times you had together. I had a dream about someone who used to be my regular go to person, when I clearly did not think about them before going to bed. I woke up with such mixed feelings. So

The End of Game of Thrones - Sebuah Renungan Ramadhan

A few hours before the final episode of Game of Thrones airs, I find myself reflecting. Despite fans' mixed feelings about how the final season was written, we have surely witnessed one of the greatest productions in the history of television. That alone makes me grateful. What a time to be alive. Even though the show constantly promotes things I am normally against (drinking problems, slavery, incest, forced arranged marriages, killing people for power, etc.), I have a tremendous admiration towards the show because it reminds me of the very core of everything : that all thing must come to an end and that nothing is going to stay here forever. Thrones fandom by now are fully aware of the phrase "Valar Morghulis", which in High Valyrian translates to all men must die. This customary saying is traditionally answered with "Valar Dohaeris" which means all men must serve. Even though this exchange has a more barbaric-violent tone when used in the show, I rea