Happy birthday, me.

Another year, another birthday post. 

I made similar piece back in 2016 (because, you know, this blog was in deep slumber for years due to my own negligence) and perhaps from now on this will be some kind of mandatory post if I don't slack off and abandon my own blog again. But let's just hope that won't happen. Tahun ini saya tidak sok-sok bikin proyek-proyekan seperti tahun lalu―yang bisa-bisanya kelupaan dikerjakan hingga target tercapai walau sudah diworo-worokan, sehingga boleh dibilang tidak ada hal spesial yang dapat saya tuliskan di sini. Tapi tidak ada salahnya jika saya mengingat-ingat beberapa hal yang pernah terjadi sepanjang 2017, yang meski sama-sama menyebabkan Crying Under the Shower: Season 6841471671, perasaan yang tertinggal jauh lebih hangat dan menyenangkan.

I met new people throughout the year. People whom previously I can only see through my phone and laptop screen, now I know them personally. I have their number now, and they have mine. Perhaps my number will be deleted soon, or it will rot away; untouched and unused in the corner of their contact list.. but somehow, knowing that I have a few more people connected to me feels reassuring. It's like I've built stronger foundation. Steadier tools to step on. More... strings to hold me in place.

I did things I haven't done before. I sent out postcards―and still do―to other people. I bought tickets for shows I never tried attending. I let myself experience previously foreign things, and it was all good (details are excluded because you know, it's need-to-know classified). I took my feet to places I've never gone. I even made a saving goal; to start collecting $1000 worth of money. I swallowed up my fear and let my curiosity win. Sometimes the result hurt, but it's nothing I can't take. Hal-hal baru yang saya lakukan sepanjang tahun 2017, walau mungkin bagi beberapa orang terkesan sangat sepele, tidak penting, dan tidak Curriculum Vitae-worthy, bagi saya merupakan pengalaman-pengalaman berharga.

And I ate an incredible amount of great food. No, not exactly on my birthday and of course not all-year round. Jadi begini. Entah kenapa, secara kebetulan, makan-makan akhir tahun kantor dilakukan mendekati tanggal kelahiran saya. Di restoran all you can eat, pula. Jelaslah gembel berperut gorila macam saya ini meliar di TKP. Secara semena-mena dan sepihak, saya pun diam-diam beranggapan bahwa makan-makan akhir tahun tersebut adalah perayaan ulang tahun bersama rekan-rekan kerja yang tagihannya dibayar kantor. Bodo amat ge-er sendiri. Pokoknya makan enak, banyak, gratis. What a perk of being born as a December girl.

But if there's one thing I really am thankful of, it's not being alone on my birthday. The yearly silent whisper of "Happy birthday to me" was still there, and yet, miraculously enough, it wasn't the only voice I heard. I received plenty of good wishes from other people too. Honestly, those words made me really really... how should I put it in words? Touched? Glad? Grateful? I don't know, so many feelings were mixed up altogether but in a very, very good way. December fifteenth was a day like any other day, but it was one of the better ones. Much, much better one.

Happy birthday, me. 

I wish another birthday post can still be written next year.

z. d. imama