Saturday, November 24, 2018

Friends

Why, it's been a while since I am not here driven by awful feelings. I am happy that there are still things I want to pour out that is not bleak.

I wanna talk about friends.

I am serious about friendship. Or, well, I do friendship seriously.

I have terrible views about mankind in general. I don't believe altruism, and I think kindness and consideration is learnt and being nasty and ignorant is actually the default state of humanity.

So when there are people, who, despite their nature to be nasty and selfish and horrible, choose to be nice to me and care about me and, maybe, love me--how can I not be grateful about it? How can I not be nice and care and love them back, if against all odds, they choose to do that to me? It feels amazing.

And it feels utterly special.

Friends, unlike families, don't have the obligation to stick around, you see. With families you were born with them. Like, you cannot actually make your parents not-your-parents or your siblings not-your-siblings (in principle, at least). You don't have a choice. And if they are kind to you, and care about you, and love you--it's amazing but I would say it is more natural for it to happen. After all, you are stuck with these people for a long time (and spend a lot of your formative years with them, in normal circumstances) so having a positive relationship is not very surprising. Thus when a stranger you met by chance in your life decided to stick around (and make your life nicer because of it) I find it abhorrent to not be serious about it.

It's not always my choice, of course. After all, I know that am not an easy person to be with. So when a friend asking me to hang out, friend asking me how am I doing, friend saying they remember me, friend saying they miss me, friend saying that they think I'm their friend, I

I am so happy.

Cuz despite having friends and various other kinds of relationship, I know that you (I mean me) are essentially by yourself (I mean myself)--alone. You cannot rely on others to make you what you wanna be or feel what you wanna feel. It's basically the recipe for disaster. The chance of your feelings being reciprocate (that they treasure you like you treasure them, that they love you like you love them) is always small. Why? Because we are different, separate, persons with different accumulation of experience and thoughts and feelings and if you find people whom we have things in common (specifically, views or feelings towards each other), it feels very nice, isn't it?

And it's just... amazing to know that I have friends with my circumstances. Not plenty, but enough. So far, I am miraculously able to find companionship even in places I have convinced myself I wouldn't have friends in. I find that most of the time, they are my main source of joy and contentment, despite whatever hardship I'm getting through.

There are even those I treasure whom I rarely interact with. But every time I think of them, and realise that there is a certainty in my heart that my existence is always welcomed by them... I know that I will readily give anything within my power to make them feel loved.






So thank you, friends.

If there is anything that makes this world is more bearable than it actually is, is because I have you all in my life.

Saturday, October 27, 2018

It's painful

I am sad. I often am, but I rarely express that I am sad, often because the feelings of sadness quickly turns into resignation and well, what do you expect from this world?

But sometimes I am hurt, and thus I am sad.

I wonder if I am not so alone, will I be better?

But even in company of a person who knows you really well, you are different. There can only be so much words to describe things, there can only be so many things from your head you can articulate, and another person can only understand so much.

Sometimes I wish some people, some things, will understand. But they will never. Not only because the many barriers of encoding and decoding a message. Sometimes I don't understand it too.

Some other times, I don't even want to understand. I just want to cease the thought. Cease the feelings.

Anyway. I should have known. I know that I am alone in my thoughts and alone in my feelings. I am never quite sure that I want to have a company for it. Sounds intrusive. It just that I

I

sometimes wish that I don't think so much. Or feel so much.

It's painful.

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Water Container

Let's say, there's a container and then you fill it with water until it's full. If you add some more, it'll spill. If you nudge them, it'll spill. If you didn't hold them properly, it'll spill.

Maybe, for years, I have stop growing as a container.

I am filled to the brim, and I cannot hold anymore water.

Or maybe I didn't stop growing--my container is not growing fast enough to keep the water that has keep coming.

I am not a bigger container for the water that I have inside me.




At one point, I am full. And I think I find no way to lessen its amount--or maybe I did, but then it's filled again quicker than I can take them out of me that I am still full.




And apparently, being full is suffocating. It is suffocating, so I just want things to stop.

I think what I did so far is that I look at my container, see it full with water, and pat myself in the back.

"It's enough. You're full."




(I don't want the container to be bigger cuz it's a lot of work.)
(And I don't want the water to be put out somewhere cuz it's also a lot of work.)

(I thought maybe, I was just plain lazy.)



I now realise I am just scared.

I am scared of what entails in being a bigger container. I am scared of the things I have to go through and things I have to sacrifice to be a bigger container.
I am scared that sharing the water out will break other containers. I am sure it will. I have the conviction that I ultimately will destroy those containers and I don't want it to happen.

And I absolutely have no interest on being brave.

I don't wanna be brave. I have accepted that I am scared. And I don't want to overcome it.





Why would I have to, when at one point the container will be filled again
and I have to find a way to make myself bigger
or make get rid of the water that filled me

when I can
stop the source of water?


I thought.





But I just wish I don't have to stop them.


I just wish
it stops.

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Saying things out loud

I think it was a month ago or something. I saw a tweet saying something along the lines of “being raised in Asian household makes me unable to say thanks or apologize to my parents”. In most cases, of course, it’s understandable. When family makes mistakes, they don’t need to say sorry since it’s somehow unwritten rule that it’ll be forgiven for sure. When they do or say nice things to us, it’s not a favor. It’s just family thing. Things we normally take as something for granted. High context culture and all that, no need to mention things like sorry or thanks since we’re family. So I know. I know it’s awkward and hard. I’ve been there too.

Never thought too much about the time when I burst out crying because I have disagreement with my parents, or have a shout-match with my sister, because not 5 minutes later we’re going to have dinner together and everything’s alright.

I remember, I saw my cousin said, “thanks” to her mom, and I thought, “Why did I never say thanks to mom? That’s stupid.” So I did. I started saying thanks to her.

I remember, I was in middle school, it was in dining table. I said, “Thanks mom.”

It was so awkward and foreign the first time.

The first time I tried to apologise to my grandma was around then too. I can’t even confirm if she actually heard me or not since I ran out of the room as soon as I finished mumbling, “Sorry I was mean to you when I was younger.”

But it gets easier.

I said sorry to my mom and dad when I said something mean too. Sometimes I said sorry in advance, I said, sorry I’m so easily pissed off these days, please forgive me if I said something mean. Sorry that I was home late. Sorry that I was wrong. My sister too. Sorry, I said that because I was angry. She understood.

You know what? They did too. I didn’t even realize when it started, but my mom and dad say sorry and thanks too. My sister too, obviously. Not immediately, or often (well we don’t have that many things to be sorry for and somethings are just business as usual to say thanks to) but they change as I do it.

Then generally talking comes easy. Not all arguments can be made with sounds reasons, cuz with my parents I cannot help but be easily emotional, but most of the time talks are fruitful and enhance understanding. I thought that’s growing up, talking about stuffs. That was around when I am convinced to take talking face-value, that things can be talked about, and better being talked about. It’s easy for me to say things that is on my mind, because I am never really punished for it, and I find that it solves variety of problems fairly quickly. This prove to cause problems since then I am not equipped with the ability to small talks or bullshit things through, but well, I guess I’m learning (very slowly).

Anyway.

Before I went to London, my aunt told me she gonna miss me. My mom was there. Later on that day, I asked my mom if she’s not sad that I am leaving. She said, “Well, sometimes you don’t say things that you feel” with the most heartbreaking tone and I felt tears pricking my eye.

So there’s that too.

But we grow, you see. At one point, conversations like “please don’t say things like that, hearing you say that hurts me,” or “I am sorry I make you sad, let’s not do it if it makes you unhappy” are common, as we are learning what are the things important to be said and what are the things better left unsaid—things that I don’t imagine is said out loud but in mainstream media.

But really. If everything is normal* then your parents must love you and they learn to be parents too, for all their life. Why wouldn’t they, when their children constantly evolving into something that they may or may not ever imagine. Help them do it. Learn with them. Hopefully we can be better parents and children together when we can talk things through.




*Not all household are ideal so sometimes parents suck, if this is not you then you are blessed indeed

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

My concerns lately

Sometimes I worry that I am not very honest with myself.

I think I'm pretty honest, but what if I'm not? How would I know? After all, it is me who I'm lying to. And I might be a terrible liar, but I am also pretty gullible. I don't know.

Like… I don’t know. Sometimes I think I know myself so much. But what if it’s because what I am is just what I think I am?

And I wonder if that’s even a valid question, cuz, why wouldn’t you be the person you think you are? I don’t understand this. I have too much existential crisis.



You know, sometimes I get tired too, when I seemed to be more of an interesting specimen, or an exception, for my surroundings. I mean, I also like to think I'm special, but to dismiss my experience or my perspective because I am not 'like most people'  is also disconcerting.



I know I am a serious person, but I didn’t know that I’m so serious that I don’t know how not to be serious about things anymore. I butchered small talk. I cannot. Somebody should tutor me how to not talk seriously, or talk about serious stuffs, or twist a non-serious talk into something serious. How do I keep things light, anyway? What can people even ask about things that doesn’t matter?

Thursday, February 15, 2018

That I am


No matter how much I propel, I will never get there.

Never.

But rowing my boat is the only thing I know how.
And you are the only think I know to desire.



Tell me,

When all of this ends, will I reach you then?
Will I find a way, to go to you?


I am not heartbroken,
but I am lost.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

An update!

I am not neglecting this blog, I swear. I was locked out of it for a while because I was not able to figure out my password for the old email which I used for this account. Yeah, I know, lame, and I am a little traumatised (even though everything should be fine now) because I am reminded yet again

that

things can (and most of the time, surely) end abruptly without any warnings beforehand. So my last post would be my last post. And I could never erase the stupid stuffs that I finally stumbled upon from my old self (I rarely did this but some things are dumb that I cannot not erase it for the sake of my sanity). Basically stuffs just ends and I cannot do anything about it and it sobered me up.

But since as I mentioned in the last post, that what I want or do might not be something deliberately purposeful anyway--maybe it does not matter all that much.



Anyway. Things moved on since the last time I posted. For instance, I am not in the UK anymore, which saddened me sometimes (because I genuinely like London). And I am employed now (because living costs money, that's why). But basically a chapter of me pursuing my master had come to an end. And it ends pretty well, in a way that it feeds my ego.

You see, I tried really hard. I did.
I wanna be good. So I read and I write and I become better.
I thought I have become better, but I just become 'slightly' better. Good, but not good enough, I thought.

At the first few weeks of my study, I thought of how hard studying is really is, and thinking that I might not be able to finish with a flying colours. When I was working on my dissertation, I tried making peace with the fact that I might have tried really hard but it might turned out to be just... alright. (Well the story of mediocrity is not just about trying to be good at Splatoon 2 ya see). Funny thing is, it turned out that I did (pass with flying colours. Somewhat), and I still think I am not good enough.

Now in retrospect, this is where I notice what inferiority complex really is. I thought it was the means to be humble (because I am humbled), but I get so far to not acknowledge achievements when it's in front of me. I convinced my self that I am nothing but the usual, and it... might not be as good as I thought it should be.

Regardless, I don't think it is something that I can imagine changing, yet. At least. Idk. I can't imagine me being anything than I am now. So what if it's humility, or inferiority complex, I feel what I want. Let me be joyous in thinking that I am not amazing (which I am really not).

But overall I was all great experience since I got a friend and level-up my friendship with another. I am smarter than I was a year ago, and I am better equipped for life than I was a year ago. I thought I have myself all figured out but I am not, and that's evolution for you.



Another update of my life is that I still wonder how did I ended up being so lucky. I am so lucky. In this bleak, horrid world, where it is very conducive to be evil, when it's easy to be horrible, that I am surrounded with wonderful people. That I find people whom I can see in the eyes, and that I find sincerity and love in their dreams. That I can talk to them, and how it makes life more bearable. That they are wonderful, more than Wizard of Oz could ever be, I am sure.

I wonder why I am so defeated--when I am loved, when I am capable of getting what people find valuable, when I am surrounded by wonderful people. I wonder why I am like this? What is the lie that I told myself? What has happened that makes me this way? What makes me so tired? And terrible?



I think I am plenty nice despite being tired and terrible, though.