Apr 10, 2006

a forecast of a birthday.

i know i'm supposed to continue telling you all about my bali trip, but the past few days were quite busy days for me.
who says one can relax in a comfort zone?
but then again, as i'm turning 27 in less than 24 hours, i'd like to pen a few words to commemorate this special day.

commemorate?
i don't know if i'm entitled to apply such a big word to describe my life, but here goes.

------------------------------------------

In the past, and until now, my dad has always stressed this point to me:

“No matter what you do, be responsible for it.”

Thus, he left me choosing what I wanted to become by enrolling myself in theatre and linguistic as my subjects during my hectic college days. He left me embarking on a corporate work-life, because he knew that soon enough, I got tired of it. He left me cooking on my own, because he knew that he could not eat what the food I made, somehow against his metabolism.

And he left me living the life I am doing now.

While like any common father-and-son relationships we hardly talk about our private life, we have one common faith to each other to keep the trust of being responsible in everything.

Of course, that includes love department.

After more than three decades of marriage, my mum and dad retain their romance, which by now has blossomed into longevity. Sticking to each other for more than half of their lives, I could not stop wondering if it is the same feeling when they began falling in love in those heydays of early 70s, or the love has diverted them to the direction of responsibility.

I used to believe that there are things greater than love in the forte of relationship, one of them being respect. Respect our companion, but more importantly, respect myself as the carrier of consequences in choices. Thus, it leads me to the responsibility itself.

Now, in the passage of my life that soon reaching the number of 27, have I been responsible for what I’ve chosen?

I may need a generous help of other people to give an objective review for that. But what I know from what I’ve been through, I can’t be more comfortable with the life I’ve led so far.

For sure, it has never been easy with the ups and downs, more with my recent decision to leave my comfort zone, and start a new life in what seemingly a chaotic place. The struggle to get through the harshness of life on a daily basis seems to be getting harder only to realize that no matter who I am with, the journey has to be taken all alone.

And losing my own identity to be replaced with being known as somebody’s friend, somebody’s boyfriend, almost takes the meaning of ‘whoring’ to a literal level.

Yet, at the end of the day, I can always look at them with laughter of relief, gladness and other jovial expression to which I can’t always describe vividly. I can always kiss my pillow, sometimes with a teardrop or two, while switching on my laptop to play some meaningful tunes. I can always send an email or two, blurting out whatever things I feel like telling to my friends. They are never away.

A cup of coffee or two, an hour or five, a lifetime unlike any other.

Here’s to my solemn birthday tomorrow.

That, just like any relationships, no birthdays would ever be so perfect. That no matter what, I guess my ultimate birthday wish will never get fulfilled.

That I’ve gotta be more than ready to be responsible of what I choose to be in life, and whom I choose to be with.

Of course, I always have the right to choose who and who I will have my birthday dinner with this year.
I doubt if they are my blog readers, hahaha!

Cheers!

Nauval.

15 comments:

dodY said...

hehehe.... tunggu surprise saya beberapa jam lagi :-)

Nauval Yazid said...

DODY,
ok, gue cukup punya waktu latian pura-pura surprised kalo gitu.

Mel said...

somebody's boyfriend? somebody's friend?
this topic sounds familiar ;))

remember delifrance? :)

i'm lucky i'm in Singapore right now btw..if i'm in Indonesia, they'll call me Bu Ambar. Yeukh

Unknown said...

too early, but happy b'day anyway. i like that phrase about whoring to literal level. i kinda know how that feel, i guess. is that really too much love?

Morningdew said...

Why, you cheeky bastard! You spent the whole evening grilling stuff on my bday bbq and you didn't tell me tomorrow's your bday??!!! I am so going to kill you!!! :-D

Anonymous said...

In less than one hour, you shall have your birthday, turning 27. Not that I couldn't wait,but I might still reading my daughter a storybook :-)

Happy Birthday, my dear. May the Force be always with you, and that every little thing will form happiness in your life. And I don't mind become your birthday dinner mate although rather impossible at this very moment ;-)

Silverlines

tukangpot said...

selamat ulang taun!

Anonymous said...

happy birthday!!! :)

guario said...

Met ultah yaaa... jauh banget sih lo:P!

isna_nk said...

selamat ulang tahun Pal .... :)

Sunny said...

Woohooo... we got a birthday boy here. Btw, twenty seveeeeen? I thought u're much older, like, 37? Hehe, no no no, bad joke eh? 27's surely a perfect age to (start to) be responsible. I tried to do so at my 30 tho, hehe.

All the luck. Mmuah.

Anonymous said...

oh udah umur 27 ya ?
selamat deh :D

bowo

Anonymous said...

It's a cute picture, by the way
;-)

Anonymous said...

Aduhhhh doel, mendingan pasang foto waktu kecil!

Rani said...

happy birthday ya! selama aries kudu saling menyelamati nih.. don't worry to be known as somebody's boyfriend, kan elo juga baru 'restart' di sono, lama2 network lo kan akan tambah gede juga

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A film festival manager. A writer. An avid moviegoer. An editor. An aspiring culinary fan. A man.