Sita’s musings

This quote deserves a blog post:

First there is a time when we believe everything, then for a little while we believe with discrimination, then we believe nothing whatever, and then we believe everything again – and, moreover, give reasons why we believe.
– Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

For those who want to know who Lichtenberg is, please click here. For me, this quote says a lot, and has made me ask myself, where am I at this moment?

Memorial services for the dead are always a reminder about our limitations as human beings. That someday, sometime, we will also join those who have passed before us.

The death of Michael Jackson and the media circus that followed reminded me of another death about a year and half ago.

Former Indonesian president Soeharto, the creator of the New Order, who ruled Indonesia for 32 years, died at the end of January 2008 after a month at the hospital. The (Indonesian) media circus during the month of January 2008 was similar to Michael Jackson, with reporters and trucks and vans camped out in the hospital parking. They hounded the doctors, nurses, and even the visitors.

And when Soeharto finally died, when his oldest daughter spoke through her tears, I cried along with her.Just as a few days ago, I cried along with Paris Jackson.

Both Tutut Soeharto and Paris Jackson reminded me of something… that after all the hoopla, all the attention, all the unhappiness, all the weirdness, that above all that… they were somebody’s father.

They both had children, who cried for them, who loved them unconditionally, who are probably wondering why everyone has an opinion about their father.

And that, my friends, is a valuable lesson in itself. Your father is YOUR father, no matter what people say about him. He loves (or loved) you unconditionally, was willing to move heaven and earth for you, protect you from all the bad things around.

Those who are blessed to still have their fathers in this world (like me), don’t forget to hug them and tell them you love them. And for those who have lost them, say a prayer for them.

Sorry for not being coherent, it’s been tough.

A recent disaster, this time nearby my childhood home, made me think about life and we sometimes take life for granted.

Around 34 years ago, my family moved into the university housing complex for teaching staff in a place, where in 1975, was not the most developed place in the world. Sure the houses were relatively big, and we begged my Dad to take the one with the ” extra big backyard” but everything else was, well, underdeveloped. No electricity! No parks! No entertainment nearby!

The only other thing that fascinated us kids was the fact that the complex was sitting on the banks on this large lake called Situ Gintung. The lake was large, and we could see people sailing (members from the Sport Club nearby).

We couldn’t swim there because it was muddy and there were strong undercurrents and whirlpools, and of course there was the urban legend that the lake had an “occupant” with supernatural powers, daring anyone to disturb the lake. For kids, that even was more fascinating and we spent many afternoons playing nearby.

Who would have thought that 34 years later, the lake would be gone?

When I first heard the news that fateful Friday morning, I did not have any idea of the extent of the damage. Well, as the day went on, it became worse and worse.  Many houses were ruined, cars just floated away, and the human casualties way too many

And for me, I felt a part of my childhood was gone too as I saw what was left of the lake. It is now a big mudbank, smelly because of organic material decomposing… I have always thought that the lake is a constant that will always be there, and now?

So basically, what I am trying to say is we should always try to not take our lives for granted, because you can lose everything you have in a mere 15 minutes or less…

You don’t what you’ve got until it’s gone!