Stories for Rainy Days

Judul: Stories for Rainy Days
Penulis: Naela Ali
Penerbit: POP (Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia)
Terbit: 2016
Tebal: 198 halaman

It was rainy day,
with a hot darjeeling tea,
warm striped blanket and polka dot socks.
One perfect moment to read stories for cats."

***

"That solitary moment you have at a crowded place, when nothing else matters, only you and your book. That is bliss." - page 131

Buku yang sebagian besar saya nikmati di tengah hiruk-pikuk-panasnya angkutan umum ibukota, sangat bertolak belakang dengan anjuran judul dan ilustrasi sampulnya. Tertarik membaca buku ini karena watercolor illustrations yang ditawarkan begitu aesthetic. Ketika mendapat pinjaman buku ini, tidak menyangka bahwa buku berukuran mini dan berisi kumpulan cerita pendek.

Sepertiga bab awal terasa biasa saja, tidak sampai membuat saya baper. Haha. Kisah percintaannya terlalu personal and sorry, I can't relate :p. Ditambah lagu-lagu yang asing bagi saya. Well, lagu tertentu memang bisa mengingatkan kita pada seseorang atau suatu peristiwa.

"But honestly, I am scared right now, about the future that awaits me. Really, I might seem like careless girl who doesn't care about things, but I do, I really do think much about the future and about anything in fact, as I tend to be an overthinking person.

I'm afraid of starting a new relationship. I am afraid of failure. I know I am being dramatic. But if I am going to start a new relationship, I want it to be the last, to be real." - page 89

Saya mulai meresapi bab "Letter of Hope", saat keraguan mulai menyergap. Keraguan akan seseorang, keraguan akan masa depan. Hmm melewati fase quarter life crisis tidak pernah mudah. Seiring bertambahnya usia, bertambah pula serangkaian pertimbangan akan masa depan.

"Dear Past,

I don't know why I wrote to you, I guess there are some things that are left unsaid and I'd really love to talk to you. But meeting up maybe isn't a good idea. Not that I hate to see you but maybe later on we could meet up over casual conversations. But right now it is better this way.

Firstly, I would like to thank you for all the good things you did to me. Really, maybe we don't have that many exciting things to talk about. But when I looked back several times, I found many simple things that I actually should be grateful about." - pages 161-162

Bab "A Letter to the Past" akan membuat kita mengenang kembali masa lalu. Bahwa kita telah melewati hal-hal yang tak mudah. Kita dibuat belajar banyak hal; belajar sabar, belajar menerima, belajar memberi, dan belajar melepaskan.

"I realized that life is all about letting go - letting go our own egos that we are willing to make certain amount of efforts and energy to take the risks and accept the good or bad circumstances that might happen for the one we love.

Letting go also means that sometimes, no matter how much you thought you've put efforts into it, certain things are just not meant to be.

But then again, "In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." If it's meant to be, things will be just great...eventually." - page 195

Ada certain things atau yang biasa dikenal sebagai takdir, tidak dapat diubah meskipun kita telah berusaha sekuat tenaga. Maka berserah dirilah kepada Yang Membolak-balikkan Hati. You did well, yes, you did well. Semoga segera mendapat kabar baik.