Crisp of Hurricane

social media has made storytelling more accessible than ever. unfortunately, it has also made storytelling easier than accountability.

a carefully crafted narrative can travel surprisingly far when nobody else in the story is expected to speak.

the audience hears one perspective. the comments offer validation. the algorithm rewards engagement.

and slowly, a personal interpretation begins to look like an objective truth.

the challenge isn’t that people share their experiences. it is remembering that every story has edges we can’t see.

September will always belong to us.

The 21st marks the day we said “I do,” while the 23rd takes me back to when we first decided to give us a chance. Ten years later, I find myself celebrating not just anniversaries, but a story I never saw coming.

Because being with him has always felt like living a plot twist.

We knew each other since junior high — just friends, nothing more. Then, on an ordinary night years later, fate gave us a peculiar chance to reconnect. Still just friends, but this time, something felt different.

Somewhere along the way, without us even noticing, friendship just turned into something more. The kind of love that shows up when you’re not looking for it, like fate had been quietly waiting its turn.

Ten years together hasn’t been all sunshine and perfect days. We’ve had our share of rough patches, tiring moments, and challenges that really tested us. But we always held on, never once did we let doubt creep in. Because through everything, he’s been my safest place — my comfort, my partner, the person I can’t imagine life without.

And honestly? We love our love. It’s not always glamorous, but it’s ours.

The simple things always make me yearn for more: fun dates that look like drive-thru nights, eating junk food and ice cream inside the car while watching movies on an iPad, cooking together at home, doing little groceries from steaks to pasta, hunting for new culinary spots, or sneaking in short getaways just to stretch out our quality time… even if we end up spending most of it just laying in bed. Those small, random moments are what make this love so easy to hold on to.

Now, watching him as a dad to our daughter, I’m reminded again of why I fell in love in the first place. He’s not just the love of my life — he’s the best dad, the finest partner I could ever ask for, and still my favorite human in the world.

Ten years in, and I’m still surprised by how effortless this feels.

Maybe that’s what true love is: not grand gestures or perfect timelines, but the quiet certainty that we belong to each other; plot twists and all.

Here’s to a decade of us, and to all the unwritten chapters ahead — growing together.

My kid needs me, therefore I need to love myself more.

• having small, cute convos while cleaning up

• commenting the aftermath with laughs

SHEA: ibu, mau balon gak?

ME: enggak, nak

SHEA: *disappointed* kenapa gak mau?

ME: karena ibu lagi gak mau main balon. Buat baby aja

SHEA: baby juga gak mau balon sih

ME: yaudah kita biarin aja ya biar balonnya istirahat

SHEA: haaah kok istirahat

Support system is indeed important to every (new) moms out there, and my mom is a living proof. She’s not only giving me emotional support, but also the practical ones.

She’s always ready to help me handle my kid and accepts the fact that I’m a working mom. I very much admire her flexibility and her love for her own grandchild. Seriously she treats my baby like her kid; but probably less stress because she doesn’t need to think about how expensive the cost of nowadays schools lol.

Most importantly, she’s ready to pick up my kid to sleepover each time I need some alone time or quality time with my husband.

I also respect her for acknowledge the boundaries. Sometimes she rules my kid, but that’s not so bad because most of the time she asks me and my husband about things that truly need our permissions, like eating sweets and certain snacks, playing with water, going out somewhere, et cetera.

Her abundant love inspires me to be a better one. No wonder my kid is way too comfortable whenever she’s around and sometimes she picks my mom over me hahahahaha but that’s fine, it’s simply because she loves her grandma that much and I wish their bond would go stronger just like what I used to have with my grandma.

I don’t know why I wrote this, I guess I just want to share my mellow feelings on this random monday.

I often talk to myself whenever there’s no other people around. For as long as I can remember, it has never been about the positive things within me.

I reach myself whenever I feel sad, disappointed, or questioning every thing bizarre and interesting in life — including my own self.

I speak to my inner voice, ask her about the mistakes I’ve made, about the decisions that failed, about the feelings I abandoned, about the people I’ve disappointed, and many more.

I ask myself thousands of times, why the hell do you not good enough? What do you want to do in life?

The expanding of self-doubt and self-blame is like an old friend; I’m already getting used to it.

Another blessing in disguise from pandemic is the ability to value more on the presence. Every presence of our loved ones might feel like something that we are used to; something familiar that we don’t even have any thoughts of getting used to the idea of not being around them.

But from staying at home, i’m scared of the unsettling feeling about the void and loneliness without my favorite presence. Yes, i’ve learnt which company that i love, dislike and despise from it. This kind of situation somehow ridiculously shows me the meaning of real home.

Staying at home teaches me the real meaning of being home, and… found a new home.

People say time flies when you’re in the place you’re meant to be. I agree and it surprises me to be torn between two things: having to pray my sweet, beautiful daughter to grow up fast, but also wish she stays this little. Ah.. life’s never been this extraordinary.