Things That Might Matter

Seperti yang sudah pernah saya tulis di sini, one of my pet-peeves is people who make other people feel bad about things that they like. Saya selalu percaya bahwa sudah seharusnya tiap orang punya hobi. Punya passion. Punya sesuatu yang mereka bener-bener suka. It could be anything. And by anything, I really mean anything. 

Sadly, ada orang-orang yang gak ngerti. 

Entah tuntutan sosial, entah something called norms or so whatever, ada orang yang gak bisa ngerti kenapa si ini seneng begini dan yang itu suka hal tertentu.

I love reading. I always love it. And I don’t find anything wrong about it (selain saldo tabungan yang gak nambah-nambah karena duitnya dipake beli buku terus). But some people just don’t get it why I can read some book over and over again, and still the books thrill me. Not many people can understand why I can really relate myself with some of fictional characters in the book (Leo Valdez!!!). Mind you, there are some fictional characters that I like much more than some people that I meet everyday in my real life.

When I started to do some writings, I try to keep a low voice on it. At first I try to hide it from my colleagues. But then, they happened to know. And what do you expect? Tentu saja saya diketawain. Yeah, by having a job as a lecturer, I am expected to write some scholarly and academic articles, not those cheesy romantic teen stories like the ones that I wrote.

My sister said that she could not understand with me crying over football. She said, “It’s just football.”.

Wrong. For her, it’s “just-football”. For me, for us, it’s more than that. It’s our pride. Our family. Our home. 

And now, writing combines with football? It’s a thing that I still a bit hesitant on telling it to others, except for those who really know me and don’t mind about it at all. 

Anyway, saya lalu mikir, mungkin itulah gunanya social media network. Sometimes you have these things that you want to share, but no one seems to understand nor even care.

Mungkin bagi kita, beberapa hal yang disukai orang lain sepertinya biasa aja. Cenderung sepele malah. But who knows, what we thinks as nothing important might be something really matters for them. 

Maybe it’s the reason for them to hang on.

Maybe it’s the things that they love and care the most.

Maybe it’s one of the things that really can make them smile and put some happiness in their heart.

Somehow, I find it heartless to mock people about those things that they like.

Because for me myself, I find it’s hard to have somebody says that to be absorbed in books are a waste of time. I find it hard when people say that there’s no need to cry over football. I know how difficult it is to tell people about the idea that’s been nagging in your head and you feel like you really have to write it down. 

Saya selama tiga hari masih gak bisa get over the fact of how Bartimaeus Trilogy end. (YOU CAN’T JUST DIE!!!).  Saya beneran nangis waktu akhirnya Percy dan Annabeth ketemu lagi. Saya ngecekin berita tiap sejam sekali waktu hari terakhir winter transfer season. Saya dua hari mati rasa kalau City kalah. Tahun lalu, malam waktu pertandingan terakhir City melawan QPR, saya udah sakit kepala dan mules sejak bangun di pagi harinya. I jumped out in joy, and felt like I was in cloud nine when Real Madrid won El Clasico, twice in a row, and followed with a win against United. Saya bisa bangun tengah malem dan nyalain laptop cuma karena I finally have that sentence to begin my one-shot with. 

Yes. I am emotionally involved with my passion.

Believe me, I know how it feels when it comes to emotions.

And that is why, it really irritates me when somebody makes fun of something that is important to other people. Intinya gini deh. Gak suka kan kalo sesuatu yang kita anggap penting malah dicela-cela? Sama. Orang juga gitu. Just, don’t do the things that we don’t want other people do to us. 

Sometimes it is strange how people can really get emotional about their hobbies or some other things. But that’s the way it is.

Saya aja gak ngerti soal K-Pop. But I try my best not to scowl at it. I find gardening and fishing as boring things to do. But I do understand that there are people who are really fond of it. There are some things that we just can’t understand. But surely, it does not simply mean that it’s bad. 

Someone once said to me that having a hobby is like running away from reality. You’re doing too much in your own world of hobby or whatever that is, because there’s something wrong with your real life.

Not necessarily that way.

I love my life. My real life. But I find that this other world that I create over my fondness on books, music, football and writing comes as a complement of my real life. They complete each other. There are things that I can only get from this other world.

I find new friends. I find that there are things that people really think I am good at (and being such an insecure person like me, it really means a lot).

So please. There are things that really means a lot to other people. Things that we might not understand. Things that might seem ridiculous for us, but on the other hand, those are the things that really matter, that keep them hanging on.

Why should we make people feel bad about things that mean a lot to them? How heartless we are to say mean things about what might be their source of happiness?

Maybe we cannot understand it. But leave it there. We have no right to destroy one’s happiness.

So please understand that I just don’t want to talk to anybody when my favorite character died/my team lose a game/the book that I am reading ends with a cliffhanger/my favorite player in the team is transferred to other team.

Cheers =) !

= Ami =