the only thing you can change

wonderfully put here.

playground

what if the world is really your playground?

everyone has talent

On Thursday, I went with mom and the kids to Mall of Indonesia, Kelapa Gading. When we crossed the ground floor to go from lobby 5 to lobby 1, I glimpsed an x-banner ad by Jaya Suprana school of performing art (if I was not mistaken) and a beautiful quote by Erica Jong written on top of it. We were walking quickly with the two kids in tow and I missed the ending of the quote (with no chance to walk back and re-read). I found it just now, accidentally, when I was blog-surfing.

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.

I did not know who Erica Jong was. After a few clicks, I know that she is apparently a well-known novelist, essayist and poet. I also found her writings here.

couldn't fail

What would you do If you know you couldn't fail?

inspirations

Some people have always been a source for inspiration for me. One of them is my dear cousin, Cik Ing, who just started an inspiring blog to share her family's life stories. I've always looked up to her since as long as I can remember. I spent quite a lot of my childhood being with her (and her wonderful brother and lil sis) in their lovely home full of books and fun activities. :)

She just sent me an article about finding (and living) your heart's calling. Something I've been struggling with for years. Maybe I should share that in a separate post. For now, I'm just going to let what I've read sink in to add some courage to my soul.

On a lighter note, today we planned to visit the ob-gyn again! Yeah! We've actually planned not to have it once a month (but maybe once every one-and-a-half month, or two months, since I did not have any problem with the first pregnancy), but we usually could not wait to see the lil baby. Haha. The little one has been kicking pretty strongly these past few days, and every kick always brought a smile to my heart.

another rainy night

It's raining outside now. I love it when it rains (especially if I'm safely inside my room, reading).

Have been reading my old books, and want to share this:

"... God spoiled humans a bit, because He created far too much at the same time. He created so many strage things to look at that many people don't see God. But that's how He managed to hide Himself too. He wouldn't have been able to do that if only four people, three trees, two sheep, and eight camels existed in the whole of creation. If only one fish could be found in the sea, people would probably have noticed how perfect it was. And then they might have started asking who had made it." - Jostein Gaarder (The Christmas Mystery)

a wonder woman

Today my mom went back from Shanghai with my cousin and my wonderful grandmother. Grandma spent almost two months in that foreign city in a small hospital where everyone spoke a language she did not understand. She was treated unsuccessfully and went home thinner and paler than ever. She did not have the strength to stand up now because she spent all those time on the bed.

But her smile was still there. And she brought goodies for her loved ones! That was amazing. I mean, despite her suffering, she still remembered her friends, children, grandchildren, nieces, and brought them gifts. I never remembered hearing her complaining about her situation. Wincing from pain, yes, but never complaining.

Jove, you have a wonder woman as a great grandma!