Here Today, There Tomorrow

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Solideo - Singing Out of Love

Vincencia Dian March 29, 2018 0 Comments

I remember back to the day when I received my first work placement letter. I got KPPN Gunungsitoli, which meant Nias Island, my hometown. Instead of being super happy, I cried. I wasn't ready to give up my social life in the big city. I was afraid of being not able to fit in with new society and their whatsoever standards.

But turned out, being in a "new" place wasn't that bad after all. I made friends with new and old friends here. And the ones that I am so grateful for are my fellows in my church choir, Solideo. I've been in this choral group for 2 years now and I should say that this group is my sweet escape from work hustle and bustle. It helps me staying sane and balancing work and social life.

Vivi's wedding day. Went all the way to Lahewa only to sing on her special day

Focus, please😜

With The Bishop, Father Ludovicus Simanullang, OFMCap

Kak Imel's Wedding. We tried so hard to not cry while singing

I joined this group was not necessarily cause I'm good at singing and I have good voice. It was merely cause I loved singing but not confident enough to sing solo. So being in a choir is always something I opt for. I've been always a choir member since I was in Junior High School. The only time when I was not one was when I was in college. I private tutored Elementary to High School students back then, thus I didn't have any spare time for another extracurricular.

Not really good at singing, let alone reading notes, so it's pretty safe for me to say that I sing out of love 💛

Not only do we sing, but also we have fun together 😎

I've seen more things done by love within these 2 years. Some friends of mine are members of two choirs at the same time. They have to juggle with family, work and schedules and often I find them looking so tired especially during Christmas and Easter. Yet they do it anyway cause they love it. When I asked them, "Aren't you guys too tired being in 2 choirs? Why not just drop one and focus on the other one?". They just said, "No, cause it's fun and we enjoy it".

Some of my choir friends are school and college students. Instead of setting aside some of their time rehearsing, they could just hang out with their friends, or study or private tutor for money just like how I did when I was in college. But no, they choose to invest their time doing what they love doing.

Other ones amuse me even more. They are moms and dads who are undoubtedly have enough things to take care of in their houses, yet they still give time to sing their heart out with us. And surprisingly, they are more punctual than some of us who are still single (especially me). So, besides being friends, they are also role models for me that age, family and marriage is not an obstacle for you to self develop and do what you love doing. And of course, to appreciate time more.

I'm gonna end this story with a literally real love story and in order to make it even more real, I'm gonna tell it in Bahasa. This was a conversation my choir friends had last week, before Palm Sunday Mass.

Bang Roy: "Eh, Mak Jos. Kata Bang Pasaribu, dia kagumlah sama kau dan suamimu, Pak Jos. Masih setia mendampingi dan membimbing paduan suara Solideo ini"

Mak Jos: "Gimana ya, Bang. Kalo kami berhenti, aku dan Pak Jos jadi ingat, kalo kami dulu jumpa di paduan suara ini. Makanya sedih kalo sampai berhenti"

We wouldn't meet and fall in love at each other if it's not because of this choir. So, it would be so sad if we give up on this. -Mak Jos-

Mak Jos and Pak Jos. Aren't they the sweteeeesstt? Marriage goal💖💖💖

I was there hearing that conversation and automatically exclaimed "Oooohh..so sweet". My reaction may seem spontaneous but the impression that I got was deep. I wouldn't bother writing this post if I was not touched by that answer. I mean, if you can't see love in that answer, I don't know what else can you see?

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

"Tanggal Cantik"

Vincencia Dian March 21, 2018 0 Comments

21-03- 2018.

Today, out of nowhere, I was thinking that on this very day, 5 years ago, could be a perfect day to do something good. Well, I know that we are all taught that we should always do good everyday. But what I mean by "something" is things you never think you'd do before, something daring and challenging like starting a new business, hiking or jumping off a cliff, starting a conversation to someone you've been secretly stalked and infatuated with or anything special that you'd like to remember.

21-03-2013, nice combination of number, isn't it?

Lucky numbers, high hopes.

Well not everybody think the same way, but perhaps in Indonesia, some people still think that there are such good days, good dates, lucky numbers, "tanggal cantik" and so on. Therefore, many people would choose those particular days and dates to get married, to give birth (C-section), to propose to the girlfriends (or boyfriends) or to confess love. Ya, I know I sound cheesy but I bet some people would smile and nod with me on this 🙂

http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/numbers-and-metrication/

So, tell me what did you do on this day, 5 years ago?

There's nothing wrong about stopping for a while and reflecting your life on this -not christmas nor new year nor your birthday- day. How far you've been walking within this 5 years, your accomplishment, your loss and what it taught you, how far you've changed, and have you become the person you wished you would become 5 years later?

I personally had nothing special happening on 21-03-2013. Too many things occured all the way from March 21,2013 to March 21,2018. It's a little impossible to recall everything date by date. But I think, I can still remember some of the in-betweens.

Life has done me wonders. It's been a hell of a ride. There were some days when I jumped so high and there were some days I had to stoop so low to gather my pieces. The person I am now wasn't exactly the person I tought I would become. I've changed quite a lot in terms of thinking, vision, behavior, commitment and many more. I've grown.

Early this morning, I opened up my diary again and found out my bucket list I wrote several years ago. Some were ticked, some were still empty. Some were still relevant, some made me wonder what I was thinking when I wrote them 😜

Now back to you, what did you do on this day, 5 years ago?

Ps:

It's funny that I ended up this post with a question because apparently nobody's gonna read this post anyway, so nobody's gonna answer. And I think that's the good thing of having my own blog. I can express my thought without worrying of flooding people's social media homepage with my long random rant. It's like running and rolling and jumping on your own lawn.

But if you happen to read this, then thanks a lot!

Warmest hugs all the way from here to there,

Dian 💕

# Life # Random Thought

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Worry Not, Soul!

Vincencia Dian February 22, 2018 4 Comments

This was us at Bungsu's babtism and Paul insisted on wearing the new helmet during Sunday Mass. He "ruined" our first family photo but now it is one of our funny memories and this photo is definitely all family members' favorite.

Remember when you’re still kids? What did scare you the most? What was your deepest fear?

Well, mine was sleeping alone.

I remembered sleeping together with my mom, dad and my four little brothers in one bed every night. Some kids slept parallelly with my parents, others would be sleeping above their heads and others below their feet. Any sparse area would be filled with mom and dad as the center.

When I was 4, our bodies grew bigger and the bed didn’t fit us anymore. So, my dad placed another bed in the bedroom, for me and one of my brothers. They arranged those beds lengthwise, so we could sleep head to head with my parents. Every night, they put the two of us in the bed and at midnight, my brother would move back to my parents bed and left me alone. I could’t sleep afterwards, the only thing that would put me back to sleep was my dad’s outstretched hand from their bed, holding my hand all night long.

While I was in elementary and middle school, my biggest anxiety was merely undone homeworks and pop quizzes.

Growing up as a teenage, I was active and involved in many school activities but deep inside, I was the shy girl who never felt good enough about herself. I didn’t fit in any group therefore I would be the one standing alone at the edge of the field after a traditional dance rehearsal, or I would diffuse in the crowd with no one to talk to. I always felt so much behind the conversation. Perhaps, I was the nerdy girl among the social butterflies.

The anxiety of being in the crowd grew deeper when I was in college. I didn’t know how to start a conversation and keep it up without a boring silence. Attending community made me tired instantly and being alone recharged me. I enjoyed the company of closed friends but not for a long time.

As I grow older, I realized that all these years, I only worried about the present. I only worried about what made me comfortable and what not. I never thought of the past and the future.

I should become more certain and braver by now, as I age, but in fact, many more things thrill me. A pitch dark room scares me no more, I have no more homeworks and exams that will keep me up till dawn yet I have trouble sleeping and hesitation to decide.

I never know that the past can be so scary, let alone the future. Failures haunt me and everytime I try to start anew, the thought will play in my head on and on like a broken cassette. But if I don’t move on, if don’t push myself, if don’t challenge myself, what will I be?

I know what I want in life, it’s just that I’m too scared to fail again, till one day I picked this random book from a book shelf in Gramedia, 99 Wisdom by Gobin Vashdev. I fell in love with the way he elaborates his thought about life into encouraging words. And the one that I hold on to these days is

I think, I’ve been trying to carry too much baggage and it’s about time I will stumble upon it. So, I need to let go and travel light.

I need to do what I need to do without too much worrying about the outcome, stop trying to control everything, anticipate every options and surrender the rest to Divine Intervention.

Luke 12:27-29
²⁷“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! ²⁹And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.

All these years, I have everything laid down in front of me just at the right time, never too early, never too late. The life I have now is nothing like what I had imagined when I was a kid. People from my childhood look at me with an awe for what I am right now. Life has treated me well so far.

So, why worry so much, girl?

Now, chin up and embrace the future! 👊💢

Ps: 99 Wisdom is the second book of Gobind Vashdev that I read. My first one was Happiness Inside and to be honest, I like the first one better than the second one. In my opinion, Gobind can tell the stories more lavishly in Happiness Inside while in 99 Wisdom, he is limited to elaborate the idea into shorter stories since he has to load 99 chapters into one book. But either way, I love them both and I've been keeping these books at the edge of my bed along with my bible.

# Book # Family

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Greetings from The "Dead Sea"

Vincencia Dian November 23, 2017 2 Comments

If you hear about Nias Island, what comes to your mind first?

I bet you’ll say surfing in Sorake and stone jumping in Bawomataluo. Well, let me tell you something. We are so much more than that, we have many more things in our pocket to amaze you. We have caves, megaliths, waterfalls and, of course, beaches. I myself am not as lucky as my friends who get the opportunity to explore every inches of this island and since the beaches are the easiest spots to access, that’s where I always go most of the times.


The seashore

This beach I’m going to tell you had given me the experience of snorkeling again. But we didn’t snorkel like the pros do, we didn’t have any snorkeling equipment either. Goggles only, thus we only snorkeled at the shallow parts of the sea. But the water was so crystal clear, we could see fishes and all underwater creatures even before dipping ourselves into the water.

Photos were taken with DSLR. So bad that we didn't have any camera for underwater purpose

The unique thing about this spot is that it has a shoal in the middle of the sea. The seashore itself is only reefs and water, no sand. So if the purpose of coming here is to build sand castles and sunbathe, you have to get on a boat to reach the shoal. It was my first time visiting this place, and I was amazed by how many colourful fishes I saw (though it was not as many as fishes we could see if we snorkel in the deep water). Our boatman said that the number and variety of the fishes had dwindled due to the fish catching by fishermen and tourist.
So sad 😭

It took around 10 minutes by boat from the sea shore to the shoal in the middle of the sea

The shoal

Boat fare was only Rp 10.000,- , too cheeeaaappppp

By the way, Tureloto is also known for its high salinity, no wonder the water tasted so salty and felt so drying on the skin. A travel web even refered this beach as the Dead Sea Of Indonesia (read: 5 Fakta Cantik Soal Pantai Tureloto, Laut Mati di Indonesia).

So, greetings from the "Dead Sea", everyone 😎😘

# Beach # Friends

Saturday, October 28, 2017

To Pink Beach Off We Go!!!

Vincencia Dian October 28, 2017 0 Comments

This Thursday, my office mates and I got an assignment to do a work visitation to North Nias. We were done with the work thingy a little sooner than expected. So we decided to drive back to Gunungsitoli right away, as usual, till one of us came up with a name of place we rarely heard about.

Considering that we still had plenty of time to reach downtown and the curiosity had already kicked in, so PINK BEACH it is!!!


Still in my work apparel along with ID and high heels 👢👢👚

Pink Beach is only 20 minutes drive from Lahewa, the capital city of North Nias, 2 hours drive from Gunungsitoli. All along the way, we were spoiled with such beautiful scenery of the village, tiny houses, plantation, and smooth winding road.

Touching the sand was the best feeling ever. The particle of the sand is slightly smaller and subtler than the sand of other beaches

By the way, this beach is named Pink Beach for the colour of the sand. Some say that it gets more pinkish in the afternoon. It was around 3 pm when we got there and in my opinion, the sand was rather orange with a little hint of pink colour. Everything was vivid and contrast. The orangey pinky sand, blue water and sky, purple flowers and green coconut plantation. So technicolor!!!

Everything was so vibrant except our clothes 😎

No need to explain the beauty of this place anymore, it was breathtaking and jaw dropping. I'm not exaggerating. I think this place is a little underrated among other beaches in Nias Island. But that's what makes it even more special. Tranquil and deserted.

Nowadays, when everything is so overated, every places are so packed, everyday is all hustle and bustle. There will be times when we feel insignificant and can't keep up with life. A place like this is all we need.

Lots of love,
Dian💕

# Beach # Friends

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Outbond KPPN Gunungsitoli feat. Komunitas Tapak Kaki

Vincencia Dian October 17, 2017 1 Comments

Dalam rangka melaksanakan acara tahunan kantor yaitu Corner Day 2017, kantorku memutuskan untuk ngadain acara outbond yang agak beda dari biasanya. Kalo biasanya kami outbond-nya ke pantai trus nge-games seadanya pake properti ala-ala yang disiapin sendiri, kali ini kami bekerja sama dengan fasilitator pecinta alam di Gunungsitoli yaitu Komunitas Tapak Kaki.

Sewaktu tau kalo outbond kali ini bakalan difasilitasi oleh pihak ketiga, kita mikirnya tuh kegiatannya bakalan yayaya-yeyeye doang, sampai akhirnya kita harus ngelakuin hal-hal yang cukup memacu adrenalin dan menguras tenaga. Dengan beranggotakan 15 orang pegawai dan dipandu oleh 6 orang fasilitator, kegiatan ini berhasil bikin kami melakukan sesuatu yang tidak akan kami lakukan kalo tidak “terpaksa” :P

Berikut sedikit bocoran dari keseruan kami Sabtu kemarin:

Lokasi

Outbond ini berlokasi di Pantai Hoya, Gunungsitoli tapi seluruh kegiatannya dilaksanakan di taman yang dikelilingi hutan dan sungai kecil. Lokasi outbond ini sepertinya ga saklek disini aja deh, namanya juga yang ngadain kelompok pecinta alam, tempatnya pasti bisa dimana aja asalkan itu dekat dengan alam. Aku pribadi excited banget begitu sampai ke lokasi outbond dan liat set-up nya, langsung ketauan kalo kegiatannya bakalan seru banget.

Waktu

Kegiatan kami dibagi dalam 2 sesi yaitu games ringan untuk menguji kekompakan dan daya nalar dari pukul 10.00 WIB-12.0 WIB kemudian outbond dari pukul 14.00 WIB-17.00 WIB.

Games and Outbond

Berhubung aku ga tau sama sekali nama-nama games dan outbond-nya, aku kasi foto-fotonya aja yaaa...

Fasilitas

Seluruh properti dan venue disediakan oleh Komunitas Tapak Kaki sebagai fasilitator kami. Kami hanya menyiapkan hadiah bagi tim juara saja karena memang dari awal kami ingin konsep pertandingan antar tim. Dan yang lebih asiknya lagi, kami dikasiin satu album berisi foto-foto kegiatan kami Sabtu kemarin plus seluruh softcopy-nya. Yey...

Btw, berhubung ini adalah bagian dari kegiatan Corner Day, maka kami juga punya agenda untuk berfoto sekantor dengan berbagai atribut kantor yang dikreasikan sendiri. Tema photo session kali ini adalah rustic, walaupun pada eksekusinya malah jadi kayak prewed haha... Nah, salah satu fasilitatornya, Bang Krisman Harefa, voluntarily mau menjadi photographer kami juga looohh..padahal sebenarnya kami sudah bawa kamera sendiri dari kantor. Tapi berhubung hasil jepretannya jaaaauuuuhhhh lebih bagus, maka jadilah kami minta difotoin sama abangnya aja.

Final Thought

Selama nge-games dan outbond, beberapa diantara kami cukup enjoy dan beberapa merasa sedikit kesulitan, namun para fasilitator bener-bener bisa mengarahkan dan membuat kami termotivasi untuk melawan ketakutan diri sendiri dan akhirnya menyelesaikan seluruh tantangan. Sepulangnya dari outbond ini, ada perasaan puas dan pikiran, “wah, aku bisa juga ya ternyata” dan menurutku pribadi, inti dari kegiatan outbond kemarin adalah itu, bahwa semua orang mampu melakukan hal-hal di luar batas kemampuannya asalkan ada kemauan dan semangat. Kita tidak pernah tau sejauh mana kemampuan kita hingga kita berhasil menantang dan menaklukkan diri sendiri.

Sepengetahuanku pribadi, kegiatan outbond seperti yang dibawakan oleh Komunitas Tapak Kaki ini masih tergolong baru di Pulau Nias namun komunitas ini mampu memfasilitasi kegiatan kami dengan sangat profesional dan menyesuaikan dengan kebutuhan kantor kami. Seluruh fasilitatornya ramah, baik dan lucu sehingga walaupun capek dan kotor-kotoran, kita tetap bisa bersenang-senang dan ketawa-ketiwi. Pokoknya cocok banget buat diajak kerjasama untuk kegiatan outbond kantor, perusahaan ataupun kelompok.

Oh iya, mereka juga banyak eksplor alam, tempat-tempat eksotis dan tersembunyi di sekitaran Pulau Nias loohhh...jadi kalo temen-temen penasaran dengan komunitas ini, kepoin aja instagram dan channel youtube mereka yang bernama Nias Tapak Kaki Community.

Last but not least, trimakasih buat smua abang-abang dari Komunitas Tapak Kaki. Sukses terus dan semoga semakin jauh menapakkan kakinya hingga ke seluruh pelosok Pulau Nias.

Yaahowu.

# Family # Friends

Here Today, There Tomorrow

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Solideo - Singing Out of Love

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

"Tanggal Cantik"

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Worry Not, Soul!

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Greetings from The "Dead Sea"

Saturday, October 28, 2017

To Pink Beach Off We Go!!!

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Outbond KPPN Gunungsitoli feat. Komunitas Tapak Kaki

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