(Reminiscing) My Salad Days.

(A word of notice: (assumed) cheesy blog entry.)

Today I was picked up by my parents in my cousin's house at Kelapa Gading because I was staying there for over a week. After that, we went straight to Bintaro (kayak ujung dunia satu ke ujung dunia lain) to my (other) cousin's farewell eatout at Hanamasa Bintaro Plaza cos he was about to depart to Germany to pursue his master degree. And then we went to my uncle's house which is a 5 minute walk from my house, in which my extended family wanted to have a karaoke session there.

Not being much of a karaoke whore (and not feeling like it), I decided to read manga in my cousin's room. Searching for some good stuff to read, I suddenly stumbled across a favorite series of mine: Salad Days by Shinobu Inokuma. It's a collection (if you would say) of classic love stories that center mostly on high school and college romance. I read through 6 of them before I decided I have no better business than to be at home sweet home. Since my mom, dad, and little brother is still having a good time there, I decided to walk back to my abode.

As I walked, I thought and contemplated on one thing and one thing only: love. From what I have re-read in Salad Days, defining love can be so simple and infinitely complex at the same time. It's a human necessity that can also lead to a human's nihilism. It can both fulfill a person and also destroy a person. You can give so little or so much and it still can be defined as love. And yes, although I may be too inexperienced for me to say such things, one things is for sure; my own high school salad days has already ended, moving into the next stage and counting (to God knows how many other stages left). And whatever is lying out there, is entirely up to me to explore it.

It finally came to me, after reaching my house gate, that love is something that I must continually redefine and remember every singe day of my life. And this point in my life, it's just the mere beginning.

"When I think of my high school days,
I think of you.

And when I do,
I remember everything; the talks, laughs, the dances, and the embraces.
Although you may or may not love me;
trust me, I do.

Because through you, I can know how to love, more than anything.
And therefore, I am ready to stand up and face life.
I hope you will, too.

When I see the sunshine,
I think about love.
When I do,
I knew that it started...

from you."