For the last few days, I have been struck by some impactful lines coming from a brilliant American musical.
Let me tell you what I wish I’d known when I was young and dreamed of glory. You have no control: who lives, who dies, who tells your story.
“History Has Its Eyes on You” — a song written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, sung by Christoper Jackson
Life will test and surprise us, almost always unexpectedly. But between the strands of events or frustrations, we find diamonds. Our story that worth diamonds. Who is going to tell it? Our loved ones or strangers? Friends or foes?
How are they going to tell your stories?
Image by Rachel Claire
Documentation
Pictures taken at certain moments will simply bring back the nostalgia that can flood our hearts. But not only pictures, text as simple as a paragraph, or a blog like this, also can do the same thing. It is a high (bias or unbiased) overview of what was life looked like back then.
Capturing the moments of living has been one of my self-proclaimed jobs for the last few years. I’ve been interested in cameras since middle school. I managed to make it such a work that doesn’t deteriorate the quality of enjoying the present moment.
When I entered college, the captures were not only photographs. It diversified into posters, meeting excerpts, reports, and even videos. Most of them are contextualized to a certain chain of events.
I can’t say that those things are my legacy. I didn’t pass all those times with glory results. Some are great, but some are also worth being ashamed of. But I can make the stories of these documentations my legacy, in the spirit of telling my own story.
I want to be the one, or the first one, who tells the slices of my life.
16 Stories This is the list of titles I want to write for the next several posts.
- P3I 1438 H and Kreator
- SSC-LMD
- P3RI 1439 H & 1440 H
- Sekolah Pemikiran Islam
- Asrama Salman 2018-2022
- GAMAIS ITB
- HIMATIKA ITB
- Beasiswa Aktivis Salman
- Elite Circle Mentorship
- Mathematics
- Bangkit Academy
- Komprof Intelektual Muda
Yeah, 12 points from 4 years of college life.
I hope that this retrospective will make me realise with mind and heart that what I’ve done is not good enough. In fact, I wish to
no more feeling good enough, but strive in doing enough good.
I don’t know how much time is left for me. I don’t know what kind of impact I have given to the world and the people around me. I don’t know what actual deeds that Allah rewards and punish me for.
Then when Allah calls me, have I done enough?
Will my life become a story full of good deeds in akhirat?
I can only seek His Forgiveness.