here. there. everywhere. @emiralda - Tumblr Blog

Al hajju Arafah.

Sekarang saya bisa memahami kenapa orang-orang yang sudah pergi berhaji sedemikian merindu untuk kembali dan sedemikian excited menyimak berjalannya prosesi haji setiap tahunnya.

Di hari Arafah esok hari, semoga nikmat khusyu dan ketenangan hati saat wukuf tahun lalu akan dapat kembali saya alami dan tetap tinggal (semoga selamanya) di dalam hati. Aamiin ya Allah.

The Wonderful Surprise: 2022

2020 and 2021 went like a blink of an eye. Not that nothing special happened, but rather, pandemic just hit me differently. I took so much time and space just to think through life. To be completely honest, I was probably stressing out even more these past two years than I had ever been my entire life. Well, my life has always been simple - I’m always getting by, no matter what 😅

Then came 2022. Life was slowly getting back to normal. Pandemic was indeed life-changing.

Or so I thought.

Well, somewhat true.

But not entirely.

What has been even more life-changing was: Hajj.

Prior to the departure, I was worrying about so many things: first Hajj wave post-C19, going alone, and so many what-ifs-bad-things-happened, and ultimately: was this for real, was I ready?

Everything felt surreal that I was only telling close families and few close friends just few weeks before departure. I could even remember being on the plane flying to Mecca and still thinking whether that Hajj trip was for real.

But when I got there, all doubts gone. All questions answered. All of family and friends’ prayers and wishes helped, certainly.

Countless blessings, to name a few: the Day of Arafah fell on Friday (or known as Haji Akbar). This year, only ~40% people went to Hajj compared to usual hence certainly less crowd. Had the chance to make the most of 25 Hajj days. Getting new friends (and meeting old friends too!) — I completely forgot that I once had worries about going alone. From the simplest things to the most complicated ones, I kept on getting nice surprises. Nothing I can complain about, I brought home only wonderful memories.

And indeed, in so many of ways that I (this mercilessly-bawel moi!) had no words to explain, Hajj was so far, and by far, an ultimate life-changing experience. Alhamdulillaah.

each time, every time.