Breaking the Habit
Blogger’s General Warning: Fasting may result in loss of weight, water, toxins and sense of humor.
(My…)
Dirty habit: smoking and sometimes, smoking. Dirtier habit: hogging the microphone during group karaoke. Karaoke: not just a laughable activity exclusive to laughable, drunken Japanese businessmen but laughable people in general, such as yours truly. Yesterday, I think I might have burst a kidney while attempting to sing Bohemian Rhapsody. Dirtiest habit: musicians. And my tendency to fall hopelessly in love (subtitle: scarily obsessed) with them.
Someone needs to remind me that the phrase is ‘Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll’ not ‘Sex, Drugs & Karaoke’. And ‘sex’ doesn’t just refer to whether you’re male or female.
Somewhere in between dreaming the great rock and roll dream and reconciling oneself with one’s conservative upbringing and the great humdrum of suburban life, is a Communication student.
Whose life is a series of habits piled one on top of another.
So today marks the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadhan where one is suppose to i) abstain from food, water, sex and smoking during daylight hours and ii) try harder to abstain from unholy/ impure/ plain bad ass thoughts, actions, speech and personal dirty habits even more so than usual. Keep in mind that one man’s personal dirty habit might be another man’s anti-bacterial hand gel. What’s the purpose of it all? The standard textbook answer: to purify one’s mind, body and soul. Think of it as a 3-in-1 detox program. Think of it as religious duty, think of it as a matter of afterlife and death and if you don’t, think of it as yet another habit.
Someone must have forgotten to tell me that spiritual and emotional well being cannot be attained out of habit. It cannot be attained by turning the journey of living life itself into an automated process.
And judging by how hungry I am right now, and how I’m just about ready to murder helpless orphan children for a cigarette, someone must have forgotten to wake me up for sahur.
* tak-faham-bahasa translation: Sahur – a meal usually taken shortly before dawn; opportunity to stuff oneself up with food, water, and cigarettes before commencement of the day’s 12-hour fast; highly recommended if not obligatory practice; opportunity for family members to ruin your day even earlier than usual.
(My…)
Dirty habit: smoking and sometimes, smoking. Dirtier habit: hogging the microphone during group karaoke. Karaoke: not just a laughable activity exclusive to laughable, drunken Japanese businessmen but laughable people in general, such as yours truly. Yesterday, I think I might have burst a kidney while attempting to sing Bohemian Rhapsody. Dirtiest habit: musicians. And my tendency to fall hopelessly in love (subtitle: scarily obsessed) with them.
Someone needs to remind me that the phrase is ‘Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll’ not ‘Sex, Drugs & Karaoke’. And ‘sex’ doesn’t just refer to whether you’re male or female.
Somewhere in between dreaming the great rock and roll dream and reconciling oneself with one’s conservative upbringing and the great humdrum of suburban life, is a Communication student.
Whose life is a series of habits piled one on top of another.
So today marks the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadhan where one is suppose to i) abstain from food, water, sex and smoking during daylight hours and ii) try harder to abstain from unholy/ impure/ plain bad ass thoughts, actions, speech and personal dirty habits even more so than usual. Keep in mind that one man’s personal dirty habit might be another man’s anti-bacterial hand gel. What’s the purpose of it all? The standard textbook answer: to purify one’s mind, body and soul. Think of it as a 3-in-1 detox program. Think of it as religious duty, think of it as a matter of afterlife and death and if you don’t, think of it as yet another habit.
Someone must have forgotten to tell me that spiritual and emotional well being cannot be attained out of habit. It cannot be attained by turning the journey of living life itself into an automated process.
And judging by how hungry I am right now, and how I’m just about ready to murder helpless orphan children for a cigarette, someone must have forgotten to wake me up for sahur.
* tak-faham-bahasa translation: Sahur – a meal usually taken shortly before dawn; opportunity to stuff oneself up with food, water, and cigarettes before commencement of the day’s 12-hour fast; highly recommended if not obligatory practice; opportunity for family members to ruin your day even earlier than usual.
