HAVE you ever felt like you have just met new people, but it feels like you have known them forever? That was what I experienced as soon as I had my very first encounter with fellow Pemapan 2021. Having been in a community as one for a year or so, at length, we met in real life. Truth be told, anxiety was a soul-stirring song and insecure feeling was a shadow all along. “What if I am not as what they expected me to be?”, “What if I am unlikeable?”, and a lot more what-ifs muddling up with a buzzing elation of what adventures I could find ahead of me. However perplexing, at the end of the day, I could proudly say that every over-thought thing was a fool and that I have found a place I get to call home.

I spent my train journey to Jakarta all by myself since I did not manage to buy the same ticket as my Yogyakarta-based fellows; it was never a big deal for me nonetheless. However, there was a slight wish that I had been on the same trip with at least one person that I knew. Unexpectedly, other fellows from Surabaya – who turned out to have a tad similar train schedule – gave me a heads-up that they would love to wait for my arrival so we could go to Canossa together. Frankly speaking, I was so touched with their act of benevolence towards me – given that we were practically “strangers” – and that had only just begun; I knew straight away that I would come across a lot more kindliness and lovely friends onwards. 

I was right (and wrong, about my earlier bugging thoughts), I made friends with everyone in no time and we shared remarkable moments together along the way. Not to mention that it was utterly a pleasure to get to know Bhumiksara’s committee deeper, to listen to their eye-opening stories, and to be on the same wavelength as Bhumiksarawans. Apart from that, I am so grateful for all of the sessions we had – kicking off with “Who Am I?” as means to better our understanding about ourselves and others, bridging in with a gender equality workshop to enrich us on how we perceive gender roles and their issues in society, then broadening our knowledges about personal branding, and the last but not least evoking our modernised life with an incredible webinar about metaverse. 

Through time, not only did I grasp new perspectives about things, but I also got to establish a stronger bond with my fellows. It was an awesome one we had, as what I mentioned in the beginning: it feels like I have known them forever. We had various cultural backgrounds and we came from all over Indonesia, but not a single dime I spent to find a matter about it. We exchanged stories and had some laughs, we made promises and shared love. We cared for each other unconditionally and developed a solid connection called harmony. 

Never have I ever been in a community so kindly, that I gladly call them family. Never have I ever been so loved by the used-to “strangers”, that I merrily call them my life changers. We were there for a reason and it was surely not a coincidence. We are now here for a mission and it will absolutely be prudence. Now that I found you in serendipity, I hope we can keep us bonded for infinity.