A Thousand Times Good Night

        

What does come to your mind when you see those pictures above? Feel disgusting? Cannot eat? Feel sorry? Asking what the picture is? Yeah, if you respond to the picture by feeling or asking about them, it means that your brain is still used. Ha ha.

Yet, have you ever thought about something behind that? The photographer. How can the picture come to your screen and then stimulate your heart to feel sympaty with the condition happened on the picture? Or might the picture activate your hand to donate?

You know, visual speaks louder, doesn’t it?

A Thousand Times Good Night. That was the film I watched lately, and it made me cried and thought deeply about a part of life; passion, carrier, and family. Rebecca is 40s old woman with a husband and two daughters.

She works as a photo journalist in a new york magazine company. She is very professional photrographer because all of her work are so stunning and can draw people’s attention in the world. What  are her photos about? She obsesses with reporting photos in dangerous war zone. In that film, she documents a group of female suicide bombers in Afghanistan. Someday, she gets permission to  accompany one of the suicide bombers to Kabul,where the premature detonation of the bomb severely injures her. You know, she is a woman without fear. She is always responsible for herself.  She does not care whether the situation is extremely dangerous. What she think is just showing the reality to people.

She sits near the suicide bombers, and then she has to drop in a somewhere in Kabul because the bom will be detonated in the middle of crowd. She run, but then she turns back and see children, old man, women there. She doesn’t feel compassion with them, so she screams “BOM”, and people are panic and run. But the denotation is so fast, and Rebecca cannot escape from the tragedy. Fortunately, she is still alive with seriously injured.

Her husband, Marcus, picks her up to go back to Irish, their home. Rebecca feels something different with Marcus and Steph’s attitude. *Steph is her first daughter.

“I can’t live with you anymore”, said Marcus.

“What?”, Becca surprised.

“You know, every night we just wait for this accident happens. Everyday I just wait for a call informing that you are injured. Now, choose the family or your career”, said Marcus.

Passion, carrier, and family. Sometimes a woman is faced by many difficult options to choose. I can feel what Rebecca feels. She loves her family and her job either. She has tried to sharpen her ability to take picture and her sense of humanity as well to make the picture alive since she was young. Yet, at the level she turns professional, she has to choose between family or career.

Well, a bit hard. Let me start with the marriage. My spiritual teacher used to say that set your vision of life and then find a man who has similar goals with you. In marriage, the will be so much differences between you and your partner. A man and a women have their own complex difference. Then, your family culture and his have the complex one as well. It will be very hard when it’s added by the very basic thing, that’s goal of life.

I agree with what Angelina Jolie said. It’s true that the happiness of life is when there’s so much clarity including what is your life for. Yes, your marriage (red:your life) will achieve happiness if you already set your goal and live with people who understand your goal or even have similar goals with you.

Furthermore, as a Muslim, we can get all the answers of life when we look up the Holy Qur’an. Where’s the position of women? Do you have a responsibility to earn money? Nope, it does not. Can you be a working mother? Yes, sure. But it has to be discussed first with the family and also gets permission from your husband. You know, the blessing of God is everything, isn’t it?

It must be sounded like not fair, and you will be very sad and disappointment. It’s normal. You are allowed to feel so. But, remember, some pains might be the best for you. These growing pains will be make you are more loved by Him. These pains will teach you some unknown lessons from Him that make you more mature. Sacrifice. Yes, it can be said in that word. Just recall the story of Ibrahim who must leave Hajar.

Finally, always believe that everything you mean for the goodness, you will find the way. Allah has promised about it. Don’t lose faith. Be patient for waiting His answer and his way. Keep praying, and Keep trying. Remember that we just live at once, so make it good for your eternal life.