welcoming 28. 🪐👁️👌🏽✨ on the very night I turned 27 last year, I stared at the cosmic stars in Joshua Tree. everyone was asleep after a night filled with celebrations, but a friend and I continued to yap and yearn about... well, life. I asked myself, “what would’ve happened had I lived the life I was ‘pre-destined’ to live? what if I never dreamt big? what if I never left home? what if I followed the regular programming of life back in Indonesia?” I thought about normalcy, about stability, about nine-to-fives. what would I have been doing? what would I be listening to? smelled like? have done in life? everything seemed so easy—and while I’m thankful for where I am, my stubborn Taurus ass wondered. but then the rings of Saturn whispered in my ear: there’s no pre-destined life. this was my so-called fucking destiny. as I’m writing this in the back of the Uber atm, I can’t help but bawl my eyes out and wonder—how incredibly lucky and blessed I am to do what I’ve always loved and call it reality. I get to dress the way I want, be surrounded by kind, supportive family and friends, and just honestly... slay and call this a lifeline. this year, I promised myself no material goals—just radical gratitude. no matter how hard it gets, how much it hurts, how much I want to quit—I will always be thankful. for this God-given gift called life, called art, called love. my nostalgia lately feels like power. the things that used to trigger me—songs, memories, streets—now just make me feel blessed. every old song brings me back to younger versions of me... yearning in the back of my parents’ car. partying at 16 with my high school friends in Bali. hopping on the plane as I moved to LA. moments of extreme sadness. big and small victories this morning I looked in the mirror and thought—this is the last day I’ll ever be 27 (well, I’m already 28 in Indonesia haha). and I told the man in the mirror: you’ve made it, babe. and you’ll keep going. today, I hug the younger Reinhardt who just wanted to see the world, dress up, and make art. this one’s for him. today we pray. tomorrow we celebrate (iykyk—don’t forget to RSVP). forever & always. a requiem to him.