The Other Half

Why do people use this phrase 'the other half'? Aren't we complete before we meet our life partner? Do we become halved when we're married or in a relationship?

I certainly feel I'm complete and happy with my life before I met hubby. I truly believe I can conquer the world on my own.

Now after marriage, I experienced the 'effect-of-the-other-half' which makes me wonder if I could ever feel like before... more in control of my feelings.

It certainly is scary how someone can have such a control over our emotion and life. How sunny and rosy everything is when he's happy; how life suddenly looks bleak and grey when someone's 'merajuk' or mad; how much I want to fix things to make it better for him if he's sad; how I can't control my 'muncung' when something upsets me even if I practically don't want to pout over something silly.

I can feel it... the moment the 'muncung' started to appear. My cheek feels tight and even if I force myself to smile, the 'muncung' can't be hidden. Hubby mentioned about my 'muncung' few times but most of the time they were not because of him. Maybe I was worried or concerned about something and during those times I didn't even realize I was pouting. It's when I know I pout and can't un-pout myself that concerns me.

I'm a practical person. I do and say things because of its practicality. 'Muncung' is not practical because you did not effectively communicate what you really want to get the result you expected. The other party would keep guessing what's the problem and if you're unlucky, the 'muncung' would infect the other party and it would probably be even longer than yours :)

Lucky for me, or is it lucky for hubby, my 'muncung' appears very rarely by women's standard. That's metaphorically speaking. Of course I can't measure what's the women's standard of pouting to their other half but I do know between hubby and me, he's the top record holder of 'merajuk' and 'muncung'. Sayaannnnggg abang, senyum cikit :D

No he's not sulking or pouting now. If it's not over a really serious matter or misunderstanding, I even find it cute coz I have very few and far between experience of a 'merajuk' male. I can remember a long time ago when abah 'merajuk' with mom, not directly to me and not because of me... and my brothers, I don't think they ever do. If they're not happy with something, they just get mad.

If you Google the word 'merajuk' you'd discover many reference that said there's no exact English word equivalent to 'merajuk'. Funny isn't it. Sulk, upset, dismayed couldn't really capture the essence of the word. So maybe it's a behaviour unique to this part of the world. We've also heard the phrase "merajuk pada yang sayang"... something you can't really control and happens because you want the attention of your loved ones. The way you 'merajuk' to your family member and your other half is also different.

My verdict, I understand now why people use "the other half" phrase. Not only you do many things together (like a Siamese twin), your emotion is closely linked too. I can sense when something is not right for hubby even if he tried to act normal, he can sense when there's something on my mind, even without the 'muncung'. We just got married and I still got comments "berseri-seri pengantin baru" from colleagues, I wonder how much more attuned we would be to each other after 20-30 years of marriage :)

Note: This is my 500th post! Wow! Not many considering I blogged since 2003 but I still feel it is an accomplishment. 500 posts. Wowww.... :)