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Starting Over at 30: What Getting Stuck Taught Me About Letting Go
Lessons in burnout, clarity, and coming home to myself
“Sometimes the longest journey we make is the sixteen inches from our heads to our hearts.” — Elena Avila
Have you ever looked around and thought, “How did I get here?”
Not in a dramatic way, just a quiet sense that something’s off. That the version of yourself you once knew has gotten lost somewhere in the doing, the striving, the surviving.
Ever since I began sharing my journey as an engineer — through podcasts like Voice of America and conversations with former Indonesian ministers like Dahlan Iskan and Gita Wirjawan — I’ve received hundreds of heartfelt messages from people across Indonesia. From parents, students, young professionals, even complete strangers.
Each message carried a quiet kind of grace — reminders of hope, shared dreams, and the invisible threads that connect us. Some stayed with me for years — cold emails that somehow became a source of warmth.
Just last week, I received another one that reminded me why I wanted to share my story again. It felt deeply relatable, echoing what so many people I know are quietly going through.
“Hi ka Moorissa, my name is Z! I’ve been…
