Some mornings, I wake up thinking in German. Other days, it’s Bahasa Melayu. And for a solid few seconds, English is nowhere to be found. My brain, without warning, just picks a language and runs with it—like it decided to rewire itself overnight while I was sleeping.
It’s weird. And mildly annoying. Because when I first wake up, I’m not prepared to translate my own thoughts. So I just sit there, silent, waiting for English to crawl back to me like a lost puppy. And eventually, it does. Always.
Maybe my brain is trying to tell me something. Maybe it’s proof that I belong everywhere and nowhere all at once. That I carry every place I’ve lived, every language I’ve spoken, inside me—even if I don’t always have control over when they show up.
But when my thoughts get too tangled, when everything feels like a blur of past and present, I turn to something more reliable: music.
There are songs that don’t need translation, only feeling. Like Baba Yetu—a song in Swahili that makes my chest feel lighter, even though I don’t understand every word. Or Lambada—a song of longing and movement that somehow makes sadness feel like dancing.
And maybe that’s the key. Maybe “goodbye” doesn’t always have to be spoken. Maybe it can be sung. Maybe it can be carried in melodies, in memories, in the quiet understanding that what we love stays with us, even when we leave.
What about you? Have you ever woken up thinking in another language? Or found a song that makes you feel at home, no matter where you are?
Let’s talk. 👇
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