List of Thoughts

By Aneesah, 4 Dec 16

1. My toddler’s tantrums remind me that I am raising a human being, not an angel. Developing, struggling, changing… they happen to kids at such an amazing rate! It’s on us to help them, forgive them, for they are feeling all sorts of — literally — new things: and even their response to the new feelings brings up new feelings!
2. I am thankful that receiving a book as a gift (this one 😉 ) last year reignited my habit of reading. Reading is my lifeline, my window to the vast “outside”. I’ve learnt lots not just directly from the content, but from the experience of reading: things like being critical of the quality, noticing the structure and style of the books, discovering that I find some types of thoughts (writing) more pleasant than others.
3. I’ve taken action on something that’s been on my mind of late: the psychological struggles that mothers face. From personal experience and from reading the news, I know that the emotional and mental states of mothers are challenged daily, and that it can lead to incredibly undesirable consequences. So I formed a mothers’ support group on Facebook. :boogie: It is a small, cozy one, currently consisting of 30 members, most of whom are my personal friends and acquaintances. This was one of those cases of having thoughts like, “I wish I had a private space to rant and share Mummy-things so that my public Facebook isn’t all my-kid-this and my-kid-that”, “I wonder if so-and-so has somewhere she writes and rants about her day”, “I would love to have one collection of parenting resources that I can share with others too” … and then it dawned on me to just go ahead and start my own group. :B
4. I’ve returned to some old hobbies: sewing, sketching, video-editing (my latest travel edit is below), as well as finding a new interest in interior design videos on YouTube. I’ve always had opinions (read: complaints) on local interior design styles, and am starting to build my own tastes via channels like Mr Kate and House&Home. :clap:
5. I’d like to share this quote from DOPStv, “If you are not being of service to the reality around you, then what are you doing? You’re consuming. And that’s not our nature. We [Muslims] are like the fragrance in the room.” It’s something that’s come up in my mind loads, especially while scrolling through social media (I wish I can say this was a reflection on my own life first and foremost, but I’m afraid it wasn’t!): one can so easily be swallowed by the waves of dunya: by the glitz and glitter, by the food and fame, by the names and numbers, that one forgets to give. I pray that Allah protects us from merely being consumers in this life, that He allows us to contribute continuously even if it’s a little at a time.

Good night.