Writer
“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
– Frank Herbert, Dune.
The mind – a dim, hazy blur.
Restless muscles, not a second of comfort.
Deprived of sleep, a walking soulless spirit of the nights.
Mornings seem dark and groggy.
Every day, a new kind of pain.
Writing in the present state,
A futile attempt.
Perched on the branch,
Mr. Cat watched the changing colors of the sky,
With its emerald eyes.
The black and white version of the sketch looks cleaner but the colored version highlights the imperfections, just to make things more believable and achievable.
*A cup of coffee with a chocolate chip cookie on the side.
*Turning out the lights and lighting up a few candles/fairy lights.
*Lying on the grass and looking up the sky.
*Cuddling on the couch with your fuzzy kitten/puppy.
*Sharing a blanket and watching a movie with your love.
*Lying on the bed with headphones and listening to your favorite music.
*Reading a book by the window while drinking hot chocolate.
*Staying up all night and sharing stories with your best friend.
*A cup of tea when it’s raining outside.
*Reading bedtime stories to your little ones.
*Writing a poem late at night.
*A long soak in a hot tub with scented candles.
*Sitting on your comfy armchair by the fireplace reading the daily newspaper.
*Rewatching old favorite movies for the 1000th time with a bag of chips.
You ask, what is so magical about a tea room?
Like a secret passage,
You need to bend a little to enter this small and warmly lit room.
You will be welcomed with a soft and busy murmur.
Sometimes, a whiff of floral aromas of jasmine and dried flowers,
Will pleasantly surprise and enrapture the senses.
The other times, sweet fragrances of herbs, spices, and earl grey,
Will mildly linger in the air.
Now and then, the sound of pouring liquid,
The crackling of wood in fire,
Will gently calm and get you settled in.
On the table beside,
A gentle clank of a kettle lid.
Sugar cubes plop – one, two – into the tea.
Teaspoons clink against the sides of the tea cup.
On the other side,
The soft slurps of satisfied lips,
As they relish the delicious flavors of their favorite tea.
The simplicity, the calming ambience, the relaxing sounds,
The warmth and the pleasing sensations,
Are some of the things,
That make the tea room so magical for me.
PS: Try it in the comfort of your room and make it magical with a cup of tea!
The mountains creaked in the valley.
Feeling old, sighing!
What if they chose to,
Lay down and rest?
Many of us will end up crying.
Stand tall, oh high and mighty!
For the selfish needs of humanity.
“What’s with those pink heels, everyday?” I ask.
To which she replied,
“Helps me deal with the darkness within.”
Red pillows lay at his feet,
Drenched with the blood of his enemies.
He picked up the controller,
For another round of massacre.
Today, a grey and red spotted moth got trapped in a gap between the glass and the mesh section of my window frame.
I tried to help but there’s no way I can without breaking the glass or cutting open the mesh. I sit down and wonder where the moth must have entered from. Then, I notice a slight opening outside, near the upper edge of the window. I feel relieved because there’s hope for the moth to escape. All it needs to do now is find its way, go back to the opening, and fly away. But sadly, all it seems to do is walk farther away from the opening, or fly and hit itself against the glass pane, and fall down. Sigh!
While I watch this little moth try helplessly, I get reminded of the story of The King and the Spider. I sit by the window and narrate this story to the moth of how the spider never gives up and continues trying until it succeeds. Just to give the moth some company and a few words of inspiration. Slowly, the moth starts moving towards the center of the frame. It gets closer to the edge but again suddenly decides to fly straight towards the glass. Another fall! “Now, why would you do that? Stop flying and go towards the corner where you entered from.”, I say but the little one does not listen to me.
Thankfully, it gets up again and continues walking. It walks multiple times over the same path, starts flying, and falls down. Poor thing continues trying, sometimes it is super close to the opening but it mindlessly walks away or flies only to fall back down again. Now, I am not sure about the moth but I give up. I cannot watch the moth struggle to find a way out of its own trap.
Sometimes, we create these kind of traps for ourselves in our lives due to bad decisions or sometimes unfortunate circumstances make us feel trapped with no way out. What’s important is that the moth did not give up even when the end was near, it did not stop trying. I guess when we stop trying, we stop being alive. So, let’s hold on to dear life.
Violence, hatred, corruption.
It is there. Everywhere.
It is not easy to cleanse the world at once.
So, let’s keep it simple.
One person at a time.
Listen to your inner voice.
Let it be your guide.
To do what is right.
Don’t ever let yourself down.
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires – Lao Tzu
Nuraine Sadaf 