Poetical Snippets❝ I am full of tenderness the way a cloud is full of rain And I am full of joy the way a flower is full of sun Ready to spill Ready to grow. ❞ *** ❝ Once upon a time, I loved you. Once upon a future, I will love you again. ❞ MusingsTo be good is not to be perfect, but to seek it out. To recognize it, once it is found and found again, and to know it, to love it, to honour it, to remember it, to be conscious of it and, crucially, to try to emulate it. To be good is not to succeed in this, for what will become of us when we fail, when we fall short, when we falter? (When, not if. Perfection is a miracle, and a miracle is a gift granted that is otherwise unattainable.) No, to be good is only to try. *** There’s a weird sort of grief in recognizing you’ve been too hard on yourself and too critical of your works and efforts. I always feel uncomfortable being proud of my own art (writing and photography), though I’ve been working through that slowly. It hit me that I haven’t been practicing humility so much as ingratitude. I’ve been overcorrecting in my fear of being arrogant or—and this is worse, because it’s an insidious type of egotistical—challenged over my confidence. So I denigrate it before anyone else can, and I raise my expectations for myself constantly out of my own reach. And then somehow I’m surprised when making art is painful, when I avoid it with the fervour of a burned child, after I’ve made it such a miserable experience for myself. I’m crushed that I struggle to feel pride and confidence about my art and self until days, weeks, months, or even years have passed. I ache for my past self, for only now being able to look back on what I’ve made or done with clearer appreciation for what God’s given me, and helped me do, and made of me. No more of that. Thank God I’ve been given the time and privilege, taste and skill, desire and ability to pursue my passions and hone them until I am happy with what I’ve created. Thank God! The Storyteller, The Djinn, and The Princean excerpt “Jeddo? There’s a difference between a liar and a storyteller, right?” “There is indeed,” he assures her. “But I shall let you discover that for yourself.” “Jeddo,” Halah whines, and Luqman laughs. “It is something every storyteller must grapple with, my love, and if you intend to follow in my footsteps, than I cannot simply give you the answer to it. Besides, my answer may be different from yours. Now sleep!” Grumbling under her breath, Halah closes her eyes once more. And as she drifts off into the realm of sleep, she thinks, I want to be part of a story like that one day. A great one, full of magic and adventure and terrible love, one that I will tell the world, and have them marvel at everything I have done. She would look back on that night, in years to come, and she would regret the naive wish of her young self. But what can a child understand of peace, until they have been through calamity? Riveneran excerpt She shrugs again, mouth pressed into a tight and forbidding line. Wren was always a taciturn person, using as few words as possible to order him around or respond to her own orders, but this refusal to speak even one word to him has the urge to growl rising in his throat. He suppresses it—not out of ingrained fear...or at least, not entirely. She saved him. She uncollared him. He shouldn’t snap at her, much as he wants to. So instead he studies her. Tries to wrap his mind around her. She’s always confused him, but never like this. She doesn’t look much different. Her hair is longer, curling around her chin and ears instead of hacked close to her skull. She’s softer in the face, like she’s gained weight that she’d never had before, though he remembers her always eating well. Her feet are bare. It’s a small and pointless detail that shouldn’t throw him as much as it does, but there’s something—something so strange about it. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen her barefoot before. She’s barefoot. She uncollared him. She’s alive. Want to be a patron of the arts? Play an indirect but pivotal role in my creative process? Get updates on my writing & projects delivered right to your inbox? Then subscribe to my newsletter by clicking the button below! Thank you so much for your support; without exaggeration, it keeps me going!
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Musings from a Muslim WriterThis blog features prompt fills, excerpts from my wips, posts about my writing process, and more! Categories
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