Quotes

Glitter Glue Heart

~ Sarrah Hakim ~ 2 Comments

If you haven’t already, you should check out the new page I added to the poetry section: pastiches. And scroll down until you find the poem called “Glitter Glue Heart.” I just wanted to talk a little bit about this poem because I wholeheartedly enjoyed writing it and it makes me really happy whenever I go back and read it. It was inspired by Taylor Mali’s “Silver-Lined Heart.” At the end of the poem, Mali urges the audience to “put your goddamn pen to paper and tell me what you’re for!”

So I did exactly that in my poem. And you know something? Once I did that, once I essentially made a list of things that make me happy, I felt so incredibly good. More than good. I felt… liberated, somehow. Relaxed. Peaceful. And alive. I felt like everything was going to be just fine, and I felt like life truly is a beautiful thing. And every time I read it, I feel the same way.

To focus only on what is good seems like a pretty deceiving way to live life. But I think it’s equally deceiving to live a life focused only on what is bad. And unfortunately, that’s what seems to happen to a lot of us. We’re caught up in our own stressful lives – stress from school, work, relationships – and then we get exposed to so much negativity in the media. I know there’s a lot that’s not right in the world. But I think it’s okay to realize that there’s a lot that is right, too. And just because someone else somewhere else might not be happy doesn’t mean we need to feel guilty for being happy.

One of my professors shared this with our class last semester: www.goodnewsnetwork.org

It’s basically a website dedicated to sharing good news. I wouldn’t use it as my primary source to know what’s going on in the world, but it’s a nice addition to whatever news you may already be following. It covers topics like science, business, sports, health, and world news. It has a lot of interesting and uplifting information – and it’s a nice reminder that there’s a lot of good things happening out there.

Now, I encourage you – what are you for? What makes you live? In Taylor Mali’s words, “Tell me what inspires you, what fulfills and fires you, put your goddamn pen to paper and tell me what you’re for!”

The Nature of Change

~ Sarrah Hakim ~ 8 Comments

Because of the ridiculous number of spam comments I’ve been getting lately, my brother helped me install a plugin that will hopefully prove to be a successful spam blocker. Now, when you leave a comment, you have to answer a simple math problem (I know, I know – I don’t like math either, but hopefully it will solve my spam problem).

Unfortunately, the previous theme of my site was not compatible with the spam protection plugin, so I was forced to change the theme. I’ve pretty much decided on this one, but I might experiment with some other ones too – so don’t be surprised if this site looks different the next time you visit!

Feel free to comment if you like my current theme, as it’s the one I’m leaning towards at the moment.

Beyond that, although I am a creature of habit and probably one of the most averse-to-change human beings on the planet, even I will admit that change is good sometimes. It might even be good most of the time. At any rate, we can’t deny that it is inevitable.

So many changes happen in the course of a lifetime, whether they’re small changes (like changing clothes, changing a hairstyle, changing the theme of a blog) or big things (like moving to a new house or starting a new job).

Even if you sat in a room and refused to initiate any sort of change or try anything new, you’d still be affected by external changes. Your body would change as you grew older. You wouldn’t be able to change the weather. What if a tsunami or earthquake took place? That would be a major change, and if you were in the area you’d be affected.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure where I’m going with this post. I think I’m writing it more for myself than anything else. I’ll admit that I’ve sat in my room and wished that I could stay a kid all my life. I’ve sat in the garden and wished that I could sit there forever. I look back on my best memories and wish I could go back in time and stay in those moments forever. I’ve thought to myself so many times that life is pushing me forward too quickly, and I’m just not ready to be an adult!

There’s obviously nothing I can do to stop it. And I think if I could just learn to embrace change, I’d be fine. Because there’s this other part of me that’s looking forward to being able to do things I can’t do right now, to being independent, to going to college, and to actually starting my life!

I don’t know about you, but I think there’s a balance between reflecting on the past and looking forward. There’s nothing wrong with looking back on fond memories or learning from past mistakes… but I guess it’s important not to get caught up in them and start yearning for things to stay the same.

Change is inevitable. I think once we accept this fact, it’s easier to realize that  things don’t need to stay the same… we’ll move forward in life and we’ll make new memories. We might have done something great before, but we’ll move on and do even greater things.

And finally, to end with one of my favorite quotes:

“If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies.” 🙂

Reason #5: Tea

~ Sarrah Hakim ~ 4 Comments

It’s about time I talked about my love of tea. Sometimes, I feel as though tea is the only constant in life. Seriously.

My friends think I’m crazy, but I’ve had a habit of drinking tea at exactly 3:27 PM for a long time. It definitely started in elementary school, but I can’t remember which grade. I just remember coming home from school every single day and turning on the TV to watch “Arthur” and then making my cup of tea in the microwave.

Oh, and I can’t forget the cookies. Tea and cookies. That was my thing (and still is).

Now, I don’t watch “Arthur” anymore, but I do read while I drink tea (usually Calvin and Hobbes). That time – from 3:27 to around 3:45 or whenever I finish – that’s my time to relax. To take a break. It doesn’t matter how much homework I have to get done; it doesn’t matter how stressed out I am from school. I have to spare those precious minutes to drink my tea. And the rule is I cannot do anything academic-related while drinking tea! It defeats the purpose entirely. It kills the sacred bond between myself and the tea.

(Okay, I’ll admit that last sentence is maybe taking it too far… with the sacred bond and whatnot. :P)

But honestly. Life is constantly changing, and it’s nice to know that tea is still there. There’s that one quote:

“The only thing constant in life is change.” ~François de La Rochefoucauld

And tea.

Sometimes it’s the little things, you know? The fact that no matter what happens at school, no matter what happens in life… I can always drink a cup of tea. And there’s just something comforting about that feeling you get when you drink something hot – it just warms your body, all the way down to your toes, and it gives you a nice warm feeling inside… almost like hope.

It’s like drinking hot chocolate on a snowy day. Or huddling by the fireplace in a cozy blanket.

Maybe tea isn’t really your thing. But there has to be something. Something small and comforting. A candy that you really like? Chocolate? Maybe it’s not something edible. Maybe it’s just the smell of a rose. Or reading before bed.

I’m not sure what you find comforting. It’s just… sometimes it’s the little things that really make life worth living, you know?

URL for the picture:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Meissen-teacup_pinkrose01.jpg

Left vs. Right

~ Sarrah Hakim ~ 4 Comments

So, I was thinking about life today. And I started thinking to myself… why does it matter? Why does anything matter, really? We’re all going to die anyway; we might as well kill ourselves now-

Without further ado, I’d like to wish you a happy April Fool’s Day. 😛

I would never think anything like that, and I certainly hope you wouldn’t either… life is a beautiful and precious gift, and we should treasure it.

Anyways, now that that’s taken care of, on to what I’d really like to talk about… this whole left brain vs. right brain business. I’m sure you’ve heard that if you’re a left-brainer, you’re a mathematician, logician… engineer… that sort of thing. And that if you’re a right-brainer, you’re creative, you’re a dreamer, a romanticist, etc. And boy, don’t pictures like these make you want to be a right-brainer?

http://adsoftheworld.com/files/images/paint-72dpi.jpg

A week ago, if you had asked me whether I was a right-brainer or a left-brainer, I would have said right for sure. I hate math, love writing, love dreaming, love creativity…

I always thought science was for boring realists. And then I got around to reading some Albert Einstein quotes… and I realized something.

Well, first of all, let me make sure I say that Albert Einstein was much more of a dreamer  than I thought. I must say, I am quite impressed with his emphasis on imagination. Just read this:

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ~Albert Einstein

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.” ~Albert Einstein

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ~Albert Einstein

And well, I realized that you can’t just be one or the other. Because if you don’t dream, if you’re just a left-brainer, then you can’t invent new things because you can’t see past what already exists. And if you’re purely a right-brainer, purely about dreams and whatnot, you won’t get anywhere because you’re not actually doing anything. You have to use the science to make those dreams happen.

So, I guess the message is this: You were given both parts of your brain for a reason. You have to use both. Use the right side of your brain to dream and come up with new ideas; then use the left side to make those dreams a reality.

Simplicity

~ Sarrah Hakim ~ 7 Comments

“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” ~Henry David Thoreau

I went to the theater yesterday to watch Beauty and the Beast in 3D with one of my best friends. The movie was as good as ever, of course, but I’m not too sure about the 3D… personally, I think it kind of ruined it. Halted my imagination somehow. But that’s all right- it was nice to have a chance to watch the movie on the big screen.

My favorite scene in Beauty and the Beast is when the beast gives Belle his library. The scene is so breathtaking and beautiful… my imagination runs away with it. If I had a library like that, I don’t think I’d ever come out of it! I fell in love with the library from the movie and now I long for one of my own.

I love old-fashioned libraries and books. Ancient, dusty volumes… and the smell of an old book is the best part. Sometimes it makes me really sad to think how much technology has advanced. Online books aren’t nearly as much fun as turning the pages of an actual novel. I’d hate to think that a day will come when we no longer print books and everything is on a computer screen. Even writing things down as opposed to typing them… there’s a thrill that only a pen and paper can bring. And writing with a quill on parchment seems much more… romantic, somehow, than typing on a boring old computer.

It’s funny; I almost feel like I want to move backwards in time instead of advancing further. Of course… any romantic or sentimental attitude must give way to what they call “efficiency,” and so it must go on… with humans never being satisfied and constantly trying to improve this life.

Ah well. I think I’ve been reading too much Emerson and Thoreau… maybe I’m becoming a bit of a transcendentalist myself! But sometimes life does seem to be advancing much too quickly for my liking. I’m perfectly fine with just keeping it simple. 🙂

Oh, and watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZIlB4ksOB4