Thoughts

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.

Spring

~ Sarrah Hakim ~ 4 Comments

I realize that it’s been almost two months since my last post, and I apologize for that. Fortunately, I no longer have marching band or synchronized swimming eating up my time, so I can spend some time updating my blog and such.

Oh, and working on that, uh, manuscript. 😛

At any rate, let’s pretend I don’t have a chemistry lab sitting in my backpack, waiting to be done. Let’s pretend that all I have to think about is the fact that it’s a sunny day outside (which does tend to raise one’s spirits), the flowers have been poking their little heads up out of the ground for some time now, and the air smells crisp and fresh, like we’re done with this half-winter and ready to move into a full spring.

I think spring must be my favorite season of the four. (Of course, during the summer, summer is my favorite, during autumn, autumn is my favorite, etc.)

But there’s something about spring that makes a person just feel good. Maybe it’s because winter is beginning to move out. Maybe it’s because everything’s turning green again. Maybe it’s those silly birds that have begun to call to each other and just won’t shut up. I don’t know. Something of the sort.

Sometimes, I realize that there’s just a lot that I don’t know and never will. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. And the more I realize how little I know, the more I’m able to appreciate life because I can relax. There’s no struggle to learn everything there is to know before my time runs out.

There’s stuff I just won’t know. That’s it.

I’m not the first person to realize this, and I won’t be the last. But, if anything, I’m glad I’ve realized it now, while I’m still young. Now, instead of trying to learn everything, I can focus on my true passion.

But sometimes even that gets a little confusing or stressful. And whenever that happens, it’s nice to remember that the sun still shines and the grass is still green, and those those silly little birds still call to each other. And they still won’t shut up.

Writing Style

~ Sarrah Hakim ~ 4 Comments

I found this rather amusing- so I wanted to share it. 🙂 So, each person has his/her own unique style of writing, right? Right, but you might find it interesting that the style can change.

When I was in elementary school, there was a certain author I loved. Her name was Enid Blyton. She was a British author, and I loved her books so much that at that time, they were pretty much the only books I was reading. And back then, I actually had free time to write what I liked, so as I was constantly reading, I was constantly writing.

Before I knew it, I was using British spellings and British phrases! Even in school, any writing I did, whether it be creative writing or formal essays, would be written in a British style.

I had always been told that good readers equaled good writers. But I had no idea that your writing style was influenced so much by the type of books you read!

But you know what? Even though your style can change depending on what you read, I think it’s still your unique style. It’s probably similar to the style of your favorite authors, because those are the people you admire. But at the same time, it’s YOURS.

Time for an awesome quote of the day:

“An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.” ~Chateaubriand, Le Génie du Christianisme, 1802

Keep writing!

How Rainy Days Should Be Spent

~ Sarrah Hakim ~ 3 Comments

 

Since I have now missed a total of four days of school, am sick, and have no hope of ever catching up on all that I have missed, I figured I might as well do something useful by updating my blog. Besides, I don’t want another month to slip by without any updates!

 

Since it rained yesterday during our field trip in gym and I spent a lot of time standing in the rain and freezing (which might have been the cause of my being sick today), I decided to do a post on how rainy days should be spent. (This does NOT include freezing to death in a tent with a hole at the top.)

The Elements of a Perfect Rainy Day:

1) A heavy blanket or comforter.

2) A fireplace with a blazing, toasty fire happily dancing away.

3) A cup of tea, hot chocolate, or something of the sort. (A bowl of hot soup is fine.)

4) A good book (comic books work too, especially Calvin and Hobbes).

5) A window, so you can gaze romantically out of it at the furious deluge outside.

6) A pair of thick woolen socks.

7) A friend to share the experience with.

8 ) And finally, a door, so that when the deluge is over, you can step outside and smell that lovely damp fragrance that lingers in the air after it has rained. (And so that you can watch the rainbow.)

 

Of course, this is mainly for those cold autumn or winter days. On rainy spring or summer days, when it’s warm outside, it can be nice to dance in the rain. 🙂

 

URL for the picture:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RainAmsterdamTheNetherlands.jpg#globalusage

The Absence of Time

~ Sarrah Hakim ~ 4 Comments

Yikes. I realize I haven’t updated my blog in a month, and I apologize for that. But this also gives me a chance to talk about something that seems to affect all of us- and that’s the idea of not having enough time.

It’s actually quite sad. I was talking to someone about it today, in fact. Sometimes, life just feels so… routine. Each day you get up and do the same thing over and over again. You study like heck for a test; after you take it you start studying for the next test. And so… time is measured by tests? Before you know it there’s no time at all. A month has passed. It’s crazy.

With no time to do what you want to do in life, with no time to follow and live up to what you’re truly passionate about, how are you supposed to live? Because if you think about it… you’ve only got one life. Why spend it doing the same things over and over again, the same things that you don’t even like?

Of course, if you’re still in school, like me, you don’t really have a choice. Your future kind of depends on your education, so you have to do your best and work hard in school;  you have to be good and get good grades.

But let’s say you’re working super hard so that you can become a doctor. But… you don’t really want to be one. In fact, let’s go further than that- let’s say you HATE anything to do with medicine. Or you’re an engineer who HATES math. Why do it? Why torture yourself with the only life you’ve got?

True, this isn’t a perfect world, and you don’t always get what you want. But when you have the choice… why not make the right one?

Even if you like your job, but you have a passion for something else, you have to do something about it. Let’s say you love playing the guitar. Do you have to become a famous guitarist? Heck no. But how great would it feel to take your guitar out maybe once a week and break that awful monotonous routine of life? Of getting out of bed and going to school or work?

I don’t know. Different people think in different ways. Maybe you don’t agree with any of this at all.

But I do know about myself, even if I don’t know about you. My passion (as you’ve probably guessed) is writing. And I intend to get my book published, no matter how much darn homework my teachers give.

“You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” ~Charles Roberts Buxton