All’s Well That Ends Well

The following is a rant. You are my happiness. No, you are what makes my happiness possible. Where there is nothing, you lay the roads – happiness just happens to follow. Who wouldn’t follow such beauty? I open a book of sonnets and cannot read the words on the pages. My eyes are blinded by […]

Rationality in Inaction

The following was written in response to a time of inaction in my own life. Much like Hamlet, I toiled over which course of action would be right – only, I was able to come to a decision in time. The following is an attempt to rationalize that period of ambivalence.   Inaction is not […]

Infinite Love and Gratitude

You wanted us to practice radical presence this year. Complete, 100% involvement in the time we are in, with the people we are with, doing the things we are doing. Maybe I applied your teachings too well – because I was almost too in the moment. Whenever I walked into our space I never considered […]

Abandon Ambition (To Live A Thousand Lives)

The following was inspired after having spent much time ruminating over the implications of the poem I studied for my presentation- “Wean Yourself” by Rumi. The idea of every individual’s set of experiences leading to a different interpretation of the world meant, to me, that it was necessary to experience as much as possible. Don’t […]

Everything That I Am

  Similar to the way in which Elie loses his faith in “Night” , there was a period in my life where I had distanced myself from religion. The following poem was written while reflecting back on such a time. It was inspired by a collection of prominent memories from the mosque (namely, remembering the […]

Two Sons: The Virtuous, and The Other One

The inspiration for the following came from one word in particular that was discussed in class: “Introspection.” I consider myself a growth-oriented individual, and this is an ode to one of the contributing factors of that mindset. It references both the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Seven Heavenly Virtues to develop a dichotomy between who I […]

A Juxtaposition of Self

In the world we live in today, people surround themselves with positivity to validate who they are as people (and I am no exception.) One such example is body positivity, the celebration of self. Fundamentally, it’s a form of self-acceptance. Often times, however, it’s mislabeled as self-love. This, to me, is a distinction that is […]