A Woman Defined

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

Rumi

It’s true what they say, that there is spring after a hard cold winter. There is morning in the end of a dark, lonely night. It will all pass, even though for now, from where I am standing, the whole world seems to want to tip over. As I am looking at it from every direction, the universe seems kind of crooked, and it’s on the verge of turning upside down. We taste our lives in our mouth, and it is tasteless — it’s very bland. It needs spice, it needs a lot of salt and pepper and herbs. But in response, we can make a decision and choose hope, rather than fear. It is sort of like leaving the door ajar so that the light which is trapped behind fear and darkness can enter the room, just enough light for us to see where we are going, so as not to bump into objects around us, injuring ourselves.

Life is a chain of unpredictable, never-ending processes. The most worthwhile treasure we can accumulate in our lives are wonderful memories and great times we have had, as simple as they could be. In truth, life doesn’t even have to be perfect to be wonderful. Life can be perfect by being imperfect. I accept life as it is, rather than frustrating myself, fighting with its ever powerful wave current, going as fast as it can and taking everything with it. I respect this very important law of nature: the universe is set up in such a way that if I go against its direction, then I won’t win. I understand that in order to win and succeed in whatever I want, I must know what direction the universe is going and then flow with it by surrounding myself with it, so that I may be in harmony with everything. 
Right now, the world is in the state of chaos. I can only hope that out of chaos can come much order. Life is made up of chaos, after all. Sometimes chaos can gives us a reason to take a break from life to go into a “quiet” place, away from the chaos, in order to put one’s life in order and try to make sense of it all. 

I am always grateful to be invited to the universe’s feast as a guest. I don’t want to take anything for grante. I always keep reminding myself of all the precious gifts that life has offered me — all the little delicate details of this meticulously built planet — while I am an occupant of it. I cherish and appreciate, take notice of every detail of this masterpiece, noticing the shadow of every branch of every nameless tree, the sound of the wind from behind the shut windows of my room, or the familiar smell of an herb in the market place. I embrace, notice, and admire everything magnificent in every trivial detail of life, such as changing the water filter in the kitchen sink; retouching the paint of the fence in the yard; washing and ironing my white shirt, making it look as good as though it just came back from the dry cleaners; coloring my hair; doing my nails; taking the leftover food which has been sitting in the fridge and turning them miraculously into delicious meatballs. Every little detail of life. I understand that, for now, there is a lot of grief, but grief can change its shape and form many times until we finally, one day, do not recognize it anymore, for it has already transformed itself to completely something anew. 

Tags: Chaos, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Life, Mahvash, Mahvash Mossaed, Quarantine, Rumi

Posted in LIfestyle, Miscellaneous & Opinion |