Sundaze: in flux
To my favorite community of friends, I hope you can forgive me for being out the last month and accept a midweek post as I return to my writing desk.
Lots of thoughts. Lots of feelings as I return to my city. Today, I feel a little heavy but there is solace. I’ve been reflecting on how to ground myself when everything is shifting.
Some of us experience moments of happiness daily but not many of us experience true contentment. Contentment that derives from meaning, purpose or a divine connection. Soul to soul. Soul to God.
Imam Khalid Latif spoke about who we are without our worldly identities during last night’s Qiyam: When we enter spiritual gatherings, we leave our job titles, degrees and fancy cars behind. We have no name. We float in and out, not really stripped of our identities, but detached in the moment. What is it that we seek when we come to these gatherings?
I seek a Higher connection, I seek contentment. Nothing fills my cup the same way. While I am yet to experience that fulfillment in its entirety, I have experienced moments of it. A spark, a fleeting feeling, a surge of current. And my soul is immediately recharged.
Most recently, this fleeting feeling was a roaring wind which felt like it came from the heavens themselves. I had just prayed Isha in the nearly 500 year old Baščaršija Mosque and sat down next to my friends, my feet resting on the cool limestone, in quiet dhikr. Suddenly, the leaves rustled over us noisily and you could hear the wind in all its might, everything moved in that second. We looked up, not sure at what. Heavens? But the winds left as quickly as they arrived.
Even when the heart is not at rest, and emotions are high, there is solace.
What is it that you seek?
Solo date idea: this week, find something that fills your cup.
Happy last ten nights of Ramadan, may you find what you are seeking.
Love,
Aaisha