Uncategorized

Random

Posted on by Selectively Curious

Oddly enough, I’m not sure why I didn’t pick “Random” to be the name of my blog. I’m often accused of being random, I have spontaneous sparks of thoughts which I blurt out (whatsapp mostly), immediately after I’ve had them and the thoughts are usually unrelated to what is/was being discussed. Oh, now I know, I am more curious than I am random and my randomness stems from my curiosity (all is right in the world again.)

There have been many times I have started a piece of writing and not completed it and when I go back to it, I’ve lost the chain of thought I had or motivation to continue. So this blog post is dedicated to a piece of writing I titled as “random” 4 years ago. I haven’t edited the below and it’s interesting to see that my writing style is consistent, don’t you think?

Have you ever liked someone so much that every time you looked at them your heart ached? Feeling completely and utterly in love with someone, who is completely oblivious to your feelings and emotions, yet you believe with every cell in your body that you are made for each other. It’s funny, she loves him because she loves him, he’s never led her on or shown any interest romantically. Yet after numerous efforts to let it go and get over it, she just can’t. So she loves him, for no other reason but for love. In his words, “No I’m not predictable, I am compatible” Not sure what he meant by that, but then again he says a lot of things that didn’t make sense. Maybe he is as complex as he claims to be? This story isn’t original but it is without a doubt relatable. It’s a tale as old as time, Girl likes Boy, Boy likes someone else and that someone else doesn’t like Boy. So I can’t even call it a love triangle, it’s more of a love line. I’m not sure how this story ends, but I know how it begins and I know how it’s progressed, the rest is up to God, fate, destiny (whatever you may believe in).

“Meh” she said out loud as the people around her on the Picadilly line looked at her before turning back to their newspapers, kindles, iPads or even back to looking at the nothingness to avoid the awkward eye contact that only Londoners would understand. Thats the beauty of London, there are so many people from all over the world that anyone who has lived there can find that he/she belongs. That’s what she felt, her comment, if you can even refer to “meh” as a comment was merely one of disappointment. She wanted so many things and though things seldom went her way, this time she felt like she was losing a battle she used all her strength to win. She loved being in London so much that it hurt to think she had to leave it all behind and move on. She turned and looked at the people around her, breaking one of the unwritten rules of being in a tube. She looked around and took it all in, the man standing with lip piercings and spiky hair, bobbing his head to whatever was playing in his iPod as he swayed with the train. “This is Green park, change here for the jubilee and victoria lines. Exit here for Bukingham Palace”

The featured image is just one I chose at random, coincidentally on purpose (is that a thing?) 🙂

Selectively Curious ©

See beneath your beautiful…

Posted on by Selectively Curious

Have you ever looked in a mirror and seen your reflection (of course you have)? What I mean is have you actually seen who you are and not just looked at your outershell. I was listening to Labrinth’s song “see beneath your beautiful” as I did the weekly commute to Abu Dhabi for the weekend and it’s been the inspiration for today’s post.

As human beings I have noticed we tend to hide behind something, such as, status, fame, fortune and beauty. Almost everyone, I think, wants at least one of the things I have listed. I truly believe that all people are beautiful in their own way and I always tend to magnify one good thing I see in a person and ignore the bad (which has caused a lot of drama in my life, but that’s a story for another day). So in general I really like people, whether they like me or not is irrelevant. So in the song when Labrinth sings “would you let me see beneath your beautiful” it’s such a genuinely heart touching sentence. Reassuring even. Everyone has insecurities and it makes me wonder why we focus on such things that on the grander scheme of things it’s not that relevant.
For example “why hasn’t s/he texted back yet?”, “who’s that guy/girl with him/her in the Instagram photo” and ” oh s/he is online… what the, was I just ignored? *block*”. Safe to say we’ve all been there and it’s also a bit sad. Won’t go into the detail of how I dislike the addiction people have with their phones (guilty, I have gotten much better though). Anyway, makes me so curious where insecurities stem from and how to completely over come it.

Back to the point I was trying to make about your reflection in the mirror. Have you ever looked at your reflection and thought, damn I look kind today or I look thoughtful today or even I look generous today. I guess that would defeat the purpose of a mirror since the sole purpose of a mirror is to see a reflection. I for one must admit I have never looked at my reflection and thought about who I am and always just looked at my reflection for what it is “am I getting a spot, why am I getting a spot. Will it scar? Ugh”.
What if there was a type of mirror that when you looked at it, it would show your personality flaws, so you could clearly see which parts needed more work and everyday you could focus on becoming the best version of yourself as you would know exactly what to “fix”. I think that would be a cool invention, who knows. Might be the next big thing. 🙂
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Featured image: from Instagram.

Selectively Curious ©

A Flock of Crows is known as a “Murder”

Posted on by Selectively Curious

Crows always reminds me of the horror story “Birds” by Alfred Hitchcock, so naturally I am a little terrified of crows after I watched that movie. (Although, I think in his movie they were ravens and not crows?). I do not understand why they insist on almost flying into my head as I would stroll down regents park, I’d duck all kinds of ways and once even got laughed at (which then I laughed since laughs are contagious), since I was such a funny sight. One time, I won’t forget was when a random guy walks by as I duck and he says “Woah, Matrix!” That was hilarious.

The reason why this random fact caught my eye today is because it made me think of the story of Abel and Cain and how when Cain murdered Abel he did not know what to do with the body. Apparently at the time, a crow happened to be burying its dead (crows bury their dead) and that how Cain got the idea to bury the body. It would maybe explain the tradition many of us follow to this day. We bury the dead.

Featured image: from national geographic

Selectively Curious©

Pineapples

Posted on by Selectively Curious

Funny thing about pineapples, they are’t pines, they aren’t apples and are called annanas in almost every other language but English. I won’t get into the linguistics of the fruit as this post has a deeper story.

When I lived in London, I loved going on walks, the city is structured in the most pedestrian friendly way, that walking there is pure delight. After a few years I discovered that London has toured walks, which is, for those of you who are unaware, you can walk in a neighbourhood and kind of get a history lesson about that area. The one I learnt the most out of or well the one I enjoyed the most was in Maida Vale, also known as “little venice”.

(here is a picture, in case you wanted to see what it looks like)

IMG_20130405_190420.jpgIt was during this walk that I learnt a few interesting things.

Have you ever wondered why the iphone sign is a bitten apple? Alan Turing was the man who invented computers, he also committed suicide by taking a bite from a poisoned apple (was poisoned with cyanide). Some say that the idea to take a bite from a poisoned apple stemmed from Snow White, which was the first time it showed in the theatre back when he was alive and it led to his demise. Thus, the bitten apple became the symbol of Apple. It may not be the inspiration Steve Jobs had, but who’s to say it isn’t. If the shoe fits…I like to believe that it’s true and it makes a hell of a story.

Anyway back to the reason of this post, pineapples represent hospitality and you’ll see it around London and especially Maida Vale, perched on columns and just spread out randomly around the city. I never noticed pineapples until I went on this guided tour and after which I read up on it and it turns out that this symbol has a long and rich history. I won’t bore you with the details, but I would just like to leave you with: It is a universal sign of hospitality,  pineapples were often found outside doors, usually in the form of a carving or some sort and thus welcoming guests. Some even displayed it at dinner tables as the centre piece when hosting a party. Maybe next time I host a party I’ll use the symbol and make a pineapple upside down cake, just to show off my welcoming nature since cake is already so welcoming, I guess that makes me twice as hospitable? My mother would be, oh, so proud. 🙂

Selectively Curious©

Drapetomania

Posted on by Selectively Curious

The title of this post means “an overwhelming urge to runaway” It’s amazing how you can take that out of context as most things nowadays. The word itself was the name of an illness which Samuel A Cartwright hypothesized to cause black slaves to flee captivity. Of course this theory was later debunked as it is outright racist.

Nowadays this word has become quite mainstream, you’ll see many people sharing it on social media because people have developped drapetomania. Living in the UAE I can say without a doubt that we have a really cushy life and it was here that I discovered the word to be more commonly used than in London, where it is not so cushy. Isn’t it ironic? (it’s like raaaaaain on your wedding dayyy). It makes me curious if it is the cushyness which makes people lazy and bored. Things can become shallow if you allow yourself to get comfortable and this overwhelming urge really does become an illness as the word was orginally intended to be used. One question that does spring to mind is that what is it that people want to run away from? Honestly, maybe I am biased, but in my opinion the UAE is the best place to live because truly it is the good life. Yet, I also find myself wanting to run away, it’s contagious and I have caught this illness at various points in my life, since I have moved back to my childhood home.

After much analysis and ponderings I have come to an unconclusive conclusion that maybe it’s feeling the motions, kind of like the notion of “misery loves company”so even though I may have this urge to run away technically its not the place I want to run away from or the life I have here, it’s the people I have chosen to surround myself with, who all suffer from this illness. The reality is that people are just unhappy, they have everything and yet they are unhappy, unfullfilled and can’t help but compare their life to those around them. It’s so easy to complain and forget the blessings they are surrounded with, it’s so easy to be negative and ask “why me” and wallow in your own hole of self pity and it’s not only addictive but the thought process can get quite contagious to those who just want to feel like they belong. Human beings are funny, we might as well be sheep. Why live like that?

After two years of being in an on and off state of drapetomania, I feel more stable and I no longer have an urge to run away. I now have wanderlust (another word that has become so mainstream) however it is not an illness, it is part of my selective curioustiy. I want to see the world I live in, I want to explore and I want to experience this world the way it was intended. It is a dream rather than a need and I like that it’s a more peaceful way to approach life. Zen for the win (pronounced as wen because I want it to rhyme). 🙂

Featured photo:https://blackthen.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/runawaye.jpeg.jpg

Selectively Curious©

Cousins

Posted on by Selectively Curious

Family is such a wonderful thing and if you come from a close knit family as my own you can either take it for granted or cherish it (or both, as I do).

This post is about cousins, because today randomly as I was on the phone to a friend of mine going through a break up, my mobile was being lit up like new years fireworks and when I hung up and checked my phone, I had 40 messages from two (yes just two) of my cousins. One 8 years older than me and the other 8 years younger. That’s quite an odd coincidence now that I’ve written it down.

The 8 years older says how wonderful it was to see me and she was slightly concerned about me as I didnt look like my happy self, she felt that I seemed down (which I was because it was a Saturday and I wanted to sleep in and they showed up at the break of dawn (I exaggerate). I told her I cut my hair really short in a moment of madness (in my defence, I am very happy with the way it looks) and she was shocked at how much I chopped off (my hair was till my hips and now it’s barely grazing the bottom of my ear). It had been a while since she visited so she hadn’t seen me with my long hair or hair this short since I was a child. I mention my hair because in her messages today she mentioned my hair again and how she’s considering cutting it that short too and how upset she is about life in general and how she needs a change. To which I respond “Do it, just go and do whatever the heck you want and don’t hold back”. She laughs and says “I’m a single mother, it’s not that easy” and I say “Ok, so you have to be a little bit more responsible but that shouldnt stop you from living your life”. She pauses (in other words, types then erases, types some more and the typing seems to be never ending) and responds “hmmm…let’s go on a break together, I can leave my son with his dad (she’s divorced and shares custody with her ex husband) and we can just go and chill out somewhere and figure stuff out, I don’t know about you but I really need it” The conversation went on for sometime and sadly it didnt have a fruitful outcome because our schedules do not sync up enough for us to travel to a location to get the peace we are longing for.

As for the the cousin 8 years younger. He just started law at university (my major) and has a question about common law vs civil law and it’s been a while since I read up on constitution law, blew the dust off of my books to help him with his assignment. It made me realise how much I love law, I love that I studied and chose that to be my profession, I love learning about it, reading it and analysing it.

Life really does make me so curious, they’re also on completely other sides of the world and wow I miss them both.

On that note, I should probably sleep. Law firms and unrealistic deadlines…haha it’s actually not that bad, thankfully. 🙂

P.S: I didn’t have time to think of a photo for this post.

Selectively Curious©

Coincidence 

Posted on by Selectively Curious

Just for the record this post has been inspired by La La Land, if you haven’t watched it and even if musicals aren’t your thing I would highly recommend checking it out. It’s got a beautiful message and I won’t dwell on the nitty gritty of the story line but it made me remember how much I love coincidences…or the Latin pronunciation of the word… coinkidink (lol).

When I was younger I strongly believed that there is no such thing as a coincidence and that everything always happens for a reason because everything is connected in one way or another. It is my most favourite type of circumstance and whether it’s a surprise or shock or annoyance I love the rush of emotions one feels in a circumstance of a coincidence. Being a bit older I now believe that a coincidence is just a coincidence and it doesn’t mean anything. Funny how views change.

After I was done with the movie (which I watched today, well yesterday since it is past midnight here) I was telling my friend how much I loved the concept it showed and how coincidences are just the best. We went to dinner and lo and behold on the table not far from us I see a group of people I have been aquatinted with in the past, however my friend who introduced me to this group of people wasn’t there so I didn’t go up and greet them. I was shy and a little afraid that maybe they don’t remember me and I didn’t want to go through the embarrassment.

Almost being done with dinner my friend actually shows up and so I go up to say hi (it would just be plain rude if I didn’t and also because she is a really good friend of mine). I tapped her on her arm as she was hugging someone hello and when she turns to me her eyes widen and she gives me the biggest hug and literally lifts me off my feet! I’ve never experienced such happiness to see me. The surprise on her face was priceless and just incredible.

Friends are such a pure form of blessings and tonight made me realise that maybe everything really does happen for a reason and it’s not just coincidence. In this specific situation, I guess the truth will reveal itself in time as it always does. Maybe, just maybe I’ll start believing in fate again and how everything may truly be connected, the way I used to when I was younger.

(Featured image: found by google image searching “coincidence”)

Selectively Curious©

Two peas in a pod 

Posted on by Selectively Curious

I understand the concept behind this saying but if you’ve ever taken peas out of a pod you will notice that the peas are rarely ever the same. It makes me curious as to why the saying means that when two people are alike they’re like “two peas in a pod”

Maybe it means that because the peas were in the same place they must be alike, however if this concept is applied to twins who are the closest it comes to being “two peas” in a “pod” it doesn’t apply there either because twins are rarely ever alike, even if identical.

It’s odd how people come up with such sayings and odder still when it actually become a “thing”.

Alas, it is what it is. 🙂

(Featured photo: http://www.finecooking.com/item/5588/peas)

Selectively Curious©

Happiness is overrated

Posted on by Selectively Curious

Let’s face it, happiness is cake. Simple.

The pursuit of happiness, what does that even mean? Is happiness something that can be achieved? It is something that I often find myself wondering about. The curious thing is that happiness is not tangible so I agree with the notion of ‘you cannot buy happiness’. You can not wait for happiness, it is not something that is around the corner coming your way and it is not something you can work towards.

Scientifically it can be broken down to be dopamine, maybe, which is a compound present in the body as a neurotransmitter and a precursor of other substances including adrenaline (as defined in the oxford dictionary).It is synthesised in the brain and the kidneys. Which would explain why Katut in Eat, Pray, Love asked Liz if she was smiling from her kidneys.

I have learnt that happiness is within you, it is your core, kind of like you have a switch inside you and all you have to do is turn it on. It is not the designer bag you have always wanted and finally got, it’s not getting your dream job or your dream car or your dream house (you get my gist). My grandfather told me when I was very young, ‘Fatima if you want to compare your life to someone, compare it to those who are worse off than you, that way you will never be unhappy and at the same time look at those who are better off and grow from it,’ It is something that stayed with me.

Maybe happiness is within you, it is how you feel when you step out and have a cool breeze touching your face as the warm glorious sun gleams down at you. It is marshmallows in your hot chocolate with whipped cream on a cold winter’s night or any hot drink that spreads the warmth inside of you and makes you believe that everything is going to be ok. Happiness is coming home to your family. Coming home and having your cat/dog greet you. It’s the simple things in life.

Happiness is so many things, that when you think about it you can not say it is just one thing because it is everything. 🙂

Selectively Curious©

Swirly Clouds and Violet Haze

Posted on by Selectively Curious

It is my new year’s resolution to write a piece everyday, since practice makes perfect and I love to write. I was not sure what to write about today so I turned to google for inspiration and discovered this idea: “Put your iPod/Spotify on shuffle, grab the lyric that appears 1:35 into the song, and write from there” I didn’t follow this exactly, I’ve had Josh Groban’s song “Vincent” (originally sung by Don Mclean) stuck in my mind for sometime so I played it and at 1:35 he sings the title of this post. Really paints an image, doesn’t it? Who doesn’t love swirly clouds and violet haze?

Vincent’s Starry Night painting, truly is a masterpiece, he was a great artist and it’s a shame that great artists are only recognised for their work after they have left this world filled with swirly clouds and violet haze, trees and daffodils. It’s such a curious thing, the way artists are not recognised, makes me wonder if back in the day social media would have made them famous faster? I understand why an artist’s popularity increases when they have died, since everyone is beautifully unique and no one can replicate another’s talents 100%. Vincent’s story makes me sad, I was not aware until today that he painted Starry Night from an asylum window, really shows you his perspective of how he viewed the world and how beautiful his perspective was.

This reminds me of a line from John Green’s novel “The Fault in our stars” when Gus says that he fears oblivion. Mostly because if one of Vincent Van Gough’s fears were oblivion, I would go back in time and tell him, have no fear because you will always be remembered…:)

Selectively Curious©