This is the story of a girl she was no one special just an ordinary girl; however, she had her differences that set her apart from the rest. This girl has a name in her mother tongue it means “miracle”, and in her other fluent language it means “open”. For her parents this girl truly was a miracle; in fact, this girl was said to die due to an abnormal birth, but the girl’s mother had complete faith that the true creator would bless her with whatever was best for her. Then there she was a beautiful baby girl her father had lost his job a few weeks prior to the day of her birth, but after her birth, her father was called in for a job interview. Though there is no proof that the job interview was a result of the birth of the girl she wanted to believe that it was. Furthermore, her father rejoiced to have a daughter after two sons and began giving away mithai, an assortment of sweet cultural desserts which is native to East Asia, to the neighbors. A neighborhood man came up to the girl’s father and snarkily remarked, “No one gives desserts for a daughter being born the special occasion is more for the sons.” The girl’s father looked at this ignorant fellow with confusion and replied, “You may think that, but my daughter is worth just as much as my sons and nothing short of it.”  

     Then the girl had grown and made it to primary school she was always the social, and outgoing type of person she made friends with a variety of children her mother would say at times like these, “That she had always been very happy and joyful like this.” This girl then made a trip to England in order to attend the wedding of her dearest uncle it was a beautiful occasion. Though at this is the time in her young life a change began to sprout. The girl’s new aunty along with her family all wore the hijab, a religious headdress that women wear. In her immediate and extended family no one wore the hijab, and at the wedding ceremony she could not help but stare at all of the bride’s family members who were wearing the hijab. A few months had then passed since the girl’s trip to England, but the thought of the hijab never left from her mind nor the feelings from her heart. The girl went to an Islamic school on Saturdays with her two brothers the schedule was similar to regular school:

1. 1 Hour of recitation class
2. 1 Hour of Arabic studies class
3. 1 Hour of memorization class

       The girl was ahead in the majority of her classes then for her memorization class, her teacher asked her if she could become a teacher, not to mention the youngest teacher at the Islamic school. When attending Islamic school the girl would wear her hijab; however, when she would leave the school she would take it off and in those moments she would always go quiet as if something that she was yearning for was once within her reach, but when it finally grazed her fingertips it would recede back. Eventually, the time came and her patience was worn thin she wrapped her scarf around her head and was preparing to wear it to school. In the beginning, her parents were a little worried because they did not want the girl to make a decision that she would regret, though she was stubborn as a rock and when she decided to do something nothing on the planet could divert her from her path. Once she arrived at school something happened that she never predicted everyone’s attitude and behavior drastically changed. For a nine-year-old girl, this was an extremely hard pill to swallow both her friends, and her classmates all turned on her at once. This was very easy in her school because it was not very diverse, so it felt that all odds were against her; however, she held firm in her heart and accepted what was going on around her and thought just as her mother did when she was born ‘ whatever happens there will be some betterment in it’ with this thought in mind she then moved to the other side of the city and transferred campuses of schools.

Once she had moved on to middle school which was way more culturally diverse she thought that it would be a great opportunity to make some friends since no one had any knowledge of who she was. She did try to make friends in the beginning but it didn’t really work out that well, and the girl decided that ‘she was going to try her hardest with her grades moving forward’ she said this after miserably failing on her first geography test. She was not necessarily able to find a resolve she started to believe that most would just betray you, so what’s even the point of having close relationships, so she played it safe by keeping herself at a distance from everyone it was almost as if she had an armor around her heart, that she would only remove when she was alone. Soon her life began to settle with occasional bumps and bruises but not as bad as they were in the beginning and life continued for the girl.

Now in high school, this girl is very focused on the three quintessential of her life religion, family, and school her life has become a machine nothing interesting tends to happen, but she has grown content with her comfortable style. However, lately this girl has been feeling as though her elements of creativity have been diminished due to the immense amount of school work that she is to complete, so she soon discovered an outlet for herself where she can share both the great and the terrible beauty that she undergoes little did she know that that was exactly what she was yearning for.

via GIPHY

   

         Hello, I am Kshef for anyone who is unsure it is pronounced KA-C-H-E-F, and with that out of the way nice to meet you I hope you are doing stupendous; who am I you ask?  Well, I am a student, I am genuinely curious about all things, and I am happy to assist others in times of need or in general. If you were to ask me about my hobbies the list could and would go on for the continuation of time, however, some of the few interests that would be at the top of the list would be reading, cooking/baking, and knitting/crocheting/sewing. One may have noticed that based on these interests it does not necessarily require leaving your house, and this is because I am more so leaning on the introvert side. The short story above is an original piece, and it captures many truths of my life that have shaped me into the person that I am today. Do not get me wrong I did not write that with the sole objective to get sympathy or pity, it was a piece that I decided to make in order for you as the reader to understand more about me and where I came from.

A Great and Terrible Beauty: There is both beauty that can come from an individual’s soul and heart, however, there are also elements that are not as pretty, and in order to evolve we must embrace both the Great and Terrible.

      The brief description above is to explain the thought and ideas that were behind the title; this platform is the primary way for me to explain certain aspects of myself that only stories and literature can convey. Furthermore, for me, there are various sides of my life and some of those times will be wondrous and momentous, however, not all are as joyous and I really want to attempt embracing both sides of my life and put them together in harmony. Also, I have been blessed with aspects of my life that I could not live without; for example, love and support from my family who have always been there for me despite all of my faults along with the basic sine qua non of life. Moreover, the title is also in regards to the experiences of other individuals that may be terrifying and horrific yet they were still able to find beauty, peace, and balance within their life.

     Throughout the course of this year, I have undergone many changes both fundamentally and intellectually, the quotation that I chose explains how change can happen at any time and any place. However, YOU have to be willing to embrace the change and evolve or without growth and development how can you go on living. Moreover, the quote also explores being mindful and looking onwards and upwards this is an aspect that I hope to implement in my life; that I should not allow my failures to become a hurdle to my future successes in life I should use it as a means of growth. Optimism, if you constantly believe that you do not have the ability to do something then you have subconsciously embraced failure without even putting in any effort at all you can never fully know the limitations of your power until you try. Finally, this quote also outlines the meaning of one’s own talent that you should not put yourself down solely based on the talents of another continue to fight with what you have in your arsenal not anothers.

     In this blog, I will be posting a wide range of works from other writers, pieces of writing that I have composed myself, along with some of my favorite song lyrics and many more. Also, the topics of the writing will not stay entirely stagnant some may involve school troubles, relationship troubles with family or friends, or coming to terms with yourself. For me, this platform is also a method of shining light on elements within society that are not being recognized as a tribulation that children, men, or women are forced to deal with consistently. Overall this is an outlet both for my creative ability, and a way to provide a voice for the voiceless.

 

Sincerely,

Kshef

Images:

IPHY Studios Originals. (2017). BEAUTIFUL ASIAN AMERICAN GIF BY GIPHY STUDIOS ORIGINALS [Image]. Retrieved from <iframe src=”https://giphy.com/embed/3o7btRzki5FtRShIhW” width=”480″ height=”320″ frameBorder=”0″ class=”giphy-embed” allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href=”https://giphy.com/gifs/studiosoriginals-sharifa-syed-3o7btRzki5FtRShIhW”>via GIPHY</a></p>