Flow of words

It is 401am and I have decided to write. This Saturday, Trinidad and Tobago observes African Emancipation Day. It is a day to celebrate the journey to freedom and to honor those who sacrificed so much so that we could enjoy the freedoms we have today. Yet the journey is not over. As we celebrate how far we have come, let us also ask God to open our minds and hearts to the struggles that continue. Freedom is never something we should take for granted. Every day, we witness powerful interests around the world attempting to stifle freedom in pursuit of their own agendas and self-aggrandizement. Too often, they seek to divide in order to conquer. May we resist division with wisdom, courage, and compassion. May unity triumph over hatred, truth over deception, and love over fear. As we remember the past, may we also commit ourselves to protecting the freedoms of the present and building a more just future for generations to come. Happy African Emancipation Day. May God continue to guide us o...

It was 422pm and I decided to write. There was a peace in my heart that could only come from God. But what should I write about? "God, give me a sign. God, give me direction. Place a topic on my heart. Open my eyes and my ears to Your leading." The next morning, I woke up with a positive vibration. My heart felt light, and my mind was clear. It got me thinking. Sometimes, we simply need to clear our minds of negativity. We need to stop feeding fear, doubt, and discouragement, and instead make room for hope, faith, and positive possibilities. We need to reset our minds, renew our spirits, and re-energize our hearts. Then, we can return stronger to face whatever challenges lie ahead. If something is within our control, let us do our best to improve it. If it is beyond our control, let it go and let God. Life will always have difficulties, but we have a choice in how we respond to them. We can choose to see opportunities where others see obstacles. We can find lessons in our set...

It is 111am and I have decided to write. We are 200 days from Ramadan. Ramadan is my favorite time of the year. I was looking at writing prompts and this one piqued my interest. Imagine you are in a world where prayers are answered immediately—how does it change the way people live? The first thing that comes to my mind is pure chaos. People will pray for all sorts of things. Makes me appreciate the wisdom of what happens now according to Islamic understanding. God delays for the best time according to His infinite wisdom. God may also replace what we asked for with something better. Sometimes not getting what we asked for is keeping us away from calamities. Sometimes the answers to our prayers are kept for the hereafter. Sometimes our prayers gets answered in unexpected ways and we do not recognise it. Prayer is not only about the answer as prayer also brings us closer to God.* In a world of instantaneous answers, human shortsightedness, fleeting emotions, and conflicting desires woul...

It is 250pm and I have decided to write. I came across a writing prompt today that piqued my interest: What would you be willing to wait in a really long line for? My first question is, how long are we talking? One hour? One day? One year? A lifetime? The prompt seems paradoxical to me. The longer I am willing to wait, the more important the thing at the end of the line must be. But if it is truly that important, how could I live without it for so long? If I am willing to wait a lifetime, then perhaps I never really needed it at all. Then there are the practical questions. What am I allowed to do while I wait? How do I pass the time? Eventually I will need to use the bathroom, take a shower, brush my teeth, eat, sleep, and continue living. I cannot simply press pause on life because I am standing in a line. Maybe that is what bothers me most. Standing in a line feels like surrendering a part of my freedom. My path is fixed. My pace is determined by everyone in front of me. I can neithe...

It is 205am and I have decided to write. I was going to write about the proposed AI data centers in Trinidad but I changed my mind. Politics looks different before they want your votes and after they get your votes. Whatever happens, it always seems like the poor man suffers. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The poor continue to carry the heaviest burden. The powerful walk with pomp and ceremony and the powerless walk with their heads down. The people with the most amount of power to make a difference are the least affected by the problems affecting the powerless. Who looks after the plight of the most vulnerable? Who knows it, feels it. Where is the love? Instead of AI data centers we should build "I matter centers". They rhyme and sound the same but serve different purposes. Places where people are heard before they are ignored. Places where problems are met with solutions instead of promises. Places where dignity is restored, not just discussed. People do not o...

It is 1037pm and I have decided to write, even though I should probably be asleep. I will continue tomorrow. One of my favorite things about writing is that I often do not begin with a destination in mind. I simply start, and somehow my thoughts find their own path, often leading me somewhere beautiful—at least in my mind. Today, I am reminded that we are often our own harshest critics. It's so easy to focus on our flaws, but that is not a healthy place to live. I paused on an Instagram video where someone shared one simple piece of mental health advice that I think will stay with me for the rest of my life: love yourself. Accept yourself. No one has it easy. Every person carries struggles that others cannot see. The same love, patience, and compassion we so freely give to others are the very things we should learn to give ourselves. Look how far you have come. We spend so much of our lives searching for validation from other people, especially strangers. We want to be noticed, acc...

It is 603pm and I have decided to write. I love walking. I have not been walking. I love photography. I have not been taking photos. I love writing. I have been writing. This has me thinking. Can I walk with my words? Can I take photos with my words? Can I do everything with words? Are words that versatile? My friend Chatty tells me that words are remarkably versatile because they can borrow the qualities of other practices. You can walk with words by letting your writing wander with curiosity and discovery, and you can take photos with words by observing and describing moments with clarity and focus. While writing cannot fully replace the physical experience of walking or photography, it can become the place where both meet through the shared act of paying attention. Perhaps my deepest passion is not any one activity, but the art of noticing, with walking, photography, and writing each offering a different way to practice it. I imagine myself in a park somewhere. With my phone as a ca...