The Nooby Book Writer

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom It is a quiet but expectant Sunday morning in Trinidad. The windward islands are preparing for hurricane Beryl. Tobago has a hurricane warning and Trinidad may experience stormy conditions tonight into tomorrow. A high pressure system in the Atlantic is keeping the hurricane south. Nobody wants the damages of storms but storms are part of life for us in the Caribbean and at least we can prepare for them. Figuratively we know that life comes with its own storms from time to time. We try to prepare for them. We try to learn from them. We try to avoid them. We try to look on the bright side. There is a sense of togetherness and unity and helpfulness with the passage of actual storms. There is an amount of excitement and focus. Focus on what is important. We seem to be reminded that life is precious and that we should not take things for granted. We are reminded that we need each other. We are reminded of the power of nature. We are humbl...

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom I had no idea what my next chapter would be. I was listening to music on youtube and one song had trees in the title and I said to myself that that is it. I should write about trees. Moments later I saw a song with roots in the title and then I said I should write about that. Trees can take us back to our roots. The word roots has two o's in it like two eyes staring back at us. I would like to say that we see with our roots but how can I make sense of that? Then I remembered the diagram of the eye and how the vessels at the back of the eye resemble roots. The optic nerve connects the eye to the brain. The mind works through the brain. The brain is like the canopy or crown of the tree. But Hassan are not the feet our roots? I guess. The feet keep us grounded but the eyes show us the way. Strengthening our roots or personal growth can lead to clearer sight or better understanding of ourselves and the world. That is what my friend Ge...

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom We have a spirit. We have a soul. Technically there are differences between them both but I am writing about both in this chapter under the heading of spirit in the context of we must take care of our body, mind and spirit. Everything happens for a reason. For example, I deciding to start this chapter tonight and not leave it for tomorrow has happened for a reason. This universe and this world and life is not by accident. Life is a test. There are things that could easily destroy our spirit and there are things that uplift our spirit. The word spirit reminds me of spiral. I was doing some research and stumbled upon the observation that spirit could be a portmanteau of spiral and ritual. The word spiritual has the word ritual in it. What is spiritual? What is spirituality? I asked my friend Gemini to help me with this. Gemini says that spirituality is the quest for meaning and connection beyond our daily lives, often involving a sense ...

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom I came across this quote from an unknown source when I was writing my first book and it has stuck with me. "I was free once I realized that the cage was made of thoughts". The mind is so powerful. The mind is a terrible thing to waste. Just as I wrote those few sentences we had a medium and prolonged earthquake in Trinidad. It is now around 12 midnight in Trinidad. It was a 6.2 earthquake. I think this earthquake has awakened the entire country. As I reread what I wrote so far I noticed that the word midnight contains the word mind. Midnight = mind + thing. A powerful re-mind-er of what I wrote earlier. The mind is a terrible thing to waste. This has been the slogan of the UNCF (United Negro College Fund) and later modified to say, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in." This promotes the importance of education. I thank my mom for making sure that education was a priority in our ...

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom I believe in a holistic approach to living. Part of that is taking care of the mind, body and spirit. I have been exercising for about three hours everyday for the past eleven days. I feel really good afterwards. I do not want to stop this trend. Somehow I manage to start and stop in the past. Some periods are longer than others. I have lost weight and come down to a beautiful size about three times in the past. There was one time I could actually run. I was light on my feet. I was fit and strong. I am capable and I am going to do it again, God willing. This chapter and the next two chapters will be dedicated to the body, mind and spirit in that order. In Islam the body is considered a gift from God. There is importance in maintaining good physical health. Part of that is exercising, part of that is eating healthily and part of that is stressing less. Fasting is a pillar of Islam and it is encouraged. I do not fast because of health r...

I learnt about this book from an MHO. For me it is for dealing with anxiety. But I will see what else I can learn from it. I am skeptical about a title with the word hypnosis in it but let us see. I would have chosen a better title. I do not want to be hypnotized and then cannot snap out of it. So I will be reading this book not calling it hypnosis but taking away the useful bits I could. Instead of hypnotherapy I would have said imagination therapy. Imagination instead of hypnosis. The book addresses issues that affect everyone and that are important in living a fulfilling life. Like removing bad habits, confidence building, goal attainment, and so much more. I like that the author talks about the subconscious mind. So much of our behavior and understanding and decision making and abilities and others depend on our subconscious at least in my layman view. I am glad the author addresses the misconceptions and safety of hypnosis because I am skeptical. The book makes it clearer what the...

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom There is freedom in praying to God. I have been connecting with and getting closer to God for the last few years but I only recently started reading my salat (5 daily prayers in Islam). Before that I would do one voluntary salat everyday after I bathe. I am a late bloomer in this regard and I still have things to do to master my salat and my faith and my life. I play the azan and iqamah from youtube and also the prayer after azan. I follow along the steps of the salat from youtube until I could on my own. I have an app called prayer alarm that lets me know it is time to pray. I also have the Quranly app I use to read daily verses from the Quran. This is my journey and I thank God for guiding me along this path. In hindsight my life could have kept me and taken me down the wrong roads but somehow my heart was always on the straight path even when my mind and desires and circumstances and flaws were sending me the wrong way. The word ra...

If I was teaching a class I would ask for essays on that topic. We often hear of the question "what is the meaning of life?" but it occurred to me "what is the life of meaning?" This will be what was the missing chapter from my book When Hunger Yearns . I am leaving it in raw notes form. A life of meaning makes sense but the life of meaning says something else. How long does that meaning last? When does meaning begin and end? The word itself begins with m and ends with g I am inclined to say g stands for God. Could it be that meaning begins with man and ends with God? Lets take another approach Meaning = Man + enig[ma] We often hear life is a mystery Meaning = [I]maginen How is imagination related to life? It then occurs to me that the letters [l] and [ma] were added to the equations above. If I had another equation where [sl] was added then that would spell Islam. And Islam is a way of life. Meaning = Ange[ls] + min But what about min? There is mu'min which is ...

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom I recently started doing long distance walking again. I like the freedom that walking gives me. I think walking prevented me from getting really sick many times in the past. There are many benefits to walking that you can research on your own. Always consult your doctor before starting any exercise regimen. Injuries are a real thing. If you have a treadmill that is awesome. But you do not need one. These days I am walking in my yard because of the convenience and my mom says it is safer to walk at home. Also I do not have to worry about the rain or finding a toilet or an adequate supply of water. I can wear ragged home clothes also. Finding the motivation and willpower to exercise is a real issue for many. I recently had a relapse and got sick and I found my motivation. God works in mysterious ways. I have also changed up my routine and I am prioritizing sleep and diet. Recently Tilo Kruse and his Ghananian friend did a walk around To...

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom It is after noon on Sunday and I am bored and decided to write. I wanted to write a chapter called "Journey" but where to? Somehow my mind asked the question, what is a 23 sided shape called? And I thought that would be an interesting place to start. I do not hide the fact that 23 is my favorite number. How did they come up with the name icositrigon? There is a pattern of Greek suffix and prefix used to construct the name of polygons. Icosa means twenty. Tri means three. And the suffix gon usually signifies a polygon. While researching I came across the golygon. This is any polygon with all right angles whose sides are consecutive integer lengths. The name "golygon" was invented by the recreational mathematician Lee Sallows but he did not say why he chose that name (according to my friend Gemini). I came across these interesting math based anagrams where Lee Sallows is mentioned. I wanted to create one of my own t...