to step lightly on uneven ground
Monday, February 11, 2019
My sister held up my shoes and looked at the pair of them curiously; head tilted, an eyebrow raised. "They're really light," she said, tossing them so that they landed on the tiled floor by my feet.
"Of course they are," I said, smiling as I put them on: black and white checks fitting snugly around the yellow-beaked penguin socks that I wore.
"Light as if you're walking barefoot," Babu said from the side, looking at my shoes in the same wonder that of my sister.
I walked on my toes, and offered her a curtsy. "Or like a ballerina," I said, an image of young me in a baby pink tulle tutu springing up in mind.
Light like a dancer, nimble and filled with grace.
Light like I'm floating, moving weightlessly through space.
Light shoes-
Light like I'm floating, moving weightlessly through space.
Light shoes-
"To keep my steps light," I whispered and the words sat settled before me, fitting snugly in the space of the moment, like the pair of chequered shoes wrapped around penguin-padded feet - a reminder to myself to always choose to step lightly on these uneven ground.
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AN EPILOGUE + SOME QUESTIONS & REFLECTIONS 🎕
This story came from a short conversation I had with my sister and my mother and has now become so dearly beloved to me. 'To step lightly', to me, means to be gentle - gentle in your actions and how you connect with the world (i.e. nature; the people); gentle with your words and the way you speak them as well as the way you keep them in your silence; gentle with yourself, at times that you may easily forget. It means to exercise gentleness as often as you can in this often harsh world. Gentleness, after all, is beloved to Allah Al Lateef, and His Messenger SAW.
Aisha reported: The Messenger of Allah SAW (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) said:
O Aisha, Allah is gentle and He loves gentleness. He rewards for gentleness what is not granted for harshness and He does not reward anything else like it.
(Source: Sahih Muslim 2593, Grade: Sahih).
I still have so much to learn about gentleness. And I look back to this story, my little light shoes and I hope to remember to go about these uneven ground with light steps, and a gentler heart.
How about you? What does gentleness look like to you? And what does stepping lightly on uneven ground mean to you?
PS: SOME FLOWERS FOR THE TAKING 🎕
+ on the topic of gentleness:
there's this poem from nzakrh on gentleness that beautifully captures what gentleness in nature/the world looks like | Aida made a video where she shares the story of Prophet Muhammad SAW's gentleness and how gentleness truly opens up hearts and you can watch it here | air so sweet is dodie's video from sometime ago and I thought back to it while I was writing this piece - they both give me this kind of fluttery-happy feeling and ah, it's so beautiful and sweet and yes, gentle | one of my favourite examples of how kindness can be exercised in life is the movie Cinderella; it always fills me with so much love and so much yearning to have more kindness in the world.
Are there are any flowers for the taking that you would like to share, too? Stories or videos or quotes that you feel are related to this piece? Share them with me in the comments; I'd love to hear from you!
With love, Iween
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2 comments
I was reading this in the middle of working on my assignment and I def did not regret it one bit. This post is another amazing one and it did put a smile on my face.
ReplyDeleteFrom the introduction, the implication and where it came from//
I also and have always love how your post made me reflect and so i did.
I suppose being gentle to me is being kind and soft even if you’re not the happiest person at the moment. It is spouting words that actually means a lot, buried under the doubts and “I think,”. It is finding home in someone else without breaking in.
It is the days I gathered my courage to approach a friend and spend the time talking about nothing and everything (their families, worries, the 30th chapter of their story) and ending up being so full of love and in love, floating over euphoria, thinking how come kindness is such a great thing and wondering if its possible for me to make someone feel like that too.
It is a wonder isn’t it that being gentle is as soft as it sounds.
My voice often pitched as I speak in its presence.
Like the saying “it’s okay,” even when the struggle is far from kind.
It is a wonder isn’t it that being gentle is as soft and as strong.
Dear Iween, oh how I truly love this post a lot! And thank you for sharing the different form of kindness written, sung, carried by different people!
The one with Cinderella being something I agree (arguably because of my familiarity with the movie)// The movie will always stayed with me after leaving me in a state of daze watching it at the cinema with its powerful message.
Another favorite example of mine is definitely from a favorite manga called Fruit basket.
In regards to a conversation of the heroine with one of the characters on “being kind with motives of being accepted” rather than the “pure kind”, the heroine quoted:
“Mom told me...it's better to trust people than to doubt them. She said that people aren't born with kind hearts- But she said that kindness is something that grows inside of each person's body...but it's up to us to nurture that kindness in our hearts. That's why kindness is different for each person.,”
And because there are many differences , it is something to be celebrated. I suppose what she was trying to say is to never doubt kindness and not to take it for something else.
At least this is the insight I got take from this quote ever since I read it// but oh do tell me if you have a different take on it.
Again im rambling///
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for writing this iween <3
"being gentle is as soft and as strong." - i love this; I agree with this wholeheartedly. being gentle can sometimes sound like a weakness but being gentle amidst rough times is so, so strong.
Deleteand this: " It is finding home in someone else without breaking in." is perhaps my favourite thing I've read today. that is such a beautiful interpretation of being gentle. thank you for sharing that, Ani <3
"kindness is something that grows inside of each person's body...but it's up to us to nurture that kindness in our hearts. That's why kindness is different for each person" i love this quote! yes, kindness can be a result of different intentions - like being kind because you're expecting/wanting kindness in return or being kind because it feels like the right thing to do at the moment - but kindness is kindness is kindness; whatever the reasons and intentions behind one's kindness and whatever form kindness takes - like an advice that may feel like criticism at a certain time or a cautious comment - it is still kindness, though we might only see it as such in retrospect.
Alhamdulillah <3