Of becoming a writer

Since my return home from the United States in November 2009, my dad has been relentlessly encouraging me to write.

"You are a science person, so you should become a scientific writer. You can write about your research and send them to an appropriate magazine. They pay approximately RM350 for a two-page article!"

I jumped in delight to his last sentence. As stated by Steven Levitt, the author of 'Freakonomics', human responds to incentives :) And, money sure is the best incentive for a penniless unemployed fresh-grad like me! My dad handed me a Dewan Kosmik, a magazine published by the renowned Dewan Bahasa and Pustake, which specifically publishes science articles. This will be the magazine that you will send your articles in, he said.

But life happens.

Him: Did you ever even have a boyfriend?
Her: Of course.
Him: What happened, why didn’t they work out?
Her: What always happens? Life.
(500 Days of Summer)

It is already July 2010, and I still have not written anything. I have a topic in my mind, but I can't seem to put it down on paper.

Me: Writing is hard. I don't know how to make my article interesting. And I am sure somebody has already written on the same topic that I am going to write.
Dad: If you show me your draft, I can help you make it interesting.

Well, do you think I will become a writer? Do you think my article will be published in Dewan Kosmik one day? What will my topic be?

Will definately update you on that :)

Purity

She giggled and whispered seductively, "The present that I wanted to give you is a french kiss!"

"Setiap org pasti ada prinsip dalam hidupnya. Biasanya berdasarkan apa yang diyakini kebenarannya. Prinsip hidup saya berdasarkan Al-Quran dan Hadith. Dalam agama kita, masalah kesucian selalu diutamakan. Itu terbukti kenapa pelajaran pertama dalam buku Fiqh tentang bersuci, agar penganutnya selalu menjagakan kesucian lahir atau batin. Diantara kesucian yang harus dijaga adalah kesucian antara pria dan wanita. Kalau saya melakukan ciuman dengan wanita yang tidak halal bagi saya, ertinya saya menodai kesucian saya sendiri dan kesucian wanita itu kan. Maaf, itu adalah satu musibah bagi saya... Saya bahagia dengan apa yang saya yakini kebenarannya." - Khaerul Azam in 'Ketika Cinta Bertasbih'.

After watching ‘Ketika Cinta Bertasbih’ last night, serenity settled in - I felt so much at ease with myself. Now, I truly understood what I read a while ago:

‎"You have to be the type of person you’re looking for. When I began my search, I wanted someone very ideal, while I was, in the beginnning of my search, not as practicing as I should have been. It was not until Allah guided me to change myself that I finally married the type of partner I wanted, alhamdulillaah." -

MulimBestLife

What you give, you will get back.

“And women of purity are for men of purity, and men of purity are for women of purity”[Surah An-Nur :26]

Tuesdays

When I was a student, I literally promised myself that after graduation, I would grant myself the luxury of being 'Brain Dead' - I would not read books; I would not read anything concerning politics, or economy or anything considered as a 'heavy topic'; and I would not think of the problems in this world like I used to. I would just lie in bed and enjoy the privilege of being NOTHING.

After half a year of being Brain Dead (Well, not exactly, because I actually got a job as a Research Assistant at a university, took the GRE, and did alot of reading on latest discoveries in medical research), I decided that it now time for me to metamorphosize into my old self.

Tuesdays' With Morrie by Mitch Albom is the first book that I cracked open this year. Although it is pretty embarrassing to admit that I have not read a single book this year (gosh, is it really July already?!?!) except for this book which I started reading two days ago, I would not give myself such a hard time. Give me a break, will ya? ;) Here are some of life's greatest lessons that I learnt from this book:

"Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted."

"The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it."

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

"Love wins. Love always wins."

"Why are we embarrassed by silence? What comfort do we find in all the noise?