Celebrated Intention

Recently, I've noticed myself to be more and more inclined towards minimalism. It could be because one of my close friends preach minimalism a lot that I got affected, or that my housemates are all for it in leading their lives, or that I'm constantly in an overwhelmed state that my conscious mind wants other things to be as simple as possible. Either way, I believe that this is a healthy direction to go in terms of changing myself in preparation of the KL lifestyle I'm soon to face. Well, "change" might be a crude way to say it. When they say people change, there's always somewhat a tinge of negative connotation to it. I personally prefer the word "evolve". It sounds more........natural.

My graduation was a fine example of how Allah celebrates this evolution of mine. Being the only Malay graduating in the first ceremony of the graduation week at my uni, the spirit of graduation was only starting to warm up. The "suam-suam kuku" ambient allowed me to enjoy the company of my family and my truest friends who were genuinely happy for me. On that day, I received one little teddy bear, a couple of thoughtful gifts, absolutely no flowers at all, and had very few pictures taken (that's after pushing ourselves so hard because we were so tired from the event). Putting aside that I'm surrounded by people who are far from being publicly-announced sweet (lol), I was actually very happy and content. I may not get to be spoiled for being a graduand, but each gift I received (physical or not) was definitely the best I could ever ask for. There's this one hadith from the Prophet that promotes the giving of gifts to instill love in our hearts and purifying it. I admit that I am not the kind to give gifts but after being showered with so much love, I can definitely say that this hadith holds true. Funny how when you have very little, that's when your gratitude amplifies.

Of the books that I received. Both are splendid read indeed!.
The left book was actually from a gift exchange event.
But mashaAllah, they're both the right thing at the right time <3

I've witnessed how the 3 years of my stay in England made me evolve to a whole new person than I was before. Fresher, and hopefully better. I've come to like the fast-paced growth I experience here that the thought of returning back daunts me so much. But I have to swallow the fact painfully that this is not reality. My reality awaits me, 13-hour flight-journey from here. True that they say, 3 years in the UK is only a mere training ground for us to combat what lies deep in where we came from. May Allah grant us strength.