Artwork ' Eternity' by Yasmeen Olya
Yasmeen Olya is a very inspiring example to me, the way she lives a devotional life, creates beauty in (harp)songs, paintings and handcraft and at the same time is a mother of four children. She basically just gives and gives and gives, fully trusting the divine, even in the midst of the storm of insecurity, like being homeless and living in poverty.
She shared the following text about this on facebook today:
Away renovating my new home, painting tiles, installing tiles, caulking, painting floors. I have been through enormous trial in the last year, homelessness and ...being in situations of extreme poverty, with people of difficult character. In the midst of this I carry with me four beautiful dependents. Crises is an incredible test, what generosity can we give in the times when we are squeezed until we feel we have nothing left to give? There is always more, there is always blessings coming, the great fortitude of our individual capacities. How can I say it more strongly, the best in all of these adventures has been NOT TO REACT. Do not react, I say to myself over and over, just one more step, subhanAllah I have feet to walk with, look at my tiny feet, I am doing this out of a greater strength, one that I do not understand, all I can understand is that I can put one foot forward after the other. Slowly things come together, miraculously like a a beautiful many colored web, sometimes scarred, sometimes tangled, but subhanAllah how with absolute patience and the deliberate concentration on the moment, one foot after the other... things unfold. I aspire to create beauty in any given moment, in our language with our children, in our relationship with ourselves, with our lives, with those lives we touch. I look out on the world beyond my immediate surroundings and I see a great deal of reaction. I am against reaction, it does not feed us, it does not heal us, it does not help us, so many screens, so many shades beyond the readily available conclusions we draw from medias exploitation's... yes... and our own mean emotional responses. There is so much that is not apparent, not clear, look past this, do not be depressed, the situation, is transient this too shall pass, and our own health and well being is paramount, the health and well being of our souls, give, love, be gentle, and stay peaceful and patient, this is the teaching. This is what I understand in the messages from my Holy Prophet, s.a.w, peace peace peace in the midst of the storm. My greetings to all absolutely, and with no judgement, or expectation, no hidden agenda, I love you all for who you are in all your miraculous shades of being, pure peace to you all. Your Yasmeen
Her 'lesson' 'not to react' is one I want to share... If it comes to daily life struggles and difficulties, this often is the way to find back to peace again. I don't always know how to do it or the voice of the inner criticizer speaks to me, telling me that she is afraid and just wants to cry it all out but it feels like a new button just got invented. I press the new button and it makes me breathe..
My family and I go to the same kind of challenges, on a practical level things seem impossible sometimes, than what seems 'bad' news comes on top of it, and I think for a moment all I can do is burst into tears and hell,... panic!
But then there is this sparkly feeling, like I am a kid in front of an elevator and I know that when I push this button this magic machine comes to me that can bring me up or down and both ways are good, because no matter where, it is now that I am and I can not not be with 'me', the divine spark that embedded in the sea of it all..
The joy of the child to push this button is the joy of the moment I realise I can breathe.. Aaaah, bliss..
Here you can find Yasmeen's songs and her art. Please share her work. There are people that will find great comfort in this music during challenging times. Her music warms the hearts of many for a life-time and so does her art. This beauty goes beyond what can be defined, connects us despite our outer differences. This is the soul. Please support Yasmeen by buying her work, so she can find space again and again to do what she loves and spread this love.
By the way, you don't have to 'react' to add to a positive flow, just one smile, one breath, one thought that says 'yes' might do it.
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