Ramblings: The Twelve Benefits of Unemployment

Salam ladies=)

Today, I want to talk about what seems to be at the heart of my life but that I cannot for the life of me obtain: a job. For nine months, I've been looking here and there, I've sent emails, called, shook hand, all in vain. I've been through many stages and have experienced a wide range of emotions, from hope to despair, not mentioning anger and sadness. However, these days, I'm in a different state of mind. I'm actually contemplating the benefits of being unemployed. Here's a list of how I use my spare time- it's more like my days=)

1. Pray on time. Thank God for that, because it's tough sometimes to come back home after a day's work and catch up with all the prayers except for Fajr and Subh.

2. Work on my spirituality. To me, Islam is way more than a halal/haram dichotomy, so I try to dedicate more time to remembrance and meditation.

3. Study the deen. I'm feeling really curious about the deen these days, so I try to get as knowledgeable as I can, mainly using books and online resources- even though I think serious knowledge requires a shaykh and years of hard work and dedication.

4. Think about my goals & motives. These nine months gave me A LOT of time to think about what I really want in life, both on professional and personal grounds.

5. Talk with my stepdad. He's a great person, and I talk about anything with him, from politics to philosophy and silly things- lots of them=)

6. Bonding with family & friends. More free time=more time to chill with friends and bond with fam.

7. Watch movies. As I've mentioned here, I'm tired of stupid movies, I'm more into films that I can benefit from. Molière aside, I've been watching Al-Ghazali: The Alchemy of Happiness, which is a must-see. Also, I planned on watching The Class, as well as Persepolis and Of Gods And Men. Feel free to join me=)


8. Watch TV. I'm not as selective for TV as for movies. Of course, Glee's my favorite these days=) And I used to watch 90210 and the Kardashian's shows, but I don't really do that nowadays- yeah right!

9. Listen to music. As you probably know, I love music, so thank God for that^^ I use some of that free time to discover new artists and/or albums. The albums I'm hooked on now are Sound of Rum's Balance and French rapper Médine's Table d'Ecoute 2.

10. Cook. Originally, I wasn't into cooking at all, and the fact that my mother, stepfather, aunts and oncles kept telling me "you should know how to cook, you're old enough to get married, bla bla bla..." didn't help. But nowadays, for some reason, cooking kinda sounds cool to me=) Also, I came across some fab blogs. Chic Feast seems to nail savory dishes and Eye It. Try It.'s food makes me want to go vegan- okay, not really.

11. Exercise. I'm not a sport-savvy person at all, but I think it's important to maintain health and shape, so I thought of 30-mn walks as workouts. Walking allows you to exercise outdoors/in a nice setting, isn't harsh on you and will slowly and surely get your body toned up.

12. Blog. I like writing, sharing my thoughts and the things I like, and I've had good feedback so far=)

The other day, I was watching TV and this song popped up. Of course, Everything Is Everything, off The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, a classic album. I've listened to this song a thousand times, but that day, they kinda struck me. Subhanallah, it's amazing how some things 'speak' to you, they seem to come out of nowhere, when you see/hear them, it's like it was made for you to see/hear- actually, they are!

Classic song!

I wrote these words for everyone
Who struggles in their youth
Who won't accept deception
Instead of what is truth
It seems we lose the game,
Before we even start to play
Who made these rules? We're so confused
Easily led astray
Let me tell ya that
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
After winter, must come spring
Everything is everything
 
Sometimes it seems
We'll touch that dream
But things come slow or not at all
And the ones on top, won't make it stop
So convinced that they might fall
Let's love ourselves then we can't fail
To make a better situation
Tomorrow, our seeds will grow
All we need is dedication



So I'm still hopeless for a job, but I'm trying to see the bright side of things =) Salam alaykum^^

2 comments:

Haute Muslimah said...

Love this post! Sometime we get so caught up in our day to day lives that we forget how the next life is actually more important.

MsDieynaba said...

Thanks=) Yeah, it's easy to get caught up in the dunya, but I think everything has its place: you have to work and perform daily tasks to live and other tasks to feel the soul. It's all about balance=)