Reflection: Unlabeled

Assalamua'laikum

About ten years ago, I shared with my peers something their mind could not comprehend; I am not sure if the same people who were audience to my presentation that day, are now able to fathom what I shared with them. 

That day, I was about 21 years of age. About seven years before that day, a young trainee teacher who read my (English language subject) "compositions" commented that I had a rare maturity about me (present in my writing style) but added that she was unsure if it would make me "fit in" with my friends or (her words exactly) "make them shun me". 

Her comments made me look up the word "shun" in the dictionary. 

Anyway, so now, fast forward, approximately 14 years from tween-age, and ten years from young adult age, I feel that I have found a lot of evidence(s) for my old beliefs.

At around 21 years of age, I was presenting the topic "Marrying at a young age" to my peers. I used stills from the movie "The Matrix" and I was asking my college friends to "choose the blue pill" and to "get yourself unplugged". 

Tonight, after ten years of having left that day, Morpheus' suggestion to "free your mind" makes me think of how the belief of Natural Birthing (the cause I have been involved with for about 3 years now) requires a person to do "strenuous exercise" with their mind; birth without fear, birth without drugs,  birth without lying down, and lastly, birth without (the power and control) of a doctor (representing medical assistance). 

Disclaimer: I do not promote Unassisted childbirthing BUT I understand why some women would want to do it. 

Let's now leave the topic of childbirth, and move on to other areas I have come to learn about in my newly-found acquaintances of natural birth junkies; I learn about how there is so much mis-information or more correctly DECEPTION going about about various topics. Here are some areas: 

1. Creating sustainable environments (permaculture) @ getting your hands dirty and taking time out to do such "backward" stuff VS the convenience of simply BUYING SOMETHING "SAFE" FROM A STORE.

2. "Real nutrition": Food as medicine VS allopathic medicine

3. Rejection of Mudharat (GMO FOOD) and "false" food (artificial, synthetic, fillers, additives, etc) 

4. Rejection of false comfort: paper money, debt, interests (Otherwise known in Islam in its arabic word as riba')

5. Closer to nature vs closer to man-made things, i.e carousels vs REAL horses.

6. Drugs as medicine does not heal, it deceives the brain or some part of the human body. It does not really solve the problem. Does it do this issue justice to call it the Deception of Allopathy? 

7. Food and media (and etc) used to control humans.

8. Etc

Some of these topics actually use stills and clips from the movie "The Matrix". But most if not all; have some obvious and some maybe not so obvious concept that WE ARE BEING CONNED OF THE TRUTH, of what is "real", and we are being fed deception and lies to make us feel and think we are DOING JUST FINE and so that we feel very skeptical of people telling us otherwise. 

Therefore, by exploring this topic, my aim is not to say I'm a prophetic genius, but in fact, even after 17 or so years, I am still "confused" and "affected" by the reception of people around me; reminding me always of that trainee teacher's words. How did SHE become such a good 'prophetic' judge of character/ personality and situation? How is it best for me to adapt? How is it best for me to LEARN to adapt....(and change...)

I end with this verse:

Surah no 57: verse 20
Ketahuilah bahawa (yang dikatakan) kehidupan dunia itu tidak lain hanyalah (bawaan hidup yang berupa semata-mata) permainan dan hiburan (yang melalaikan) serta perhiasan (yang mengurang), juga (bawaan hidup yang bertujuan) bermegah-megah di antara kamu (dengan kelebihan, kekuatan, dan bangsa keturunan) serta berlumba-lumba membanyakkan harta benda dan anak pinak; (semuanya itu terhad waktunya) samalah seperti hujan yang (menumbuhkan tanaman yang menghijau subur) menjadikan penanamnya suka dan tertarik hati kepada kesuburannya, kemudian tanaman itu bergerak segar (ke suatu masa yang tertentu), selepas itu engkau melihatnya berupa kuning; akhirnya ia menjadi hancur bersepai; dan (hendaklah diketahui lagi, bahawa) di akhirat ada azab yang berat (di sediakan bagi golongan yang hanya mengutamakan kehidupan dunia itu), dan (ada pula) keampunan besar serta keredaan dari Allah (disediakan bagi orang-orang yang mengutamakan akhirat). Dan (ingatlah, bahawa) kehidupan dunia ini tidak lain hanyalah kesenangan bagi orang-orang yang terpedaya.

Note for me: notice the phrase "kesenangan bagi orang-orang yang terpedaya"....