Respecting Time Through Our Presence In It

﷽

My grandma took pictures often, usually on a disposable camera. The kind you had to buy film for and take to Walgreens (a convenience store, for my international friends) to get developed and printed.

Some pictures turned out blurry. Some were blank. Others were just… bad. 😅 But they got printed anyway.

Because back then, we didn’t edit our memories.

We let them be.

Even the imperfect ones told the story of that day. So we kept them.

I want to get back to that.

Lately, I’ve started thinking about documenting my life.

Not because it’s exciting or anything, but because it’s ordinary.

Soft and repetitive.

A rhythm I’m learning to love and embrace fully.

I’m a single stay at home mom, homeschooling my four year old son.

So many days look like the one before… and the one before that.

Eventually, I found myself aching for something new.

A quiet wanderlust, a tug toward the unknown. Toward the next chapter of my story.

I’m in a really transitional period of my life, and I’m starting to see life unfolding in a beautiful way, and it’s stirring excitement because I have such high hopes for what Allah ﷻ has in store for me.

And in that stirring, I found myself slipping into daydreams.

Visions of “later” that pulled me away from the beauty of now.

The blessings of today.

And I didn’t like how that felt in my heart.

It felt like ingratitude.

And I’ve been blessed. Truly blessed.

Just eight months ago, life felt like a storm.

I’m not out of my hardship yet, but Allah ﷻ is so merciful and is easing me into ease.

Now, there is stillness.

A peace I begged for, a dua that now lives beside me. And I want to slow down enough to really see it.

To feel it deeply.

To magnify the details of what looks like a quiet, ordinary life.

To deepen my awe of Allah ﷻ.

To grow in sabr.

To treasure my son’s childhood.

To invite adventure and whimsy into our days—even in small ways.

To be fully conscious of time and its passing.

Because it’s never really about not having enough time, is it?

It’s about not respecting it properly.

We rush. We anticipate. We chase.

And next thing you know, it’s May… where’d the time go?

What if we simply cleared the clutter?

I don’t watch TV. Don’t even own one.

I don’t listen to music. I’m vegan, so I hardly go out to eat. I don’t have a car anymore, so I mostly stay close to home.

I’ve made space.

I’ve filled it with intention and presence.

But I see a need for more.

Something deeper.

A return to living in a slower, more analog way.

I’m a ’90s baby, so I remember life before the internet.

How it crept in slowly, how it used to be rare, exciting, and limited.

I want to return to something like that.

I prefer to live offline in the world that He ﷻ created.

To use my eyes more than my camera. 

To remember more.

And because we are forgetful by nature, Allah ﷻ tells us:

So I want to remind myself of the daily blessings.

Of course, it’s hard to forget the big ways He shows up. But the memory of the “small” ones fade over time.

So I’ve decided to document this season.

Not for an audience but for shukr.

To show my Lord that I am grateful—as much as I can be.

An empty leather notebook I bought years ago feels just right.

Each day, inshaAllah, I’ll write something that made the day new, something that set it apart from the one before.

A sign from Allah ﷻ.

A simple joy that moved my heart.

A lesson learned.

A sweet moment with my boy.

A moment of stillness to take in the details of nature or of a loved one’s face.

I believe in living upon what you believe.

And I believe that each day is a new day, so I want to live out that belief.

Allah ﷻ tells us:

We can never number His favors.

Gratitude isn’t a list.

It’s a lifestyle.

Something we show through action but also presence. 

This practice is how I choose to do just that.

To wean my heart and mind off my phone.

To block out the noise and distraction it brings.

To live sabr and khushoo’.

To enjoy the peace I prayed for.

Gratitude brings increase.

It shifts perception.

It softens the heart.

It invites barakah.

So today is my favorite day because it’s the one I’m in.

And Allah ﷻ is here too.

And so are you.

Alhamdulillah.

Maybe you’ll start documenting as well. In a way that you need most. 

Not so others can see—unless you want to.

But so your heart can remember that you are always surrounded by blessings.

✨How can you cherish the delicate and intricate details that Al-Lateef, the Subtle, has placed in your life?

I’ll letcha know how it goes.

Assalamu alaikum, until next time, in sha Allah

—Khalisa