Saturday, May 12, 2007

today as part of my counselling training course i had to attend a full day of personal development, i went really not knowing what to expect, we all had to bring a dish each to share at lunch.

i had planned on making something from scratch, but i didn't have the time last night and this morning was a mad rush of getting ready and leaving the house, so instead i fried some samosas and put some cheese and onion pasties in the oven, better than nothing :)

when i arrived, we where told that the theme for the day is 'who am i?' and we where to have time to ourselves to ponder and be creative with whatever and however we liked and to then share with the group.

where to begin or even how to begin?
i love paint so i instantly zoomed for the paint and massive paper and sat staring at it for some time not knowing how to begin, eventually i drew (or tried to draw) Africa, i began with my roots, but that wasn't enough because as part of 'who i am' is my britishness so instead of colouring Africa 'green or yellow' i drew the British flag within it, representing me.
but I'm part of a bigger picture, i have a whole humanity of brothers and sisters, a whole 'ummah' that i am a member of and so i added the world to symbolise that but also to remind me that although i have my roots i should never be arrogant and big headed because i am an individual amongst billions and we all share the same universe and we all come from the Creator.
my faith is a big part of 'who i am' and so i drew a mosque to symbolise my faith and i described it as being more than a religion and instead a way of life, as religion is still segregated from life where as my life is based around my faith if that makes sense :)
i wrote my name in Arabic at the top because our name plays a major role to who we are, and i chose to write it in Arabic because i will be explaining myself in English but i acknowledge the fact that i am bi-lingual and that both languages enable me to communicate with more than one community.
before i could add any thing else time had run out and it was time to gather round and share our thoughts.
i liked today's experience it was refreshing and a reminder to myself.

20 comments:

ibeebarbie said...

Mashallah!
Salam White African,
Job well done. Fantastic explanation.

a_akak said...

I can see the artist within you coming out :P but to dampen the mood :P "that looks nothing like africa" i mean it looks more like a chicken cut in half or something lol, plus u never showed us ur handwriting? from the way u wrote ur name it looks like i may have found a person who will try to claim my thrown of "The Worst Hand Writing Award"???? tada......

PS: counseling on Sat? Just go watch Dr Phill & Operah :P

Fe Aman Allah

Ever The Idealist said...

Well cool WA. I never would have been able to answer that question.

I sometimes get it at work and I think what in God's name do they mean. You ilustrated it beautifuly. Well done.

Once you are done training I might make use of you...

DaMoon said...

wow mashallah...I admire da way u thought it through, well done...but I have to agree with Ahmed, u could've done a better work on Africa...lol
thanks for sharing gurl :o)

white african said...

thanks anglo and ibee :)

akak lol bro i had like 5 minutes man, and i didnt even have a pencil it was the fastest drawing i ever did.

half a chiken looooooooool well they have alot of chickens in africa so i guess the message was still there :)

as for my handwritting, no comment lol....

im being trained in person centered counselling, where it's one to one listening, operah has a whole audience to watch, kinda scary for whoever needs counselling.

why thank you ever :) i promise i wont be little your problems :) always willing to offer an ear.

thanks damoon :)
i think i will practice drawing africa then post it lol

Anonymous said...

It’s a wonderful idea, and its nice of you to share it with us, thank you.
Regarding the map I thought first it resembled India, that could be the samosa influence ;o)

The Godfather said...

Smart.

Lebeeya said...

Lovely drawing, and a great explanation mashallah!

Your handwriting looks like like... Akak's :)

white african said...

welde thank you :)

india, i think your right, it does look more like india lol.

godfather thanks bro

leebeya thanks sis as for my handwritting it definatly has seen better days, i blame it on the generation of computers and text messaging.

MaySoon said...

Creative Masha2 Allah... well done :oD

mani said...

WA.. i think you should extend this challenge to bloggers!!! :)

yep.. all my points were made.. great and succinct explanation of identity.. fantastic tri-lateral representation... a horrible drawing of Africa :), and the most basic handwriting EVER!!!! :D

I hope you personally developed :P

salam

NATIVE said...

I love it White African!

Explanation was fantastic....the map of Africa could do with some work......but for a 5 minutes job u did brill. MashaAllah

I think you should extend the challenge to the bloggers.....it would be interesting to say the least.

white african said...

thank you maysoon :)

thanks mani, as for the handwritting so long as its readable :)

i think thats a cool idea mani, i challenege the bloggers to express themsleves as to 'who they are' in any form, can be fun, try it out, but limit it to 10 minutes otherwise you guys will be coming out with better maps than me :)

native thanks sis, go one lets see your 'who am i' :)

a_akak said...

Changing the subject? or "al-disca" as we libyans might say

You seem to have evaded the initial idea of showing us WA hand writing? or are you worried i will beat you in the "who has the worst hand writing"? bring it on :P

Fe Aman Allah

NM said...

well done my love, looks excellent very you :)

white african said...

akak lol i take you up on that challange, i will write something in english and arabic and we will see :)

nm thanks sis, it was an interesting day

a_akak said...

do you know what past me? ur name, i never knew it was "sondas" anyway 3ashet al-asamee

fe aman allah

white african said...

thanks akak :)

yep thats my name, it was very rare in Libya when i was first born so i have many nick names that my family (uncles, aunts, grandparents) used to call me lol.

one of them being 'sandwich'

Brave Heart said...

i think ur hand writing is good, but where libya in this picture, which course u r taking

white african said...

brave libya is deep in the heart :)

and the course is counselling, counselling peoples problems.

as for the hand writting, you are kind for saying that :)