I love your posts, Leena! Fun, informative, and always tied to the deen. So, you took ballet??? For how long? I love that you are an expert pancake-maker. What have I mastered? I’m really good at eating lol. Seriously I got this comment from a woman I traveled with recently. I was like, what do you mean? Apparently, for someone my size, I eat a lot. There’s an entire backstory behind this that I couldn’t get into, but it was certainly something I was not expecting. Seriously though, I’m really good at taking a naara out of a shalwar without a naaradaani and folding fitted bedsheets. Very useful!
Would you look at that lol, I said I've mastered eating too lmao. But I did the rough math on how many hours I've spent mastering it. Some good 17 thousand hours in my 23 years.
Thank you so much! It means a lot that you enjoy my posts, Alhamdulillah. I only took ballet for a semester in uni so I barely scratched the surface. So I’m definitely more of an expert at pancakes than pirouettes! To be fair I did watch a whole documentary about ballet which it made it a lot more interesting and fun.
Mastering eating is an elite skill! And the naara/shalwar thing? Being able to do that without getting frustrated is an extreme sport! Folding fitted bedsheets is a true art form, I was once inspired by a few tiktoks to refold all the sheets in the linen closet. Not the best but at least it's better than before.
Lovely post, Leena! I needed this reminder so much because of how much I crave novelty, especially when it comes to learning Arabic. Alsooo, I'm a pancake master too, xd. Over the years, I've gotten really good, [how am I so fluently tareef-ing myself lol.] And I love your name and the vibe of your account; you seem to put a lot of effort into the graphics, and it shows.
Ya novelty keeps life interesting and there’s always something new to explore with Arabic. I love that you’re a pancake master as well, that’s a talent worth tareef-ing!!
Thank you so much for your kind words Momina, you have a beautiful name as well! I love making the graphics, so I’m glad you enjoy them Alhamdulillah and I’m happy to have you join my little community! 🥰
Reading this post really just called me dumb in 6528 languages and i love it!! I love seeing people possess so much knowledge and teach it to other. You’re amazing Leena. I think i’ve mastered making cinnamon rolls! I used to have a business that was mainly making cinnamon rolls so i’m confident that i can make it with my eyes closed. haha
Oh, and I've also done the leg swinging on the bars in a ballet type studio, but it was a self-defence/kung fu class I had to take as part of my degree. I did not learn any self defense or kung fu, but the warm ups were fun.
Enzymatic speed was a new use of the term and I love it. It's better than lightning speed, albeit possibly slower (light should travel faster right?).
I think I've really mastered eating, considering I've easily spent some 17 thousand hours doing it from birth (estimate of 2h/day x 365 x 23). Repetitive is the way.
The forgetfulness curve is unfortunate at times, and needed at others. We would be so much smarter if we remembered all the info we learned, even just from undergrad. I barely remember what classes I took (though when prompted from a nice discussion, I will recall hazy tidbits here and there that make me sound very fancy spancy). Then when it comes to memories and people we want to forget, it really helps to have a forgetfulness curve. Double edged sword that one.
On a more serious note, I've prob accumulated several thousand hours riding a bicycle, but my "mastery" only extends so a somewhat advanced-beginner/early-intermediate mountain biker level. You also get rusty if you stop biking for a year. My new elbow scar is testament to that, from the one bike ride of the year lol.
If there's anything I'm actually proud of in terms of mastery, then it's my memorization of the Quran and the ijazahs I've been blessed with. All a ni'mah from Allah and the hard work of my parents and teachers. I memorized the Quran at a very early age so I've spent many many many hours over the last two decades (if we start counting from when I started learning the Arabic alphabet). But subhanallah what you learn after achieving a certain level of "mastery" with the Quran is that it all very quickly falls apart if you don't keep up with the maintenance work. And that's a rule of life; it's all about maintenance. Be it your neuroplasticity, your musculoskeletal health, cardiovascular health, and so on. Even in my early 20s I can tell how quickly your body starts seizing up upon disuse.
I initially said lighting but I was like, nah enzymes deserve representation for their hard work too!
Looks like you've mastered the art of eating and maths! That makes one of us, guilty to admit I never memorized the times table, I still count them on my fingers.
Absolutely agree that forgetfulness is a double edged sword. Can't seem to remember things for a test but won't forget that embarrassing memory.
I used to bike in middle school and I tried biking again last year and I didn't know how difficult it was, definitely didn't retain any of that muscle. That elbow scar is a badge of honour that you tried something different and a cool story to tell!
Masha'Allah memorizing the Quran is a really big accomplishment!! My parent's didn't take it too seriously so I never really did much as a child but I've been trying to memorize more Quran this year. Quran memorization definitely requires continuous practice, as you mentioned, but honestly I've noticed that Allah puts so much barakah in our efforts and made it easier than I thought it would be. I've noticed too, how quickly I'll lose muscle or forget things I've learnt. One of the things I enjoy most about posting is that I get jog up some of the knowledge I gained from school and make it evident somewhere less transient than my memory. May Allah make it easy for us to retain beneficial knowledge and stay connected to His words!
You write so wellll Allahuma barik thank you for this wonderful reminder, super inspiring!!
I feel like i have a lot of hobbies and I do a lot of things but I wouldn't say I have a mastery in any of them, yk jack of all trades master of none 🔥
Thank you so much for your kind words! You're DEFINITELY a master at writing OMGGG. I'm always so incredible amazed and inspired by your writing. Your 'loneliness of a chair' piece was sooo well done Masha'Allah, incredible creative, so well composed, I absolutely loved it!!
This was a very interesting read! This has inspired me to memorize more duas, more surahs. And also encouraged me to keep building those little habits that don’t feel like much (and feel boring) but build upto big things in the long run.
I think my mastery is (unfortunately) showering, getting dressed and signing into work within the span of 25 minutes every weekday 😭 no matter how early I get up, I wait until 8am to go shower 🥲 always manage to sign in by 8:30 though 😆
I love your posts, Leena! Fun, informative, and always tied to the deen. So, you took ballet??? For how long? I love that you are an expert pancake-maker. What have I mastered? I’m really good at eating lol. Seriously I got this comment from a woman I traveled with recently. I was like, what do you mean? Apparently, for someone my size, I eat a lot. There’s an entire backstory behind this that I couldn’t get into, but it was certainly something I was not expecting. Seriously though, I’m really good at taking a naara out of a shalwar without a naaradaani and folding fitted bedsheets. Very useful!
Would you look at that lol, I said I've mastered eating too lmao. But I did the rough math on how many hours I've spent mastering it. Some good 17 thousand hours in my 23 years.
What's a naara and a naaradaani? is it a thread?
Thank you so much! It means a lot that you enjoy my posts, Alhamdulillah. I only took ballet for a semester in uni so I barely scratched the surface. So I’m definitely more of an expert at pancakes than pirouettes! To be fair I did watch a whole documentary about ballet which it made it a lot more interesting and fun.
Mastering eating is an elite skill! And the naara/shalwar thing? Being able to do that without getting frustrated is an extreme sport! Folding fitted bedsheets is a true art form, I was once inspired by a few tiktoks to refold all the sheets in the linen closet. Not the best but at least it's better than before.
Lovely post, Leena! I needed this reminder so much because of how much I crave novelty, especially when it comes to learning Arabic. Alsooo, I'm a pancake master too, xd. Over the years, I've gotten really good, [how am I so fluently tareef-ing myself lol.] And I love your name and the vibe of your account; you seem to put a lot of effort into the graphics, and it shows.
xx
Ya novelty keeps life interesting and there’s always something new to explore with Arabic. I love that you’re a pancake master as well, that’s a talent worth tareef-ing!!
Thank you so much for your kind words Momina, you have a beautiful name as well! I love making the graphics, so I’m glad you enjoy them Alhamdulillah and I’m happy to have you join my little community! 🥰
Reading this post really just called me dumb in 6528 languages and i love it!! I love seeing people possess so much knowledge and teach it to other. You’re amazing Leena. I think i’ve mastered making cinnamon rolls! I used to have a business that was mainly making cinnamon rolls so i’m confident that i can make it with my eyes closed. haha
Pleasee miss girl is doing computer science 😭 coding is hard, I took a class once ... none of my programs ran. But thank you for kind words.
THATS SOO COOL! You had whole cinnamon roll business!!! I've got to try yours one day!!
hahaha if it makes you feel better, most of my programs never run too lol!
I KNOW RIGHT! Yesss, i’d love to make you someee🩷
Oh, and I've also done the leg swinging on the bars in a ballet type studio, but it was a self-defence/kung fu class I had to take as part of my degree. I did not learn any self defense or kung fu, but the warm ups were fun.
I can't lie I enjoyed the warm up stretches more than the ballet exercises too. Maybe I should've just taken yoga 💀.
Enzymatic speed was a new use of the term and I love it. It's better than lightning speed, albeit possibly slower (light should travel faster right?).
I think I've really mastered eating, considering I've easily spent some 17 thousand hours doing it from birth (estimate of 2h/day x 365 x 23). Repetitive is the way.
The forgetfulness curve is unfortunate at times, and needed at others. We would be so much smarter if we remembered all the info we learned, even just from undergrad. I barely remember what classes I took (though when prompted from a nice discussion, I will recall hazy tidbits here and there that make me sound very fancy spancy). Then when it comes to memories and people we want to forget, it really helps to have a forgetfulness curve. Double edged sword that one.
On a more serious note, I've prob accumulated several thousand hours riding a bicycle, but my "mastery" only extends so a somewhat advanced-beginner/early-intermediate mountain biker level. You also get rusty if you stop biking for a year. My new elbow scar is testament to that, from the one bike ride of the year lol.
If there's anything I'm actually proud of in terms of mastery, then it's my memorization of the Quran and the ijazahs I've been blessed with. All a ni'mah from Allah and the hard work of my parents and teachers. I memorized the Quran at a very early age so I've spent many many many hours over the last two decades (if we start counting from when I started learning the Arabic alphabet). But subhanallah what you learn after achieving a certain level of "mastery" with the Quran is that it all very quickly falls apart if you don't keep up with the maintenance work. And that's a rule of life; it's all about maintenance. Be it your neuroplasticity, your musculoskeletal health, cardiovascular health, and so on. Even in my early 20s I can tell how quickly your body starts seizing up upon disuse.
I initially said lighting but I was like, nah enzymes deserve representation for their hard work too!
Looks like you've mastered the art of eating and maths! That makes one of us, guilty to admit I never memorized the times table, I still count them on my fingers.
Absolutely agree that forgetfulness is a double edged sword. Can't seem to remember things for a test but won't forget that embarrassing memory.
I used to bike in middle school and I tried biking again last year and I didn't know how difficult it was, definitely didn't retain any of that muscle. That elbow scar is a badge of honour that you tried something different and a cool story to tell!
Masha'Allah memorizing the Quran is a really big accomplishment!! My parent's didn't take it too seriously so I never really did much as a child but I've been trying to memorize more Quran this year. Quran memorization definitely requires continuous practice, as you mentioned, but honestly I've noticed that Allah puts so much barakah in our efforts and made it easier than I thought it would be. I've noticed too, how quickly I'll lose muscle or forget things I've learnt. One of the things I enjoy most about posting is that I get jog up some of the knowledge I gained from school and make it evident somewhere less transient than my memory. May Allah make it easy for us to retain beneficial knowledge and stay connected to His words!
You write so wellll Allahuma barik thank you for this wonderful reminder, super inspiring!!
I feel like i have a lot of hobbies and I do a lot of things but I wouldn't say I have a mastery in any of them, yk jack of all trades master of none 🔥
Thank you so much for your kind words! You're DEFINITELY a master at writing OMGGG. I'm always so incredible amazed and inspired by your writing. Your 'loneliness of a chair' piece was sooo well done Masha'Allah, incredible creative, so well composed, I absolutely loved it!!
I must go read this loneliness piece now
This was a very interesting read! This has inspired me to memorize more duas, more surahs. And also encouraged me to keep building those little habits that don’t feel like much (and feel boring) but build upto big things in the long run.
I think my mastery is (unfortunately) showering, getting dressed and signing into work within the span of 25 minutes every weekday 😭 no matter how early I get up, I wait until 8am to go shower 🥲 always manage to sign in by 8:30 though 😆
Yay, Alhamdulillah, I'm glad I could inspire, to be honest I fell off with my goals of memorizing surahs and this resparked my spirit as well!
Hahaha at least you're very punctual Alhamdulillah, that's definitely a great thing to master!!