Ajmal

finding home in the everyday

May 19, 2025February 26, 2025 by Ajmal

Not all rituals are grand. Some are so small, so woven into the fabric of our days, that we barely notice them.. yet they anchor us in ways we cannot explain.The first sip of morning coffee, held between tired hands. The way we always check the locks before bed, not out of fear, but habit. The familiar route we take home, even when another might be faster. These small, quiet acts are not just routines; they are threads of continuity, tiny reassurances that life is still moving in a way we understand.We think of rituals as sacred, as something tied to ceremony. But even the simplest things..a favorite sweater on a cold day, lighting a lamp at dusk, reading a few pages of a book before sleep..carry meaning. They remind us of who we are. They offer a sense of control in a world that often feels unpredictable.Sometimes, when life feels chaotic, we return to these rituals without even thinking. We make a cup of tea. We sit in the same chair. We listen to an old song. And in these small, familiar moments, we find something steady. Something quiet. Something that, for a moment, feels like home.

lives we outgrow

May 15, 2025February 26, 2025 by Ajmal

There are versions of our lives that no longer fit us. Jobs we once dreamed of, friendships that once felt like home, routines that once gave us comfort. At some point, without realizing it, we step outside of them and find that they no longer belong to us or perhaps, we no longer belong to them.Growth is often quiet. It happens in the way certain conversations no longer feel fulfilling, in the way old ambitions lose their shine, in the way places we once loved start to feel unfamiliar. We try to hold on, convincing ourselves that if something was once right, it must always be right. But life does not work that way. We are meant to evolve, to shift, to step into new spaces even when we do not yet know their shape. There is grief in outgrowing a life, even when we know it is time to move on. But there is also freedom. The freedom to redefine who we are. To release what no longer aligns. To trust that what once fit us does not need to fit us forever.You are not betraying your past self by changing .. you are honoring them. Because the person you were back then led you here. And the person you are now is allowed to want something different, something new, something more.

the sound of a world without us

May 12, 2025February 24, 2025 by Ajmal

One day, the world will continue without us. The streets we walked, the rooms we filled, the objects we touched .. everything will remain, but we will not. The conversations will go on, the seasons will shift, the trees will keep growing, unaware of our absence.It is humbling to think about—a world that does not pause when we leave it. The wind will still whisper through empty streets. The waves will still kiss the shore. The morning light will still pour through the windows of places we once called home. Life, relentless in its rhythm, will carry on.And yet, in small ways, we will still exist. In the books we underlined, in the habits we passed down, in the memories we left behind in the minds of those who loved us. A favorite song playing on the radio. A recipe written in our handwriting. The echo of our laughter in an old video, or perhaps a post from this blog : ) .We cannot stop time. But we can leave traces.. kindnesses that ripple long after we are gone, love that lingers in the hearts of others. We are not meant to last forever, but the way we live now, the way we make others feel, the way we move through this world—these are the things that will outlive us.One day, the world will go on without us. But perhaps, if we live fully, if we love deeply, if we leave light in our wake, the world will remember we were here. My hope and prayer is that the border of a mind project to stay as my sound when I’m no longer in this world.

the versions of ourselves that no longer exist

May 8, 2025February 24, 2025 by Ajmal

We are not who we once were. The person you were five years ago, a year ago, even a month ago .. versions of you that existed for a time, then quietly faded as life shaped you into someone new.There are thoughts you used to believe with certainty, now replaced by new understandings. Dreams you once chased that no longer call to you. Fears that once held you back but now seem distant, like echoes of a person you can barely recognize. Growth does not always announce itself; sometimes, it is only when we look back that we realize how much has changed.And yet, we often grieve these past selves, even the ones we worked so hard to outgrow. The innocence we lost, the confidence we once had, the versions of us that existed before heartbreak, before disappointment, before life carved its lessons into us. But perhaps they were never meant to stay. Perhaps they were only stepping stones, necessary for the person we are still becoming.Let them go with gratitude. The past versions of you did their job .. they carried you to this moment. And who you are now will one day become a memory, too. This is not loss; this is transformation.You are allowed to change. You are allowed to evolve. You are allowed to keep becoming someone you have not yet met.

the moments that don’t announce themselves

May 5, 2025February 24, 2025 by Ajmal

Some of the most important moments in our lives arrive quietly. They do not come with fireworks or grand declarations. They slip in unnoticed, disguised as ordinary days, passing through us before we realize their weight.The last time you sat with a loved one before life took you in different directions. The final hug before goodbye, not knowing it was the last. The evening spent laughing over nothing, a moment so simple you didn’t think to hold onto it. These moments do not ask to be remembered, and yet, one day, we look back and realize they shaped us.We are taught to mark the big days .. the birthdays, the promotions, the milestones. But life’s most profound moments often happen in between. In the long drives with no destination. In the quiet mornings when the world is still. In the conversations that seem like nothing but stay with us for years.We do not always recognize the significance of a moment while we are living it. But maybe that is the beauty of it. Maybe life is not meant to be measured by highlights, but by the quiet, unassuming moments that change us without us even noticing.So pay attention. Not just to the days circled on the calendar, but to the ones that pass by unnoticed. Because one day, you may look back and realize .. those were the moments that mattered most.

crossing paths

May 1, 2025February 24, 2025 by Ajmal

Every day, we cross paths with countless strangers.. faces that blur into the background of our routines, names we will never learn, lives that brush against ours for only a moment before continuing on their way. The woman on the train staring out the window, lost in thought. The man at the café, tracing circles on his coffee cup. The child gripping their parent’s hand, eyes wide with wonder.Each of them carries a world within them .. memories, fears, dreams, heartbreaks. A lifetime of laughter and loss, of moments that shaped them in ways we will never see. And yet, we pass them as if they are part of the scenery, unaware of the untold stories walking beside us.Sometimes, I wonder about these fleeting encounters. What battles is the tired cashier fighting behind their polite smile? What letter is the old man on the park bench waiting for? What song is stuck in the head of the person standing next to me at the crosswalk?We are all strangers in someone else’s story, unnoticed characters in the background of another life. And yet, for the briefest second, our worlds overlap. A glance, a shared moment, a kindness exchanged without words.Perhaps we will never truly know the people we pass by. But in recognizing that they, too, are living full and complex lives, maybe we remember to move through the world with just a little more softness.

beyond our orbits

April 28, 2025May 1, 2025 by Ajmal

For all that we learn, for all that we experience, there will always be things we will never know. Lives we will never live. Stories we will never hear. Roads we will never walk. Somewhere, at this very moment, the sun is rising over a quiet town you will never visit. A conversation is unfolding in a language you do not understand. A stranger is thinking of someone they once loved, their heart heavy with memories you will never witness.There is a strange comfort in this ..the realization that the world is far bigger than our own small orbit. We are not the center of everything. There are billions of unseen moments, invisible to us, existing without our knowledge, without our permission. It is both humbling and beautiful.We will never know what was written in the letter that was never sent. We will never hear the stories buried with those who have left this world. We will never see every sunset, read every book, love in every way a heart can love.And yet, we are here, experiencing this particular life, in this particular body, in this particular moment. We are given only one path to walk, but within it, infinite ways to see, to feel, to understand.So perhaps the goal is not to know everything, but to stand in awe of all that we never will. To marvel at the unseen, the unknown, the endless mystery of it all.

quiet history of objects around

April 24, 2025February 24, 2025 by Ajmal

Every object around us carries a quiet history, a life before it reached our hands. The book on your shelf once sat untouched in a shop, waiting for a reader to choose it. The chair you rest on was once rough timber, swaying in the wind as part of an ancient tree. Even the simplest things..a worn-out jacket, a chipped coffee mug, a set of old keys.. hold stories we may never fully know.Some objects bear the fingerprints of time. A letter yellowed at the edges, carrying the weight of words once urgent, now forgotten. A watch that no longer ticks but still remembers the wrist it used to embrace. A childhood toy, long outgrown, yet carrying echoes of laughter.We move through our days barely noticing the quiet presence of these things, unaware of their journeys. Yet, they remain.. silent witnesses to our lives, collecting memories in their stillness. A scarf gifted in another winter, a notebook filled with half-finished thoughts, a photograph holding a version of ourselves that no longer exists.Perhaps nothing is truly lifeless. Perhaps everything, in its own way, remembers. And maybe, if we slow down and pay attention, we can hear the soft murmurs of the objects around us, whispering the stories they have yet to tell.

the stories we tell ourselves

April 21, 2025February 24, 2025 by Ajmal

Long before anyone else defines us, we begin telling stories about ourselves. Some are whispered in childhood, shaped by the voices around us. Others take root later, woven from experience, doubt, and quiet fears. Over time, these stories become the lens through which we see the world..not just reflections of our past, but predictors of our future.We tell ourselves we are not enough or too much. That we are unlucky in love, bad at new things, not the kind of person who takes risks. We convince ourselves that failure is a pattern, that happiness is temporary, that some dreams are simply not for us. And with each retelling, these stories tighten their grip, becoming truths we never question.But what if the stories we have been telling ourselves are just that… stories? What if they are not unchangeable truths, but narratives we have the power to rewrite?Imagine speaking to yourself the way you would to a dear friend. Imagine replacing I can’t with I’m learning. Imagine letting go of the weight of an old story that no longer serves you.We are all storytellers. And the most powerful story we will ever tell is the one we tell ourselves about who we are. Make it a good one.

beautiful, fleeting, ever-changing

April 17, 2025February 24, 2025 by Ajmal

We spend so much of life trying to hold on. To moments, to people, to the things that make us feel alive. But everything we love is fleeting. Sunsets disappear into night. Laughter dissolves into silence. Even the brightest days slip into memory, no matter how tightly we try to grasp them.But maybe that is what makes them beautiful. Maybe things are not meant to last forever. Maybe their temporary nature is not a flaw, but the very thing that gives them meaning. A flower that never wilted would not remind us to stop and admire it. A song that never ended would lose the power to move us.The impermanence of life is not something to resist .. what i feel is that, it is something to embrace. Because what fades teaches us presence. It reminds us to cherish, to notice, to love without hesitation. The fleeting nature of things does not make them any less real. If anything, it makes them more precious.So let life be what it is .. beautiful, fleeting, ever-changing. Do not fear what fades. Instead, let it teach you to be fully here, fully present, before it slips away. Because in the end, the fact that it does not last forever is exactly what makes it matter.