Assalamualaikum. It’s been a month since my so-called birthday.

I’m still here—alive, breathing, trying to keep my head above the ebb and flow of days that somehow feel both hectic and slow. The kind of days where time drags its feet but responsibilities don’t wait. Some mornings feel heavier than others, and yet, Alhamdulillah—for everything.

I’m not always sure what “everything” even means.
But maybe it’s for the little mercies I tend to overlook:
A new sunrise.
The safety and softness of home.
The comfort of quiet routines.

It’s the dramas I keep watching, even when the plots go in circles and the characters feel like they’re stuck in a loop—but I still press play, because sometimes distraction is easier than thinking too hard.

And then there are the books.
Ah, the books.

I keep buying them—not just for the stories, but for the escape they offer.
Each page becomes a doorway, a small rebellion against the weight of reality.
For a while, I get to be someone else, somewhere else.
I get to run away without leaving my room.
Even if the story isn’t life-changing, even if I question why I picked it up again…
it gives me a momentary breather, and that’s enough.

Maybe that’s what this chapter of life is really about.
Finding small joys in mundane days.
Letting myself breathe without guilt.
Learning that “still here” is a quiet kind of victory.

And so, one month later—I’m still figuring it out, slowly but surely.

– sealed: 11072025_quiet