Tag: baraka blue

art, Beauty, Poetry

Selamat Hari Raya!

Raidah Shah Idil

eyeoftheheart_An-Online-4-Week-Contemplative-Writing-Workshop_June_July+_1_*resurfaces for air*

Belated Selamat Hari Raya, Eid Mubarak, maaf zahir dan batin!

SO. I’m still alive. Thank you to everyone who took the time to congratulate me on the birth of my youngest girl. My newborn is now a 5 month old baby! My toddler will turn three soon and will transform into a preschooler! I have never been so time-starved in my life!

Inhala, exhala.

I’m enrolled in this incredible online poetry course by Baraka Blue – Opening The Eye of The Heart. If you resonate with poetry being a spiritual practice, want to deepen your craft and connect to other like-minded souls…this course is absolutely for you. (FYI I’m not sure if there are any spots left – just give it a shot!)

Working through this incredible course is how I nourish myself, after an entire day of nourishing my daughters. Writing 30 poems in 30 days sounds like a gift beyond measure for me, in this stage of my life. Alas, my daughters will not tell me, “Mama, go ahead and fill your self-care cup by tapping into your love for poetry.” Well, at least not for another TWO DECADES.

So, here’s to me and all mamas who need to carve out time to recharge. I matter. You matter. We matter. Nourished mamas have more to give their little ones. Rinse, repeat.

**I wrote a draft blog post before this, about finally realising that I’m a Creative Rainbow Mother, and not an Earth Mother. But then my life swallowed me up again. Ha. So I’ll get around to publishing that soon. Ish. Soon-ish.

art, Poetry

My debut spoken word performance! @caitsmeissner @markgonzales @barakablue

Raidah Shah Idil

spokenword1The universe has order.

Last night, through a series of unexpected events, I ended up performing during a gig with Baraka Blue and other local Malaysian artists.

When I first stood at the microphone, I had DRAGONS in my stomach (forget butterflies). By the time the local artists and Baraka Blue himself performed, I was alight with creative energy, and ended up closing the event with a poem I wrote only hours before hand, during my poetry workshop with Baraka Blue.

Overall, it was incredible. There is something so magical about performing in the same gig with one my writing mentors. Maktub: it is written.

I performed three of my poems (Bone Marrow, Elder and Nenek), and I’m thrilled to report that I’ve been asked – very vociferously – to join the local poetry slam scene. Last week, I didn’t even know where to look. I’m working on uploading my performances. Stay tuned!

I’d like to thank Jamal Raslan and the Crescent Collective team for making this all possible. Also, special thanks goes to the brilliant spoken word artists who continue to inspire me: Caits Meissner, Mark Gonzales, and of course, Baraka Blue!