5 things that are on my mind today

1. An estimated 345 pilgrims at this year's hajj have perished in a stampede during the stoning ritual. It made me cry to hear this. Sure it happens every year, but it always hurts the same. May Allah subhana wa ta'ala reward the deeds of the hujjaj and grant them Jannah.

2. I really like seeing the Sikh man who is an artist in the lofts adjacent to my office building. He's an older white man with a long white beard. He always has on jeans and a t-shirt and a perfectly wrapped turban. Since we are similarly wrapped, he in his turban, and me in my hijab, there is an unspoken kniship there. He waved at me the other day and it made me smile.

3. This year was the first time Eid felt like an actual holiday to me. I was raised a staunch Christian. Christmas was the pinnacle of the year for me. But slowly, over the past 7 years on the path of Islam, I have changed. I look forward to the month of Ramadan and the sense of community it fosters. Eid ul Fitr is a time I anticipate with great joy as the ummah comes out in all its finery and glory to worship and prostrate to Allah ta'ala. Eid ul Adha finds me looking forward to roasted meat with Hausa spices, communal prayers, the beauty of the Hajj and the anticipation of one day being invited by the Most Merciful to the holy city of Mecca.

4. Emotional voids can't be filled by things. That does not, however, stop me from buying way too many purses and 3/4 length coats.

5. I am so grateful for my beautiful husband and my lovely, precocious young son. They make me smile in spite of myself.