Follow your soul – it knows the way..

Well, I’ve done it

You’ve done it

WE have done it

#ukhousingfast you have been wonderful this year, and i for one am beyond proud to say i took part. I decided earlier within the week to actually add another day on to the organised date of the 23rd June – why i hear you say?

I wanted to not only take part, but educate myself. The title of my first blog was ‘open your mind and your heart’ and the more i read about Ramadan the more i was intrigued to how fasting made you feel. I was also hugely overwhelmed by the welcome and openness that the organisers of @ukhousingfast gave. Although unsure how @Khan_Sahil would have felt if id have turned up on his door in Slough for Iftar!! but joking aside I’m guessing it would be an overwhelming extension of the inclusion to their religion and beliefs that has been displayed online.

The yearning for me to understand the faith that drives this amazing initiative i know transcended my 2 day fast to a whole new level:

If you are grateful, i will give you more

Soorah ‘Ibrahim|v.7

We work in housing, by that we have a need to make a difference, a need to help others and make a real difference to peoples lives. Yet do we really stop and think about something as primal as hunger? something that its easier to think isn’t happening in our own communities, but something that is reserved for countries far away.

What is brilliant about @ukhousingfast is that it brings such sadness and reality to front of mind, yet giving you the ability to be part of something and give something back. We all feel better if we give something to those who need it more than ourselves. Yet when you actually feel something, (albeit a tiny part of the pain that hundreds of people feel every day), when you can experience any element of that -it has power. That power then goes beyond the organised #ukhousingfast and your mind continues to think – to me thats a sign of a pretty epic ‘day’.

So, what did my 2 day fast mean to me?

Honestly – it blew me away.

I purposefully hadn’t hastily finished this blog straight after, as i wanted to see how i felt when i wasn’t ‘in the moment’.

When i had got over my initial coffee craving about 9am, i hit  little wall about 2pm, but then i started to get excited about breaking my fast (and having some water – i wont lie!) i’d promised myself if i was going to commit to doing 2 days, i was going to do it properly so i grabbed myself some dates – albeit not @Dates4Syria -and waited for 9.30pm to arrive.

The excitement grew as 9.30pm approached as i started to feel proud, yet quite emotional and reflective about what it all meant. Date in hand i kinda found myself thinking – what do i do? i knew those observing Ramadan pray at this time, but that isn’t my faith, so is it offensive to pray?  being mindful to not try to ‘pray’ but use that time to think and hope felt beautiful.

Honestly? It’s also made me feel very ignorant to what is a beautiful faith and belief, and for that I’m sorry, sorry that I didn’t know anything.

I broke my fast alone on Wednesday evening, this highlighted to me why Ramadan is so brilliant – it seems one of its core values and principles is the same that all of us who work tirelessly in the housing sector live by – building communities and bringing people together. I really felt envious of those surrounded by others celebrating Iftar where that pride and celebration can, and was being shared.

I added a day because i wanted to also experience Suhoor – its said that this isn’t obligatory, yet a blessed part of fasting that shouldn’t be ignored. Why is it more blessed? because it takes effort, you either have to stay up, or interrupt your sleep to complete. Off i trotted to bed about midnight and had my alarm set for the early hours – i awoke with the same excitement as Iftar had brought the night before.

That hour i had chose to get up and experience was nothing short of beautiful – the peace, space and time to just sit, reflect and think was nothing like id felt before. Im not one for silence, i yearn for conversation and interaction. (unless I’m on a sun lounger then you’ve no chance!!) if I’m honest silence makes me kinda nervous and a little lonely. Yet this was different – and i loved it.

Again, mindful not to ‘pray’ i just took a moment to allow my thoughts to land, allow my reflection to resonate and allow myself to feel whatever my mind and body was telling me to. I wont lie – the litre of water i drank never tasted so good! i could literally feel my body filling up. It was then i was reminded why i was taking part in just 2 days – how on earth in 2016 can people feel thirsty and hungry? this not only upsets me, but angers me – the world can’t continue like this.

I was lucky enough to break my fast on @ukhousingday with peeps – @Joel_Resource @Felicity_Aster & co-founder of @ukhousingfast @AsifChoudry. This certainly made up for my lonely Iftar the night before, and I’m grateful that i experienced that ‘celebration’ of achievement and the feeling of being with people.

It shows you that people need people – it really is that simple.

@NasrinFazal thank you for our late night DM chats, your openness and support – the Eid celebrations are a must!!

Everyone who either supported, fasted, donated or thought about @ukhousingfast on Thursday 23rd June be PROUD, but promise me and yourselves one thing. Don’t stop there – lets carry on raising awareness, lets carry on being kind and giving something to those who need it more than us. Lets always open our minds and our hearts, remember:

An open mind is a beautiful mind, and how you make others feel says a lot about you.