Year of the Wood Dragon

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024!

 

EID AL-FITR MUBARAK! SELAMAT LEBARAN!

 On this blissful day let us share love and kindness,

exchange hopes and pardons,

in every kind of gestures.

Apologize with humble words and sincerity.

Let our hearts forgive those who've hurt us,

Although no sorries are said nor heard.

Be the one who makes your loved ones smile.

Those who are next to you and miles apart,

and they who've left to the afterlife, In sha Allah.

May ALLAH SWT. has mercy on us for all our wrong doings.

May ALLAH SWT. opens the doors to new beginning, love, 

health and prosperity.

May ALLAH SWT. shows us how to have better souls,

now and later on in the hereafter.

Ameen Ya Rabbul Alameen.

HAPPY EID!

-Ica Farika Kukka-

Autoimmune Enchephalitis Awareness Month 2023

And 8 years later... 

It's not getting better but I am more patient.

It's not getting better but I am getting stronger.

It's not getting better but I'm definitely way tougher.

I accept the fact that the older I get, the worse it will be.

I accept the fact that the older I get, the less likely it will heal. 

I accept the fact that the older I get, the more disabilities I will have.

Hands trembling. Memory loss. Teeth grinding. Imbalance. 

Exhaustion. Aphasia (word finding difficulty). 

Prosopagnosia (trouble recognizing/remembering faces and names).

And the list goes on. And on. And on.

Now I finally understand that sometimes the simplest solution is just to accept. 

The good. The bad. The best. The worst.

Just accept. 

And enjoy life while you still can!

To my fellow AE Warriors all around the world.

Just like Trent Reznor said:

"You and me

We're in this together now

None of them can stop us now

We will make it through somehow"

*We're In This Together by Nine Inch Nails*

Note: red brain drawn on iPad with trembling hands. You can totally see it and I'm okay with that 😉

#30DayFlowerChallenge

About a month ago or so I realized that I’ve always wanted to do some kind of a month challenge. 30 days of this, 30 days of that. I did it once or twice but for some reasons I never finished it. This time though… I DID IT!!!! I DID 30 DAYS FLOWER CHALLENGE!!! YEAY!!!! FINALLY!!!! :)))

It started when I was Pinteresting. I found this pin and I thought “Hey! Here’s something special to do to celebrate Kukka’s birthday in July! Kukka. Flower. 30 Days Flower Challenge. That would be nice and fun to do!” And since now I have an Apple Pencil I thought I could use it for something useful. I also thought that now drawing with an Apple Pencil maybe it would feel… You know?! Different? Maybe it’ll make the drawing more fun and practical? All I have to bring whenever I go are just my iPad and the pencil. No drawing book, pencils, watercolors, brushes etc. So yeah… Using the Apple Pencil and the Paper application, I started the 30 Days Flower Challenge and posted every drawing on my instagram (@farika). But since drawing isn’t exactly my talent, I googled lots of cool drawings that I like, took the ideas from them and then made some changes here and there. Like for example adding my…personality into every drawing so to speak :p It was fun! Although it felt like I was being chased by a deadline but still. It gave me some kind of happiness and the second I drew the last line it felt rrrrreeeeally good. Relaxing. Soothing. I remember I told dr. Rocksy about this current hobby. And like always, if it gives me pleasure just do it, she said :)

Although I did miss a day or two but I’ve successfully drew different flowers everyday. If I missed one day of drawing, I finished 2 days of flowers on the next day. I promised myself that I will finish the 30 flowers. By the end of July or not!!! And finally… I finished Day 30!!! I’m proud of what I have accomplished. They might not be 100% original but still :) I have some favorites. I also have some drawings which whenever I look at them again I’d think “Damn. I can do better than this!” :)) Oh! Something annoyingly funny happened when I was checking all the drawings. I noticed that I actually missed 1 day!!! I checked again and again and yes. I missed 1 day of flower which was Day 14: Gerbera :)) So just before I blogged about this whole 30 Day Flower Challenge thing, I had to draw Gerbera flower. Good thing I noticed it just before I showed off my flowers everywhere :)) 

Here they are. The 30 flowers I've drawn from July (- early August), inspired by lots of very talented painters around the world :)

Day 1 - 18

Day 19 - 30

I'm pretty proud of myself. My favorites are Day 11: Dahlia because it felt like it took forever to finish it :)) But I had super fun and when the flower was finished I felt very thrilled. Second fave is Day 12: Mother's Day Bouquet. Why? Because when I was doing it I was thinking about Mom the whole time :) Third fave is the last day, Day 30: Inspired By Another Participant. In my case the flowers were not exactly inspired by another participant. But it was inspired by my favorite Finnish brand Marimekko. 

And Kukka... These flowers are dedicated to you, my precious Godsend. :* 

Updated: I showed all the flowers to Kukka. She likes lots of the drawings but her most favorite is Day 20:

Kukka: My favorite is Pansy.

43

I’ve died a thousand times and ways.

Until the day I choose to be reborn.

To be the fire. To be the flame.

I decide to rise brighter and live stronger.

Emerging from the darkness, the broken, the remains.

It’s all me, from me and for me.

Or just like Rumi said: 

“You’ve seen my descent. Now watch my rising.”