Entering the third decade of my life I have things to look forward to such as getting a job and getting married, however I am not quite sure that I am ready to face ‘the real world’. I had been struggling to see what fun could lie ahead until I came across a new art; an art, which you could say is rising, or rather running to international recognition (The reference will become clear soon enough).

Its ethos is one against competition and rivalry and apologists of the art form say that its very essence is altruistic and the element of self -development is one that offers spiritual benefits. Upon reading the following quote, it was sold to me. The creator of this growing phenomenon, David Belle, said of it, “You just have to think like children.”

A lot of true art has been purged by the likes of art critics and their insatiable desire for conformity confined within a canvas, only to be displayed in art museums and snazzy coffee houses. However the rise of modern art, though disliked by the traditionalists, has allowed for the birth of art forms such as parkour.

The object of parkour is to get from one place to another in the most efficient way possible, using just the body and the things around you. This often involves running without stopping and turning obstacles into opportunities, like urban gymnastics with a direction. Personally I would choose to use the car sitting in my driveway, however the eco-friendly originators of parkour I’m sure would frown upon such decadence.

The Belle family, being the principal practitioners of parkour believe the philosophy behind it is an integral and extremely vital element. It is about overcoming one’s fears and emotions, not just the physical barriers. They believe that we are far too sheltered by the world and man is in need of reclamation of what it means to be a human being. Parkour supposedly teaches us movements we should have learnt as infants and also that we should interact more with the terrain and objects around us.

“It is as much as a part of truly learning the physical art as well as being able to master the movements, it gives you the ability to overcome your fears and pains and reapply this to life as you must be able to control your mind in order to master the art of parkour.” – parcour-berlin.blogspot.com/

For those of you unfamiliar with its original French name ‘parkour’, it is also known as free running and after listening to several interviews and reading various articles on the topic I have come to conclude that it is a form of self expression and a means of acting like a child without being taken into some sort of mental hospital for it.

If I am perfectly honest, parkour seems very much an excuse to run around in a carefree manner and frankly, I am all for it. It’s been far too long since I’ve acted immaturely or not taken things seriously and I need a break from it all. So if you see me acting unruly at any point in the future then please refrain from attempting to quell my parkour-inspired self-expression, but allow me to personify the philosophy of this great art form. After all, we are naught but artists (pronounced ar-tee-sts) in this transient existence.

If you are still unclear as to what parkour actually is, here is a little video of David Belle doing what he does best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEeqHj3Nj2c

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The cliche questions frequently heard in philosophical conversation such as what is life, Is there a God, why are we who we are, often provoke thought, and the third question baffles me the most. We meet people of all talents, backgrounds and features, and no two are the same (apart from the Mawjis). More often than we should, we look around and question “why is he better at football than me?”, “why does she score higher grades than me?”, “how do they know so many people?” But the answers we hear are never convincing.

One important factor I feel is environment. Now this not the same environment of The Leaf Story or of my carbon footprint, but rather a more immediate environment around us. For example, last week I was in the holiest city of Makkah and the environment was such that I felt compelled to do nothing but pray and contemplate. Now that I have moved onto Dubai where commercialization is its culture, I feel compelled to do nothing but open my wallet. So what about my environment at home? Who controlls that? My parents surely. So am I who I am because of them, yes – partly.

What if I could control my own enivironment, what type would I want? First of all I would decide who I want to be, for example, if I wanted to increase in knowledge, I would surround my room in books and befriend only scholars. On the other hand, if I wanted to stop smoking, I would stop hanging around with smokers. But what if I wanted a combination of talents? I would then chose my hobbies accordingly such as reading, charity, sports and socialising. I feel what’s important is getting rid of the hobbies that have negative effects such as the friends who hold bad habits. From this simple concept we can grow. We will have control over our environment and thus have more of a control of who we become.

Let’s take this a step further. What if I chose my hobby to be worship because I wanted to be close to Him. Now in this month we slow down our usual hobbies such as sports and socialising and increase our hobby of worship and from this we can move closer to Him. If we embrace Ramadhan as our environment, our hobbies will change accordingly and, if we are sincere, we will become closer to Him.

I wish your wishes are answered and you do embrace Ramadhan as your environment.

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