Inception

Rule 1: Don't sweat the small stuff.

Rule 2: It's all small stuff

-Dr Richard Carlson

I still can't wrap my head around the logic of the movie plot, Inception. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is supposedly a genius who can construct dreams for himself and share the dreams with others whether or not the other person/s do it willingly. Then there is this powerful man, Saito (Ken Watanabi) who offers insanely large amount of money and a free-of-jail card to Cobb if he can plant an idea into the head of an heir of a dead tycoon (Fischer). And both of them, together with like-minded geniuses/artists risk their lives both in dreams and in reality to complete the task. They had to go through three (yes 3) layers of dreams with Fischer in order to plant this important idea.

There is a fine line between dream and reality.

I admit I kind of snoozed off a bit in the first half of the movie. But then the movie piqued my interest as soon as I understood the story line. What irked me the most is how long this movie ran. It was a 1:30 pm show and I thought it'd be done by 3 or 3:30 pm. It was 4:25 pm when I was finally out of the theatre, scrambling to find the surau for zohor solat, with Ryan in my arms sleeping soundly. I had to put him gently on the surau carpet, took wudu' and quickly solat, minutes away from the Asar azan.

I can't believe how close I was to losing zohor - the day I turned 40, no less. I have heard from wiser people that who we truly are is determined by the life we lead after we are 40. I have also heard from my parents that any habit that we have at 40 will stay with us for the rest of our lives. It's scary to think that even now I still have too many bad habits -midnight snacking, snacking on sugary food, etc.. and worst of all, late for solat. What would be my excuse in front of Allah? Would I dare to blame the movie producer for running the movie that long? Would I be able to accuse them of enticing me with Leornardo by opening the movie the day I begin my good life?

I thank Allah for giving me chance to breathe even after the near-miss. Many have taken their last breath on this earth. Many have not made it today. My dear classmate, Norlailawati Kamis, succumbed to lung cancer last Wednesday, leaving behind 3 small kids. I am deeply saddened by the news. I can't stop crying thinking of her - her sweet nature, her soft demeanor, the way she walked, her gait, the intense way she threw the ball during our netball practices/matches, her dedication in carrying out prefect's duties, her quietness and her chatter - all remind me of the youth I no longer have. Puan Dalilah Tamrin, a cancer champion, whose blog (www.onebreastbouncing.blogspot.com) I found (by chance) barely a week prior to her demise, died battling breast cancer last Monday, 3 days short of her 42nd birthday. In my effort to try to lead a better and meaningful life, I reread the book "Don't sweat the small stuff" by Richard Carlson. I was intrigued by what he wrote and wanted more, so yesterday I googled him. Only then I found out - no more books from Dr Carlson because he passed away at the age of 45 almost 3 years ago.

Among the things I can take from the movie Inception, is that life, as we know it, is short. The things around us that we perceive as reality may not be real. We are born with hijab over our eyes. The hijab will only be taken off once we leave this fana world. Some of us have thick opaque hijabs, some have transparent ones. Every one of us tries to do his/her best in this short life, the phase that we call reality. Only geniuses can get glimpses of the next layer of life, through dreams/hidayah. The smart ones among us construct the best layers- the higher the layer, the better it gets. Physics laws and mind logic only applies in the first layer. While most of us work, suffer and persevere for the sake of our lives on earth, the geniuses do it for their eternal lives.

Daddy says our life has three layers. The layer that we are now is the most important because every thing we do here gets magnified thousand fold in the second (barzakh) layer and third (akhirat) layer. Solat is the way to touch base with our true North , so as not to lose touch with any of the 3 layers of life. (Cobb spins his totem to touch base).

By the way, I'd like to elaborate Dr Carlson's second rule. While we may look at many things as small stuff, they do impact us in a big way. Small doesn't mean unimportant - and some things, like solat and the other pillars of Islam, are too important to take lightly.

This has been my way of reminding myself to never lose sight of what's important in life.