As my drought for words continues, I asked another of my lovely friends to write something for me. This time it was Max. After reading what she had written I’ve decided the ‘write whatever you want policy’ is not going to work. You’ve probably heard a lot about me in the last few posts and will hear more in the next part of the interview. So next time, there will be no writing about me. Anyway, without further ado, let me share with you Max’s piece:
*****
Dee Dee (My name for Nas) asked me to write a blog post about anything I wanted. I’m not much of a writer; I find it hard enough to write essays. The only “writing” that I probably do is texting (LOL) and rambling in my diary. But anyway, I said I would do it for him so here I go.
Firstly, I want to tell you why I call Nas ‘Dee De’. It all started when we met, about 5 years ago (crikey) through the world of MySpace. His screen name on msn was ‘Red Devil’, so I began calling him ‘Devil’ for ages. That is until I got really lazy of saying and typing Devil so it got cut down to a single letter, ‘D’. One day we were talking about Dexter the cartoon, and I wanted to name Nas after ‘Dee Dee’- Dexter’s sister! =P. And thus Nas came to be known as Dee Dee.
When Dee Dee said that I could write about ANYTHING, only one thing came into mind; the time when he helped me through the hardest part of my life. In my darkest hour, he was the only one I could turn to. Even though he was in the opposite side of the country, every word he said made such a big difference. I was ready to give up, give up on life, give up on the future that I now have and give up on everything for the sake of others. But Dee Dee showed me that I would never be happy and in turn the happiness of others would fade fast too. I was so low that the only solution I could think of was to disappear. Literally, disappear from this world. But he made me realise that would be selfish and made me think about the ones most dear to me, like my little brother and sister, my best friends but most importantly, ME. He made me love life again, find my happiness and gave me strength to stand up for myself. He pushed me to strive and pursue my future goals. He reminded me of who I should be, not who I could be if I gave up.
I owe Dee Dee my life. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today. Even though we are yet to meet in person, it does not make a difference to how true the friendship is. He is one of the few people who I would call a true, real, honest and genuine best friend. There have been ups and downs, but without the downs, it wouldn’t be real or honest. Having problems only helps to make you stronger as a person and gives a chance for you to learn and strive; just how Dee Dee once said to me.
If you are one of the few who have met and or know Dee Dee, you are as lucky as I am. He is one to love, cherish and keep close to your hearts.
I would like to finish by sharing a story with you that I read a few years ago, which has become tattooed onto my mind. I hope those of you that read it are able to learn something from it and also enjoy it:
The Emperor Moth & the Struggle
The emperor moth is the most majestic species among all the moths. It has wide wings spanning out majestically when it flies. Before it can become a full grown moth, it has to be a pupa in a cocoon. Now, the interesting fact about the moth’s cocoon is that the neck of the cocoon is very narrow. In order that that it becomes a moth, the pupa of the moth must squeeze its way out of the narrow neck.
One day a man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. He sat and watched the moth struggling to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further. It just seemed to be stuck.
Then the man, in his perceived kindness decided to help the moth. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth was then able to emerge easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shrivelled wings. He expected that the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shrivelled wings. It was never able to fly. A few days later, it died.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was the way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it could be ready for flight, once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the emperor moth of health.
You see, the struggles of life, heartaches and pains are necessary if you want to be great. Instead of cursing them, understand them while you are experiencing them. They are part of the making of a man / woman.
*****
I’d like to thank Max for the extremely kind words, but more importantly for sharing such a beautiful and inspiring story from which we can all benefit. There are times when we all feel like the emperor moth, helpless, unable to breathe and trapped with no way out, but with perseverance, struggle, and continued effort we can break free from our bondages and learn to fly. The last paragraph of the story sums it up rather nicely.
[This is a scheduled post]
________________________________
Title: Hey there Delilah – Plain White T’s
Picture of Dexter and Dee Dee taken from here
Story of the Emperor Moth taken from here
Posts
11 June 2011 at 20:55
Hey Nas,
Thats another person that agrees on how important you are in their lives as well. I really like the emperor moth story. It is beautifully written, I hope to see you soon man and hope you got your tilapia fish as well.
G.........
11 June 2011 at 20:59
The post was absolutely beautiful!
and LOL at the name she calls you by :D
Dexter brings back soo many childhood memories :P
The story about the Emperor moth was really inspiring. It's quite similar to the one called, "The deat of a
moth". Ever read it?
Thanks for sharing x =]
11 June 2011 at 22:03
How sweet! This just shows that you're truly an amazing person to your friends. ps: i love white plain t's & dexter :]
11 June 2011 at 23:07
Dee dee- I like that! is Max, Dexter then?
wow this is deep and so epic as well especially this bit "I owe Dee Dee my life. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today."
This post made me well emotional
I'm gonna try and cherish him too
I've never heard of the story, thank you for sharing it.
I agree, our struggles are necessary to shape us into the person we are going to be.
P x
12 June 2011 at 02:16
If you see the wonder of the fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels, something good in everything I see
I believe in angels, when I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream, I have a dream
I have a dream, a fantasy, to help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile.
Max's angel is NAS ^_^
12 June 2011 at 17:46
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMqTKA8BxvE
That is all.
13 June 2011 at 07:58
"I owe Dee Dee my life. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today." This truly brought tears to my eyes. You're an amazing person, Nas, and that's always the best kind to be! :)
I wish you luck with everything! :D
13 June 2011 at 12:15
nas, either you are very lucky in finding friends, or you are just an awesomely brillantly wonderful person. i think it`s the latter.
I also think you should be a therapist. you`d be good at it.
i love the story :D
13 June 2011 at 14:13
Beautiful. Simply beautiful. This post is amazing. Thanks so much for sharing the moth's story.
Life may be full of trials.. and pain. But we should also remember that LIFE is also filled with happiness and love and all the good things. But we just have to go through a process. All of us. We have to experience failure to appreciate success. Experience sorrow to appreciate happiness. Experience heartaches to appreciate love. Pain, grief, sorrow, failures... As Max has said, all those are necessary. I concur.
And besides, failures are just temporary setbacks. It is GIVING UP that makes them permanent.
P.S.
The beauty of internet. The beauty of blogging. We gain friends.. and we inspire them. We can reach out to them and help them. Hello, Max. I, too am glad that I've stumbled upon Nas's blog.. Your Dee Dee is a great person, indeed. :)
13 June 2011 at 17:28
I love the way your friends talk about all those traits of yours that touched them the most. I guess that's all that matters: to be a good person -- and to give back for this beautiful thing we received as a present from God; Life.
13 June 2011 at 21:21
This is simply beautiful.
Ive never heard this story about the emperor moth, so inspiring,it really does hit you somewhere.
:)
x
14 June 2011 at 09:52
@ G: It's my pleasure and honour to have such awesome people in my life. :)
Yes! Will see you later today.
14 June 2011 at 09:57
@ Yours Truly: Haha, I know. Dexter was one of my favourite shows back in the day!
No I haven't, I'll google it after this.
:)
x
14 June 2011 at 09:59
@ normal.is.overrated.: :). Good band and good show!
14 June 2011 at 10:03
P: Max has her very own food name ;).
Thanks.
:)
x
14 June 2011 at 10:04
@ Gelovsky ^_^: Those lyrics are beautiful! Thanks for sharing. I'm not much of an angel I don't think. 8-)
14 June 2011 at 10:05
@ PeaceLoveandSharpies: That is an amazing song! And the video is JOOOOKES. I showed Max that a few years back.
Thanks!
14 June 2011 at 10:06
@ Leah: Thank you for your lovely comment Leah. You're right, when we let obstacles and failures make us give up, only and then only do they become permanent!
:)
14 June 2011 at 10:07
@ Tazeen: You're right, life is probably the best gift we would ever have.
14 June 2011 at 10:09
@ Smiley: Yeah I totally agree! :).
x
14 June 2011 at 10:41
That is a beautiful story indeed. It's amazing how people can touch the lives of others without even being physically available. It just shows that human emotion knows no boundaries. Sounds like you're a good friend Nas :) It's a great thing to be a good friend. The world needs more "good friends" around because there are alot of troubled, lonely people out there... more than we can imagine!
14 June 2011 at 11:42
Aww I loved this post, it really made me smile. It was so beautifully written :)
15 June 2011 at 01:48
it was funny when you said, enough about me, and your friend talked about you the whole time. it's cute. :) but anyway, i liked the emperor moth story. how can that guy not have googled first or something? hehehehe.
beautiful blog. beautiful post.
:)
16 June 2011 at 06:14
Loved the post! Really nice.
It is sad, but true. Sometimes one just has to struggle on their own in order to really become strong.
:)
17 June 2011 at 20:59
ur post is quite intriguing n is very lovely :)
Saty Blessed :)
20 June 2011 at 09:28
@ Azra: You're right! Some things can transcend all boundaries and all distances. Thank you.
20 June 2011 at 09:28
@ That Girl: Thank you K. :)
20 June 2011 at 09:29
@ Bessy: Haha! I know. I wrote that after having read the post :P. Thanks.
20 June 2011 at 09:29
@ Smokey Cat: You're right, struggles make us stronger to an extent.
20 June 2011 at 09:30
@ anummunaf: Thank you very much for visiting and for your lovely comment. :)
16 July 2011 at 00:41
I'm literally stalking your blog! I have been away from blogger for a while now, not been able to properly sit down & read blogs.
Anyway, what a post & story, very inspiring & a great reminder, thanks Max :)
24 July 2011 at 05:27
Awe DeeDee(lol),
Why are you raising the standards for us normal human beings eh??? Being all super nice and perfect tsch -.-
Keep it up, keep it up, keep it up :)
(psst - if you're extra nice to people, I have an excuse to be a bit mean you see .. balace, equilibrium and all that ;P)